Raven straightens.“Dani?—”
“They wanted me out of the house,” I say.“Not for good.Just for a few hours.Enough to move, to watch, to plant, to take?—”
I’m already on my feet.The judge stands too.
“Ms.Agudelo,” she says, voice firm.“Breathe.Tell me whotheyare.”
“We don’t know yet,” Raven answers for me.“But we know it’s not DHS.”
The judge nods once.“Go,” she says, handing me another paper.“Take your notice.And if this person returns, you call 911 first and my chambers second.Here’s my personal number.”
“Thank you,” Raven says, and then we’re moving—out past the clerk, through the metal detector, and outside into the air.
Raven jogs to keep pace with me as I sprint for the car.“Slow down,” she says, but she hits the unlock button twice and we’re both in, doors slamming.
“What are you thinking?”she asks as she peels away from the curb.
“That we were watched,” I say, the seat belt biting my collarbone.“That Patel was a puppet.That while we stood in the foyer arguing about immigration,someonetook notes on how long it took us to panic and how fast the police showed up.”
Raven’s jaw tightens.“Vinnie’s cameras would have picked up anyone casing the house.”
“Unless they were already inside,” I say.“Patel wasinside.”
Raven exhales.“I hate this.”
“Me too.”
“We need to get home,” Raven says.“Now.”
I nod.
Someone wanted me out of the house.
I amnotleaving again.
