Pretty Sly (29 page)

Finally I spoke up. “So you knew all along that she was my sister?”

He nodded.

“Is that why you didn’t tell me what was really going on? You wanted her to be the one to tell me?”

“Yes and no. I didn’t want to be the one to break the news, no. But I was also trying to protect you both, and I still am.”

“Why are you helping us?”

“Why?” He looked at me, his blue eyes surprisingly clear and bright under his heavy eyebrows and lined forehead. “Because I got this case my first day on the job and I was always haunted by the murdered woman and her missing children. And because people make mistakes, Willa. You know that as well as anyone. She was sixteen years old. She didn’t know what she was getting herself into—she didn’t know that it would have all of these repercussions. No matter what they tell you, it’s not always black and white. I’m a cop but it doesn’t mean I don’t recognize that. Most of all, though, because I care, okay? I want her to have another chance to find happiness, and until we set her free from all of this, I don’t think there’s any way for that to happen.”

He stared at me, challenging, and I could read a hundred different feelings in his face, a hundred different scenarios he’d seen, and a hundred different choices he’d made in his career in law enforcement—disappointments, errors, lost causes. And yet, about this decision, he seemed absolutely sure.

“So does that answer your question?”

I set down my mug. “Yes.”

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

..................................................................

TWENTY-FOUR

IT WASN’T QUITE
morning when we stood at the doorway, all four of us. Corbin hugged Leslie good-bye. “This is going to be fine,” he said.

“I hope so,” she said, under the press of his shoulder.

“You know where to find me if you need me,” he said. He kissed her on the top of her head.

I could have sworn I saw her blush.

It was all arranged. The only thing left to do now was for us to say good-bye, too, like we’d planned.

Leslie clasped her hands in front of her. “Well, this is it, right?”

“Yeah. Are you ready?”

“I think so.” She heaved a sigh. “It might be a long time before I see you next.”

“I know.” I swallowed hard. There would be no contact and no visits, not now and maybe not ever.

“Willa, these past few months have been really hard.
For both of us. We’ve both made decisions we probably regret, but I know we were both just trying to do what we thought was best. Just don’t ever, ever forget that I love you.”

I stared at her and felt the full weight of all she had done, all this time, to take care of me. And in her unflinching hazel eyes, I saw what I knew was recognition: She understood that by skipping town, risking my life, I had done the same for her. We had both made sacrifices. Willingly. For each other. We had both done the wrong thing in order to do what we thought was right.

And then, for a moment, I could see a flash of the woman I thought I knew. The woman I’d always thought of as my mom.

Mom.
The word was still in the back of my throat.

“I—” A sob engulfed me, sending tremors through my lips and cheeks.

“It’s okay. Just be careful. Just promise me that.”

We embraced. Her hair brushed against my cheek, her tears dropped on my shoulder, and I could feel her tiny bones compressed against muscle.

How could I let her go? After all this time looking for her, how could I just walk away?

There were so many things I wanted to say, but I would have had to learn a new language to say them. And of course, there wasn’t time.

I gave her back the windbreaker and then took a mental picture of her standing there, wearing it, smiling at
me through her tears. Joanne, Leslie.

We gathered what was left of our things and stepped further out into what remained of the night. A bit of light was rippling through the sky now, tracing the water’s surface with brassy filaments.

The cab we called pulled up. The driver was waiting.

She got into the backseat, waving. Then the car pulled away and she disappeared into the bleached darkness, the car trailing blurry lights as it scrawled a path on the unpaved road.

“You two wait for me in there,” Corbin said, motioning to his Nissan.

We did as he asked, sliding into our respective positions, me on the driver’s side, Aidan on the passenger side. My body was tensed up, coiled with energy, and he noticed. . . .

“We’re not really doing this, are we?” Aidan whispered, casting me a glance.

By now he had to have known that I wasn’t the type of person to let things lie. I needed more answers. Leslie’s words still reverberated in my head. I wanted to do what was right. I really did. In this case, though, the right thing meant accepting never knowing, and that wasn’t something I could ever do. “No,” I whispered back.

