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“You could handle ten John-Henrys,” he said.
Auggie rolled his eyes and tried to get his hand free.
Theo kissed his knuckles. “You could handle a million John-Henrys.”
“He’s too pretty. I’d go for the money-maker; that’s his weak spot.”
“Auggie, I am sorry. It’s been a bad couple of days, that’s all.”
“I know.”
Theo kissed his hand again and kept hold of it, and Auggie decided to let him.
They drove for a couple more minutes. They merged onto Jefferson, north of the high school and the government buildings, where houses perched on either side of the road and strip malls broke up the blocks. A Lincoln humped their bumper for a quarter mile and then, ignoring the double yellows, swerved around them and sped off. Theo’s body tightened the way it always did around that kind of driving, but a moment later, he had relaxed again.
“Auggie,” Theo said, craning to check the street behind them. “We passed the school.”
“Yeah.”
“My car.”
“No, sir,” Auggie said. “You’re exhausted. We’ll pick up Lana—together—and we’ll grab some dinner and head home. Then you’re going to sleep.” Before Theo could protest, he added, “I’ll take you to work in the morning.”
Something indecipherable worked its way across Theo’s face. After a few seconds, he said, “Thank you.”
Lana’s after-school center was located in one of the strip malls on this stretch of Jefferson, which, when Auggie and Theo had first been looking at options, had been a major turnoff for Auggie. But Kidz Academy—in spite of the Z, which had been a major turnoff for Theo—had impressed both of them. It occupied half of the strip mall, and on the inside, the paint was new, the carpets clean, and the toys and furnishings had all looked well maintained. They had a good staff to student ratio, and they even had an occupational therapist on staff who helped tailor the level of support the children with special needs received—in other words, as Auggie could put it, so Lana could be hell on wheels in her leg brace.
Auggie parked, and they got Lana. She started talking the minute she saw them, and while Theo listened to her tell them about her day—apparently she’d learned a new dance, which meant Auggie was going to be spending a lot of time helping Lana record it for TikTok—Auggie apologized to Terese, who apparently had drawn the short stick and been stuck with Lana until Theo and Auggie could pick her up.
“It’s a three-strike policy, Mr. Lopez,” Terese said, shouldering her bag as she locked the door. “Parents have to pick up their children on time.”
“I know. We know. We’re really sorry, and it’s not going to happen again.”
That didn’t seem to be good enough for Terese, because she looked like she wanted to explain again to Auggie—perhaps more loudly this time—the importance of punctuality. But instead, she hurried to her car, and a moment later, her taillights were disappearing down Jefferson.
“Ok, baby,” Theo said, laughing as he dodged an elbow to the face. “Show me the dance when we get home. Are you and Papi going to make a video for me?”
Auggie groaned quietly, and Theo shot him a smile.
He was opening the door to get behind the wheel, Theo still buckling Lana into her seat, when tires squealed. Auggie looked up, and the old animal part of his brain reacted first: something big and something black rushing toward him out of the sunset. Adrenaline jolted through him. Then the car skidded to a stop, and the front of Auggie’s brain caught up with him, and he stared at the black Chrysler, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
Theo said, “Get in the car, Auggie. We’ve got to go—”
But before he could finish, the silver Lincoln bumped over the lip of the parking lot and shot toward them. The driver braked hard and spun the wheel, and the car turned and slid across the asphalt toward them. The smell of burning rubber carried on the hot, heavy air. When the Lincoln came to a stop, it formed a vee with the Chrysler, the two cars working together to block Theo and Auggie in. Auggie was suddenly aware that they were alone. The rest of the strip mall was unoccupied and dark, the parking lot void of cars, and Terese’s angry little face was now just a fond memory. It was dinnertime. It could be fifteen, twenty minutes before someone drove down this little stretch of Jefferson.
“Get—” Theo tried again.
But the door to the Chrysler opened, and a big man got out. In spite of the heat, he was dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and jeans. The ski mask and gloves rounded out the outfit. With the sun behind him, it was impossible to make out anything more than his size. Then he came around the front of the Chrysler, and Auggie saw the baseball bat.
“Get in the car and lock the doors,” Theo said.
“No—”
“Keep Lana safe.”
For a frozen instant, Auggie’s brain rebelled. That was an impossible choice: to leave Theo to face this man alone, or to protect Lana. Then he knew it wasn’t a choice, not really. He started to turn toward the Audi.
The Lincoln’s front doors opened, and two more men got out. One was wearing a mask that made Auggie think of a cartoon rat. The other was, Auggie guessed, supposed to be a werewolf. The rat carried a length of steel pipe. The werewolf had a folding knife, three inches of steel that he spun. The blade turned faster than Auggie could track, and in the dying daylight, it became a ring of fire.
