Aaron dragged a chair out and sat heavily. “Yeah, I already did.”
“Hell of a thing,” Uncle Will repeated. And then tilted his head as if he was in thought. “Though he was always a smart kid. I guess it’s better to have him on the side of the angels, as goddamn surprising as it is.”
Aaron couldn’t help curling his lip at Uncle Will’s expression. He couldn’t imagine anyone ever calling what Quinn had been doing as being on the side of the angels. It was way too dark and dangerous for that. Quinn operated in the shadows, not the light.
Uncle Will took a bite of his burger, and chewed it slowly before swallowing, like a cow ruminating over cud. “He tells me he’s leaving,” he said. “With you and Charlie and Lennox.”
“That’s the plan,” Aaron said, guilt stabbing at him for Uncle Will having to hear it from Quinn, and not him.
“Doesn’t sound like much of a plan to me, son,” Uncle Will said, raising his eyebrows. “In fact, it sounds just as cockeyed as the rest of all this bullshit, like Quinn going to face Jimmy without backup.”
Aaron’s stomach clenched. “He knows what he’s doing.”
Uncle Will huffed out a breath. “I’m pretty fucking sure he’s got no idea, actually.”
Aaron curled his fingers into fists, his heart pounding. What if Uncle Will was right? Quinn had always been reckless—it was exactly what Aaron had always been unable to resist about him. What if that hadn’t changed?
“Aaron,” Uncle Will said, his voice firm, “I want you to leave town. You and Charlie and Lennox.Now.”
Aaron shook his head, “We’re waiting for Quinn. We said we’d wait.”
Uncle Will held Aaron’s gaze. “He can catch you up, kid.”
“No. We promised we’d wait.”
Everything—everything—had gone wrong last time because they hadn’t waited. And all three of them, Aaron and Quinn and Charlie, had spiraled off into different, shitty directions, because they should have found a way to stick together. Aaron could see it clearly now: it hadn’t just been his dad’s death that had broken him. It had been losing Quinn and Charlie as well. And he wasn’t going to make that mistake again.
Uncle Will’s phone buzzed, and he took it out of his pocket and squinted at the screen. “Well, that’s all I need.”
“What?”
Uncle Will rolled his eyes. “One of my deputies has called in sick for tonight. Guess I’m working a night shift!” He reached out and clasped his warm hand around Aaron’s wrist. “I mean it though, son. Don’t wait for Quinn. Or, if you have to, don’t wait out in the open when you might have a goddamn target on your back!”
“Why would I have a target on my back?” Aaron asked, his stomach twisting. “The clan doesn’t know about me and Quinn.”
“What?” Uncle Will shook his head. “Well, not you, maybe, but the kid. Jimmy isn’t going to take care of the line of succession and leave Quinn’s kid out of it, is he?”
“Yeah,” Aaron said. “That’s good advice. We’ll wait out of town maybe.”
“Good. That’s good.” Uncle Will looked relieved. “First bit of common sense I’ve heard all day. Now, I’m gonna go keep an eye on Quinn as best as I can, from a distance, because I don’t give a damn what he told me. He might need backup after all.”
A banging on the front door startled Aaron.
“It’s us!” Charlie called.
Aaron rose and made his way to the door, leaving Uncle Will to finish his burger and fries. He barely had the door open before Lennox was rushing in, wearing a pinched, pale face and a backpack that looked to be bursting at the seams.
Charlie followed with an old suitcase on wheels. “We’re taking your truck, right? That was the plan?”
“Yeah,” Aaron said.
Lennox had already walked through to the kitchen. “Hi, Sheriff Henderson!”
Aaron heard Uncle Will answer him, his voice warm with good humor.
Charlie raised her eyebrows. “The fuck?”
“He already knows,” Aaron assured her. “Quinn told him. About being a cop, and about how we’re getting the hell out of here.”
