Three (Article 5 #3)(76)

“There’s a place I heard about,” I said. “I’m not positive it’s a sure thing.”

Chase’s hand came to rest on my lower back. I took a deep breath.

“I think there’s a boat from Tampa that goes to Mexico.”

I felt the weight of Jesse’s stare and wished I felt more confident about this option.

“How are we supposed to get there?” There was desperation in her wide brown eyes.

“We can take the cars,” said Chase. “But it’s probably better to lay low for a while. Stay off the roads.”

A day might give us enough time to find Sean, Jack, and Tucker. If Rebecca and the others could hold out a little longer we could be back to take them to Tampa ourselves.

Chase’s thumb rose up my spine, telling me he was thinking the same thing I was.

Sarah’s gaze passed from Chase to Jesse, and her lower lip began to quiver. “Did Billy make it?”

I tried to offer a reassuring smile. “He went to Charlotte to join the others.” I wasn’t sure what else to say.

She lifted her chin and tucked her hair behind her ears. “That’s very brave. I wish I’d gotten to say good-bye. He was…” She smiled. “He was cute, you know?”

I bit my lip. “He thought the same about you.”

She lit up. I hoped someday Billy would get to see that look.

*

WE agreed to stay the night and leave at dawn for the safe house wreckage. Chase and Jesse did a thorough perimeter sweep, and then returned to Endurance to scavenge for food and supplies. I stayed behind with Rebecca, leaning against the trunk of an orange tree while the children and Sarah laid on the grass at our feet. Both of us kept our guns on the ground beside us, listening to the crickets chirp. After a while it started to get cold, and she scooted closer, until our hips were touching. She linked her arm around mine.

“The first time I kissed Sean was in the shower at the reformatory.” She giggled.

I leaned away to look at her and found her biting her lower lip. Now I laughed. “That’s … bold.”

“Oh, please,” she said. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Then what was it like?”

She snuggled deeper into my side. “He’d been stationed there for a month. He was different than the others. You could tell he was putting on a show—he wasn’t as good at disguising it in the beginning. Once I even caught him laughing at something the headmistress said.”

Sean had always made a point of agreeing with everything the headmistress said. It was how he stayed under the radar and kept his relationship with Rebecca a secret.

“I bet that went over well.”

“He hid it in a coughing fit.” She smiled. “And that’s when I knew I had to talk to him.”

A noise crackled across the way, but it was just Will circling our position in search of trespassers. If anyone had an eye out for the Lost Boys, it would be him.

We settled back against the tree.

“I stuck a note in his pocket at line formation one morning,” she said. “It said, ‘Meet me in the showers at midnight.’”

“That is bold,” I said.

“Okay, maybe.” She snorted. “He read it and threw it away. Right in front of me. So rude. Anyway, I was sure he was going to turn me in, but nothing happened all afternoon. And I mean nothing. He didn’t even look at me.”

Of course he hadn’t. If he’d been caught ogling her he would have been busted.

“So,” I prompted.

“So I waited until midnight and snuck down the hall to the bathrooms. I thought for sure he wasn’t going to show, but there he was, hiding out in one of the stalls. Later he told me he’d been there since right after curfew in case I came early. Apparently he felt like a real creeper.”

“And you walked right in and kissed him,” I said, marveling at her audacity.

“No,” she said, aghast. “I introduced myself first.”

Some of the closest kids stirred as we fell into stifled laughter.

Chase and Jesse returned, but didn’t approach us right away. Chase motioned that they were going to do another walk of the perimeter and I nodded. He left a handful of supplies on the ground a few feet away. Some clothing, it looked like, and some food.

I watched him disappear into the darkness, wondering what I would do if we were separated.

“Sorry they destroyed the barn,” Rebecca said.

“Hmm?” I tore my eyes away from the last place I’d been able to see him.

“I know that place had sentimental value for you.” She stretched out her legs.

“Rebecca!” She shushed me with a sneaky grin.

“Sean told me before he left you two had a midnight rendezvous there. How very romantic.”

I covered my eyes with the heels of my hands, remembering with a streak of heat the hay in my hair, and the specs of dust lit by the moon through the high loft window.

“It may have been romantic.” I paused. “Thanks, by the way. For your, um … thoughtful gift.”

She was wiggling now, unable to hold the glee inside of her.

“Stop,” I groaned. “Please? Pretty please?”

She finally settled down and rolled onto her side. “I knew it when I saw you two together. You’re different, you know; the way you look at each other.”