drizzle. Jessie leaned against the wall, her ribs a bonfire of pain, letting herself become part of the shadows. She'd been walking

e dumpster. A rustle, a whimp

nt at an angle that made her stomach clench. It saw

ere, the cheap kind from the gas station.

rd, three-legged, desperate, and

troked the cat's wet fur, feeling it tremble

ng the alley entrance, their high beams turning the rain to silver ne

and on the cat, her head down. She

e, coming closer. She smelled cologne

er," Bry

m, and forced it down. She was someone else. She was no one.

tu

s wide behind the glasses, her mouth slightly

his coat unbuttoned, his left arm still in the sling. He looked at

logne stronger now, and underneath it, something else

" he asked, his vo

go to school, I was just-my

his expression shift from suspicion to disgust. He didn't like tears. He didn't like we

?" he asked. "A woman. Dan

forced herself to slow down. "No, sir. Ju

ssecting her, peeling back the lay

wn suit damp, his expression unreadable. "The thermal scan is active

k another step closer, close enough that she could

her face, toward the glasses, toward

held he