Domino Falls by Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due

mean . . . I used to.”
    Sonia had transformed into someone unrecognizable. Wales eyed her carefully.
    â€œYour name, young lady?”
    â€œSonia,” she said. “Sonia Petansu.”
    Wales looked at the closest Gold Shirt. “Did you get that?” he said.
    â€œYessir,” the Gold Shirt said. “Sonia P. with the Washington crew.”
    Wales still held her hand, lingering. “Be sure you come to the ranch, Sonia.”
    â€œI wouldn’t miss it.”
    When Wales woke from a kind of momentary daze, he gestured to the table. “Bring your friends. We love new people. You’re all welcome.”
    This time he stared squarely at Kendra, and his charisma jolted her like static electricity. The power of his eyes startled her. His eyes were like a laser light portal that made his features exotic. Warmth rushed to her face. What the —
    Wales went past them to the next admirer on the way to the door.
    â€œI may never wash this hand again,” Sonia said.
    â€œThat was pathetic,” Piranha said. “You were drooling.”
    â€œWhat do you care?” Sonia said.
    Kendra felt Terry watching her, but she avoided looking at him. She didn’t want Terry to see any sign of Wales’s appeal in her face. She was already embarrassed enough.
    â€œHe’s got a dozen just like you back at the ranch,” Piranha said.
    â€œYou don’t know a damned thing about him,” Sonia snapped. Piranha and Sonia usually hid their arguments. Maybe it would be harder for them to stay together now that they had other choices. Would that be true with her and Terry too?
    â€œAnd one last thing, ’fore I forget,” the mayor’s voice rang from speakers. “Let’s give a warm welcome to our visiting traders from Santa Cruz Island, off Santa Barbara. They’ve hauled us building supplies and lots of other goodies you’ll want to take a look at. Next three days, they’ve set up camp out by the old thrift shop on Washburn.”
    A man in rumpled clothes at a table near theirs waved his hand. Santa Barbara was in Southern California, Kendra remembered. That must be close to Devil’s Wake! Grandpa Joe used to say that when God closes one door, he opens another.
    Kendra jumped up. She’d had her eye on another drumstick, but food could wait.
    â€œWhere are you going?” Terry said.
    â€œI have to hear about Devil’s Wake,” she said.
    She went to the islander’s table. He was thin-faced and professional, like a college music teacher. His upper lip had been smashed sometime in the recent past, and he was missing fragments of his front teeth. Other than that, he looked fine after his trip.
    She introduced herself.
    â€œDavid Crisp,” he said. “Nice to shake hands and use manners again.”
    â€œWhat have you heard about Devil’s Wake?” she said. “It’s an island.”
    He nodded. “Sure. Hard to get in—they’re at capacity, or near it. We’re not built up like they are.”
    Kendra’s heart bounded. “It’s not just . . . a myth?”
    Crisp shook his head. “It’s as real as Domino Falls, although I’d never get a dinner invitation there. Wish I could. On an island, you don’t need the fences. It’s a fortress.”
    Kendra felt as if a stone had rolled off her heart. She suddenly imagined herself back in the truck with Grandpa Joe, seeing his frightened eyes as he told her to go to Devil’s Wake. Grandpa Joe seemed to be standing beside her again.
    â€œI have an aunt there,” Kendra said. A great-aunt, actually, but the details were none of his business. “My grandfather said she can get us sanctuary.”
    Again, he nodded. “They take care of their own,” Crisp said. “To a fault, some of us say. Hell, put in a good word for Donald Crisp. C-R-I-S-P.”
    â€œAnd . . . my