Page 136 of Hellbent

Evan looked at the boy calmly until he settled onto his heels. David shook his head, eyes welling. “I don’t want to be a nobody.”

Evan said, “You go down this road, that’s all you’ll ever be.”

At that, Joey touched her hand to her mouth as if trying to stop something from escaping.

“Maybe so,” David said. “But it’s my road.”

Evan watched him for ten seconds and then ten seconds more. Not a thing changed in his expression.

Evan said, “Stay here.”

He walked over toward the Dumpster, Joey trailing him. They huddled up, facing the minivan to keep an eye on David.

Joey looked rattled. “We have to change his mind.”

“It’s not gonna happen,” Evan said.

“So we just what? Leave him for Van Sciver to pick up again?” She took a few agitated breaths. “He’ll kill him, you know. Sooner or later, directly or indirectly.”

Evan said, “Unless.”

“Unless what?”

Evan cleared his throat, an uncharacteristic show of emotion.

“Unless what?” Joey repeated.

“We take him public.”

She gawked at him.

“He doesn’t know anything yet,” Evan said. “Not one proper noun in his head.”

“He knew Tim Draker. And Jack.”

“Both of whom are dead. Anything he has to say about them will sound like a foster-kid fantasy.”

The words were so true that saying them out loud felt like a betrayal.

“There’s safety in exposure,” he said. “No one wants a spoiled asset.”

“Then why didn’t Jack just do it months ago?”

“Tim Draker was alive. I’m sure he wanted to get David back once it was safe.”

Joey flipped her hair over, revealing the shaved band. She lowered her head, crushed shards of glass with the toe of her sneaker. “I don’t know. It’s a risk.”

“Everything’s a risk. We’re juggling hand grenades.”

She didn’t respond.

Evan said, “With everything else going on, with us still out here, you really think Van Sciver’s gonna burn resources and risk visibility for a screwed-up thirteen-year-old kid?”

She fussed with her hair some more. Then she pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaled. “Okay,” she said. “Fuck. Okay.”

When she looked up, all emotion was gone, her features blank.

She walked back over to David, her hand digging in her pocket. She came out with the phone in the stupid Panda case, held it four feet from David’s face. The shutter-click sound effect was more pronounced than necessary.