“Hey guys, I have a wild idea,” Jilly said, “why go to the city at all? We have some cash for gas money. We can go wherever we want. Maybe we could make it to California. Oh! Like Hollywood or something like that. Or maybe San Diego? I’ve heard that the weather is always, like, eighty degrees all year. That sounds pretty sweet. I hate the fucking snow. The East Coast with all its dreary weather can suck it for all I care.”
“We don’t have enough money to make it to California,” I told Jilly. “And besides, no matter where we go, we’ll always be looking over our shoulder. We won’t be safe anywhere as long as Madame Moirai is looking for us.”
“But who’s to say she will? I mean, who are we? Just three kids, right? We’re probably just a drop in the bucket for an operation like hers. They probably don’t even care that we’re gone.”
I didn’t believe that for a second and a shared look with Dylan told me she felt the same. “Jilly, I blew up her lair. Trust me, she’ll come looking for us. We’re not safe unless we—“
“Unless we what? What can we do?” Jilly cut in, folding her arms across her chest. “Like we’re going to be able to do anything to Madame Moirai. It’s hopeless.”
I was fully aware of the optics of the situation. At first glance, we were fucking screwed and tattooed but I wasn’t willing to just lie down and die. If that were the case, I would’ve just taken Henri’s deal because, fuck it, whatever, nothing mattered.
But that wasn’t me.
“If nothing else, we owe it to Tana to try,” I said.
Jilly glared with a petulant scowl. “Not to be mean but I didn’t know her. I’m sad and all that she died but how is that our burden?”
“How was it my burden to make sure you and Dylan got out?” I reminded Jilly coolly. When Jilly skewed her gaze away, ashamed, I said, “We got a raw deal. No one’s disputing that but we can never run far enough away to escape Madame Moirai’s reach. At some point, she’s going to find us and when that happens…it’s not going to end well for us.”
“But how?” Jilly protested. “California is like a few states away. Surely she can’t have that kind of pull.”
“I have a feeling.”
“I’m sorry but that’s not a compelling argument,” Jilly retorted with a huff. Changing tactics, she leaned forward with an earnest expression. “Okay, yes, I get it, we’re in a tough spot but we have money in our pocket, a car with a full tank of gas, clothes and food to last us for a good road trip so why don’t we use it? We can change our names, get new identities, and simply disappear from Madame Moirai’s radar.”
“Do you know someone who can make us all new identities?” I asked. “I’m talking pass-the-government-sniff-test level of new documentation? Because I don’t. It’s not like in the movies where you can just snap your fingers and take on a whole new identity. This is the digital age. Our social security numbers might as well be stamped on our fucking forehead because there’s no escaping the numbers assigned to us from the time we slimed out of our mother’s vaginas.”
“Gross,” Jilly muttered, not appreciating my point. “There goes my appetite.”
I ignored that. I had to stop Jilly from this dangerous train of thought or else she was going to end up dead, too. I seriously couldn’t handle the trauma and I wasn’t about to give up my safety because Jilly was being stupid.
Jilly turned to Dylan, looking for an ally. “What do you think? Do you think we should get the hell out of the city or stay here like a sitting duck?”
Dylan exhaled a long breath, clearly hating to agree with me on anything but said, “Nicole is right. It’s reasonable to assume that whoever Madame Moirai is, she’s got connections all over, which means she would’ve had access to private records somehow.”
“What do you mean?” Jilly asked, confused.
“She knew things about me that I didn’t volunteer,” Dylan answered with a grim shake of her head, rubbing her forehead with her free hand. “Like personal things.”
I recalled a conversation with Henri. “Same with me. My buyer knew about my mother and I never said anything about my mom being a drunk.”
Jilly fell into a troubled silence, revealing, “Yeah, they knew about how many foster homes I’d been in. Down to the number. I didn’t think about it at the time but that would mean they have access to confidential records somehow.”
I nodded. “Exactly. And there’s no way someone without connections in high places would have access to that kind of personal information. It doesn’t matter if we stay here or run to Timbuktu, she’ll find us. Honestly, she has to. We know too much.” A chill rattled down my spine. “I know my buyer’s name. They can’t afford to have me out there. I’m the loose end that could ruin them. So, hell yeah, they’re going to come for us. Which is why it’s so important we stay together.” Once Henri found out that I was loose, he might come for me, too.
Jilly fell back against the seat with a groan. “I just want this fucking nightmare to be over.”
“Preaching to the choir,” Dylan muttered. “If you think hanging out with you two is my idea of a good time, you’re wrong.”
“Hey, you’re no ray of sunshine yourself,” I shot back with a glower.
“Oh my God, stop fighting,” Jilly said, covering her eyes with her arm. “All you do is bicker back and forth and it’s driving me crazy.” With a loud exhale, she dropped her arm and said, “Fine, we’ll do it your way but I swear to God, if I end up getting killed because we stayed in the city, I’m haunting your stupid ass until you kick the bucket, too.”
“Sounds reasonable,” I said, rolling my eyes with sarcasm. I turned back around to face the road. We might all die no matter what we do or where we go. I didn’t know what the right choice was but I had my gut telling me we needed to stay in the city. Dylan had people who could hide us. We would dip beneath the radar for the time being until I figured out what the hell our next step was going to be.
But how would we take down a deeply connected ring of corrupted adults? Even if they were rotten criminals, they had the veneer of wealth shielding them from consequences. In our world, we learned a long time ago that sometimes the villain won. The concept of fairness wasn’t something I pinned my faith on, nor was I willing to bet my life that someone would intervene on our behalf. When enough money crossed palms, it was amazing how easy it was to turn the other cheek.
“Did you ever hear anyone mention the word, Avalon?” I asked, curious.
Dylan shook her head. Jilly chimed in with “Nope.”
“What is Avalon?” Dylan asked, sparing a short look my way.
“I don’t know but the masseuse said something about only the best are associated with the Avalon, like it was a club or something. Maybe a secret society?”
“Yeah, a secret society of dicks,” Jilly quipped.
“Murderers,” Dylan added with a thread of steel in her tone. “They all deserve to die.”
I agreed, chewing on the information. “I was too keyed up to really ask too many questions, not that they would’ve answered. Whoever the Avalon is they have their people buttoned down pretty tight. As soon as the masseuse let it slip she high-stepped herself way back. Almost like she was scared for even mentioning it.”
“Secret societies are notoriously secretive,” Dylan said. “Kinda like the first rule of Fight Club, you know? No one is allowed to talk about it.”
I chuckled. “Well, yeah, that makes sense. Loose lips sink clandestine illegal operations.”