From their vantage point, Dani couldn’t see anything but the back of the barn. She and Bones knelt behind a row of trees, waiting for something to happen. They heard the plane come to a stop. They heard the sound of the prop slow and sputter. They heard the sound of voices, at least one female among them. But now nothing.
Bones looked the deputy up and down. “You’re the law?”
Dani nodded.
“You know Kenny?”
“I do.” The deputy stood, careful to keep herself concealed behind the tree.
Bones scanned the woods and then looked back at the house. “What is this place?”
Dani ignored her question. “What are you doing here?”
Bones shrugged. “Last I remember I was in the club. Now I’m here, some old woman’s calling me a whore, can’t find Step nowhere, you show up, can’t find my stuff…”
Dani eyeballed her. “Stuff?”
Bones looked away. “I need to find Step. He can help me. He knows what I need.”
Dani watched as Bones hugged her legs to her chest and rocked back and forth. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re kind of in the middle of something.”
“I just need my stuff!”
Dani put her hand over Bones’s mouth. “Shhhh.”
Bones tried to pry the deputy’s hand away.
“I will get your stuff,” Dani said, “but you have to be quiet. Do you understand?”
Bones calmed.
“Tell me you understand.”
Bones nodded.
Dani sighed anxiously. “Ima take my hand away, but you say anything above a whisper, I will find your stuff and flush it down the first toilet I can find. Do you hear me?”
Bones nodded again.
The deputy slowly pulled her hand away from Bones’s mouth. To her surprise, the frail girl remained silent. “Now, Ima go back to the barn. Okay? You stay here and keep quiet, and I will bring back Step with your stuff.”
“Promise?”
Dani stood. “Yes, but only if you stay quiet.”
Bones mimed zipping her mouth shut.
Dani took little comfort in the gesture, but she had no choice but to trust her. She slinked past the tree, expecting Bones to break her word at any second.