I shook my head.
“What did you do?”
“Public display of gifts in the middle of the road.”
He cackled and finished the rest of his sandwich. “I bet I can guess what that was. What’s your name?”
I wasn’t sure if Major could hear us since he was several cells down, and I also didn’t know if he was aware that I was locked up in here. I decided to play it safe. “Jonie.”
“I’m Willie.”
“I know.” I gestured to his shirt.
He glanced down at the name tag. “Oh, yeah. Duh.”
I leaned forward. “If your uncle doesn’t know you come up here, why don’t you let me out? I can’t sit here for fifteen days.”
“Don’t worry about food. I can bring you some.”
I realized that Willie probably liked having the company and wouldn’t object to my serving the full sentence. I worried my lip and came up with a different approach. “I can give you something in exchange. Something very… special.”
His eyes lit up. “What?”
“I can’t tell you.”
He glanced at my backpack. “What is it? Come on. Tell me.”
“You have to promise to let me out. I won’t cause any trouble, and I’ll be on my way. Your uncle will never know. What do you say, Willie? Haven’t you ever wanted to do something crazy in your life? Why should your uncle have all the fun? You’re an adult, and you can make your own decisions.”
He sat back and rested on his palms. I knew enough about kids his age to guess what they wanted. Sex wasn’t on this guy’s radar, but he seemed aimless. Like a guy who just got stuck somewhere but didn’t have a quest or a purpose in life.
“It can be a secret mission,” I continued. “What fun is it having kids and grandkids if you don’t have stories to tell them?”
He tipped his head to the side and then shot forward. “Okay. If I promise to let you out, what do I get?”
“Besides an adventure to tell your grandkids? I’ll give you a Breed weapon.”
I hated to give up one of my daggers, but Shepherd had access to an arsenal.
He glanced at my backpack. “Uncle Al would never let you keep knives in your bag.”
“No, but I bet it’s in the front room. I know you wouldn’t just steal it, because you’re not that kind of guy. Besides, if I’m still in the cell, your uncle would figure out it was you. It’s my best one,” I said as if the offer were going fast. I stood up and turned away while scratching the back of my neck. “On second thought, maybe this isn’t such a good idea. I’m not sure if I should hand over such a prized weapon to a human.”
He shot to his feet. “You can’t take it back. A deal is a deal.”
I turned around. “This is too dangerous. I shouldn’t have made an enticing offer like that to a human. You should go home. This isn’t a place for a sweet kid like you.”
Willie kicked the empty sack and marched out of sight.
I held my breath. Had I misread him?
A minute later, he reappeared, a key ring orbiting around his twirling index finger. “Too late to back out of a deal. The dagger’s mine.”
I sighed and gave him a reluctant smile. “All right. You win.” I ambled toward the door when he opened it. “Are you sure about this, Willie?”
He walked out of the room with his chin high and a self-satisfied swing in his step. I followed behind with my bag and obscured my face from the other prisoner, just in case he could see me from his cell.
After shutting the heavy door, Willie hurried over to the locker and tugged at the handle. “Holy crow! Are all these yours?”
