Page 10
Wendy.
My heart jumps to my throat.
“Wendy?” The word comes out of me like a whisper. I clear my throat.
“I said I don’t want to!”
Her, again, and now I see the scene for what it is. Wendy, pressed back against that locked door under the awning, and these guys—
These two guys—
“Sure you do, sweetheart,” says the bigger one, thick-necked and thick-bellied. “Don’t be rude.”
“We’ve got candy,” snickers the skinny one. “Since you’ve already got a puppy.”
“Go away!” Wendy cries. “Please!”
Nana, spine arched like a Halloween cat, barks, a sharp little yip of a thing that sounds more scared than fierce.
And I’m…frozen.
I can’t move. I should move, I have to move, I have to get there and get her and do something, but I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. I’m stuck, again, helpless, watching the scene like I’m outside my body, waiting to see what will happen this time to this poor girl.
Except this time I’m not alone.
Blue strides right past me, and the crunch of his boots on the cinders is enough for the bigger guy to look up.
“Hey, brother.” His voice is casual, easy. “What’s good?”
“The fuck do you think you’re doing?” Blue snaps.
“For real?” The skinny one lets out a short laugh. When Blue doesn’t return it, he sags a little, like he’s sheepish. “Aw, come on. Do we gotta get into why we’re here? Why we’re”—he glances past Blue, to where Fox and Kit are jogging to catch up—“all here?”
“Cheap thrills,” his friend says. “Cheap fuckin’ thrills.”
And then I see her. Her tiny face peeking around from behind the corner. And just like that, I’m alive. I’m awake. I’m here, not watching through glass or frozen in time.
I can move. I can do something.
“Wendy.” I sidestep from next to Blue and motion for her. “Wendy, come here.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” The first guy flings out an arm like a traffic barrier before Wendy can even move, a puzzled look on his face as he takes me in. “You her little madam or something?”
“Leave the kid alone.” Fox. My heart squeezes. But I keep my focus.
“Wendy,” I try again. But Wendy’s hesitant, not meeting my eyes. Even Nana hasn’t let up her tense guard-dog posture.
“We’re just talking,” says Slim. He draws his hands out of the pockets of his cargo pants and slowly settles one on the shoulder of her T-shirt. “She knows what she’s doing down here, don’t you, sweetheart?”
Wendy doesn’t move. And all the breath leaves my lungs.
“The fuck she does.” Blue’s words cut through the ringing in my ears. “Let her go.”
“Hey, now. Wait your fuckin’ turn.” The thicker guy grins, his grizzled lips revealing brown teeth. But it’s a sick smile, a nothing’s-really-that-funny smile. “We’ll leave her in good condition.”
Blue socks him.
The crack of flesh on flesh is loud in the emptiness of the track, punctuated only by the staggered, scuffling steps backward as the guy stumbles for balance. He doesn’t get it, because Fox pummels in next, a low swing right to the stomach that doubles him over just in time for Kit to stick out a leg and trip him into the dust.
