She was prepared for a residential neighborhood; she was not prepared for everyone to be home today. She knelt in the small doorway separating the back of the van from the front and rested a hand on the back of each seat as they drove past the familiar homes.
“Why is it so busy? Why are all these kids here?” she asked.
“It’s the end of August. They’re all out of school,” Cabo replied.
“Why don’t their parentsdosomething with them? Aren’t they supposed to be at camp or something?”
“Not everyone can afford that,” Cabo said.
“And who would want to go to camp?” Zina muttered. “Sounds like a bit of torture to me.”
“True, but we stick out like a sore thumb in this neighborhood,” Cabo said. “We’re driving a white murder van down the postcard of suburbia, and the residents have noticed.”
“Wonderful,” Brie muttered.
But he was right. The kids were all turning to watch as they drove down the street.
“And the complications begin,” she murmured.
“Hopefully, this is the worst of them,” Asher said.
She hoped he was right, but she doubted it.
“Where is the stone?” Cabo asked.
“In the woods behind that house,” Brie replied and pointed to the blue house at the end of the cul-de-sac.
“Can we come at it from another street or a different direction?” Zina asked.
“I don’t know,” Brie said. “This was the way I was shown.”
“We’ll have to get a map,” Cabo said as Zina traversed the cul-de-sac. “There’s got to be somewhere we can park to cut through the woods to it.”
“Get us out of here before they call the cops,” Brie said as a man emerged from one of the homes. He stopped to stare as they drove past. “We have to get a ladder for the top or slap a plumbing sign on it.”
“That would make us more memorable,” Cabo said.
“Hmm,” Brie grunted.
“What’s going on?” Asher asked.
Brie withdrew from the opening in the middle and turned toward him. He remained sitting in the corner, his bound hands between his knees as he watched her. She eyed those bonds; it was time to untie him, but she was still nervous about the prospect.
Kneeling before him, she grasped his wrists and jerked them toward her. Whereas the feel of him had been a rush for her before, the way the touch of his skin made her heart beat faster only irritated her now.
He was a distraction she didn’t need, especially when they would have to be on their toes around here. Humans were as lethal as the Savages when provoked.
“There’s a lot of kids out right now,” Brie told him as she jerked at the knots in his ropes. “If you try anything, I’ll kick your ass.”
Asher bent his head to peer up at her as she kept her head bowed over his hands. She looked as happy as a dog with porcupine quills in its nose. Her eyes flicked to his, and her scowl deepened as she focused on the ropes again.
“I’ll behave,” he promised. “So, what’s the new plan?”
“We’ll figure one out, but we’re not going to be welcomed here.”
“You don’t think the parents will like this super-shady vehicle cruising through their neighborhood?” he asked.
Brie jerked on the ropes, and they fell away from his wrists before she turned her attention to his ankles. Outside, the screams and laughter of the children resumed as Zina steered them out of the neighborhood.
