“Oh, honey. The way he looks at you. I’ve been here years hoping for that gleam in his eye. He never, ever would have let us take out one of his babies if you weren’t coming along.” Gillian’s eyes twinkled. “I just took advantage of the opportunity.”
“Leave her alone,” Patty said, but she smiled, too.
Yes, please. Leave me alone.
Gillian eased the vehicle out of the garage and onto the Segue turnabout. When she accelerated, the engine sang. Its building momentum forced Talia’s head into the seat.
Talia left Gillian and Patty in the salon, trapped in their chairs by color massaged like mud over their scalp. Gillian had shiny foils tucked into her hair as well.
“Talia. Really,” Gillian begged. “Just order some decent stuff online and have the clothes overnighted.” She looked like she wanted to expand on her reservations for shopping in Middleton, but with a glance at the stylist, politely kept her mouth closed.
Talia wasn’t going to be here tomorrow. That was the point. She had the use of the Segue card for Middleton only. Whatever she was going to get, it had to be here, or Adam would be able to track her.
Talia smiled, thanked them both, but went to check the local shopping for herself.
She found a thrift shop, packed with knickknacks, dishes, dulling jewelry, and along the back wall, a rack of clothes. They were dingy from previous use, puckered and creased from hanging untouched on store hangers for who knows how long. Probably years. She selected clothes that looked like they’d fit, and was thrilled when she found a well-worn but sturdy backpack.
The counter had been tended when she’d entered, but empty when she finished. She piled her stuff on top and got the credit card ready for payment. Waiting, adrenaline pumping, got her mind turning. Small town like this…
She hesitated a second, then darted around to the other side of the register.
And there it was, in an upper drawer next to a pile of old receipt booklets, a revolver, silver along the barrel and textured black rubber on the grip. A box of ammunition labeled .38 SPECIAL was tucked alongside. Adam did say that firearms were the best defense against wraiths. Certainly couldn’t hurt.
She lifted the weapon and turned it over and around, then pocketed the box of ammo and put the gun in the waist of her pants under her shirt. Her heart beat wildly at her theft, though her two months on the run from wraiths had been filled with similar crimes.
The gun felt cold and hard on her back. Unnatural, but remembering how Custo took down the wraith in the alley in Arizona, she also felt better prepared. Talia was back on the other side of the counter by the time the cashier—a young woman—emerged from a curtained hallway, vaguely surprised that Talia was still there.
Purchases in hand, Talia headed for the busiest part of town.
The Circle K sat on the corner of I-52 and Main and seemed to connect Middleton to the rest of the world. Talia entered the gas station, its door swinging wide, bell ringing overhead. She smiled at the acne-attacked boy behind the counter flipping though a magazine in his lap.
With any luck, she could hitch a ride out of town before Patty and Gillian were done with their color. Where to? She swallowed a lump in her throat. She didn’t really care as long she was far, far away from Segue and Adam.
Talia used the credit card to get cash at an ATM near the lotto stand. The machine ejected $500, the card’s daily cash limit, which was way more money than she’d had the last time she ran away. She tucked the cash inside a small pouch on the front of her backpack and hit the snack aisle. She selected energy bars and, from the glass-faced refrigerators at the rear of the store, a couple bottles of water.
Items purchased and stowed, she took up a position in front of the magazines at the wide front windows. A woman in an old station wagon, toddler in a back car seat, pumped at the station marked one. A man in a red pickup with oversize tires pumped at station two. Given her options, the pickup probably would be game for a ride, and if the driver got any ideas, she could always scare the hell out of him.
Time to go.
Talia dropped the magazine, shouldered her pack, and pushed out the door. She was halfway to the pumps when a black Denali SUV slid into the lot. The tinted windows obscured her view of the interior and the glare from the overcast sky washed out the windshield, but the hair on the back of her neck tingled to attention with unprovoked anxiety.
Danger, instinct warned, her heart tripping.
Paranoid. She pushed the feeling down and continued to the truck. She made eye contact with the paunch-bellied driver, and then glanced over her shoulder when the doors of the SUV opened. She caught the smooth descent of a man moving with predatory fluidity.
Oh. No. Where to hide?
The trees along the highway beckoned and beyond that the blanket of forest covering the mountain ridges, an almost-unending shadowy canopy of refuge. So many dark spots to crawl into and wait out the threat, then creep from bush cluster to tree hollow and escape.
Adam’s firm voice sounded in her head, Find the largest concentration of people.
But…she looked longingly at the trees. She even had food and water. She could last…
The wraiths will not risk public exposure. The force of will in Adam’s words anchored her.
And she couldn’t bear being hunted a second time. She knew that now.
Talia angled away from the pumps and increased the momentum of her stride to intersect with Main Street. The largest concentration of people would be the mom-and-pop diner next to the beauty salon.
She cut across the street diagonally, not looking back. Not moving too quickly. Not drawing attention. Nothing to see here.
She rounded the corner to the line of businesses just as Patty and Gillian pushed out of the salon some doors down.
Be natural. Be ordinary. Just one of the girls.
“You look great!” Talia called, stretching her mouth into a smile as she picked up her pace.
“Did you buy anything?” Gillian asked as Talia approached.
Wraith, Talia mouthed.
The smile dropped off Gillian’s face. Patty’s red lips turned down, gaze darting beyond Talia.
“Let’s just stay calm,” Patty said, “and get in the car.”
The California screamed for attention across the street. Not too subtle. Gillian pulled out the keys and beeped the lock. From the doorway of the hardware store, on the other side of the vehicle, a man appeared. His city slacks and urban T-shirt were incongruent with the small town. He pocketed his hands nonchalantly in an unassuming stance, but his eyes were hungry, potent with menace.
The three women halted in the street, midstride. Patty gripped Talia by the elbow and pulled her back, shielding her with her body as if she were a child.
Talia allowed the protection only because her attention was drawn to the right.
The SUV swallowed the street, doors already open, two shining young men standing on the running boards at the sides, as if on a joyride. Both bounded down to block the street.
“Adam said they wouldn’t risk public exposure,” Gillian said.
Talia blanched with realization. She should have known. For everyone else, they wouldn’t risk exposure. But if she were a real threat to them, as the images she’d found suggested, then they might risk anything. Too late now.
“Talia, go get help,” Patty said in a voice far too calm for the circumstances. “Middleton didn’t sign on for this. Someone needs to get help or the town will be torn apart, and the only person who can get through the wraiths is you.”
If Talia wanted a way to bolt out of this mess, this was it. A neat excuse prepackaged, well reasoned, and very tempting.