by Marnee Blake
As they all slid into the car, Blue caught him by the sleeve. “Seth.” She stepped closer. She didn’t even come up to his shoulders, but he felt her presence like a weight. “Thank you. For staying calm and getting us out of there.”
Her eyes were so blue. When she looked at him like this, exposed, he had the strongest urge to pull her into his arms again. He resisted this time. They didn’t have time.
As the moment stretched, she looked like she wanted to say more. When she didn’t, he opened the back door and swept his arm to motion her in. “Yeah. No problem. Let’s go.”
They turned onto Route 50 going east and headed out of town. It didn’t take long, because Seth was driving. Good thing it was flat here. Maybe they wouldn’t get killed. But flat meant easier to spot from a helicopter. She wasn’t the only one peeking at the rearview mirror, checking for followers.
As the car ate up the miles and the inhabitants sat in silence, Blue replayed the conversation at the hotel room.
What Kitty said changed everything.
If they were suffering from physical problems, then none of them—not even Jack and Luke—could afford to run. They probably should be checked by a doctor. But they couldn’t exactly show up at a hospital.
She gritted her teeth. Goddamn Goldstone. What had they done to them? It was all so unfair. No one in Glory caused problems for the corporation. And now they were all dead. Hell, with her health issues, she could be dying, too.
Seth had a point. She’d come to rely on his judgment. If they went to the army, as he’d suggested, they would have access to medical care. Goldstone wouldn’t mess with the army.
Would they?
While a kernel of doubt niggled at her stomach, she couldn’t deny that the nosebleeds and headaches were unsettling. She hadn’t connected her headache and nosebleed on the train to the drug, but if Seth and Kitty had side effects, too… She couldn’t ignore that. They should stay together.
That she wanted to stay with him, that leaving him now hurt in a spot she didn’t want to poke too hard, well, that wasn’t important, was it?
His voice cut into her thoughts. “So, who did it?”
“Did what?” She glanced at him in the rearview mirror.
“Someone tipped them off.” Seth met her eyes, his brow low, and she nodded, amazed again at how easily she understood what he meant.
Of course. It was the only possible explanation. How else would they have known they were there? “Someone used a phone or their credit card. Called someone. Something.”
“No one called. You made us all take the batteries out of our phones, remember? You said batteries make them traceable.” Next to her, Luke looked genuinely confused. Not him, then.
“Yes, but someone had to have reached out,” Seth pushed from the front. He didn’t bother to signal as he wove around a lone car on the empty highway. “I didn’t see anything. There wasn’t anyone following us. We’d lost them. Then suddenly, they were there.”
“I’ve never even had a cell phone.” Kitty stared out the window. “And I wasn’t allowed my own credit cards.”
Not Kitty, either, then. Blue turned to Jack in the passenger’s seat.
“Oh, so it has to be me?” Predictably, his chin jutted out, and he glared at Seth. “Maybe you’re not as good as you think you are, Seth. Did anyone consider that maybe he’s giving us away for his own purposes? You guys are so quick to trust him, but what if army boy here is involved in this?”
Blue opened her mouth to light him up when Kitty cut her off.
“He did it.” Kitty didn’t even turn. “Called his aunt in Trinidad from the hotel phone. He was worrying about her.”
“Thanks, Kitty.” Jack crossed his arms over his chest, sulking.
“You were worrying about her?” Blue didn’t know whether she was more surprised that he cared enough to check on his aunt or if she was more pissed that he’d jeopardized them all.
“Yeah.” He said it grudgingly, as if she’d caught him with porn instead of being nice to his relatives.
“Well?”
“Well, what?” he grumbled.
She rolled her eyes. “Well, is she okay?” She didn’t like the idea that other people would be hurt because of them.
He looked like he didn’t want to answer. Finally, he nodded. “Yeah. She’s fine. They asked her where I was, and she didn’t know. Then they asked her a bunch of other questions about me and my family. About everyone in Glory. Nosy bastards.”
Seth slammed the butt of his hand on the steering wheel. “Damn it, Jack. You don’t think.”
