Nightfall

by Douglas, Penelope

  Just some things.

  We all got busy emptying the containers on rides, game booths, and old food stands, keeping our eyes peeled for anyone who wasn’t us, but I just wanted everyone to hurry. I wasn’t going to stop myself. I wanted the challenge of never being able to look back. I wanted the Cove gone.

  But that didn’t mean this wasn’t painful.

  I clenched my jaw, walking around Cold Hill and the cars, one of them that carried us one night where she let me touch and kiss her.

  The pirate ship where she pealed with laughter, and I knew I was head over heels watching the light in her eyes.

  Misha loved it here, too. Which was probably why I hadn’t invited him tonight. He would try to stop this.

  And I needed to do it.

  “The last time we set a fire, we got arrested,” Damon said.

  The gazebo wasn’t the last fire we or he set, but I supposed he chose to block out Rika’s house and Sensou.

  “I’m not going back to jail,” I assured him.

  I tossed him a couple of flares and one to Alex, tossing my gas can into the fray.

  “Spread out and give one to Michael and Kai,” I told him, raising my voice and shouting into the night. “We’re going to light up the fucking sky, because Michael Crist is marrying Erika Fane in two days!”

  I smiled, holding my hands to my mouth and howling into the night. Laughter and more howls went off around the park, and I heard Rika yelping with excitement.

  I lit my flare and looked to Alex.

  “Are you sure?” she asked, lighting hers. “I know what this place means to you.”

  “It was one night.” I looked up at the Ferris wheel. “I need my life to be more than one night.”

  I launched the flare, watching it land on the platform, and all it took was a moment before a flame spouted and quickly spread.

  The fire coursed up to the Ferris wheel, lighting the bottom car and its old leather seat on fire, the flames rising and rising, traveling from car to car as the whole park lit up in a glow so tremendous that I needed sunglasses.

  The wind blew and the heat of the fire covered my face, and I closed my eyes, not sure if I wanted to cry or smile.

  Michael Crist, Kai Mori, Damon Torrance, and Will Grayson were going to have their secluded, seaside resort, because we lasted, and we were going to build something that would, as well.

  Heat rushed under my skin, and I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I was home.

  Tipping my head back, I belted out the loudest howl I could manage from deep in my stomach hearing the rest of them—the girls, too—join me as our fires spat and hissed around us, the whole fucking place going up in flames.

  I looked over at Alex, seeing her eyes squeezed shut and her mouth in an O as she belted into the night air, and I laughed, hooking her neck and planting a slobbery kiss on her cheek.

  She giggled, all of us looking up at the flames rising and spreading, and after a few more minutes, I looked right, seeing Lev and David arrive in the parking lot with the fire engine.

  We’d let the fire do its job—just long enough for the place to be beyond repair—and then start putting it out.

  “Wait,” I heard someone call. “Hey, wait!”

  I released Alex and looked around, seeing Rika staring off toward the back of the park.

  “What is it?” I jogged over, stopping next to her.

  She stared, bending to see around rides and into the distance. “I thought I saw something?” Then she looked at me. “Are you sure the place is empty?”

  I thought it was. Just then, I saw the door to the shop we’d come through flapping in the wind, and if anyone were here, they’d be hiding there.

  “The tunnels!” I told everyone. “Go!”

  Everyone ran, heading back to the shop and toward the underground. We didn’t have homeless in Thunder Bay, but there were no cars in the lot and there was nothing else within a couple miles from here. If someone were here, they were living here.

  “We should’ve checked the place,” Michael gritted out. “Dammit.”

  Scurrying down into the tunnels, we ran back toward the entrance to the track, and I opened the door, sending Alex, Damon, Kai, Banks, Micah, and Rory on their way.

  “The seats swivel,” I told them, out of breath. “Just turn around and go back the way we came like I taught you. It’s the fourth red light down.”

  Kai nodded, everyone descending into Coldfield.

