A beat later, the engine started.
“You good here?” I asked him, my eyes still locked on the kids.
“Yeah.” He threw me a tight smile over his shoulder. “Go.”
I forced myself to walk at a relaxed pace to Sadie’s car. Every nerve sparked to life, and I trained my ears for sounds behind me. The kids threw taunts and laughter my way, but no footsteps came.
As soon as I dropped into the passenger seat and shut the door, Sadie gave me a quick smile and hit the central lock.
“Let’s go home,” I said.
“Not yet. I need to hit every ATM in the area first.” Her voice had already gained strength, as if she’d already reset and calmed herself. “We need cash more than ever now.”
The scent of burnt cloth and plastic leaked through the vents. She threw the car into drive and performed a fast U-turn, heading straight past the store.
Drew had made his way back inside the main doors and waved as we zipped by. One of the arsonists shouted something we hadno chance of hearing over the hum of the engine, and I lifted my middle finger in a final salute.
In the side mirror, flames spread higher, and black smoke filled the sky. My jaw tensed as I took it all in. Was this just a case of boredom or our new normal?
Either way, if Sadie had made the trip alone…
I didn’t want to finish that thought.
Now I had Dustin to worry about at home, and every other asshole outside of the building.
Five
sadie
“Igot you some supplies while I was out with Theo this morning,” I said, handing a plastic bag over to Laura’s husband, Owen.
I’d dropped a similar goodie bag off to Tim and Varesh a few minutes ago, but they were expecting the delivery. Owen, not so much. He held it against his body and peeked inside, too curious about the contents to catch my mention of Theo. “What’s this for?”
I stood at the open doorway of his apartment wearing my mask, sticking with our rule of keeping them on in shared spaces for twenty-four hours after public outings. “Maybe nothing,” I said. “Hopefully nothing. It’s just in case.”
“Ah, you’re worried about the meeting, too?” Owen had dark hair cut in a wonky fade, courtesy of his twelve-year-old daughter, Willow. He ran a hand over his moustache, his deep brown eyes locking on mine. “You think it’s going to take a turn?”
I shrugged. I’d seen enough conflicting reports to know I was guessing just like everyone else. “I don’t know, but even if nothing happens, the payment terminal was down at the store this morning, and all the ATMs in the area are empty. We’re going to run out of ways to buy what we need soon.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “We’ve got a small amount of cash, but it’s getting harder to stay positive when it’s obvious which direction it’s heading,” he said. “Laura’s been on edge. She cracks jokes all the time to make life less stressful for the girls, but there’s an underlying—”
“Tension?”
His mouth curved on one side, revealing the dimple in his left cheek. “You’re not the only one who’s feeling it.”
I crossed my arms over my chest as a tremor moved through me. Part of me hoped he’d say I was overreacting, maybe hand the weapons back and say thanks, but no thanks. “Now I feel better and worse.”
“Sorry.” Owen reached inside the bag and pulled out a serrated, fixed-blade knife in a sheath. He held it up and examined it from different angles, whistling at its sheer size. “You picture it getting this bad?”
“Yes and no,” I said. “We saw some kids set a car on fire while we were out.” The smell of smoke still clung to my hair, a pungent reminder of how close we'd been to danger. “I haven’t seen anything like it before.”
“Me neither.” He pursed his lips and gave the knife another inspection. “I guess it’s better to have it and not need it than to wish we had it later.”
“Exactly.” Relief loosened my limbs, and I smiled under my mask. “I just don’t want to be blindsided by anything.”
“I get it. Might have to hide this from Laura, though,” he said. “She’s got some opinions about Kerger that lean towardviolence. Hand her a weapon like this, and she might get stabby.”
I'd already heard those opinions straight from Laura. “Well, I wouldn’t be against it,” I said, glancing at the stairs and making sure he wasn’t on his way up here. “I always thought of him as more annoying than threatening, but now I’m on Laura’s side.”
