“Who knew that an old lady could do all this?” Conner said, kicking over some sort of machine by the window, splitting it open to reveal it’s red and blue wirey guts.

Which was when it hit me.

Conner was actually right. Mirna couldn’t have done all this. Not even at her best. Mirna was the kind of person who refused to take aspirin when she had a headache so drugs of any kind weren’t exactly on her radar. And as far as botanical skills went, hers didn’t go any further than the small flower box under the front window.

“Look around you, you fucking idiots!” My words came slower than my mouth could move, and with my head throbbing like I’d been clubbed, it was a wonder I could speak at all. “This is high-tech shit. Whoever you’re really stealing from, it’s not my grandmother, and I’m pretty sure that you’ve seen enough movies to know that stealing drugs from someone who deals it never ends well, so chances are that they aren’t going to forget this. They’ll be coming for you.”

Conner laughed and pointed between the three of us. “Yeah, when he finds out what WE did. The three of us. As much as you like to think you’re better than us you’re not. This is as much you as it is us.”

“He? So you know whose stuff this is?”

Conner rolled his eyes at me. Eyes that used to contain kindness and sympathy had grown to hold nothing but hatred and contempt. “Stop asking so many fucking questions and help us carry this shit out.” His smirk twisted into a sick, knowing smile. “Or don’t. But then I can’t promise that we’re going to be as gentle with you tonight as we were last night.”

I’d never liked guns. Even my dad’s hunting gun that he kept on display in his office made me uncomfortable.

But then Conner said something that reminded me that if I had a gun, I could never pull the trigger. “Or maybe I’ll call Mellie and she can ride my cock for a while,” Conner said, stepping up into my space, glaring down at me with all the hatred in his soul. “Oh, that’s right. I can’t. Because she’s dead.”

The familiar guilt bubbled in my gut and exploded in my heart. The heavy, never ending, too much for one soul to bare, guilt. It was what the bars of my imaginary cell were made out of, the one Conner built around me with his words, the one he’d just pushed me back inside and slammed the door shut.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Mirna sang, coming to stand beside me at the door. Her hand on my shoulder. Conner backed down and went back to work, stuffing his bag. “But would any of you like some cookies?” she asked, holding up a plate of her famous double chocolate chip cookies. Eric and Conner ignored her, continuing to loot the room of its plants and damage and destroy everything else.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, turning around to Mirna. Without caring if she remembered me or not I wrapped my arms around her, selfishly needing the comfort of my grandma. The same way I’d needed it when I’d broken her tea set.

She gently patted me on the back, “It’s all right, dear,” she said, pulling back and holding up the plate again. “Don’t be upset. Whatever’s bothering you will be okay, there’s always tomorrow and that’s another day.” She took a bite of a cookie and spoke with her mouth full. “My Rick always says that when I’m having a bad day. Here, have a cookie. I just made them. They’re Samuel’s favorite.”

There was that name again.

“Who’s Samuel?” I asked, expecting to hear about someone from her past, or someone long dead, but then out of the corner of my eye I noticed that both Conner and Eric had froze. My guess was that they knew who Samuel was, and if I had any money at all, I’d bet that this was his shit.

“Where is he now?” Eric asked, the cocky smile nowhere to be seen.

Mirna took another a bite of her cookie, slowly chewing. A car door slammed. She waited until she was done swallowing to say, “He’s here.”

Conner and Eric darted through the back door faster than I’d ever seen them move. My first instinct wasn’t to run. I didn’t want to leave Mirna in her state, and on top of that I hadn’t done any of the actual stealing. Chances were that this Samuel guy wouldn’t see it that way. I hesitated only long enough to wrap Mirna in another hug. “Again, I’m so sorry,” I said, placing a kiss on her forehead before running through the living room and out the back door.

“Come on!” Conner called out, waving to me from the field behind the house that lead to the train tracks. But then I stopped.

It could be my only chance, and if I wanted to be on that bus tomorrow I didn’t have a choice. I had to take it.

With one last glance at Conner I shook off the voice of the guilt, the voice that told me I owed him for what I’d done, and I took off in the complete opposite direction, crossing the yard into the woods. I heard him calling my name over and over again as I ran deeper into the trees, down the overgrown foot path.

The bark of a nearby tree suddenly exploded, sharp pieces of bark lodged into my thighs, warm blood trickled down my calves. My heart pumped faster and faster. My body, who wanted nothing more than to give up on me, warred with my mind which was fueled only by adrenaline, keeping me moving, one foot in front of the other.

A whistling sounded past my ear. Another tree exploded. This time, right in front of me. I stopped and turned around, catching a brief glimpse of the man standing in Mirna’s back yard. I started right back again in the other direction. I hadn’t been able to see much of the man, but I knew right then what I had seen would be burned into my brain and haunt me forever.

A wicked smile, a bow tie…and a gun.

CHAPTER THREE

DRE

What the fuck have I done?

It was the thought racing through my head, over and over again, as I watched the world go on without me from my perch high up on the water tower. Over the tops of the bending pines, just beyond the leaves, was the small town of Logan’s Beach, a place I’d once loved.

Despite the way I was circling the drain, and much to my surprise, there were signs of life everywhere. Cars drove up and down the two lane road below. Lights flickered on and off. The faint smell of BBQ wafted through the air. Echoing bass from music playing somewhere in the distance vibrated off the cold metal platform, thudding softly underneath me in rhythmic succession. The ground below appeared flattened, much like I imagined the earth would look from space.