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“You said you were checking on something,” she says finally. “Have you been to this place before?”
“Nope.”
“What are you looking for, then?”
“The tip said there might be some kids there.”
“Jameson.” Lily’s voice goes deadly serious. “Youcannotkidnap children. I won’t allow it.”
“For fuck’s sake. I’m not going to kidnap anybody. It said there’s kids in a bad situation. Some piece of shit owns the place, and he has enough money that everybody’s willing to look the other way.”
“Then…wouldn’t this guy have enough money to get back at you, if you get caught?”
“I’m not planning to get caught.” The GPS flashes the quarter-mile warning. I pull off the road near what looks like a dirt path through the woods and stop. “And that’s pretty much the situation I’m in now, so…”
“So you want to make itworse?”
“So why not make sure a rich bastard isn’t hurting some kids? It’s not like I have anything else to do.”
“You could dome,” Lily mumbles under her breath.
I turn the SUV off, toss the keys in the center console, and put my hand on her perfect legging-clad thigh. “I could doboth.”
There’s not enough light to be totally sure, but I think she blushes. Lily pats at my hand. “If we’re doing this, then we should get going before Snowball wakes up.”
“Even if he does, he’ll be fine. He has seeds and water.”
“It’s not too late to turn back, you know.”
“Come on.”
The road is nothing special. Two lanes. Narrow shoulders. Lily tips her head back and looks at the sky while we walk.
“You can seesomany stars out here.”
“Yeah. It’s weird.”
“It’s, like, the country.”
“It’s not actually that far from the city. There should be more light pollution.”
She considers the sky for another few paces. “Maybe it’s blessed.”
“By what?”
“God. Or fate. Something like that.”
“You think God existsandhe’s taken an interest in whether this patch of nowhere has less light pollution than other places?”
“Sexist,” Lily says. “God could be a woman. Andshecould be interested in whatever she wants.”
The grunt that comes out of my mouth doesn’t sound very much like I agree with her, because I don’t. I sure as fuck hope God doesn’t exist, because regardless of gender, God is a fucking asshole.
IfGodlooked down on us after my parents died and decided that situation was chill, then fuck Them.
We continue down the road, following the instructions of my phone’s GPS. Night sounds come out to meet us from the woods. An owlhoots. Something rustles in the underbrush. Wind moves through the leaves.
“Huh.” Lily looks off into the forest. There’s not much to see. “It’s getting quieter.”
