I open my mouth to protest, but Armhurts puts her hand out to stop me.
“We’ll do our intelligence gathering and put some truth to your story, then Shang will go on trial. In the meantime, you’ll want somewhere to lay low and stay safe. He has a lot of men in the city. Anywhere come to mind?”
No.
“Yeah, I’ve got a place.”
“What’s the address?”
I shake my head to buy some time. “I’ve only been there once; I’ll have to get you the address when I get home.”
“We’ll send someone with you.”
Gosh dang it…
“Yeah, probably for the best,” I mumble.
“Your brother and your grandmother are in the waiting room,” the man says.
My heart lurches in my chest.
“You can go sit with them while we finish some paperwork and assign an officer to follow you home.”
I get up, eager to see them, to know they’re okay. The detectives escort me with silent stoicism that makes me even more anxious to get out of their hold. We turn this way and that through the halls until an icy cold sense of dread smashes into me and my steps stutter.
Zhao Shang is here.
The urge to run prickles in my feet, but I can’t let it rattle me. Of course he’s still here. They haven’t moved him to a more secure location yet because it’s late and prisoner transfers happen in the daytime. So say the shows I’ve watched…
We make it to the front and have to be buzzed through. I see my brother on the other side of the grated window. His dark hair is ruffled and there’s a new blue streak in it. There are bags under his eyes, and his hoodie looks way too lived-in. I need to wash it for sure.
He jumps up when he sees me and runs toward the other door. I get through the second checkpoint and he hugs me before I can even get all the way through to the lobby. For being seven years younger than me, he’s still somehow taller by an inch. I hate it. Still, the hug is warm and comforting. I didn’t realize just how much energy was trapped inside me until his embrace let me know I could release it.
All at once, I feel tired.
“Jiejie, you scared us,” he murmurs, his voice cracking.
Grandma Feng is still sitting down, tilted to one side. Her white hair frames her face as she apparently sleeps in the lobby chair. The firm grip on the cane across her lap tells me otherwise. Old woman is always playing the sly deceiver.
“Sorry, buddy, I didn’t mean to,” I say, squeezing him tighter.
We pull back and I walk with him to Nai Nai. She rouses immediately, propping her cane on the ground and shooting up like a spry sprout.
“You caught him,” she says with a wrinkly smile. “Good.”
This old bat can see things, like me, but instead of astral projecting she justknows shit. It’s creepy sometimes, but it’s good to know I’m not alone in my powers. I wonder if Zixin will get some, too.
“Weneed a place to stay,” she says, then pats down her sweater like she’s got the information with her right now.
She produces a printed sheet from one of her many knitted pockets and then turns a stern glare on my brother. “I knew you were entering my name in all those contests, Feng Zixin.”
He withers like a thirsty flower in the hot sun.
“But it’s a good thing you did. In the contest held by that nice man, we won a café.”
She unfolds the page to reveal the printed copy of a deed.
~~