  Damon looked back at me, but I shook my head, knowing what he was thinking. “Just go,” I said. “I’ll catch up.”

  I got ready to shove Rika and Michael in after them, but I looked back and they both were hanging by a room.

  Closing the door, I approached. “What is it?”

  I looked inside, seeing a bed, posters and graffiti on the walls, and a lamp turned on.

  “Didn’t Misha say he stayed down here for a while? After Annie?” Rika asked.

  “Yeah.”

  She walked in, picking up a sandwich or something, half-eaten and laying on a wrapper. “Someone’s here,” she said, squeezing the fresh bread.

  Either the light was off when we arrived, or the door was closed, because we passed this room on the way in and noticed nothing.

  Shit.

  “Dammit!” Michael growled.

  We ran back up the stairs, the flames orange and bright outside the shop windows as we raced into the park, searching for who was here.

  We couldn’t let anyone be hurt.

  And it would be fantastic if there were no witnesses.

  “I know I saw someone,” Rika said. “Maybe a girl.”

  “Like a little girl?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  “Shit! There!” Michael yelled, pointing.

  We halted, sucking in air and looking through the swings and toward the fun house, seeing a small form standing way on top.

  Jesus. She had to be thirty feet in the air.

  Dressed in black, she had a long, blonde braid draped over her shoulder and a beanie on her head, but I couldn’t see well enough to know if I recognized her.

  “You!” Michael yelled to her. “Come here!”

  We ran and saw her spin around, disappearing off the roof.

  She jumped down, the shoelaces of her ratty sneakers dragging across the ground.

  “Get her!” Rika yelled.

  Michael dug in his heels, shot toward the girl, and caught her arm just as she was rounding the corner.

  “I got her!” he bellowed, sweeping her into his arms.

  But then she bit his hand, and he dropped her, hissing.

  “What the hell?” he barked.

  She ran, slipping around the booths, past the roller coaster, and disappearing into the pitch-black forest.

  “Shit!” Michael gritted out.

  We stopped, breathing hard and knowing she was gone.

  “Was she living down there?” Rika asked us. “She can’t be more than eight.”

  I shot her a look. “Do you recognize her?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “She’s not from around here.”

  I stared into the trees for another moment, hearing Lev and David start with the hoses and putting our shit out.

  “Some mayor you are.” I chuckled. “Little Newt from Aliens is squatting in your abandoned theme park, and you’re trying on wedding dresses.”

  Rika slapped me in the stomach and then took Michael’s hand, inspecting the bite.

  “She’s a fighter, huh?” she joked, grinning up at him.

  He snarled. “She’ll be back. Can’t get far on foot.”

  And it almost sounded like he wasn’t so worried about the little shit’s safety and well-being, just itching for some payback.

  Sirens pierced the air behind us, and I looked over my shoulder, seeing the oh-so-familiar lights of a police car racing into the lot.

  That was fast.

  I looked to Michael. “Go. Hurry.”

  He scowled at me.<
br />
  “Go!” I whisper-yelled.

  Don’t worry about me. Not anymore.

  He held my eyes, but before he could argue, I started walking toward the ticket booths and the parking lot.

  A single police officer, dressed in black in a thick jacket for the chilly October evening, talked on his radio as he looked around the park and the flames.

  He noticed me, stopped talking to whoever he was talking to, and I could almost see the sigh.

  “Will Grayson,” he said. “My favorite pyro.”

  I pulled off my hat and gave him a smile. “Baker. How’s the family?”

  “Growing.” He nodded, stepping toward me as I stepped toward him. “The wife is on baby number three.”

  “Yours?”

  He cocked an eyebrow, looking unamused.

  I smiled wider.

  “Are you going to make me handcuff you?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “There are some people I wanted to say hi to anyway. Let’s go.”

  Emory

  Present

  “Emmy, wake up!” someone called, shaking my body.

  My eyes popped open, and I startled, turning over. “What? Who is that?”

  It wasn’t Will’s voice.

