She rolled her eyes but did it anyway, picking up each micro-cam and palming it, then miming the touch against the wood of the kitchen table. The movements were delicate, precise. She could have been a surgeon, if she hadn’t ended up a hacker.
I caught her wrist when she went for the last cam. My thumb and forefinger circled her bones easy. “You ever think about just running?” I asked.
Her mouth twisted. “All the time. But I suck at hiding, and I’m not good company for myself. If I left, I’d just end up in a place like this, making trouble for a new set of psychos.”
I let go of her wrist, but not her gaze. “You’re not trouble.”
She snorted, but her cheeks went pink. “Liar.”
Rocket stood up with his paws on her lap. She talked to that dog like he was a person.
“I’m nothing but trouble, isn’t that right, boy? Yes, it is. Yes, it is.” She kissed his head. Then she looked up at me; those clear blue eyes were glossy with unshed tears.
“If I don’t come back, Eli, please take him. Don’t let him wind up back by a dumpster.”
I wrapped her in my arms. “You are coming back to him and to me.” I kissed her forehead.
We finished the run-through. She pocketed the cams and slid the thumb drive into her sock, the way girls used to hide cigarettes in high school. I checked the clock on the stove. Five minutes until she had to leave.
I leaned against the fridge, watched her stare at the coffee pot like she could will it to brew faster. The silence sat between us, heavy and tight.
“You sure you want to do this?” I asked one more time.
She looked at me, then past me, like she could see the whole mess laid out in advance. “I have to,” she said. “There’s no other way out.”
I walked over, caught her chin in my hand, forced her to look at me. “You’re not going to die.”
“Promise?” she said, the word almost a joke.
“Promise,” I said, and it was as close to a prayer as I’d ever gotten.
She stood, tucked her hair behind her ear on the unshaved side, then zipped up the collar to her chin. “You gonna walk me out?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Can’t let you get mugged in your driveway.”
She turned and looked at that pup. “You take care of the big guy, okay, Rocket? He needs all the help he can get.” I swear that little dog winked at her.
Outside, the air had a winter chill. The sky was black already, clouds edged with orange from the city to the east. We stood on the porch, side by side, the silence familiar. She jangled her car keys, then looked up at me. “If I’m not back by midnight—”
“I’ll come for you,” I said.
She grinned. “I know. That’s what scares me.”
She made it to the end of the walk, then turned. “Hey, Eli?”
“Yeah?”
“Keep your eyes on me tonight, okay?”
I nodded. “Hey, Parker?” She stopped before shutting her car door. “Come to my house when you’re done. I’ll have the dog with me.”
She slid into her car, started it, and pulled away with no hesitation. I stood in the yard, hands in my pockets, watching her taillights disappear into the dark.
“I love you, little bird.”
The wind cut through the seams in my jacket. I didn’t shiver. I didn’t blink.
She was driving straight into hell, and I had to trust her to come back in one piece.