“You’re not my mom. I can call whoever I want.”
His defensiveness was getting old. She swatted him on the back of the head. “Maybe you’re the shit at USC, maybe your football buddies kiss your ass, but here we all need to work together. You’re not the only one you affect with stupid behavior.” Next to her, Kitty covered her ears and curled in on herself, but Blue was too angry to stop. Jack needed to hear this. “What if they had caught us? Do you have any idea what they plan to do with us? They killed everyone else. Do you think they’ll ask us some questions and let us go?”
He spun in his seat and gritted through his teeth, “I didn’t ask for this to happen. All of this. Being stuck with you guys. Losing everything. Did you know I would have started this year? Next year, I could have been drafted. I could have been rich, damn it.” His voice had risen, and now, he shouted. “Instead, I come home, my family dies, and my whole life gets ruined. You guys just don’t get it.”
He breathed heavily after his outburst, staring at her. And she realized he was right. He hadn’t asked for this. None of them had. It wasn’t fair, and he had the right to be mad. They all did. Lord knew she was pissed off, too. But it wasn’t useful. It didn’t change anything.
Ahead of them, each dotted line in the center of the road faded as the car ate up the highway. Finally she spoke. “You know, Jack. I get it. You’re mad. So am I. Maybe I wouldn’t have ever been rich. Maybe I wouldn’t even have gone to college. But this wasn’t how I’d planned things, either. I’m sure Seth and Luke and Kitty feel the same. Bottom line, though? You need to think of someone besides yourself sometimes.”
She fell back against the seat and crossed her arms over her chest. Of all the people to get stuck with, why did it have to have been him? The Murphys were gone, the Keilmans. Jack’s little sisters. Yet he remained, jerking up the works.
“Stop it, Blue. I can’t take any more.” Kitty’s whispered plea sounded like she would cry at any second. “Seth, please. Pull over.”
Seth must have heard her desperation, because he pulled the Maxima onto the shoulder. Kitty tugged on her door handle, spilling out onto the concrete.
Blue leaned over to check on her, only to find her kneeling on the pebble-covered concrete, retching.
Oh, God. What happened? Was this related to the nosebleeds, the headaches? She scurried out to sit next to her, rubbing her back and whispering soothing words. When the heaving stopped, Kitty started to sob.
Blue put a hand on her shoulder. “Kitty?”
“All of you…you need to stop. You fill my head. I can’t take it. But when I try to stop it…” She pressed her hands against her ears, her eyes clenched tightly. A bead of blood trickled from her nose.
“Oh, God. I’m sorry, Kitty.” Blue rubbed her hand across her back, making soothing noises and feeling awful. Kitty was suffering because of her, because of her stupid outbreak. She’d probably tried to shut her out and couldn’t.
All of this stuff sucked, but Kitty had it the worst. Listening to the lot of them… She’d lectured Jack a second ago about being selfish, but maybe she should take her own advice. She hadn’t been thinking of Kitty when she’d let her anger at Jack run wild in her head.
She needed to try harder, for Kitty, especially until they could figure this stuff out a little better. They all did. “Hang on one second.”
Blue scooted into the car and rooted arou
nd in the backpack Seth had dropped on the floor in the back. She found a bottle of water. But before she rejoined Kitty, she addressed the guys, piercing each of them with an I’m-serious-and-won’t-take-any-crap glare. “Listen. Kitty’s sick of us clogging up her head with our bullshit. I’m as much at fault as you guys. But I’m going to get her settled down, and then we’re going to spend the rest of this trip thinking about puppies and rainbows. Me included. Okay?”
She met each of their eyes separately. Seth and Luke looked appropriately chagrined. Even Jack nodded. Good. She ducked back outside and handed Kitty the water. “We’re going to be better. I swear.”
Kitty looked at her, her eyes still watery. But she nodded and took a sip of water, spitting it out, before drinking heavily, her hand pressed against her forehead.
Then they both climbed back into the Maxima.