  I sat up, rubbing my eyes as someone turned on the lamp, and I looked up, seeing Rory and Micah walking around my room.

  I reached for my new glasses and slipped them on. “What are you guys doing?”

  “Will’s been arrested.” Micah tossed me some clothes. “He started a fire at the Cove.”

  Huh? “The Cove?”

  I held the clothes to my chest, trying to make sense out of what they were telling me, my chest slowly constricting.

  He started a fire at the Cove? And he was now sitting in jail?

  Son of a bitch. I growled, shooting off the bed. “One day! Not even one day back in town and he’s back in a cell!” I unhooked my overalls and pulled on the black, long-sleeved shirt. “Ugh!”

  They spun around, and I dropped the overalls, slipping into the jeans and pulling on Alex’s sneakers before I tied up my hair into a ponytail.

  In jail… Tears welled. Not again.

  “Do you know who arrested him?” I asked.

  “We don’t know this town,” Micah snapped, tossing me a jacket. “Damon is going to try to get him out, but we told him to wait. We wanted to get you.”

  I shook my head. “I’m going to kill him. What the hell is wrong with him?”

  I zipped up the jacket and headed out of the room with them, jogging up the stairs.

  I should let him sit there. This one was on him. An endless cycle of not being accountable or controlling his behavior. This wasn’t a choice. It was a habit, and I didn’t need this shit in my life.

  He was a man? He was going to be a father someday? Yeah, right.

  I kicked the door open. Motherf—.

  “Let’s go,” I told them, running out of the house and into the driveway.

  Damon stood next to a G-Class that looked a lot like the one Michael drove in high school, and I had no idea where everyoneelse was, but he saw me and immediately straightened.

  “No way in hell. She’s not coming,” he said.

  I grabbed the keys out of his hand and walked around the front of the car. “She’s driving, actually.”

  “Nah-uh. No.”

  I looked at him over the hood. “What are you going to do?” I challenged. “I sent him to jail. You tried to kill him. You really gonna argue with me right now?”

  If I didn’t have a right, then neither did he.

  He twisted his lips to the side, giving me that “eyes-falling-down-my body-to-inspect-the-competition-with-a-side-of-judgment” look, but he shut his damn mouth.

  I wasn’t any worse for Will than he was, so he could stow it.

  We all climbed into the car, and I started it, punching the gas and swerving around the driveway.

  Would Martin be there? I knew he didn’t live or work in town anymore, but he still maintained a presence here, and if his police had Will Grayson in a cell, that would almost certainly get him out of bed at this hour.

  Shit. I didn’t want to see Martin. I didn’t need to face him. We’d been done.

  Will, you’re such an asshole.

  I raced through town as Micah filled me in on where they’d all gone tonight and what Will had decided to do. I was tempted to jerk the wheel right on over to the cathedral and disappear—stay somewhere he couldn’t find me— but…

  I should’ve gone to him years ago. I was going to show up for him once. At least once before this was over.

  Stopping in front of the police station, I looked across the street, seeing a figure behind the desk inside, the neighborhood quiet and not another soul in sight.

  “We need a distraction,” I told Damon. “Any ideas?”

  He stared out the front window, ignoring me, but then…he dropped his eyes and exhaled, giving in.

  He turned his head, speaking to Micah and Rory. “Get out.”

  What?

  “Hell no,” Rory said. “We’re going in.”

  “Get those cars started,” Damon told Micah, turning and meeting his eyes and then pointing to the vehicles parked down the street behind him.

  Micah’s mouth dropped open. “Huh?”

  But Damon didn’t explain. Taking out his phone, he dialed and held it to his ear, the other line ringing.

  “Mayor Fane?” he teased to Erika, I assumed. “Two idiots are drag racing around Thunder Bay. Can you call the station and tell all units to report to Delphi heading east?” he asked and then clarified. “Alllllll units.”

  I heard her voice on the other end. I couldn’t tell what she was saying, but it sounded like an angry ferret.

