Page 30 of Hero

“We can discuss it right now. Where is Rina?”

Zed appears torn for just a moment, and then he gestures with his head toward the door of the building.

“Y’all can go discuss whatever it is you need to discuss,” Mack says with an easy grin. “We’ll just hang in here and mind our own business.”

Anna giggles at that, and I see Rachel hide a smile. Cal is watching Zed warily, a hand hovering near his rifle.

Cal has hardly said anything the entire afternoon, but I have picked up a few things. Despite the age difference, he and Rachel are a couple. She even wears an engagement ring on her left hand.

And Cal resents the hell out of anyone who aims a gun at her.

I give the other four a sheepish wave as Buddy and I follow Zed out of the building. “Seriously, Zed. Please tell me where Rina is. She’s okay, isn’t she?”

“Yes, she’s fine.” He takes my arm and pulls me down the block to where I see the pickup truck I got from the looters is parked. He knocks on the driver’s side door four times and says, “It’s just us.”

Rina has evidently been hunkered on the floor in front of the seat. She pops her head up, grinning brightly. “Essie!”

“Hey there.” I can’t help but smile back at the girl as she unlocks the car door and fumbles with the handle.

Zed opens it for her, and she tumbles out, launching at me with a hug. “You’re okay!”

“Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know. But Daddy said you were taking too long so we had to go and find you. He said it would be fine, but I didn’t believe him. He was scared.”

“I wasn’t scared,” Zed says, shaking his head at his daughter.

“He wasn’t scared, but I thought he might be scared, so I was scared too.” She’s paused so she can also hug Buddy, but now she hugs me again since I’ve crouched down to her level. “But you’re okay!”

“Yes, I’m okay. Both of you shouldn’t have worried. I can take care of myself.”

When Rina pulls away this time, her grin has turned into a thoughtful frown.

“What is it?” I ask, ruffling her hair. It’s fine and easily slips out of her braids.

“You can take care of yourself, but me and Daddy take care of you too. Right?”

For some reason, my throat tightens. I have the ridiculous urge to argue with this claim, but I manage to restrain the irrational impulse. “Yes, you take good care of me.”

“Good!” She brightens up like a light switch was flipped. “I got to ride in the pickup truck!”

“Yes, you did. Was that fun?”

“No, it was bumpy and fast and made my tummy feel weird. But Daddy said it would get better.”

“It will. It takes a little while to get used to driving.”

“Can we please head back home now?” Zed asks, looking back over his shoulder at the old restaurant we just left. None of the others are in sight.

“No, we can’t.” I match his annoyed look. “I’m telling you, you need to talk to those people. They’re good folks, and they come from a community that might be exactly what we need.” I don’t say any more because Rina is listening with wide eyes, but I can see from Zed’s expression that he knows exactly what I’m talking about. “Besides, since you’ve got the truck here, I uncovered a ton of stuff in a basement of a house here. Way more than I could carry home. We should at least load all that stuff up before we leave.”

As expected, it’s the promise of supplies that sways Zed more than the idea of talking to strangers. He clears his throat and looks from the truck back to the restaurant.

“I don’t trust them,” he says softly. Slightly rough.

“Fine. You don’t have to. But you can at least trust me.” He knows—he has to know—that I’d never put Rina at risk unless I was absolutely sure these people are safe.

He meets my eyes for several seconds. Then he finally nods. “Okay.”

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