Lucy was gone.
The Blazer sat where they’d left it, tucked into the shadows in that stand of thin trees. But Lucy wasn’t there; she’d spooked out at the first sound of gunshots, and wherever she’d run to, it wasn’t here.
Burke lay flat on the gravel and peered under the truck, and Jess watched him, feeling some kind of empty start to grow in her stomach, the sick sense that she and Burke had fucked up, and now the night was slipping away from them.
One street over, Shelby Walker’s place was a zoo, and the night sky and low clouds were lit up with the reflection of spotlights and flashers from Harwood’s cruiser and the volunteer fire department. The chaos had Harwood distracted for the moment, but Jess knew the deputy wouldn’t stop chasing them for long.
We have to get out of here.
Burke pushed himself up from the gravel. Stood and brushed his palms clean on the front of his jeans and squinted off into the dark. “You see her anywhere?”
“I’m still standing here, aren’t I, Burke?” she said, feeling her anger flare up, frustration. “You don’t think if I’d seen her, I’d have taken action?”
Burke didn’t reply. He glanced over at her, and his mouth twitched, and then he walked to the front of the Blazer and surveyed the trees some more. She heard him give a low whistle and call out Lucy’s name about as loud as he dared, which wasn’t very loud at all, not with Harwood and his men so close at hand.
“Black dog on a dark night,” he said, walking back over to where Jess stood. “What do you think we should do?”
Jess didn’t have an answer for him, just that gnawing void inside her, getting ever larger with every minute that passed. Black dog on a dark night. Best-case scenario, she digs a hole somewhere and stays hidden until dawn.
And the worst case?
Worst case was Kirby Harwood took another thing from her. Same as he’d taken Ty, same as he’d taken her house. Worst case was she’d lose the only damn thing she had left; same as she’d lost Afia in that terrible valley. Worst case was Jess would let another friend die.
She met Burke’s eyes. “I need to haul ass for Dixie, find that package Ty stole,” she told him. “You stick to the shadows, keep your eyes open, you might just find that dog before Kirby does. Hole her up somewhere safe until I’m home free.”
“And if you don’t make it?” Burke said.
“If I don’t make it?” Jess laughed a little bit, hollow. “Well, shit, I guess that’ll clear up the question of who gets to keep Lucy when it’s all said and done, right?”
Burke looked around again, as if he was expecting Lucy would just come running out of the trees, save them the tough conversation. But Jess knew better. Lucy wasn’t coming back here, she knew. Not on her own.
“You don’t make it,” Burke said finally, turning to face her again. “I take Lucy back to Michigan. And then, what, we all just forget about Harwood? No.…” He shook his head. “I’m not leaving you to finish this thing by yourself.”
Jess stared at him. Hating him. Wishing he’d just shut up and play by her rules. Knowing he was right, that she’d need him for this next part, and hating him all the more for it.
She let out a breath.
“I need to track down some supplies before we get out of here,” she said. “There’s no sense the both of us running errands while the dog’s on the loose. Can you find your own way to the government wharf?”
Burke nodded.
“Thirty minutes, Burke,” she said. “If you can’t find her by then, we’ve just got to hope she found a good place to hide.”
“I’ll find her,” he replied, already turning to go. “See you in thirty.”
“That damn dog is probably going to get us all killed.”
He stopped. Looked back at her, and he was smiling a little bit, wry. “Oh, probably,” he agreed. “But you know that dog would surely die for us, too.” Then he shouldered the shotgun and set off down the road.