That had been bothering him for some time. He knew very little of these men, but somehow he was surprised to discover that they were willing to separate. It had felt to him as if they came together, a matched set.
“Connor,” Hannah said, “we can talk and walk. Please. The only mistake right now would be staying here any longer.”
“Ask my dad-he takes pain pills every day because of somebody who rushed. You’re already making one mistake.” He tapped on the glass of the Osborne and said, “Aren’t we going to want a map?”
This time, the look she gave him was more considered. She even made an odd little smile, as if someone had told a joke, and she stopped arguing with him.
“All right,” she said. “We’ll take a map. That’s a pretty good idea. I will admit not thinking about that was a mistake. Do you see any others?”
She seemed to be asking him seriously, and that gave him a sense of strength he hadn’t felt in a while. Not quite the same as when he’d built the fire, but close. A reminder that he was capable of more than he imagined.
He looked around the tower and tried to see it the way Ethan Serbin would. It was hard; he was sure he was missing things. The map had been obvious, but although he wanted to bring his entire pack, he had to admit she had a point about the walking speed.
“Map, water, some protein bars,” he said, speaking slowly, thinking of what they must have and what they could leave behind. “I’ll bring the plastic and the parachute cord for shelters. And the fire steel.”
“We’re going to need to be on the move, not building shelters.”
“That’s what everyone says a few hours before they realize they need a shelter.”
She gave the little smile again, nodded, and said, “All right. I’ve got water, and some lightweight food. I’ve got a knife and a multi-tool. You’ve got the map, the compass, and the rest of what you want?”
He nodded.
“Then are you ready? Or is there something else?” Her eyes were drifting to the windows that faced east, the direction she’d sent them. She was worried that they would return soon, and he wondered how convincing she had been in the conversation.
“Just let me think a minute.”
“That’s your favorite approach, isn’t it, Connor? You are one patient guy. A thinking man, and a patient one.” The frustration was clear in her voice, but he ignored it. She had helped him and now he had to help her. Think like Ethan. Think like a survivor. Just think.
“Okay,” Hannah said after he’d been silent for maybe thirty seconds. “Looks like you’re all thought out. Let’s move.”
“Leave the light on.”
“What?” She turned back to him with a confused look because it was a brilliantly bright afternoon, and you wanted, if anything, more shade in the glass-walled room right now. Unless you were thinking like a survivor.
“The light’s very bright at night,” Jace said. “Trust me, you can see it from a long way off.”
“We’re going to be very far away by the time it-”
“They may not be,” he interrupted, and she fell silent. “If anyone thinks you lied, they’ll be even more sure of it if the tower goes dark, right? You’re already off the radio, but at least people believe you’re still here. If it’s dark tonight, they might wonder.”
She nodded slowly and said, “Okay, kid. Keep going. You’re earning it.”
He knelt beside his pack and unzipped it, removed the map, the compass, and the parachute cord, and then stopped and said, “Shit.”
“What?”
“I don’t have the plastic. We walked away with the shelters still up.” He looked at her and said, “Do you have anything that would work? Some ponchos, maybe? Something that could be used as an emergency shelter?”
Her expression changed then for reasons he didn’t understand. Her eyes went sad.
“What’s the problem?” he asked.
“Nothing. Nothing at all. And, yes, I’ve got a shelter. That’s exactly what it is. An emergency fire shelter. It would probably be a good idea to bring it along, I suppose. But I want you to promise me something. You need to listen and not argue, all right?”
Jace nodded.
“I will not get in that thing,” Hannah said. “I will let you get in it if you need to, but I will not, and you had better not try to make me. You promise?”
“Okay.”
She rubbed a hand over her face and said, “What else?”
He thought they had it all. He emptied his pack of the nonessentials and put them under the cot and then added the fire shelter. It didn’t weigh much. Looked like tinfoil.
“This is supposed to keep you from burning?”
“Yes, it is,” she said, and then added, “and yes, it does.”
He looked up at her and she turned away immediately.
“Were you ever in one?”
“Connor-just pack the damn thing.”
He did as instructed, then stood and put the pack on. It was much lighter than it had been since it held a lot less stuff, but he was still glad to have it. He felt better, more prepared, and how someone felt had a direct impact on what he did. His survivor mentality was coming back. It would be good to be moving again and even better to know that the man who had come to kill him was moving in the opposite direction.
“I think I’m ready,” he said.
“Good. Let’s get to it, then.”
He stepped out and hesitated-the height of the thing surprised him even though he’d been looking out the windows a lot of the time. Then he got moving, one foot in front of the other, keeping his eyes on his boots.
When he stopped short, Hannah Faber almost ran into him.
“What’s wrong?” she said.
“What’s your shoe size?”
“Pardon?”
“What is it?”
“A ten, Connor. Yes, I have big feet. And I’d like to get them moving.”
“Do you have any other shoes?”
“Connor, that’s useless weight. We are not going to need two pairs of shoes.”
He turned around, holding the rail with one hand, and looked at her feet. They were big for a woman. He put his own foot beside it. Almost the same.
“Do you have any other shoes?” he repeated.
“Connor! We’re not going to-”
“The search party tracked me here fast,” he said. “I’m pretty sure they know my boot prints by now. It would be nice if they didn’t see them leading away from your tower.”
She was giving him the stare that he was beginning to regard as normal. Then she turned around and walked back up the steps and into the cabin without a word. He followed her in. She went to the foot of the cot and came back with a pair of boots.
“Perfect,” he said. “Let me see if they fit.”
She was looking at them funny, as if she didn’t want them to be used. When she spoke again, she was still staring at the boots and not him.
“I’ll wear these,” she said, setting them down by the bed. “You try the ones I have on.”
“Why?”
“Don’t worry about it.” She began to unlace her boots. They were more like hiking shoes, really. The boots by the bed, though, were serious work boots. He ran his index finger over the glossy black leather. Sturdy stuff. The laces went all the way from the tongue of the boot to the toe.
“What are those laces made of?”
“Kevlar.”
“You’re serious? Like, the bulletproof stuff?”
“Yes.”
“Those look pretty tough,” he said.
“They sure as hell are, kid. Now, try these on.”
He got his own boots off and slipped his feet into hers. A little snug, but not bad at all.
“They work. You really do have big feet.”
“It gives me certain advantages, Connor. I won’t blow over even in a strong wind.” She put on the new boots slowly, as if there were something wrong with them. By the time she had the laces tied, her eyes were closed.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. Just haven’t laced up in a while.” She opened her eyes and said, “Now that we’ve gone to this extreme, make sure to hide your old boots. None of this will be much help if they walk in and find your boots right there on the floor.”