Tracers

by J. J. Howard

  Cam got out of the car, putting his hands in his pockets. He felt like an intruder in this moment between them.

  “You’re sure Miller’s gone?” Dylan asked Nikki as they broke apart.

  She nodded. “Yes. It’s all over. He’s definitely gone.”

  “But what do you mean gone?” Dylan asked sharply. “Define gone.”

  Cam noticed then that Dylan’s eyes were red rimmed, and he needed a shave. Maybe he’d been more upset about executing Miller’s plan than Cam had thought.

  “How about Macau?” Nikki replied. “That gone enough for you?”

  Her brother shook his head. “I have no idea where that is.”

  “Neither do I. But I know it’s on the other side of the world.”

  Dylan stepped away from Nikki and looked over at Cam. He opened his mouth, swallowed hard, then took another deep breath before speaking. “Look, Cam, I know . . . I owe you an apology, man.”

  “For leading me toward certain death?” Cam shrugged. “Bygones.”

  Dylan shifted his weight uncomfortably. “I didn’t know what to do . . .” He seemed to be fumbling for the right words. “Miller told me what would happen to Niks if I didn’t . . .”

  “I get it,” Cam said, cutting him off. “I know what you were up against, man. I really do. And when it came to decision time, you didn’t shoot me. Even though it might have meant something bad happening to you or Nikki. So I mean it: bygones. Seriously. We’re good.” Cam extended his hand, and Dylan took it, smiling gratefully.

  Nikki was smiling too, as she looked from Cam to her brother. Her face changed a few seconds later, when the sound of a low-flying plane filled the air. “You’re really leaving?” she asked Dylan.

  “Are you?” Dylan shot back, giving Cam a significant look.

  Nikki didn’t hesitate: “Yes.”

  “I’m going home, Niks,” Dylan confirmed. “I can finally go home. I’ve already talked to Mom, and to Allison.”

  “Allison’s still single?” Nikki asked, grinning. “Did she wait all this time for you?”

  Dylan’s face changed. He looked younger suddenly—and very happy. “I can’t believe it either. I’ll give Mom your love?”

  There was a momentary hesitation, but Nikki nodded again. “Yeah.”

  The two siblings hugged again, Dylan wiping quickly at his eyes. Nikki wasn’t bothering to hide her tears. “Take care of yourself—and Mom. Like you always took care of me, okay?”

  Dylan broke away from Nikki first, giving Cam another handshake and asking him to look out for his sister.

  “Is Tate okay?” Cam asked.

  Dylan nodded. “Yeah. He’s staying here. This is home for him. He’s gonna lay low until things quiet down.”

  “Hey, what about Jax’s dogs? We can’t just leave them . . .”

  Dylan held up a hand. “Chill, Cam. Tate’s keeping them.”

  “He didn’t really seem like a dog person.”

  “Nah, it’s cool, guy’s all talk. Besides, I think they remind him of Jax, you know?”

  Cam nodded. “Makes sense.”

  Nikki gave her brother one more quick hug, then broke away from him and climbed back into the car. Dylan offered a wave and started walking toward the terminal.

  “Stay outta trouble!” Nikki called to him.

  Dylan waved once more, then turned around and kept walking.

  Cam sat behind the wheel, steering the car back into the traffic heading out of the city.

  “So where to?” he asked, more to distract Nikki than anything else.

  She wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her T-shirt. “We’re going home too.”

  Cam gave her a surprised smile. “I know you don’t mean back to New York . . .”

  Nikki shook her head.

  “And you just cried all over your brother, who’s headed back to your hometown . . .”

  “No, that’s not where I meant either. Come on, Cam. You’ll figure it out . . .”

  “I give up.”

  “We’re heading to this little town in SoCal. It’s called Lone Pine. You know . . . where your mom is from.”

  “You remembered?”

  “I did more than that.” She pulled out her phone and started tapping. “At the next red light, you have to see this.”

  A minute or so later, Cam hit the brakes and took Nikki’s phone.

  The screen showed the Chamber of Commerce website for Lone Pine. Cam smiled at her. She’d obviously done some research of her own.

  He looked down to see a picture of a perfect blue sky dotted with bright white clouds. Jagged white rocks jutted up from the ground. And perched in midair hung a man wearing a black T-shirt and baggy cargoes.

  There it was, right there on the Lone Pine website: parkour.

  “It’s our destiny!” she told him.

  Cam handed the phone back. “When did you find this?”

  She smiled back at him. “The day after you told me about where your mom grew up.”

  “Destiny,” he repeated. “I like the sound of that.”

  “Me too.”

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  SO MANY THANKS go out to my phenomenal agent, Suzie

  Townsend, and to the whole gang at New Leaf, with a special shout-out to the awesome Danielle Barthel. Thank you guys so much for reading, believing, and for all the invaluable notes.

  Thank you to my amazing editor, Shauna Rossano, who is always supportive and cheerful (even when we have to do math!), and to Jen Besser and the whole Putnam team.

  Thank you to Marty Bowen and everyone at Temple Hill. Special thanks go out to Pete Harris for bringing me on board with such a great project—and for loving the action scenes!

  Thank you to my school family for supporting me as I continue on this writing journey, and to my students, who keep me entertained, inspired, and humble.

  Finally, thank you to my chicas, for all the love, support, and appetizers.

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