"Because his mother is his weak spot," Sharon pointed out. "And so long as he thinks you know about her, he'll come after you." She shrugged. "Some guys are weird about their mothers. But to his way of thinking, you've made it personal. He spent a lot of time crafting a mask for people, and you go and find his mom, blowing up this carefully-orchestrated lie. So long as he thinks you're the only one who knows, you're in trouble. I can handle that, though. Make you seem like a small fish not worth killing. Or at least keep him too distracted to follow-through with the kill." She took a swig of her beer. "The woman may not have anything to do with this but being someone's mother. But she's a monster's mother, which means she's a piece on the board."

She looked sideways at Karen. The woman couldn't be serious. "Yeah, you know how to use a gun. But guns can be taken away. Guns can be lost. Guns aren't going to help you when you don't have them with you. So yeah. Training. And you're going to hate me, but you're going to do it anyway." She grinned. "Because otherwise, he kills you. And if he kills you, it means he wins. And I don't think you want that."