Page 70 of Faron
Therewassomeone else there.
I see it now—just for a second. A shadow ducking behind crates. Long hair. Bare feet. Hand over her mouth.
She was hiding.
My eyes flew open.
The room was dark, quiet. But my chest felt like it had caved in.
I got up and turned on the light, grabbed a pen and paper. Wrote it down.
There was a girl.
Hiding behind the crates.
She saw me. I saw her.
Did she make it out?
Was that what Caleb meant?
I stared at the words, heart pounding.
This wasn’t just about Caleb. It never was.
It was about whatever that girl saw. Or maybe… whatshesawthemdo before I ever showed up.
And if she survived…
She was a loose end.
Just like me.
I sat down slowly, my hands shaking now.
What if I hadn’t just failed to kill Caleb?
What if I’d failed to saveher?
67
Faron
Iheard her voice before I saw her.
“You came.”
Aponi stood on the sidewalk outside the rec center, her arms folded tight like a shield. She hadn’t slept—same as me. Same as always when ghosts didn’t stay where you buried them.
I stepped out of the truck and closed the door gently. “You said it couldn’t wait.”
She didn’t move, didn’t meet my eyes. Just handed me a folded piece of paper. Her handwriting. Sharp. Slanted.
There was a girl. Hiding behind the crates. She saw me. I saw her.
“You remember something,” I said.
“I think I failed her, Faron,” she whispered. “I think I walked into that warehouse with a badge and a gun, thinking I was saving the day. But someone else was already fighting to survive.”
