Torch Song: A Kickass Heroine, A Post-Apocalyptic World: Book One Of The Blackjack Trilogy

by Shelley Singer

  “That little twit better not start anything!” Frank was huffing and puffing. He pulled out his sys and started to head up toward the dais but Jo noticed him and waved him back. He practically screeched to a halt. “What the hell?” He muttered.

  I’d placed myself next to Frank to make pals and do what mercs do— find out what people know and where they stand. Here was a good opportunity. “I think the Colemans can handle this, Frank. I know if they think there’s going to be real trouble they’ll call on you. They’re smart and they trust you. Newt doesn’t have a chance of convincing anyone he’s innocent, and this little scene is just going to make the Colemans more popular. They can’t lose.”

  I wasn’t so sure of that, but Jo and the rest of the All-Sierras seemed very calm. Zack was laughing.

  Frank’s scowl cleared and he looked at me gratefully. “Well, they know I’m here.”

  The crowd was shifting, some more reluctantly than others, letting Newt and his party work their way up to the stage. Jo stepped aside, letting Newt lean on the dais.

  “I got some introductions to make here, too.”

  Jo nodded and stepped even farther back. She was smiling, acting like she’d planned the whole thing. At the very least, like she’d expected it. Or hoped for it. An actor to the core. A politician.

  “I’m Newt Scorsi and I’m running for Mayor of Tahoe!”

  Applause, mostly from the people Newt had arrived with. A whistle or two. A “Yeah!”

  “And this—” he reached down a hand and helped one of the men up beside him, the one that looked like Newt. Same big head and skinny neck. “This is my brother Larry Scorsi. He’s running for the Council. Some of you might know his son, Billy— he’s a big hitter for the school ball team.” Billy? He was more likely to use the bat on someone’s head. “And this other guy here—” the merc I’d seen at the raid on Blackjack and on the posters jumped up beside Newt and Larry, making a loud thud when he hit the stage “—he’s Abbo Swift, and he’s running for council, too.” More applause. “And I’ve got more good people coming along to be on the Cabinet. Including—” he pointed at a fat bald man standing just below the dais and hauled him up “—including my older brother Carl. Some of you probably know his son Ky.” They really were a lovely family. I sneaked a glance at Frank. He was fuming. Almost gritting his teeth.

  Newt continued ranting. “The Scorsi party’s got big plans for Tahoe, and for Sierra. We’re the only ones who can protect this country from Rocky. The only ones strong enough and resolute and clear-seeing. And I resent what these Colemans here are saying about some ambush. I don’t know what happened to Monte, or Samm, or anyone else. I do know that a bunch of hoodlums from Blackjack attacked some of my people, who were having a picnic—” Loud boos from the audience at that. I didn’t know who they were booing, though. “—and my people fought back. They got hurt, too, a lot of them. We lost some, too. But they started it!”

  More boos, and some shouts of “You’re lying, Newt.”

  “I don’t like this,” Frank said. “I got volunteers all through this audience and I can stop Newt and his garbage any time I want to. Run all their asses in.”

  “What will the Sierra law think about that? I mean…”

  “You talking about Chief Graybel?” He laughed. “Not a factor.”

  The chief seemed to be disappearing, fading entirely out of relevance.

  Jo stepped up to the mike now, forcing Newt to shift to the side. “Were you there, Newt?” she asked.

  “No! I’m a busy man, don’t go to picnics.”

  “Larry, were you there? Carl?”

  Larry just stared at her. Same response from Carl.

  “Abbo?”

  “Bet your ass I was there! I— I saw her—” He pointed at me. “—kill a man.” Frank stepped closer to my side. “And he wasn’t doing nothing!”

  A rumble of doubt, until Emmy leaned closer to the dais, grabbed hold of the mike and yelled, “Nothing? He was trying to kill me! I was there. We were in a clearing and they came through the trees and attacked. I saw them kill Monte! I saw them wound Samm— laser-burn him in the leg, and I saw him fall. They invaded that clearing just like they’ve invaded this rally.” Emmy had come a long way in the past two days. I’d never seen a grin that broad on Drew’s face.

