The Children and the Blood (18 page)

“We’ll find you somewhere.”

She looked back at Carter.

“We help people hide,” he explained. “It’s part of what we do. If you like, we can find a place for you with our friends. Somewhere guys like the one who attacked you today won’t find you.”

She stared at him, questions trying to rise. Guys like the one who attacked her. With nothing. Or who’d killed her dad. With nothing. And these people could hide her. She could be someplace the monsters wouldn’t find her.

Her gaze moved to the others. Their faces painted chiaroscuro by the firelight, they regarded her expressionlessly.

“Who are you people?” she asked.

Carter paused. “We’re people who’ll help get you away from this mess,” he said carefully. “If you want us to.”

She hesitated. More questions struggled to surface, but faded into insensibility at the look in the others’ eyes. They wouldn’t answer. Except for Carter, they didn’t seem like they trusted her at all.

But they’d get her away from this. They’d put her someplace safe.

Elation hit guilt, and dissolved into a mush she couldn’t sort through. She’d have safety. And Dad and Lily, Jonathan and Rose would still be gone. She could be safe.

But not them. Never them.

She struggled to breathe as the pressure of Carter’s gaze made her look up. He was waiting for an answer.

“O-okay,” she agreed, sounding hoarse to her own ears. “But how…”

“Give us a bit,” he said when she trailed off. “I’ll make some calls. Most of us like to help each other, so don’t worry. We’ll find you a place to go.”

She blinked, still uncertain she could deserve safety when so many lay dead behind her.

Carter glanced to the others. “You rested up, Bus?”

The old man shrugged. “Much as ever.”

“Then let’s get out of here.”

Shouldering the shotgun, Bus headed to the van and then yanked open the side door, letting the dogs jump inside. Spider glanced to Carter as she and Samson walked past.

“Where’re we going?” she asked tersely.

“Gary and Annie aren’t too far from here,” Samson commented.

“Oh, yeah,” Bus called dryly from the driver’s seat. “They’d be thrilled to see us again.”

A wry grin tugged on Spider’s cold expression as she climbed into the van.

“Head south,” Carter said. “Wood moved out this way a few weeks back. We can stay with him while I make arrangements.”

He paused and glanced back. “You coming, Ashe?”

She flinched at the name and then stared at them. And just like that, someone was helping her. Taking her away from this. Just like that, it could be over.

While Lily, Dad and the others were dead in Montana somewhere. A few dumb little hours’ difference, and suddenly she was offered safety like a gift, while they were all dead.

On legs that felt like water, she walked toward the van.

As she neared the door, Carter put a hand on her arm, stopping her. “Hey,” he said quietly. “We’ll take care of you. Don’t worry.”

She nodded shakily and then followed the others inside.

The van drove through the night, rumbling along the interstate past homes and businesses that had gone to sleep hours before. Empty parking lots drowning beneath streetlamps burned her eyes, while in the abyss between signs of civilization, there was only a sea of stars.

She drifted for a time, her head resting on the side of the captain’s chair in the second row of the van. Up ahead, Carter quietly gave directions between crackles from a police scanner below the dash, and in the seat beside her, Spider kept watch on the road without ever looking her way. The dog from the hotel snored softly in the space between their chairs, while the other rested below Samson’s sleeping form on the bench behind her. Tala and Mischa, Carter had called them, respectively. Both massive German Shepherds, they nevertheless snuggled like puppies around the bases of the van seats.

Events of the day played back through her exhausted mind, blurring and shifting and losing all meaning as sleep and consciousness vied for control. Lily looked up from the cliff ledge with a smile, while Malden stepped back and avoided the flames. The boy drove them through the night, and for a moment she thought maybe they’d be able to get away.

Moisture soaked her palm where it cushioned her cheek and she jerked back, realizing she was crying. Furtively, she swiped the tears away and then cast a glance over her shoulder, but the others gave no sign of noticing. Swallowing, she rubbed her stinging eyes and returned to watching the world beyond the smoked windows of the van.

The clock on the dash glowed three by the time she heard Carter tell Bus to stop. Leaving the highway, they drove through a darkened town till at last, Bus parked the van in front of an apartment building with a radioactively bright security lamp outside. Blankets hung over many windows in place of curtains, and the electric blue glow of late night television flickered behind several of them. Overflowing garbage bins crowded the side of the building, and weeds clustered the chain-link fence circling the complex.

