“Can you put the guns away around the kids, please?” I ask.
Hickey considers it for a moment. Then he opens his mouth, but something else catches everyone’s attention. At first it just sounds like the wind blowing through the trees—just a lowwhoosh. But it’s getting louder.
On the road to our right, several vehicles approach, led by an old-looking beige-and-maroon RV.
Their reinforcements have arrived.
“Christ,” I say. “You really had to send this many people to find us?”
But Hickey looks anxious. He shakes his head. “They aren’t ours.”
Fort Caroline. No, no, no, they can’t be here already. They said it would take weeks. But maybe Hickey radioed ahead and warned them to use a new route that wouldn’t take as long.
Shit. I start to panic, trying to figure out how we can get out of this. How we can escape them again. But my mind is racing so much, thinking about how the last time this happened they shot my boyfriend.
My chest feels like it’s going to cave in, and I can’t breathe.
The RV slows as it reaches us. This can’t be happening again. It isn’t until I look away from the caravan that I notice the others in Hickey’s group look confused. Like they weren’t expecting anyone either.
Then the RV speeds up and the other vehicles follow suit. They pass us, and Hickey shouts for his people to stop them.
What is happening? All I know is the vehicles pass without stopping, and one of Hickey’s men with a rifle runs into the road, pointing after them.
“Don’t shoot!” Hickey yells. “Take one of the trucks. Follow themand see what their story is.”
Three of his men get in the truck and speed after them. Which means there are three fewer people we have to escape from.
For now.
But I have no clue how to protect all the kids, Cara, Daphne, Amy, Rocky Horror, Kelly,andJamie. We’ve been outnumbered before, but now we have others to worry about.
Sunset comes and goes, but the truck doesn’t come back, so Hickey and his group set three large bonfires in the middle of the road. They have us set up the kids between two of them. The rest surround us on the sides of the road while two keep a lookout for the truck.
They leave us to ourselves, letting us feed the kids and put them to bed. Once they’re all asleep—except for Taylor, who seems determined to be involved in the adult conversation now that I said she wasn’t a child—we talk about our options.
To be honest, they aren’t great.
Either we wait until they fall asleep and make a run for it (with seven kids) or convince them to turn on Hickey and let us go (unrealistic as well). We all agree to sleep for the night and think it over. While Amy, Kelly, Cara, and Rocky Horror get themselves ready for bed, Daphne and I check on the kids.
“How you doing, sweetie?” Daphne asks.
I look over at Daria, who watches us with a sad frown. She really does not seem to want to be here. Maybe that’s something we can use. She might be able to convince the others to let us go.
“Fine,” I say. “Just... tired, I think. Tired of all this shit.”
Daphne reaches out and places a light hand on my cheek. When she speaks, her voice is low, barely audible over the crackling fires.
“If the two of you see a way to escape, take it.”
“I can’t leave the rest—”
“You can.” Her eyes crinkle as she smiles. “You both deserve your happy ending. We’ll all be fine, but the two of you are in danger. And the longer you stay, the more that danger grows.”
“What about Amy and Henri-Two? Rocky Horror? They tipped us off. If the Keys find out and tell Fort Caroline...” I don’t finish the sentence. Because I can’t even imagine it.
But Daphne shakes her head. “Don’t worry about them. They knew what they were doing when they took that risk. Besides, I’m the Gossip Queen of the Keys.” She laughs that contagious laugh of hers that I can’t help but smile at. “I’ll take the heat. What are they gonna do? Kill me?”
My smile drops. “Yes, Daph, exactly that.”
