All the Inside Howling (Hollow Folk #2)(129)

At some point, Austin took me home, and I was surprised to find that it was barely nine o’clock. Sara was waiting for me, and she had a curious look on her face. I was certain that some legible sign remained of my time with Austin, some clue of what had happened. But when I finally escaped upstairs, I checked myself in the mirror. My hair was mussed, but that could have been from the wind. The same explanation could have applied to the color in my cheeks, to the brightness of my eyes. But that explanation wouldn’t account for the way I felt ten times lighter, as though I stood tip-toe on the top of the world. And, I realized with a disheartening flash, it also wouldn’t explain the huge hickey rising on my collarbone. A huge hickey that was, unfortunately, perfectly visible because my shirt was misbuttoned.

I slept. I slept like I hadn’t slept in what felt like weeks, maybe months, maybe years. And when I woke, I was surprised to find that I still felt that inexpressible lightness, like a portion of my weight had turned to smoke and nothing could keep me firmly tied to the ground. Sara seemed to notice my good mood, and she smiled and laughed and talked with me until it was time to go to work. When she pointed out that it was a school day, I felt a mild thrill of shock. Real life was still out there. School was still out there. And I had cross-country tryouts tomorrow.

Turning down Sara’s offer of a ride, I set out for school in another set of new clothes, with a new backpack, and with River’s denim jacket. One day, probably not far off, I’d have to switch to the heavy winter coat that Sara had hung in my closet. For today, though, I could wear my brother’s denim jacket and try, one more time, to figure out what I felt for him.

I was so lost in thought that I never noticed the dark gray Nissan until it slowed and pulled onto the shoulder next to me. A window went down, and I found myself staring across an empty seat at Lawayne Karkkanew.

“You’re not dead.”

“Neither are you.”

“Did you know about Lena?”

“That’s an interesting question. Why don’t you get in the car and we’ll talk about it?”

I hefted the backpack and shook my head. “School.”

“Vie, I might be moving a little stiffly because I got shot, but trust me,” he patted a bulge in his jacket, “I can still do what I’ve got to do.”

So I got in the car, and Lawayne rolled up the window and flipped the car around.

“School’s the other way,” I said.

“I’ll get you there later. And don’t worry about attendance.”

“You’re going to pull strings for my attendance?”

“I’m going to pull strings so the police don’t go searching for Vehpese’s boy wonder.”

“So where are we going?”

He winced, as though in pain, and shifted in his seat. “You’ll see. Why don’t you tell me what’s been going on?”

“You know already.”

“I know some of it. I want to hear the rest.”

“Lena was working for the Biondi.”

“Was she?” He said it flat, without any trace of skepticism.

“She wanted to kill me, although God only knows why. She came after me in Denver.”

“Did she?”

“How’d you survive? You looked—”

“Dead?” Lawayne laughed, and it had an uneasy edge. “Salerno was a shit shot, so I guess I owe him something. The bullet hit high, no organ damage. Can’t move this arm much, but that’s better than being nailed into a pine box.”

“I know I owe you something. I’ll get it, I promise.”

“Oh, I figure you’re a man of your word.” He winced again. “You know, Vie, I’m a pretty smart guy. You probably think I’m some kind of thug, you know, a low-life. But I went to school. I got some college. I can think in a straight line when I have to. And after I got shot, I had some time to do my thinking. I mean, a couple of days in a little private clinic, just over the border of the rez, that’ll give anybody time for thinking. And the more I started thinking, the more questions I had.”

“Me too,” I said. “Like why Lena would save your life if she were working for the Biondi.”

“To be fair, I didn’t know she was working for the Biondi. I didn’t know until she put a bullet in the head of one of my girls and ran off with two of my best guys. Once I started looking, it wasn’t hard to see what Lena had been doing on the side, but that’s how hindsight works, I suppose.”

“Why did she save you?”

“Oh, I imagine Gemella wasn’t quite ready to see me dead. She does have a fondness for me, after all, and nobody knows what happened with Salerno. She’s suspicious, of course—she’s not stupid—but she’ll wait and see. And if it comes to it, and Gemella decides she wants me dead, she’ll probably do it herself.” Lawayne wiped his face, and I was surprised to see sweat clinging to his cheeks. “Christ, these antibiotics are fucking me up. No, I get why Lena kept me alive. That part makes sense. But what I don’t understand is why she threw it all away just to run down to Denver and try to kill you.”

“I made a really bad impression.”

Lawayne chuckled, then groaned and put a hand to his shoulder. “See, this is why I like you. You think you’re tough shit. Deep down, you’re mostly tough shit. And you’re not full of shit, which is a nice change.”