Dying Light (36 page)

It makes me wonder if my childhood
would’ve been worse if my father had come back for me. Or maybe not
worse, but just as bad in a different way.

We wait in the truck as Gideon and his
friend pull two cars up front and begin affixing license plates to
the back.

“
Really shady,” Ally
says.

“
I don’t care if there’s a
body in that trunk as long as someone buys me a freaking pizza. Or
a veggie burger,” I beg. “I’m so hungry. I’ve never been so hungry
in my life.”

Gideon finally returns. “Okay, get
your things. We’re leaving the truck here.”

Gloria helps Maisie and Winston climb
down, and then Ally and I follow. Monroe and Gideon carry Rachel
out of the back of the truck to the larger of the two cars.
Apparently we’re taking this rust-colored clunker to Nashville.
It’s a boat, as wide as it is long. A faded name brand is scrawled
in silver script above the bumper. They prop Rachel up in the
backseat and lean her against the door like she’s a sleeping
person.

“
I’ll sit beside her,”
Gideon says.

“
I’ll sit in the back
too,” Maisie says and gives Gideon a sheepish sideways
glance.

Oh, you like him.
I almost say it, but I don’t want to embarrass
the kid.

“
Why two cars?” Ally
asks.

“
I’m going to take Monroe
home,” Gloria says. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

“
You’re leaving?” I whine.
“Why?”

“
You’ll be able to find
us?” Ally says.

Gloria smiles. “Yes. I won’t be long.
I promise.”

Ally hugs her. Then it’s my
turn.

“
Don’t push yourself,” I
say.

Gideon gives her a polite
nod.

Maisie grabs Gloria and hugs her
though. Gloria’s face breaks open with a surprised smile. “It’s
good to see you again, Maisie. Take care of yourself.”

“
You too.”

We watch Gloria and Monroe get into a
car and drive away.

“
He better not kill her,”
I say.

“
Jackson could fillet him
three ways,” Gideon says. “Now, shall we be off?”

“
I’ll drive,” Ally
volunteers
.

“
What about the fire
truck?” I ask.

“
Ahmed will take care of
it.” Gideon gestures to the man wiping his hands with an oil
rag.

We all climb into the car. Gideon
slides in next to Rachel and Maisie climbs into the back, pulling
the door closed behind her. I take shotgun up front by
Ally.

“
She’s breathing,” Maisie
says, and points at the window where Rachel’s breath is fogging the
glass.

“
Thank god,” Ally says,
adjusting the mirrors. “Now I don’t have to worry about being
pulled over with a dead body in the car.”

Jesse

S
even hours later, we make the first of three stops in
Nashville, my office. Rachel, Gideon, and Maisie wait in the car
while Ally and I go in. We do a walkthrough and take everything
important. The petty cash, the address book and so on. Ally digs a
couple of file folders out of a cabinet and stuffs them into her
canvas bag.

“
I’m going to bring these
granola bars and cookies too. Hopefully they’re not stale,” Ally
says. “Jesse? Are you okay?”

Am I okay? I don’t know. I’m standing
in the office as if I’ve never been here before. In my mind I can
see myself at the desk, two years ago, giving potential clients
pre-death advice. And now—how did I get here? What happened to
me?

A man’s voice echoes down the hall and
my heart lurches. Lane. Lane must be in his comic book store. A
flood of anxiety washes over me. My skin itches and my heart
pounds.

“
Jesse?”

“
I’m okay,” I answer.
“I’ll be right back.”

She tucks her hair behind her left
ear, her canvas bag hanging loosely in her right grip. “Make it
quick.”

I open the door to the little hallway
that connects the comic book store and my office, passing by the
two little bathrooms, their doors partially ajar and rooms
dark.

I hesitate at the thought that his
door might be locked, another rejection. But the cold handle turns
in my grip easily and the door swings inward.

A couple of kids sit on
the huge couches playing a video game. Four more are at a table in
the corner, laying down
cards in
turn
and laughing riotously. Lane is up at
the counter, selling a girl an energy drink from a Coca-Cola cooler
behind the desk. I’m surprised by the volume of people. It must be
Friday. I can’t even keep track of days anymore.

He sees me.

Halfway between giving the girl her
change and drink, our eyes meet. The coins clatter on the glass
countertop. The drink slips from his grip to hers.

“
Sorry,” he
mumbles.

She shrugs it off, scoops up the money
and goes back to her friends on the couch.

I cross the room,
hyperaware of how my heart is pounding in my ears.
Did you only love me because Caldwell made
you?
“Hey,” I say.

“
Hey,” he says, matching
my reserve. “You look great.”

“
Well, you know, I killed
someone and now I can heal on the spot. It’s better than
makeup.”

His brow furrows.

“
You never called
me.”

He looks down. “I know. I was going
to, about a hundred times but—”

“
How do you feel about me
now?” I ask him.
When Caldwell’s not in
your head making you love me.

He meets my eyes.

My heart lurches.

“
I miss you,” he says. “I
miss walking into your office and seeing you there. I must have
driven past your house a hundred times in the last two months. I
cut your yard once in October. We had a warm spell.”

I don’t know what to say. I squeeze
the edge of the counter, trying to steady my weak knees.

“
But something’s changed,”
he goes on. “I’m not sure what, but something’s
changed.”

Caldwell hasn’t been
around whispering into your ear.

“
Maybe you’re over me.” I
try to sound casual, but it feels like a giant hand is in my chest,
squeezing my heart and lungs to a pulp. “It happens.”

“
But I’m happy to see
you,” he says.

“
I’m leaving tonight. I’d
tell you where I’m going but—”
Caldwell
will pluck it from your brain.