  “Frank,” Jo said, “come on up here.” He brightened. He was needed. He hauled himself up on the stage.

  “Tell this audience who attacked who, and who called you to report the violence. And who told you the Rockies were in town threatening people and causing problems.”

  Frank Holstein knew who his friends were. “Newt Scorsi’s people attacked the Blackjack people. No question about it. And you, Jo, you called me to report it, just like you called to warn me that those Rockies were in town causing trouble.” Had she? I doubted it. The town was small and the Rockies were obvious enough for even this sheriff to spot on the street.

  Zack stepped up to the mike again. He glared at Newt and Larry, and pointed an accusing finger at Abbo, standing nearby.

  “Yes, this man was in that clearing that day. I saw him there. I saw him waving a club and I saw the blood he spilled. Do you really want people like Newt Scorsi and his brothers and his mercenaries and his toxie bandits protecting us from invasion by Rocky?” Newt’s eyes were wide. He opened his mouth and shut it again. Larry looked like he wanted to jump off the stage and run home. For a moment, Abbo just scowled, looking confused and angry.

  Then he lunged at Zack and grabbed him by the throat, growling. Frank pulled his pistol and jabbed it into Abbo’s neck. Emmy kicked his legs out from under him and he let go of Zack. Between the two of them, they got manacles around the merc’s thick wrists. Frank’s deputy showed up with a couple of volunteers and they took Abbo away.

  Zack watched, a look of disgust on his face, rubbing his throat. He tried to speak but coughed instead. Jo shoved Newt entirely out of the way and took over the stage, Drew at her side.

  Newt yelled at the crowd. “See that? They just arrested a man who was trying to defend—” The crowd began jeering and booing. They knew what they were seeing.

  The people who had come with Newt were yelling, “Let him speak!” but the hoots and hisses of all the others drowned them out.

  “Get outta here, Newt!” someone yelled. The crowd took up the chant.

  Jo moved in fast and loud, Andy and Drew flanking her, shoving Newt and Larry and Carl toward the edge of the stage, where they teetered for a moment and jumped to the ground.

  “First of all,” she yelled, “what Tahoe needs is someone who can protect this town from Newt and his thugs!” Wow. This was exciting. The crowd screamed with joy. She was so good at this. “And while we’re doing that, we’ll protect Sierra from Rocky.”

  Judith stepped up beside her and continued the oration “—And from their spies, and their terrorist godders, and their soldiers, and their breeders, all united now, all allied in a plot and a plan to invade our country, kill our people, destroy and conquer us. Newt Scorsi and his thugs can’t protect our people. The All-Sierra party can and will!” Jo whispered something to Frank, who dropped down into the crowd beside me and glared at the little band of Newt supporters who had begun to work their way back toward the entrance. Then he swung on Newt and his brothers and gave them the same look. They stomped off after their friends.

  I smiled at Frank. He looked smug and happy.

  Jo picked up the speech again. “We all know the truth about Rocky now. We know we have to get strong and defend our borders. You’ve all read it in the Sierra Star.” The crowd agreed noisily that they had, indeed, seen the story in the paper. “Those Rockies confessed. We know what they’re up to.”

  Frank chuckled. “That sure worked,” he said to me. “It was a great move, wasn’t it? I tell you, we’re unbeatable.”

  What did he mean? Move?

  “Which move are you talking about?” I smiled, going along with the joke, whatever it was.
/>   “Making up that confession and putting it in the paper.” He laughed. “That Jo, she’s really something.”

  She’d lied to me. I’d barely had time to take that in when I heard Jo say, “We have a plan. Part of that plan is to build a strong alliance with our old friends in Redwood. Together, we can turn back the Rocky threat.”

  Alliance? Or conquest. What was she lying about now?

  Rocky might not be planning to attack, but there was a nasty smell around its stronger presence. Newt’s toxie army was growing, and there was an important election coming up. The Colemans looked like the only shield between Newt and Redwood, between Rocky and Redwood. What was I supposed to do when all the choices were bad?