Turning in his seat, Carter glanced to Spider. “Be right back.”

He nodded to Bus, and then the two of them left the van.

“Hey,” Spider said, twisting around to nudge Samson. “Wake up.”

Scrubbing his face with a hand, he pushed away from the seat. “Where are we?”

“Wood’s place.”

He regarded the building with a clear tinge of skepticism, but said nothing.

Minutes passed, and then Carter returned. He pulled open the passenger side door, and then reached into the van to disconnect the police scanner beneath the dash. “Come on,” he told them.

Drawing a tired breath, Samson dragged a bag from under the seat, while in front of him, Spider did the same. Glancing to Ashley, the girl jerked her chin at the door. “Let’s go.”

Fumbling at the latch, Ashley pulled the door open and then stepped out into the cold night. Dogs barked in the distance and as they landed on the pavement, Tala and Mischa looked into the darkness, attentive to the noise.

Carter pushed the gate open and, with Spider and Samson behind her, Ashley trailed him along the cracked sidewalk through the sandy yard. The grating of the steps creaked as she climbed the metal stairs, and when they reached the second floor, she shied from the cobwebs filling the gaps in the iron fencing lining the open side of the walkway.

At the last door of the hall, Carter knocked briefly. Cursing rose, followed by the sound of multiple locks being thrown. The metal door pulled back a few inches, revealing a man with scraggly calico-colored hair.

“You know, you could have given me some warning,” he sniped.

“Nice to see you too, Wood,” Samson said.

The man’s eyes narrowed, making them nearly disappear in his thin face, and then he opened the door wider. “Well, get in, already,” he said crossly.

Beyond the tight entryway, stained carpet and the smell of stale food greeted them. Trash was piled in the open garbage bin by the door, and dirty plates covered the breakfast bar separating the kitchen from the living room. Seated on a threadbare sofa, Bus grinned at them when they came into the room.

“Love the new place,” the old man said.

“Shut up,” Wood snapped in reply. Rounding on Carter, he continued. “So how long’s this going to be, huh? A day? More? I mean, fine. I owe you for getting me out of Chicago but…”

“We just need a place to crash till we can find her somewhere to stay,” Carter said peaceably, nodding toward Ashley.

Wood’s gaze slid over her, and the suspicious look he reserved for all the others dimmed. A faintly lascivious smile pulled at his lips. “Oh yeah?”

Eyeing Wood darkly, Spider walked between them, snagging Ashley’s arm as she passed. Drawing her along, the girl crossed to the couch, shoved Ashley down next to Bus, and then dropped into the seat beside her. Crossing her arms calmly, she pinned Wood with a catlike stare.

The man’s expression melted. Swallowing, he glanced to Carter. “I don’t think there’s enough space for all of you here,” he hemmed, stepping to one side as the dogs pushed past him and then lay down by the patio doors.

“We’ll be fine,” Carter said. “You still have blankets?”

Nodding, Wood opened the closet by the front door and pulled a stack of bedding from a shelf. Still watching Spider from the corner of his eye, he pushed the pile into Carter’s hands.

“Not long, right?”

“Few days tops,” Carter replied.

“I guess, then…”

“We’ll see you in the morning,” Carter told him.

Jerking his head in a quick nod, Wood hurried down the darkened hallway and disappeared into the bedroom at the far end, shutting the door behind him.

Running her fingers between her dreadlocks, Spider sighed and then rose to help Bus take the blankets from Carter. Crossing to the patio window behind the couch, Samson pulled back the edge of the curtain and studied the street while the others spread the bedding on the floor.

Ashley watched them, uncertain what to do.

“You want the couch?” Carter asked her.

She hesitated, and then shook her head. “No, it’s alright.”

He paused. “Suit yourself,” he replied, and then motioned toward a place on the ground.

Nervously, she lowered herself onto the blankets.

With a sigh, Carter sat down in the space she’d vacated.

Spider grinned up at him. “Sure took that fast.”

He shrugged. “Old bones.”

She scoffed, while Bus regarded him with a raised eyebrow. “Oh, really?” the old man said.