I watched from the side mirrors as Corbin slipped inside the trailer. He was lighting the match to the wick we’d taped to the floor. This was it.

Aidan and I looked at each other again, the
understanding of all that was about to happen passing silently between us, and in a flash we were out of the car, dashing into the woods. By the time we were at the river’s edge, the flame had reached the kerosene heater.

When it went, the blast was like nothing I’d ever heard. The sheer force of the sound rattled in my chest. I couldn’t help but look behind us.

The fire rose up in the sky, raging orange and black.

And then I saw something small and white flying through the air. Leslie’s sneaker. The one I’d seen by the door.

I covered my mouth as the bile rose in my throat.

“She’s okay,” Aidan assured me, hurrying me into the boat. “She got out of there, Willa. We saw her go.”

I knew this to be true logically. But it didn’t make it any easier. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that we’d made a terrible mistake.

I could hear Corbin yelling after us, too, but his voice was barely audible over the roar of the fire.

“C’mon. We have to move.”

We dipped the paddles in the water in a steady rhythm, propelling the boat forward as we made our way south. The river twisted and turned, the scenery changed, but I was stuck in my own head. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. About what we’d done. About this new gamble we were taking. About all that I had just lost.

• • •

It took most of the day to row down the river and hitch another ride to Bend.

The bus depot was nothing more than a small waiting room connected to a bowling alley. Aidan and I walked in and stood in front of the ticket counter, which was a desk. Even though it was separated by a wall, we could hear the thunderous rumbling of balls spinning down the lanes. Then, the clattering of falling pins, echoing.

Aidan grabbed some schedules and I sat down on a slatted bench. I unrolled the cuffs of my jeans, which were still damp from the boat. As were my socks and shoes. I was probably going to get pneumonia. Today felt like a new low. We’d really scraped the bottom of the barrel as far as fugitive life went.

But we are here,
I had to remind myself. We’d pulled off the plan. Yet another plan. We’d dodged jail. At the moment, it felt like a hollow sort of victory.

There were only a handful of other travelers in there with us: an older woman with a backpack; a twenty-something guy with a suitcase; and a mother with two young kids. I didn’t know any of their stories, but none of them, I was willing to bet, had traveled as far as we had.

Aidan came back to where I was sitting and studied the pamphlets. “The bus to St. Louis takes about two days. If you’re sure that’s what you want.”

“I am sure. I need to know what happened. What really happened. To my real mother.”

He still looked skeptical. “So now what? You’ll just stay in hiding?”

I nodded. “I know it sounds crazy.”

“Yeah, it does.” He sat down next to me on the bench. “Dude, you’re probably the craziest person I’ve ever met. And that’s including me.”

I tried to explain myself, my line of thinking. “I know it’s risky. I figure this is my only hope of doing this, if I leave now, while we’re already on the run.”

He stared at me, hard. “You’re really pushing your luck, Willa.”

“Maybe so,” I said. It didn’t exactly feel like luck anymore. I’d just lost my entire family—what little I’d had in the first place.

His brow was furrowed, as if he was still mulling it over. I’d pretty much prepared myself for the possibility that I would be making this journey alone. Aidan didn’t want to go to jail, I knew that. He would probably just stay on the run, go somewhere far away.

I was already feeling anxious about him leaving, about being away from him for any amount of time, but I knew there was no way I could expect him to put himself on the line. Again.

“You do understand the danger you’re in, right? Those two dudes are still out there looking for you, and that’s a whole hornet’s nest you’d be stirring, trying to bring up the past. You know that they’re not going to be happy about that.”

“Screw those guys,” I said. “They’re thugs. I’m not afraid of them.” This, of course, was a gigantic lie. They were killers and they freaking terrified me.

“Fine. But you’re also crossing the FBI, the only guy who has really helped us.”

“I know,” I said. And I thought of Corbin. Sure, he was annoying but he’d come through in the end. He could’ve just taken us in right then and there. He should have. But he’d done us a favor. And we’d taken advantage of him.