  Create another option that was all my own. If I could only figure out what it might be.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  What’s going on down there?

  I stayed for the rest of it, long after I’d stopped listening to “This is a great candidate,” and “Do you trust Newt Scorsi to protect us from Rockymountain?” I was busy obsessing about two things: Jo had lied to me; the Rockies never confessed, never said anything about a Rocky invasion. And the Colemans were campaigning for an “alliance” with Redwood that I was afraid was meant to be something more. Maybe the whole point of the Rocky lie was to build enough support and enough army to grab Redwood. It was a rich country, rich in natural resources and in talent of every kind.

  On the other hand, and there always seemed to be another hand in Tahoe, there was the nature of Rocky and its self-righteous intrusions.

  So I waited, and thought about what to do next. First, I was going to challenge Jo on her lie. How she responded, how she acted, that would tell me a lot. I was supposed to be working with the Colemans. I had a right to ask some questions. Straightforward, honest, distressed, nothing to hide, unwilling to suspect her. A worried friend. I could do that. I was already partway there.

  It took another hour for the rally to finally wind down, the crowd to drift away, the backslapping and jokes and earnest little chats to subside. The minute I saw Jo heading for her car, I fell in beside her.

  “We need to talk,” I said. She raised that damned eyebrow at me. “You lied to me. Outright lied. You said the Rockies confessed, said there was an invasion plan. There was no confession.” Would she lie again, tell me the sheriff lied to her, she really believed it had happened?

  She nodded, sighed. “Yeah. I did.” She pointed to a bench behind the motel. We sat. “But it wasn’t because I was lying specifically to you, Rica.”

  “What’s that mean?” I kept the hurt-friend look on my face.

  She chuckled. “It means, that’s our story.”

  “And you didn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth?”

  She shook her pretty head. “Sweetie, no. I don’t. Not yet. How’d you find out?” I wished she wouldn’t talk to me that way. Sweetie indeed.

  I stayed silent.

  “Probably that moron Frank. Well, never mind. Now you know.” She reached over and laid her hand on mine. It felt warm. I didn’t pull away. “Look, Rica, it doesn’t matter whether they actually said it or not. You know it’s true. It’s an invasion waiting to happen. As soon as they got their factions working together, in any way at all, the danger jumped tenfold. People need to be ready for that. We need to be prepared for it.”

  “So you made it all up, just so people would prepare?” How much more would she admit?

  “And so we had a clear, strong issue for this election. We want our candidates to win. We want to protect Sierra, make it strong. Newt can’t do that. Newt can’t keep a spy on his side or control the people who stay with him.”

  She made it all sound so plausible, but I wished she hadn’t used that word. Control. Was she controlling me?

  “Did you kill them? The paper says they were taken to the border, but is that true? Why would you do that? Why turn them loose to cause more trouble?”

  She frowned. “Kill them? No. We did kill one of them on the street, before they were arrested, but he didn’t leave us a choice. We did take them to the border. We might regret doing it, but it was an opportunity to send them back with a message we wanted them to carry. We filled their little heads with exaggerations of our strength and warnings not to mess with us. They went back to Rocky thinking we have a real and ready army. They think Blackjack is in control and the citizens are behind us and any attempt to invade will be turned back and war will be carried right into the heart of Rocky.”

  “Maybe they just think you were bullshitting them.”

  “It’s possible.” She shrugged.

  “I think it’s more than possible.”

  “Even so, there’s a difference between willingness to wage war and willingness to commit convenience killings. There are lines I don’t want to cross.”

  I liked what I was hearing but she was a politician and she’d already lied to me once.

  “Why didn’t you just keep them locked up if you didn’t want to kill them?”

  She relaxed visibly. She seemed to feel as if she was on more solid ground. “We couldn’t just keep them locked up without a trial. Word would get out. People wouldn’t like it. It would make the citizens nervous to see candidates abusing people’s rights. And we couldn’t have a trial because we didn’t want to give them a chance to defend themselves. We didn’t want them convincing anyone they were just causie tourists. We didn’t want doubt. Doubt is destructive. The slightest taste of it can destroy a political campaign.”

