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we?”
    “Mostly.” Hank thought of the many times Gladius nearly got them kicked out of cities and the few times she almost got them killed.
    “You think he’s still following us?” she asked.
    “There is no chance he isn’t.”
    She sighed and rolled to kiss him on the cheek, then the mouth, which led to more. It didn’t go unnoticed that she’d crumbled under his charms, failing miserably to keep her lady shop closed until Snackie Cakes met her mouth.
    When they left their hotel room later that morning, Hank wondered if the man in the cloak might jump them in the open. He scanned the streets for anyone suspicious. The towering buildings around them didn’t give much cover and Hank suspected the guy would try to stop them on the road. “Ready?”
    Gladius tossed her bag in the backseat. “Yup.”
    Hank didn’t question her and stepped on the pedal. “Are you pretty sure he is who you think he is?”
    “I think so, but I guess we will be finding out soon,” she said.
    They left the city and drove onto the countryside. For a while, the suburbs dominated the landscape. Hank spotted the ocean a few times until the trees started in. Soon they drove through a forest with enormous redwood trees. It reminded him of the Arrack world and the brief time they spent walking through a similar forest.
    Harris had ruined that world. Hank wanted to go back to it at some point. He wanted to see if the mist was gone, and if maybe a few Arracks held on. Maybe they had even made a comeback, much in the same way Earth and Ryjack had.
    “You think your dad will like me?” Gladius asked, cutting into the silence.
    “What’s not to like?”
    “I don’t know, the few first-time meetings I’ve had haven’t gone well. I’ve even ended up screwing—”
    “He’s going to love you.”
    She smiled and didn’t say anything for a few minutes. “You know, when I was working at ZRB, they had a vending machine with all kinds of candy bars. I tried them all and many were great, but there was one that stood out for me. I liked it so much, I found myself going back to it each time.”
    “Which one?” he asked.
    “A Butterfinger.”
    “Better not lay a finger on my Butterfinger.”
    “What?”
    “Nothing, just an old ad.”
    “Do you think they are still making those?”
    “I’m sure they are, but Marcus owns many of those companies now.” She frowned. “Maybe,” Hank added, “that one is untouched.”
    “He better not have laid fingers on my Butterfingers.” She laughed. “That’s so funny.”
    Hank saw the marker on the side of the road and pulled the car onto the shoulder. He got out and looked at the mile marker sixty-four. Anyone else wouldn’t have paid attention to the three circles drawn under it, like ripples in water. It was Harris’s mark for a stone nearby. Hank gazed at the tree and thought he heard the ocean in the distance.
    He tried to stomp down the ferns and other plants, to make an easier path for Gladius. At least she wore her long pants today. He was sure she had her knives on as well. “You doing okay, baby?”
    “Yeah, but I’m not literally a baby . . . I think I can handle some weeds, dude. You don’t need to trample Mother Nature on my account.” She brushed back her hair and walked around a bush.
    Hank smiled. He rarely had to guess her mood, and liked it that way. She was easy to read. He understood her. “I see the ocean.”
    “Good.”
    Hank fought every urge he had to glance back and search for the man following them. He was sure he wouldn’t be too far away. This would be the spot he’d pounce if things were reversed. He slowed down and waited for Gladius to get by his side.
    A few feet ahead, a beachside bluff sloped toward the ocean below. The waves crashed and he breathed in the salty mist in the air. The fog covered much of the ocean, but the sun had started burning it away. Soon, the whole sky would be clear.
    “It’s down here,” Hank said and took her hand.
    She held