Page 76 of Honorable Sins

Uncle Brice's hand lands on my back. "You okay, Fitz?"

"I'm better," I croak out.

I don't have to fake the strained throat. All that retching did it.

I pull my shirt up over my face, like I'm going to pull it off to change it but then I turn and spray Uncle Brice in the face with the Guardian spray.

He's too well trained to shout in surprise at my move, but even he can't stop his eyes from closing involuntarily. He starts coughing, but he remains upright. Because it's Uncle Brice.

I execute a maneuver he taught me and sweep his feet out from under him. He falls with a heavy thud to the floor. He gets onto his knees but he's shaking his head and he can't stand up. He's yelling at me, asking what the fuck I'm doing.

Snatching his phone, I throw it in my gym bag and then grab the duffel and rush out the door.

I engage the lock from the outside. The locks on doors to rooms like the gym, locker room and mess hall don't require biometrics to engage. Only the unlock app on your phone.

Which he doesn't have.

His guy will be here any minute with the pink stuff, so I gotta make tracks. I map my escape route out in my head and I'm exiting via the apartment building near 69th a few minutes later.

Lucky for me, the gym is at that end of the underground compound. Or did the guy who took Sadie know that too?

In the elevator on the way to street level, I finish getting dressed. Taking the time to put my socks on and tighten the laces on my shoes, I go back and forth about whether to take the Guardian spray. No matter how dope the spray is, I can't use it if there's wind.

It's summer. Not windy.

I put the spray in one pocket and Uncle Brice's phone in the other one. I feed my belt through the loops on my cargo shorts. It's the one with the knife in the buckle. I never wear pull-on pants or shorts so I can always be armed like da taught me.

I leave my duffel on the floor of the elevator before I exit into the basement of the apartment building. One more hallway and a single flight of stairs and I'm finally at street level.

I don't see anyone when I get outside, but I get another text from Sadie's phone. It tells me to toss my phone, then take the subway to a stop on the yellow line in Manhattan.

The instructions for when I get there are short.

Go to street level and wait.

It ends with a warning not to try to text or call anyone before I toss my phone.

I'm not stupid though.

Okay, maybe it wasn't smart to incapacitate Uncle Brice and run, but it was necessary.

This guy wants me to think he has eyes on me. He might. And he knows way too much about the Bunker.

I put my phone in the same pocket as the one with Uncle Brice's and head for the nearest trash can.

It's about fifty feet down the sidewalk in the direction of Continental Avenue. The 71st Station is about the same distance as Forest Hills, but if I get on at Forest Hills, there's one more stop between me and Manhattan. The text didn't say which station to get on at, so I go for the one that will give my dad the best chance to get to me.

I just hope he waits to make his move until Sadie's kidnapper is there too.

When I reach the trash can, I pull Uncle Brice's phone from my pocket and make a big deal out of throwing it away.

My phone buzzes with another text thirty seconds later and I ignore it. Da has been teaching me how to spot a tail and I do all the things he said to. Looking in the reflections of the cars parked on the street. Walking close to the buildings so I can step behind a stoop and look back.

I don't see anyone paying attention to me and I don't feel like I'm being watched, but I'm not da, or one of my uncles. Not yet.

Would I be able to tell?

I take the chance and pull my phone out, holding it close to my side. I don't try to read my texts. I just forward the last two in Sadie's text stream to my group text with mom and da. Then I pretend to scratch my stomach and tuck my phone into the waistband of my shorts.