Seth started them off again, quickly accelerating to his characteristic light speed. The silence became heavy and remained so for long minutes. Finally, he spoke. “Thanks for not throwing up in the Maxima, Kitty. I think I can safely say—from all of us—that it’s much appreciated.”
Kitty sputtered and then gave a shaky laugh. The rest of them joined in, the tension broken. Blue met Seth’s eyes in the mirror. She tried to convey her thanks, to let him know that she appreciated him trying to soothe her friend.
But when the laughter subsided, they lapsed back into silence and remained that way through the night. Blue tried to think about puppies and rainbows. She really did. Exhausted, she drifted in and out of sleep, though, and she couldn’t help what happened in her dreams.
Chapter Twelve
The trip to San Antonio took the rest of the night and half of the next day. Blue hated it. Long car trips weren’t her thing. They reminded her of the summer after she turned seven. She and Gran drove to Utah to see her mom on some commune. Mom had been calling and begging Gran to bring Blue to visit. Telling Gran that she’d cleaned herself up, and she was ready to be a mother. Gran had been so hopeful. The trip there had been great. They sang along to the radio and played I Spy.
When they arrived, though, they never got unpacked. They stayed for an hour before Gran decided she’d had enough. She tucked Blue back in her old Buick Skylark, and they headed home. Gran remained silent the entire trip, a real feat as the ride took more than eight hours. Blue sat next to her in misery, afraid she’d done something wrong. Years later, she realized Gran’s silence probably had little to do with her and everything to do with her mother being high and exhibiting a distinct lack of clothing. As in, no clothes. On anyone. But for a long time, all Blue remembered was wishing she could sink into the front seat and disappear.
This silent trip wasn’t much better. They took turns driving and sleeping, except Seth cut Kitty’s turn short, asking her if she might need a break. She scowled at him but agreed. Didn’t take a mind reader to see that Kitty’s strict adherence to the speed limit made him itchy.
They stopped at three rest stops and hit two different fast food restaurants. Luckily, one stop was breakfast and she could get an egg sandwich, which left her only one run-in with the lunch/dinner menu. The trip was bad enough. Being forced to eat French fries for two meals might have been the tipping point. She’d be barfing outside instead of Kitty.
At midafternoon, they crossed the San Antonio city limits.
They abandoned the car in the parking lot of a H-E-B grocery store then walked a half a mile before stopping at a coffee shop in a sketchy part of town.
Seth nodded toward the corner. “I’m going to use the pay phone.”
Amazing in this day that pay phones even existed. At least here, in a major city. She scanned the street, with its graffiti and broken sidewalk, the trash in the gutters. Then again, maybe folks here couldn’t afford cell phones. After all, she couldn’t afford a cell phone, either.
The rest of them nodded and trudged inside without another word. She scowled after them. They were heading for the air-conditioning while Seth went to make his call? Didn’t seem fair. Someone should have to tough out the Texas heat with him.
Blue looked up at him. How’d he look so good after being stuck in a car all day? Aside from some stubble on his face, he looked gorgeous. If anything, the stubble made him look even more yummy. It was really quite frustrating.
“I’ll go with you.”
“Thanks.”
She fell in step beside him. “You’re welcome.”
“You can go with the others, you know. I can do this by myself.”
“You’re not eight. I know you can use the phone.” She put her hands in her pockets, wishing she had some shorts. She was sweating in places she wished she wasn’t. “I thought you might like some company.”
Okay, so fine. She’d rather be with him than the others. Since their change, the rest of their ragtag group…they were falling apart. Seth was changed, too, but he seemed to be holding it together, for them. She admired that kind of strength. The kind of strength that made someone put aside their own bullshit to do what had to be done.
He reminded her that she was a fighter, too.
He glanced sideways, not breaking stride. “All right. Suit yourself.” It might have been her imagination, but she thought he sped up a little. She picked up her own pace to keep up.
