Page 57 of Queen of Nothing

His chin is lifted, and he looks out in the direction of the markets.

I need to get out of here before he senses me.

Crowds are moving, smiling, laughing, waving and hollering. The parade is a burst of noise coming up the lane behind me.

Dray stills.

He pauses.

He senses.

I don’t give him the chance to even look this way before I throw myself back into the lane and go running towards the parade.

The panic swelling in me is both hot and cold. It’s the clamminess that spreads over my chest, my forehead, my cheeks, my hands, but it’s the ice creeping through my insides and tingling all the way down to my toes.

I don’t look where I’m going or even pause before I barrel into the crowd gathered on the street.

I knock into someone or something. I don’t stop to see what. I just throw myself between a father and a son to my left, hearing their shouts clash in the air as I run through the mob.

But I’m slow.

Too slow.

Blocked by people moving closer to the parade, reaching through the open space for beer cans being passed around.

In my fist, the phone vibrates, and I’d forgotten until now that I was even still holding it.

It buzzes over and over as I jolt and duck and turn and weave up Main Street.

Then I almost go tumbling over.

Not because I knock into anything.

Not because I trip.

Not because my boots suddenly plant on the hard pavement, suddenly unwilling to move another step—

Another step closer to Mr Younge.

My throat thickens.

I tighten my arms around Sal.

And slowly, I move. I walk closer to him, in his plain but tailored suit.

He moves towards me.

But his gaze isn’t on me.

He looks around, from face to face, person to person—then he stops right in front of me.

He stands in my way, turning towards the two women slumped against the wall, passing a chrome flask between them.

Both in their twenties, youthful smiles on their pretty faces—exactly the sort of illusion Mr Younge is looking for.

I step aside, then squeeze around his back.

I don’t stick around to hear what he says to them. I get out of the crowd, away from the parade, and dive into the market.