It bugged me. Other than Leslie, there had been so few adults in my life who took an interest, who really tried to protect me. I was an orphan, after all. And now doubly so, if you counted the fake death of a fake mother. Corbin deserved better.

“I think he’s going to start playing hardball.”

“True.” But Corbin had been the one to say it, hadn’t he? That it wasn’t just a matter of black and white. “He should’ve known I had another score to settle. That his plan would never be my plan.”

“Make that
our,
” Aidan said.

“Excuse me?”

“Our plan.”

I eyed him sidelong and gave him a hesitant smile. “Does this mean what I think it means?”

“That I’m getting sucked into yet another one of your outlandish adventures?” He closed his eyes and nodded. “That I’m in it to win it? Yes. Yes, it does.”

“Are you sure?” I held up a hand. “Don’t just do this
because you feel pressure to stay and help me. Because I’d totally understand if you wanted to go your own way.”

“Don’t give me that understanding crap. You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried.”

Relief settled over me, cool and soothing. I realized that there was nothing I wanted more than for Aidan to stay with me.

We sat there, on the bench in the middle of the depot, smiling at each other like two fools. Two fools about to do something really, really stupid.

Oh well. At least we’d be together.

He raised an invisible roof. “St. Louis, here we come. It’s going to be a long-ass bus ride.”

“Better than boat travel,” I said, thinking of the pitiful canoe.

He leaned over and picked up an abandoned newspaper next to him. “I guess I’ll take along some reading.” His eyes caught on something and a smile broke out over his face. “No way.”

“What?” I asked.

He held up the cover for me to see. It was a
National Enquirer.
There was a picture of Sam Beasley on the cover. Wearing a Sly Fox Rules T-shirt and holding up a piece of paper. My note.

The headline:
Actor Sam Beasley Visited by Teen Outlaws.

Holy freaking crap.

“We’ve got friends in high places now.” He winked. “Well, I guess I’ll go buy our tickets.”

When he got up I dug out our temporary cell phone and called Tre’s number. I hadn’t spoken to him since the truck incident and I was worried he was in jail or worse.

“Willa!” he said, picking it up after the second ring. “Where are you?”

“I’m at the bus depot in Bend, Oregon. Where are you?”

“Home.”

“You made it past the roadblock? How’d you do it?”

He sighed. “That’s a long story.”

“So you’re okay? Is Cherise okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. We’re fine. Free as birds. What are you doing? Did you find your mom yet?”

“Yes,” I said, taking a deep breath and feeling my chest sink as I let it go. “We found her. But she’s not actually my mom. I can explain it more when I see you.”

“Whoa,” he said. “That sounds deep. How are you?”

“Honestly? My world is pretty much exploding, but I’m hanging in there.”

“So are you coming home? Do you want us to meet you anywhere?”

“We’re going to stay on the road a little bit longer. There’s some other information I need to find out. About my real family.”

I could practically hear him shaking his head. “You just don’t know when to quit, do you?”

“Look, I need a couple more weeks. A month, tops.
Do you think you can help us with the page and everything? And with some cash? We’re going to St. Louis next.”

“I really wish you wouldn’t. This is getting crazy now. And I’m worried.” He paused, and I hung on, waiting for the comforting sound of his voice again. He sighed. “But I know I can’t stop you. And you know I’ll do whatever I can to help you out.”

“You’re the best, Tre. I’ll call you when we get there.”

“Okay. But, Willa—one more thing. I forgot to mention it the other day. We found your bike.”

My bike! It survived!
I went giddy at the thought of it. “You found it? Where was it? How is it?”

“It was left on the side of the road. I was driving by the other day and I saw it there.” He laughed. “Couldn’t really mistake it. No other bike like it. It’s a little mangled and dirty, but I think I can get it cleaned up for you.”

I was floored with gratitude.

So I hadn’t lost everything after all. I had my bike, and I had my friends. And Aidan, too. I could see him sliding money across the ticket desk. Preparing us for the next leg of our journey.