Blue took a breath and began. “There was actually something I wanted to talk to you about. What you said at the hotel, about feeling responsible for us…”
“Yeah? Hold that thought,” he said as he stepped into the booth. He didn’t shut the door, probably to keep a breeze going in there, and she was tempted to follow him in. She might have, if it wasn’t so god-awful hot.
He picked up the phone and dropped in some coins, effectively stopping what she’d say.
Well, if he thought this would deter her, he didn’t know her very well yet. She wasn’t going anywhere.
She sat on the bench next to the phone. She fingered the carvings in the wood. Someone named Shandra loved Darnell. The idea of the couple sitting close on this bench, digging their names out together, was sweet. The possibility of either Shandra or Darnell alone, memorializing an unrequited love, made her sad.
“Hey, it’s me.” Inside the booth, Seth greeted his friend. “Yeah. I know. Man, I know. I’m sorry, I got held up.” Sounded like Nick was giving him an earful. “No, it’s a really good reason. I can’t explain over the phone.”
He turned around, his movements jerky, clearly agitated. “Yeah, I know I’m late, and yeah, I know this isn’t my cell. I know. But, listen…can you come pick me up? Yeah, I know. Please, Nick, it’s important. I need your help.” Seth blew out a relieved sigh. “Thanks, man. Really.”
It seemed Nick could hear the seriousness in his friend’s voice and had given in. Blue’s regard for him increased. A friend who set aside his own gripes to help out with no explanations, even when he was pissed? That was a good friend.
“Can you bring something to carry six people?” A pause. “I know your car doesn’t have enough room. Is Jeremy there? We need his Tahoe. They don’t care if they’re uncomfortable for a few minutes. Trust me.” Another pause. “No, I’m not smuggling illegals. Christ.”
Blue smiled. She might like this Nick. And if Seth trusted him, then maybe she could, too. Maybe. She was still thinking about it.
She listened while Seth rattled off their location. “See you in fifteen, then. And Nick? Really, thanks. I owe you big-time.”
She heard the phone hit the cradle and then a moment later, lift again. Who was he calling now?
“La Junta Police Department,” he said, speaking slowly. “Connect now.”
Was he talking to 411?
“Hello. I wanted to report a stolen car.” A pause. “Yes, it’s in the parking lot of the H-E-B in San Antonio, Texas, on Nogalitos Street. It’s a Toyota Maxima, black. Thank you very much.”
Then the phone dropped heavily into the cradle again, and he stepped out.
“You called in the car?”
He shrugged. “Yeah. I thought they should come and get it before someone stripped it bare tonight.” He tucked his hands in his back pockets. “What, you thought you were the only humanitarian here?”
She squinted up at him in the sunshine. He oozed defensiveness, and she took a fortifying breath. “I’m coming with you. To North Carolina or wherever.”
He opened his mouth to talk, and she barreled forward, not giving him a chance. “You’re right. We need to find out what’s going on. With the headaches and nosebleeds… Look at what’s happening to Kitty. Both of us have had nosebleeds, too, and after what happened to me on the train…” She shook her head. “We can’t afford to ignore this, go hide somewhere, and pretend everything is going to go away.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. As he gazed down at her, his eyes were in shadow, the sun directly overhead. She couldn’t see what he was thinking, but she figured now was as good a time to air things out as any.
“Seth… About what you said at the hotel…about how you’re afraid you’ll get us killed…”
He glanced away, his arms falling. “Listen, Blue, I don’t really want to talk about this…”
She ignored him. “None of this is your fault. You’re the only reason we’ve come this far. You have to see that. You aren’t going to let us down.” She wanted to add that she believed in him. But she already felt like she’d said too much.
“Just wait. It’s only a matter of time.” He tried to brush by her, and she grabbed his arm.
“What happened to you? You can’t believe that.”
His mouth opened, and his eyes…they were a mosaic of emotion. “I told you about my friend. The one who died? Right?” She nodded, her throat tight. “I was supposed to be protecting him,” he said, through gritted teeth. “Instead, he died. On my watch. Because I made a mistake.”
She shook her head. “No…”
“Yes.” He nodded. “And he died, Blue. He died.”