Slow Agony (Assassins, #2)(39)

All four of us sat down at the picnic table, and Sloane began distributing breakfast sandwiches and hash browns. We chattered easily about who wanted the sandwich with sausage and who wanted to try the chicken. We sipped orange juice through straws and stirred sugar into big Styrofoam cups of coffee. We seemed normal, then. I was astounded by how easy it was to go back into all of it, to pretend as if we weren’t on the run from psychotic men who wanted to make us suffer. As if I hadn’t killed one of them last night, spattered his blood everywhere.

So what if I am a bad person?

And then I didn’t question my ease. I gave in to it.

Eventually, breakfast wore down, and our topic turned to things more serious.

“So, what’s our plan at this point?” said Silas.

“I don’t know,” said Griffin. “I wish we knew more. You killed Wolfman. Does Marcel have others working for him, or was that it? Our attempts to lose them haven’t been working very well, obviously. They’re tracking us somehow.”

“They tracked Leigh,” said Silas. “Not you. Which doesn’t make sense if it’s you they want.”

“Maybe they’re messing with him,” said Sloane.

“Obviously, they are,” said Griffin. “It’s horrible, though. I feel so helpless.”

“It seems to me like they’re going after Leigh primarily,” said Silas. “That’s who they made the initial contact with. That’s who they keep attacking.”

“But only when I’m not with Griffin,” I said.

“That’s true,” said Griffin, furrowing his brow. “Well, to be on the safe side, then, I want Leigh with me.”

“Are we splitting up again?” I asked.

Sloane looked at everyone questioningly. “What do you guys think? Should we?”

“It’s harder to hide four people,” said Silas.

“But splitting up didn’t help us last time,” I said.

“Well, we can’t be sure of that,” said Sloane. “Maybe they could only follow one of us.”

“But we were the ones who were the hardest to follow,” said Silas. “You guys were taking a direct route.”

“I want to check on my family,” said Griffin.

“That’s probably a bad idea,” said Silas. “You know that.”

“If he’s using people that I care about to mess with my head, then he’s going to go for my family next,” said Griffin. “I have to make sure they’re okay.”

“And for all you know, Marcel is waiting for you there,” said Sloane. “It could be a trap.”

“Right,” said Griffin. “And Marcel would know that I’d be too smart to actually go see them, so he’d assume that I’d send you guys to do it. So if you and Silas go somewhere else, they’ll follow you, thinking that you’re Leigh and me.”

Sloane raised her eyebrows. “I’m not sure about your logic.”

“Maybe he’s right,” said Silas. “At any rate, I’d rather be able to keep an eye on my sister, no matter what.”

She rolled her eyes. “I can take care of myself, thank you very much.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t,” said Silas. “But these guys after us are really out there. You should have seen what he did to that girl in our hotel room.”

“I did,” said Sloane. “I saw the picture he sent Griffin.”

We were all quiet. I was thinking about the heart carved into her forehead.

Sloane sighed. “Well, it’s not like we didn’t get wigs. Griffin and I went shopping. So, if we’re doing this, then let’s go to the bathroom and change clothes.”

I peered around us. “You really think someone’s watching us right now?”

“Maybe, maybe not,” said Griffin. “It’s always better to be cautious.”

“Right,” I said. That was like Griffin’s catchphrase.

*

I adjusted Sloane’s shirt, which was a little tight on me. “I think I’ve gained weight. Must be all those homebrews you fed me,” I joked.

“Whatever, you look great,” she said from the stall next to me.

“Not in your clothes.” I opened the bathroom stall and emerged into the restroom area. I went over to the sink to look at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a dark wig as well, and I straightened it to make sure it looked okay.

She came up behind me in a blonde wig. “I think you look wonderful.”

I giggled. “Wigs are kind of fun.”

She smiled. “Yeah. I only wish that we were using them to have fun instead of run for our lives.”

I had to agree with that. Everything was dangerous and tense. And the situation with Griffin wasn’t any better. I sighed. “I’m a little nervous about being alone with Griffin again. The last time we saw each other, we fought.”

“Actually, I know all about it,” she said. “I made him talk to me. He was really upset, and that made him unpleasant to be around.”

My stomach turned over. “He told you everything?”

She nodded. “I know why you did it, Leigh. Any woman in a situation like that—”

“Not any woman,” I said. “Some women would have stayed pregnant.”