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Home of the Brave

Page 39

by Caitlyn O’Leary

The Honda waited where I'd left it. I climbed in and sat there, gripping the steering wheel.

A tap on my window made me jump.

Mike from the roller coaster line stood there, his family waiting by their minivan a few spots over.

I rolled down the window. "Hi."

"I saw what you did. With that little girl." He smiled. "My boys wanted me to tell you that Natasha Blade is awesome. And that you're really nice."

My throat closed.

"Thanks."

"You have a good rest of your day, Miss Lord. Hope you enjoyed your escape."

He walked back to his family before I could respond. Sarah waved. Tommy, still wearing my sunglasses, waved too. The boys bounced in their seats as Mike started the minivan.

I sat there long after they left, watching the parking lot empty. The sun touched the horizon, painting everything gold and orange.

I'd come here to be nobody. Just Katherine, not Kit Lord. But maybe that was impossible. Maybe I'd been Kit Lord for so long that Katherine had faded away entirely.

Or maybe, helping Emma find her mom, making Tommy laugh, those were the Katherine moments.

I started the engine and headed back toward Jasper Creek.

I saw Angelica's Corvette in the Whispering Pines Inn parking lot. I checked the time. Six o'clock. She must be done visiting Millie.

I made it three steps toward my room before Angelica burst through her door.

"Where the hell have you been?" She grabbed my arm. "Six hours, Kit. Six hours without telling anyone where you were going."

"I went for a drive."

"For six hours? Without telling anyone? Without a phone?" She paced. "Kit, someone's trying to destroy you. You can't just disappear."

The weight of everything crashed back down. She was right. I'd been selfish, careless.

"I'm sorry."

Angelica sucked in a deep breath. "Yeah, well. You're okay, that's the important thing. We need to get you a phone. Now."

She was dialing before I finished speaking. "Jase? Yeah, she's back. We need a clean phone." She listened, then nodded. "Got it. Thanks."

She hung up and fixed me with a look. "You're going to Onyx. Code will set you up with a secure phone."

"I can just buy⁠—"

"No. You need something clean, untraceable. Code knows what he's doing."

"Fine."

"And Kit?" She pulled me into a hug. "Don't disappear again."

"I won't. I promise."

She released me. "Stop at Down Home Diner on your way. Bring dinner. Boys like Code forget to eat when they're working."

"How do you know he's working?"