Except I’m not wearing shoes with laces.
I fumble at my boot anyway.
The girl tilts her head, plushie dangling from one hand. Her little eyebrows pinch together. Then her gaze flicks to Cassian at the driver’s window.
And just like that, she turns and bolts.
My stomach drops through the pavement.
“Oh my god,” I whisper.
We can’t run after a kid in the middle of a parking lot without turning into a headline.
Two weirdos seen chasing child near supermarket.
No. Absolutely not.
So I just… sit there. Breathing through my teeth. Staring at the gap she vanished into.
Okay. Great.
Let’s just hope this ends with her having one too many insane action dreams, not with her mother coming back with security and a phone already dialed.
Nathaniel’s eyes flick to me.
I nod once, the smallest nod I’ve ever given in my life.
Stay on mission.
Above us, Cassian keeps going.
“I can help you with this,” he says. “It’s five minutes, man.”
“I don’t need… I said…”
Cassian doesn’t push in an aggressive way. He pushes like a guy who genuinely doesn’t want another guy to ruin his day.
“I’m not trying to tell you what to do,” Cassian says. “Just…”
“Can’t you get a fucking hint?” the driver snaps. “Fuck off, dude.”
My blood goes cold.
Every alarm bell in my head starts screaming.
Now what? Now what? Now what?
Cassian goes quiet for half a second.
Then he lets it go.
“Alright,” he says. “Okay. Sorry. Have a good one.”
And he steps back.
I can’t see his face from here, only his boots. But I can feel the switch, the friendly act dropping away as Cassian comes back online underneath it. He turns from the window. As he walks, he lifts a hand and scratches the back of his neck. It looks meaningless, except for the way his fingers flick twice.
Stay.