“You had sleep.”

“Please,” Bus retorted as he headed for the window in the kitchen. Pulling up a chair, he sank down with an exaggerated groan that made Carter smile.

Swiping a pillow from the foot of the couch, Spider tossed it to Ashley, who caught it awkwardly. “Here,” the girl said.

“Thanks,” Ashley replied uncomfortably.

The girl shrugged, and then pulled off her jacket. Beneath the straps of her white tank top and the black bands of her gun holsters, a broad tattoo showed in dark relief against her pale skin. Wings arched across her back and shoulders, their shape formed entirely of interconnected spider webs.

Realizing she was staring, Ashley jerked her gaze away, but the girl hadn’t noticed. Sinking onto the blankets, Spider bundled the jacket into a ball below her head as she lay down.

Pushing the worn pillow into position, Ashley followed suit. Through the blanket and the thin carpet, she could feel the concrete slab of the floor and, surreptitiously, she shifted around, trying to find a comfortable position.

Carter switched off the lamp by the sofa, plunging the room into darkness. The blue-white glow of the security light outside shone past the gap between the patio curtains, silhouetting Samson. In the kitchen, the chair creaked softly as Bus changed position, and then the room was still.

She closed her eyes.

The man who killed her father bent over her. And everyone else in the room was dead. Her throat slashed, Spider stared up from the sodden blankets and Samson hung over the sofa, staining it red. Carter and Bus lay slumped against the blood-splattered walls, their guns dangling from their limp hands.

“I only needed one,” the man whispered.

Gasping, she jerked upright.

Shapes lurked in the darkness. Men with guns. Leering faces. Impossible waves of dark pressure and presence, waiting to strike.

And then the nightmare faded. The shadows resolved into furniture and dirty plates reflecting the light from the patio.

From his post by the window, Samson glanced down at her.

“You okay?” he asked, more caution than concern in his voice.

She nodded uneasily, and then lay back down on the hard floor. Tugging an edge of the blanket around her shoulders, she stared at the darkness, trying to convince herself it would be safe to shut her eyes again.

Sleep was a long time in coming.

The soft sounds of an argument woke her.

“… all I’m saying is,” Spider insisted quietly, “no one you’ve talked to this morning has ever heard of the girl. No one.”

Ashley kept her eyes closed, barely breathing.

“We don’t know everyone,” Carter pointed out, his voice equally low. “Especially the ones who have family hiding them.”

“Or the sellouts,” Spider argued.

“You saw the news,” Samson added in a hushed tone. “Mental instability? You know what would prompt that kind of thinking in your average cop. And they flat out said she wanted to have her family killed.” Samson made a sound somewhere close to an aggravated growl. “Carter, this screams of someone taking the opportunity to secure a little safety for themselves and you know it.”

Carter sighed. “Maybe. But
you
also know how they work. The kid could be caught in the middle of a cover-up as much as anything, especially since she looks like she’s hanging on by a thread in the middle of hell.”

“Or she’s a damn good actress,” Spider pointed out.

“And until we know for sure–”

“That could be too late,” Samson snapped.

A heartbeat passed.

“There isn’t a shred of proof saying she’s not
a sellout,” Samson continued, his voice quieter. “And a ton suggesting she is. We’re not the damned Musketeers, Carter. We can’t risk everyone over a single kid–”

“We won’t,” Carter interrupted flatly.

Silence filled the room.

“And if she is a traitor?” Samson asked.

“Then you won’t need to worry about what we’ll do anymore,” Carter answered.

Dishware clinked in the kitchen, and then footsteps passed her on their way down the hall. A door shut and she heard water running in the bathroom.

“I’m going to go check the stuff in the van,” Samson muttered.

The front door closed.

Her heart pounding, Ashley opened her eyes. Early morning sunlight streamed past the open curtains, filling the room. From the arm of the couch, Wood was watching her. Seeing her awake, he grinned and then ostentatiously went back to studying the street.

Skin crawling, she pushed back the blanket and climbed to her feet. On the couch behind her, Bus lay sleeping with one arm pillowing his head and the two dogs lounging on the carpet below him. In the kitchen, Spider perched atop a barstool by the window, her eyes on the street and a bowl of cereal in her hands.