“
You’re leaving?” he
frowns. “Already?”

Maybe what he felt was
real.
Before Dad talked to him, Maisie had
said. But did it matter? Am I here because I want Lane back? No, I
don’t think so.

“
Caldwell’s not dead,” I
tell him. “Until he’s dead, I’ll always be leaving.”

He wraps his arms around
me. I startle then soften into his embrace. It
feels
real. I see the shadow of a
wing in my periphery, and turn my head ever so slightly. Gabriel
stands there in all his glory, his green eyes bright.

I remember Ally in the beach house.
Ally with her cute high ponytail and brilliant smile.

I showed you your heart’s
desire.

I pull out of Lane’s embrace. No, it
doesn’t matter how Lane really feels. I know what I
want.

“
Take care of yourself,”
Lane says, sensing my departure. “Maybe I’ll see you
around?”

I force a smile. “Anything is
possible.”

Ally

J
esse is quiet in the passenger seat on the short ride from
her office to her house. I really hope that Lane didn’t say
anything cold or cruel. It’s possible, given her silence. I
couldn’t discourage her from seeing him though. My parting with
Nikki is fresh in my mind. I understand firsthand that if we hadn’t
said our goodbyes, a sense of unfinished business would pervade,
and we need to focus, regroup.

“
We’re going to grab some
important documents, clothes, and food, then we’re off,” I say,
turning my mind to business. I use the rearview mirror to look into
the backseat at Maisie, Gideon, and Rachel. “Maisie, you’re almost
as tall as Jesse. She’ll have something for you to
wear.”

“
We have to hurry. I want
to get to the cemetery before dark.” Rachel tilts her neck from one
side to the other.

I imagine she must be as stiff and
uncomfortable as Jesse is after a death replacement. But Rachel
refused the ibuprofen I took from Jesse’s office. I sigh. Having a
second, equally stubborn, headstrong, smartass woman around won’t
be easy.

Gideon keeps close watch on the device
in his hand. “We should still be invisible to cameras, but given
Caldwell’s familiarity with Jesse’s home, we should get in and out
as quickly as possible. No doubt he’s watching the
place.”

We pull up outside Jesse’s house not
five minutes later and everyone files out.

“
Gideon and I will get the
food,” Rachel volunteers.

“
I’ll get Winston’s
stuff,” Maisie says.

“
It’s in the kitchen
pantry. Can you take him out to the backyard to pee too? That’d be
a big help,” I tell her. Once we’re alone, I turn to Jesse. “While
I’m getting our papers, can you pack a suitcase? Clothes,
toiletries, anything that’ll keep us out of the stores for a couple
of days. Gideon’s device seems to work well, but I don’t want to
press our luck.”

She nods and trudges up the stairs to
her bedroom. I hear the closet door creak open and the soft thud of
the suitcase hitting the bed.

It takes me a few minutes to tuck all
the important files into a small box and tape it shut. Rachel and
Gideon dump four canvas grocery sacks of food on the foyer floor.
Rachel holds up a bottle of tequila and smiles.

“
The drink of my people,”
she says with a sultry stare. “We will
definitely
break this open
later.”

“
I know how to salsa,”
Gideon coos, handing her several shot glasses.

“
Great. You can teach me,”
Rachel says.

I’m not sure how to respond to this
banter, so I start picking up bags and boxes and carrying them out
to the car. I come in the third time and know something is
wrong.

The energy of the house has
changed.

“
Jesse?” I ask.

“
He’s here,” Rachel says,
her voice venomous.

I follow her voice into the living
room.

Caldwell stands in the middle of the
room holding Maisie in a loose headlock. Gideon is in a corner, his
back protected on all sides, which is very smart given Caldwell’s
inclination to pop in and out. Rachel stands beside him, her
fingers twitching in expectation. Jesse stands in front of the
half-bath where she must have tucked Winston, given the howling and
scratching radiating from the shut door.

“
We aren’t finished,”
Caldwell says. “Come with me. Both of you.” His eyes flick from
Jesse to Rachel.

“
No,” I say.

He glares at me. “You’re welcome to
join us, Alice. But the dog and the desert brat, I’ve no use
for.”

“
Let go of her and maybe
we won’t kill
you
,” Rachel says.

“
So we come with you and
you let her go?” Jesse asks.

“
Don’t,” Maisie says, her
face red. “I’m not worth it.”

“
You are worth it,” Jesse
says. “Do you hear me? You
are
.”

“
Maisie understands her
place,” Caldwell says. “She knows her mother needs her.”

“
That’s bullshit,” I say.
“No good mother wants her daughter to die.”

I think he’ll disappear and reappear
in front of me. Maybe he’ll snap my neck. Maybe he’ll crush my
throat. I’m not the only one who senses Caldwell’s intentions. The
shield goes up, shimmering around me.

“
Protect yourself,” I tell
Jesse.

Jesse gives no sign that she heard me.
All of her attention is on Maisie.

“
It’s okay,” Maisie says
again. “Really. It’s okay. Don’t get hurt because of
me.”

Rachel’s hands twitch and Maisie is
tugged from Caldwell’s arms. His grip loosens, surprised. Jesse
runs forward and grabs hold of Caldwell. As soon as she has her
hands on him, her body erupts in flames. Caldwell wrenches himself
away but he’s on fire.

Screaming, he disappears.

I yank the door to the bathroom open
and grab Winston. Rachel and Gideon grab the remaining bags off the
foyer floor, and the four of us flee the house. Jesse is the only
one still inside.

My heart aches. Everything Jesse
worked so hard for, this life she built for herself after Eddie,
it’s all burning. Burning to the ground.