When she hugged me, the quiver fell over. But I didn’t care.
My shirt had been ripped off by Valeria, so Lee’s chambray shirt was the only thing between me and her skin.
“You’re doing really well,” she said into my ear.
“Thanks.”
“I always knew you were a good guy, but you’re even better than I thought.”
“Well... I’m trying.”
Her arms tightened around me. The way she was standing, I figured she could see the bus over my shoulder. And I could see the headlights of the truck over hers. If anything started to happen in either direction, we would know it.
“The thing is to stay brave,” she said.
“I’ll try.”
“Me, too.”
I let out a sad little laugh. “And we don’t have to worry about Slim.”
“Huh?”
“Staying brave. That’s the least of her problems.”
“I just hope she’s careful,” Lee said.
“Yeah, me too.” Then I started to cry.
Lee stroked the back of my head. “It’ll be all right,” she whispered. “She’ll be fine.”
“I don’t know,” I blubbered. “If anything happens to her...”
“It’s okay, honey. It’s okay.”
I kept crying, Lee holding me and stroking my head.
“You know what?” she asked. “It’s like you said when Valeria got shot. ‘Slim’ll happen to them.’ ”
I sort of laughed and sobbed at the same time. Then I mumbled, “God, I hope so.”
Lee stepped back slightly, moved her face in front of mine and looked me in the eyes. To me, she looked blurry. As I blinked, she wiped the tears and raindrops off my face with her fingers. All that touched me were her fingertips and breasts. It would’ve been very sweet and exciting if I hadn’t felt so scared.
After a while, she asked, “Feeling any better?”
I nodded. “A little.”
She eased forward and kissed me gently on the mouth. Then she stepped back and put her hands on my shoulders. “We’d better get ready for the attack.”
“What attack?”
A smile flashed across her face. “The one that’s sure to come.”
“Oh, that. What’ll we do?”
“First ...” She stepped away from me, bent down and picked up the quiver. After counting the arrows, she muttered, “Eight. Plus three is eleven.”
“Three?”
“Put it on.” She gave me the quiver.
While she held the bow. I swung the quiver onto my back so its strap rested on my left shoulder and ran diagonally down my chest like a bandolier. Then she handed the bow back to me. “Keep us covered, okay?”
Nodding, I slipped an arrow out of the quiver and nocked it on the bowstring. Then I followed Lee toward Valeria’s body.
She crouched beside it.
I said, “Oh, my God,” as she reached for the feathered shaft that protruded from Valeria’s eye socket. “Hey, no. Come on.”
“Sorry,” Lee said. “But we might need these.”
She started to pull at the arrow. I turned away fast.
And took the opportunity to check our situation. The truck was still in position, engine rumbling quietly, headbeams reaching into the cage. The hearse remained motionless behind the other bleachers, shining its headlights at us. And the bus was where they’d stopped it after dropping off the guy who chased Slim.
The wounded gal was gone. She’d either gotten away on her own or someone had helped her.
On the other side of the bleachers into which Slim had vanished, the parking area was dark. No headlights, no taillights, no brakelights. Except for the abandoned vehicles such as Lee’s pickup truck and the twins’ Cadillac, all the vehicles were gone.
Stryker’s gang no longer directed traffic or roamed the field. They were over here, now, sneaking through the darkness. I couldn’t see them very well—not with so many headlights aimed into the cage, not with the darkness and falling rain.
They wore black clothes and they’d switched off their flashlights. They looked like human shadows. I almost couldn’t see them at all. They were easier to see when I didn’t look straight at them.
They were all around us, crouching and skulking under the bleachers on both sides, kneeling in the darkness near the bus and truck.
“Here,” Lee said.
I turned. She held an arrow. The first few inches of it were dripping blood. I glanced at Valeria’s eye socket and almost gagged.