  “Don’t be a douche,” he said, picking at the cord of his hoodie. “What else do you do all day anyway?”

  More angry chatter.

  “Suck me,” he mumbled, and then she said something else, and then he said, “Yeah, your mom…”

  He hung up and then looked over his shoulder again at Micah.

  “How did you know I was the one who knew how to hotwire a car?” Micah asked.

  “Because you’re the one with shit to prove to your loser old man,” Damon retorted. “We can smell our own. Now, both of you, hurry up.”

  I glanced in my rearview mirror, seeing both of their mouths curl into grins. Yeah, who were they kidding? They liked trouble, too.

  Damon withdrew a Slim Jim from under the seat and handed it to them, both of them hopping out of the car and running down the block.

  In minutes, headlights illuminated behind us and both cars, a Mustang and a Jeep raced past, disappearing down the avenue.

  “What’s the plan?” Damon asked.

  I stared at the officer inside the station house. “I don’t know.”

  To my surprise, excitement bubbled up from my stomach, and I almost smiled. I had zero clue what the hell I was doing, but I felt like it would work.

  “As soon as I get out of the car, slide into the driver’s seat and make sure all doors are unlocked,” I told him. “Got it?”

  He nodded, and after a moment, we spotted two police cars exiting the lot from behind the station, their sirens activating as they pulled onto the street.

  Erika made the call. Third shift was always light, unless it was Devil’s Night.

  “And here we go,” I said.

  They headed the opposite direction as Micah and Rory, toward Delphi, and I stepped out of the car, pulling up the hood of my jacket, but then I stopped, and yanked it back off again.

  Martin would know I was here. No hiding.

  Stuffing my hands into my pockets, I ran across the street and up the walkway, opening the door and diving inside the station.

  The burly officer with a gray buzzcut and glasses looked up from the counter and immediately smiled, seeing me.

  “Germaine.” I greeted him first. “Hi.”

  “Emory Scott.” He c
ocked his head, returning the grin. “Wow. How are you doing, honey?”

  “Pretty decent,” I told him. “Is my brother around?”

  “Uh, no.” He chuckled. “He maintains an office here, but he stays in Meridian City now. Did you not know he was appointed to police commissioner? He oversees all the departments in a hundred-mile radius. Most of his work keeps him in the city now.” He slid some papers into a file folder and stuffed the folder into a drawer. “But he will be here first thing in the morning. He has a prisoner to attend to whom he’s only too delighted to let sweat for the night.”

  I bit back my groan. So he knew Will was here.

  “Sounds like him,” I teased, trying to hide my unease.

  At least he hadn’t dragged himself back to town tonight to deal with it. That worked for me.

  “Okay, I’ll try back in the morning,” I sighed, “but just on the off chance I miss him, may I leave this note on his desk?”

  I reached for the message pad and the pen next to the computer, but he waved me off.

  “Take it back yourself,” he said. “You know the way.”

  My eyebrows shot up. Really? I thought I was going to have to try to sneak past him when he took the note back himself, but here I was, getting a hall pass.

  I walked around the counter, toward the double doors. “Is he in the big office now?”

  “Sounds like him, doesn’t it?” Germaine grumbled.

  Yeah. I didn’t think Germaine thought much of my brother, either. Martin was only thirty-four, and he’d quickly risen through the ranks of Thunder Bay and then Meridian City, shrewd in playing his cards, but I suspected he had help and endorsements along the way. Germaine was easily in his fifties and still…manning the desk.

  “Thanks,” I called out. “It’s good to see you.”

  “You, too.”

  I pushed through the doors, finding the entire precinct empty, a radio playing somewhere, and computers paused on screens.

  Making my way toward the holding cells, I grabbed a ring of keys off Bruckheimer’s desk and looked up, making direct eye contact with the camera in the corner of the ceiling.

  I clenched my teeth. This better work. If he came after Will, he’d have to come after me, too, now that I’d been seen, and that would be embarrassing for him.