I looked at Vale.
Vale had picked up a wrench from a bench and was examining it with the focus of a man who had removed himself entirely from the situation.
"This is the favor," I said. "This is what you drove me here for. To get taken apart by your ex."
"I never said the favor was for you," Vale said, not looking up from the wrench. "I said Kessler owes me. Kessler is going to make you something. Yumi runs the forge. This is how it works."
"You said the man in Santa Barbara."
"I said a man. Then I stopped saying anything, and you filled in the gaps, and the gaps were wrong, which is a recurring problem for you." He set the wrench down. "Yumi's father is Kessler. Yumi is better than Kessler. Kessler retired to a boat in Ensenada three years ago and left the forge to her. She's the one who makes weapons that shouldn't exist. I let you assume it was an old man because it's funnier this way."
"Everything with you is funnier this way."
"That's the only reason I'm still alive."
