Fire Water by Jaye Wells Page B

“Tarnation, woman, you scared the piss out of me!”
    I shook my head to dismiss his complaints. “The potion dealer from yesterday just sped past. We have to follow him.”
    Cap’n righted the cap on his head and took a deep breath before answering. “Why would we do that?”
    I threw up my hands. “Because he’s either on his way to deal potions or he’s on his way to their hideout.”
    Cap’n tilted his head. “Hideout? You sound like Nancy Drew.”
    I crossed my arms. “Look, all I’m saying is we should follow him. See where he goes.”
    â€œI don’t—”
    â€œYou got something better to do?” I said pointedly. “Perhaps finish your nap?”
    His jaw set. “Cool your jets. I was just about to say that I don’t think it’s a bad idea.”
    I paused. “Really?”
    He nodded.
    â€œWell…fine then.”
    The corner of his mouth lifted. “You have to untie us first.”
    â€œOh, right.” I quickly untied the lines as Cap’n flipped the ignition. A roar sounded from the engine, and the water behind the boat boiled. I hopped back in. “Let’s go!”
    The boat took off from the dock at a surprising speed. In all my time on the craft, Cap’n had kept the throttle low, but now we were really moving. The speed and the wind made me tighten my knuckles on the control panel. I glanced over at the old man, who had a determined look on his face.
    â€œWhat made you suddenly change your mind?” I asked.
    His mouth tightened into a determined line. “If I’m leaving, I’m going to do it in style.”
    I smiled with a mixture of adrenaline and relief. “Let’s go kick some ass, Cap’n.”
    â€œHell yeah!” He gunned the engine, and we took off like a shot through the water. The motorboat had a head start on us and we were entering a part of the river with more traffic, so we didn’t have to worry about him seeing us trailing him.
    We followed for about ten minutes before I saw the motorboat veer off the main river into a tributary that branched off to the right. Cap’n slowed our speed and followed at a distance. The water was narrower here, but luckily was still deep enough to accommodate our craft. “This is Breakneck Channel,” Cap’n said. “It dead-ends about five miles from here.”
    Speaking of dead ends, if I thought the Steel River was polluted, it was nothing compared with the sludge we floated on now. “This water is totally stagnant,” I said.
    â€œNo freshwater feeding into this stretch,” he explained. “No real life at all.” He nodded to the empty factories along the route, which had been closed down for years.
    â€œWhich means no customers along this route, either.” That supported my second theory, which was that he was headed toward their hideout.
    Up ahead, the motorboat pulled up next to a large boat that resembled a houseboat, but the miserable state it was in made it look more like a floating tenement. I pulled out my binoculars and took a look. The lanky dude made quick work of tying the smaller boat to the larger one and hopped aboard before disappearing inside the door on the two-level structure on the deck.
    â€œThere’s an old mill road that runs long this stretch of water,” Cap’n said. “I’m gonna drop anchor and we can continue on foot.”
    It was a good idea. It would be foolish to roar up next to the other boat. That kind of move would only invite gunfire. Approaching on foot gave us the added advantage of stealth so we’d know what we were up against.
    Several minutes later, we ducked behind a stand of trees parallel with the houseboat. I’d brought the binoculars, but Cap’n confiscated them. “There are at least two men inside. Looks like they’ve got a lab set up, too.”
    He offered the glasses to me. When I looked