want to come with me?”
Ally read the card. “Sure. Are you hungry? I can make you a sandwich.”
“Yeah, a PB and J, please.”
I dug a green and a yellow sneaker out of the basket in my closet. Of course, it didn’t have a match so it was paired with a pink and white one. “And bring the bug spray so we don’t get beat up.”
Ally’s eyes widened.
“I mean eaten up. Man see how loopy, I am?” Clearly I was not made for secret missions.
Covered in bug spray, PB and J in my hand, we exited out the back door. Ally had Winston on a leash but he wasn’t acting very interested in taking a walk. I kept an eye out for Gabriel, waiting for him to pop up at any time.
My backyard was lined with trees, and as I pushed past them, it was only a few feet until the dirt trail began. It didn’t begin behind my house, but simply continued around the entire suburb in a two-mile loop, cutting near the road at one point. I opened my mouth but Ally shook her head. It wasn’t until we’d been walking almost five minutes that she finally spoke.
“There are zero ways this can go wrong,” she said, sarcastically.
I followed her lead and kept my voice low too. “I just want answers.”
“And hopefully that’s all we get,” she added, her sash lightly slapping her legs as she walked.
Garrison had gotten to me. What if Brinkley did mean me harm? What if he was tired of working with me, of my attitude or something else?
I turned over my shoulder again but I still didn’t see Gabriel, only the damp stretch of a narrow trail and the surrounding woods that pressed in on us. “If you really thought we might get attacked, why did you bring him?” I asked her, pointing at Winston whose belly dragged along the trail. He wouldn’t so much as bark at an attacker.
“He needs more exercise,” she replied. Her breath sped up from the walking. Mine too. Winston was practically wheezing.
“Yeah, but we can’t exactly run away dragging forty pounds of pug behind us,” I argued.
“We’ll have to carry him then,” she replied. “Wait, shhhhh .”
Ally’s hand flew up and stopped me in my tracks. She moved closer to the edge of the trees and peered into the spaces between their trunks. “Do you see it?”
Yes. I saw them.
The dark outlines of man-shaped bodies shifted through the trees. And not just one man, which I took as a very bad sign.
“Can you make out their faces?” I whispered.
“Not Brinkley,” she answered. “There’s at least two of them.”
“Three,” I said, doing a headcount of moving shadows myself.
Ally picked Winston up off the ground and positioned him in her arms. I took that to mean we were going to run for it. Shit . I would’ve laced my sneakers better if I’d known we’d have to run. Too late now.
“Ready when you are,” she whispered.
I took off, leaving Ally in the dust. I wasn’t really worried because Ally could outrun me any day, carrying forty pounds of pug or not. Not just because she is inches taller than me with a longer stride, but between the two of us, she was certainly healthier. She went to the gym. She ate vegetables. The only exercise I got was from death-replacing and sex. The only vegetables I ever ate were potato chips, French fries and the occasional spinach dip.
Ally passed me on the trail just like I knew she would, velvet black pug ears flopping in the wind. But Ally passing me wasn’t the problem. The problem was the person coming up behind me. Someone s actually—sounding like a herd of rhinoceroses tearing down trees as they thrashed through the woods after us.
“Faster!” I yelled after Ally. No point in playing it cool now.
She increased her pace but I had a hard time catching up. Again I made one last furtive search for Gabriel. Nada. Protect and serve, my ass.
“Gotcha!” I heard someone say just before a pair of large hands emerged from the trees and snatched Ally by the back of her red coat.
When she disappeared into the trees, I froze
Ally read the card. “Sure. Are you hungry? I can make you a sandwich.”
“Yeah, a PB and J, please.”
I dug a green and a yellow sneaker out of the basket in my closet. Of course, it didn’t have a match so it was paired with a pink and white one. “And bring the bug spray so we don’t get beat up.”
Ally’s eyes widened.
“I mean eaten up. Man see how loopy, I am?” Clearly I was not made for secret missions.
Covered in bug spray, PB and J in my hand, we exited out the back door. Ally had Winston on a leash but he wasn’t acting very interested in taking a walk. I kept an eye out for Gabriel, waiting for him to pop up at any time.
My backyard was lined with trees, and as I pushed past them, it was only a few feet until the dirt trail began. It didn’t begin behind my house, but simply continued around the entire suburb in a two-mile loop, cutting near the road at one point. I opened my mouth but Ally shook her head. It wasn’t until we’d been walking almost five minutes that she finally spoke.
“There are zero ways this can go wrong,” she said, sarcastically.
I followed her lead and kept my voice low too. “I just want answers.”
“And hopefully that’s all we get,” she added, her sash lightly slapping her legs as she walked.
Garrison had gotten to me. What if Brinkley did mean me harm? What if he was tired of working with me, of my attitude or something else?
I turned over my shoulder again but I still didn’t see Gabriel, only the damp stretch of a narrow trail and the surrounding woods that pressed in on us. “If you really thought we might get attacked, why did you bring him?” I asked her, pointing at Winston whose belly dragged along the trail. He wouldn’t so much as bark at an attacker.
“He needs more exercise,” she replied. Her breath sped up from the walking. Mine too. Winston was practically wheezing.
“Yeah, but we can’t exactly run away dragging forty pounds of pug behind us,” I argued.
“We’ll have to carry him then,” she replied. “Wait, shhhhh .”
Ally’s hand flew up and stopped me in my tracks. She moved closer to the edge of the trees and peered into the spaces between their trunks. “Do you see it?”
Yes. I saw them.
The dark outlines of man-shaped bodies shifted through the trees. And not just one man, which I took as a very bad sign.
“Can you make out their faces?” I whispered.
“Not Brinkley,” she answered. “There’s at least two of them.”
“Three,” I said, doing a headcount of moving shadows myself.
Ally picked Winston up off the ground and positioned him in her arms. I took that to mean we were going to run for it. Shit . I would’ve laced my sneakers better if I’d known we’d have to run. Too late now.
“Ready when you are,” she whispered.
I took off, leaving Ally in the dust. I wasn’t really worried because Ally could outrun me any day, carrying forty pounds of pug or not. Not just because she is inches taller than me with a longer stride, but between the two of us, she was certainly healthier. She went to the gym. She ate vegetables. The only exercise I got was from death-replacing and sex. The only vegetables I ever ate were potato chips, French fries and the occasional spinach dip.
Ally passed me on the trail just like I knew she would, velvet black pug ears flopping in the wind. But Ally passing me wasn’t the problem. The problem was the person coming up behind me. Someone s actually—sounding like a herd of rhinoceroses tearing down trees as they thrashed through the woods after us.
“Faster!” I yelled after Ally. No point in playing it cool now.
She increased her pace but I had a hard time catching up. Again I made one last furtive search for Gabriel. Nada. Protect and serve, my ass.
“Gotcha!” I heard someone say just before a pair of large hands emerged from the trees and snatched Ally by the back of her red coat.
When she disappeared into the trees, I froze
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