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As Kana said goodbye to Rafael, Alex lingered for a half second longer than he should have. He’d come for answers and was leaving with more questions—same as always. He would never admit he missed coming to Rafael for advice the way he did when he was younger. But the ache was there, quiet and stubborn. He would settle for whatever thin connection they still had, even as their paths kept splitting further apart.

“Hey, Augs!” Juan called after them. “She’s a keeper!”

Kana’s jaw dropped, her face flushing the color of her skirt. Hal snickered up ahead. Alex flipped Juan off and slung his arm over Kana’s shoulder, steering them after Hal’s trail.

They walked in silence until Kana shrugged his arm away and briskly pulled ahead. “I can walk by myself, thanks,” she muttered, tossing her empty esquites cup at an overfilled trash can.

Under the parking lot lights, Alex caught the red burning at the tips of her ears. He looked away before his thoughts went anywhere stupid.

“Yo!” Hal waited for them at the end of a parking row, just steps from the closed grocery store’s entrance. He pointed towards the far side of the building, where the lot slanted down into a steep slope. The cameras down here stopped working years ago—no one bothered to fix them when the Garras claimed the lot. “This way.”

“So do we know what this Luis person looks like?” Kana asked, her short legs keeping pace with them. “’Cause I am not down to have every guy introduce themselves to me.”

“Relax, princess,” said Alex. “You don’t have to put yourself out there. We can probably find some clues by looking in the cars.”

“You know who Luis is, right?” Hal asked, looking over his shoulder.

“Yeah,” said Alex, half lying. As much as he wanted to, he still couldn’t conjure up a face. “What was his car again?”

“I think it was a Prius.”

Alex snorted. “Fuck, I forgot about that.”

“Wait,” said Kana. “Didn’t your buddy from earlier say he got some new wheels? Doesn’t that mean a new car?”

“Ah shit,” Hal groaned. “Guess we gotta start from scratch.”

They hit the bottom of the slope, and the building’s foundation revealed itself. A worn blue gate guarded a parking garage tucked below the store. Bad dubstep rattled the concrete walls.

They ambled through the aisles. Doors hung open on both sides—Garras draped over hoods, high or drunk or both. Empty red cups and glass bottles littered the ground around them. Loud conversations competed with the bass, men with their arms around women in heavy makeup and tight costumes.

Alex glanced back at Kana, a reminder that pretty girls existed outside of this world too. She was leaning over a white Aston Martin Vanquish, peering through the window at the red leather interior. An expensive sports car like that had no business being here, sandwiched between modded Civics and low riders.

“Hey, you dig it?” Some guy materialized out of nowhere—red and black flannel, jeans a size too tight, leaning against the Vanquish’s rear panel with the kind of forced coolness that made Alex’s teeth itch.

Kana straightened up. “I mean,” she said with a tight smile, “it is a pretty sweet car.”

“If you want, I can take you for a ride.”

Alex’s jaw tightened at the sound of his vocal fry. The guy was really going for it.

Kana shook her head. “I’m good. Thanks.”

The guy leaned in closer. Kana stepped back.

“You know, I haven’t seen you around here.” His cap bill was nearly touching her bangs, his eyes crawling over her. Alex’s fists clenched. “I used to think emo girls were attention seekers back in high school. But damn, maybe I was wrong. ’Cause you’re really hot. Sure you don’t want a ride?”

Alex stormed over, grabbed the guy, and slammed him into the car.

Kana grabbed his arm. “Stop! Augs, don’t hurt him!”

Instead of fighting back, the guy’s eyes went wide. Recognition flashed across his face—first fear, then a pained, nervous grin. He squeaked a laugh. “Augs? As in Aguila Ju—?”

He hissed as Alex dug his thumb into his left clavicle.

“Don’t fucking touch her,” Alex snarled. “She said no, so you better respect her.”

“Okay, okay!” The guy whimpered, shaking hands raised in surrender.