  I stood up. “Thanks, Jo. I understand. I appreciate your honesty.”

  She gave me one of those soft smoldering looks she was so good at. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I should have known a smart spy like you would find out.” Flattery? Not a worthy move. It cleared my head again.

  “One more thing, Jo.”

  Still sitting on the bench, she crossed her legs and cocked her head, waiting.

  “When the chief and Newt first hired me to come here and spy on you, she said one of the crimes you were suspected of was skimming tax money.”

  “That kind of thing is hard to find out.”

  “People talk, sometimes.” No one had to me, but that was beside the point. I tried to look like I knew more than I did. Maybe there was something here I could hold over her head. “You do seem to have a large supply of ready money.”

  “Not so large. You saw our weapons.” True, but good guns weren’t easy to find even with money.

  “You’re playing with me, Jo.” She grinned and I could feel my face and neck flushing. “Are you skimming? Because that’s okay with me.”

  “That’s nice. But even if I were, I wouldn’t admit it.” She stood now, too. “Is that all you need?”

  It was, for now.

  I didn’t stumble over the broken concrete on my way to my car, but it took all my concentration not to.

  I drove to a side street, punched my sys alive, and called Gran. She answered.

  “How are things, Rica?”

  “Confusing, Gran. Here’s what’s going on. Those Rockies I told you confessed they were planning an invasion? They didn’t confess. The whole story was a political maneuver by the Colemans.”

  “Those rascals.” She laughed.

  Rascals? She needed to take them more seriously than that. “To say the least, Gran. But the fact is, Rocky’s got its people together and they are getting more aggressive. They are probably a danger, and a growing one. So lie or no lie, Redwood needs to be alert. And there’s more.”

  “More?”

  “Jo is talking about forming an alliance with Redwood to fight off Rocky.”

  “What kind of alliance?”

  “That would be the question, wouldn’t it? And another thing— I saw Scorsi’s little army playing games yesterday. They’re terrifying, they’re growing. If they get loose, well, they’re not going to stop at the border. I think the Colemans have to beat him down. Which means I’ll have to help them. So it’s a one-tw
o-three Redwood has to worry about: a band of barbarians crossing the border from Sierra, the Colemans trying to get a wedge into Redwood, and Rocky aggression.”

  She whistled. “Damnedest thing. Well. Okay. I’ll talk to my friends. It won’t be easy getting them to listen, but I’ll sure try.”

  “Tell them they need to put aside their wineglasses, step out of their hot tubs, and start thinking about covering the border and watching for Coleman-friendly politicians.”

  * * *

  “I think,” Jo said, “that Newt made enough of an ass of himself today to bring quite a few undecided votes to our side.” She was very pleased with the way things had gone.

  Zack grinned. “Judith says the next issue of the Star will have a front-page piece on the rally and Newt’s party-crash.”

  “And his quick exit.” They both laughed. Jo had made sure Iggy sent a Blackjack employee who also moonlighted as a reporter to cover the event.

  Jo and Zack were sitting up late in her office. Judith had already gone to bed; she rarely lasted much past midnight. They were talking about the rally and weighing the performances of the various candidates. They agreed that both Emmy and Tim had been charming, and attractive to the crowd, and that Emmy had been a powerful voice.

  “Seems like a lot of people know Drew,” Jo said.

  Zack shrugged. “He’s been all over this casino since he learned to walk. Sure they know him. And people trust him. He’s a good kid.”

  “Yes he is. He’s careful, he thinks before he acts, and they can tell. He’s not a kid any more, either.”

  They sat quietly for a moment, Jo congratulating herself on the way things were going, Zack scribbling ideas for campaign posters in a notepad resting on the arm of the couch. They were comfortable together. Jo was as sure of his loyalty as she was of Samm’s. He’d been with the family for a dozen years. He worshipped Samm and his emotional attachment to the Colemans was very strong. Once, briefly, she’d wondered about his deep attachment to Samm, but he seemed to be working his way through a succession of women, just like Samm was.