It was a puzzle, that was all it was. Not like Donโs head out there, one Red could ๏ฌx, one sheโd done and undone before. For Mom. Now she could do it for Maddy. She bent to collect them, the pieces of the broken walkie-talkie, dropping them into her open hand.โ
She took the bundle over to the dining table, passing Oliver as she did. He let her by, but his grip tightened on the handle of the knife as she did. There was heat around him, following him, the smell of stale sweat. The hairs stood up on the back of her neck as she got too close, telling her to stay away.
Red let the pieces slide out of her hands, onto the table, scattering there.
She studied them.
โCan you do it?โ Simon asked her.
Red breathed out. โIf anythingโs broken, I could take out the RVโs stereo system, the radio. They have a lot of the same parts.โ
She leaned closer to the disassembled walkie-talkie. The green circuit board was cracked down the middle, still holding itself together at the soldered connections. There was a chunk missing from the black casing at the front, by the speaker grille, but that didnโt matter. The plastic disk of the speaker was shattered, un๏ฌxable, the part that turned radio waves into voices. But that was okay, Red could make a new one out of the paper Maddy had
brought. Nothing else looked broken, not the capacitors, or the ampli๏ฌers, the tuner, the transformers, not the magnet or the coil inside the broken speaker. She just had to put it all back together again, remake the speaker, reconnect the wires.
She nodded. โI can do it.โ
โDo you need the stereo?โ Arthur asked her, moving toward the cockpit. โNo.โ She swallowed. โI can do it without.โ
Red sidled onto the booth and along it, coming to sit beside the window. The same place sheโd been sitting almost eight hours ago, staring down at the tiny cars outside on the highway, Maddy chattering opposite her.
โStay awake, Maddy.โ Reynaโs voice ๏ฌoated over. โYou have to stay awake.โ
โI am.โ The words rasped out of Maddyโs throat. Dry and frail. That sound scared Red more than the screams had. They were losing her.
โSimon, get her some water.โ โSure.โ He ran to the kitchen.
Red reached across the table, for the scissors, strands of Maddyโs light brown hair still clinging to the blades. She pulled a fresh sheet of paper from the pad and sliced into it, moving the paper around as she cut a complete circle, about the same size as the broken plastic part of the speaker.
โMaddy, can you drink for me?โ Reyna said. โCan you open your mouth?โ
โIโm cold,โ Maddy said.
It was hot in here, sti๏ฌing. Red wiped a line of sweat from her temple against the back of her hand as she concentrated, smudging theย Call AT&T.
She reconnected the circuit board to the antenna, resting it back inside the
black casing.
Simon and Arthur were standing over her, watching. What was Oliver doing? Red couldnโt see him and that scared her.
โWill you leave Red alone after this?โ Simon turned to Arthur, his eyes darkening as he looked at his friend. But they werenโt friends, were they? Simon had just been Arthurโs way in, to get closer to Red. โYou and your brother wonโt still come for her?โ
โYou have my word,โ Arthur said, holding his gaze, refusing to let go. โI never wanted any harm to come to her, to anyone. I tried, I swear, I tried to avoid all this. I donโt believe in that, in killing people. I wonโt do it. Not for anything. Thatโs why my dad says Iโll be in charge of the numbers, of the legitimate businesses, because he canโt trust me out on the streets, to be a soldier for him. Not like my brother.โ He paused. โBut they will listen to me, both of them, I will make them. No harm will come to Red, ever. I promise.โ
โOkay.โ
โIโm sorry, Simon. Iโm sorry I had to lie to you.โ
Simon shrugged. โAlways thought you kind of sucked at basketball,โ he said, with the tiniest hint of a smile in his voice. โAnd hey, at least Iโll never be scared of anything else again after tonight. Makes telling my parents about drama school seem not so scary anymore. But thereโs something I donโt get,โ and the smile was gone now. โWhy didnโt you say it was Red with the secret hours ago? Why didnโt your brother just come out and ask her who was paying her to be the witness right at the start, when we ๏ฌrst found the walkie-talkie?โ
Red couldnโt see either of their faces, she was concentrating, looping a wire through, reconnecting it to the batteries.
โMy dadโs idea,โ Arthur said. โIf we didnโt say whose secret it was, then maybe weโd learn more than just the information we needed from Red. Find out things they donโt want you to know, thereโs power in that. Thatโs how my dad operates. And we could use those secrets to blackmail you into silence, if my cover ever got blown. Whichโฆโ He trailed o๏ฌ. โWell, too late now, you know who I am. Thatโs over.โ
Red glanced up, at Arthurโs downcast face, eyes on the ๏ฌoor. His life would never be the same after tonight either, would it? All of them changed, by this RV, by each other. Heโd lied to her, he was a liar, but so was Red. And the terrible thing was, she didnโt want to hate him. She maybe even wanted to take his hand, the one that matched hers. Her head told her she was a fucking idiot, but sometimes you didnโt go with your head, sometimes you trusted your gut. Red had learned that from Reyna.
โHowโs it going, Red?โ Simon asked her.
โWorking on it,โ she said, turning to the speaker, ๏ฌddling with the magnet and the coil.
โStay awake, Maddy.โ Reynaโs voice was higher now, scared. Maddy mumbled, a croak that didnโt make it past her throat.
โOliver, come on, please,โ Simon said, running his hands through his hair, pulling at his scalp. โSheโs not going to make it. Let Arthur go outside and speak to his brother. He says he will let us go. I trust him.โ
โI donโt,โ Oliver growled. โFor all we know, heโll go join his brother, try to kill us all, now that we know who they are.โ
โWhat about Red?โ Simon pointed at her. โShe can go outside, canโt she, Arthur? Your brother doesnโt know you have the name from her yet, which means he canโt shoot Red.โ
Arthur nodded. โUntil I tell him we have the name, Red is untouchable.
He wouldnโt shoot her.โ
โWill you let Red go, Oliver?โ Simon pleaded. โWill you let Red leave the RV and go speak to him? To ask him to let us go?โ
โNo.โ Oliver bared his teeth, brandishing the knife. โRed doesnโt leave either! Sheโs a liar. Sheโs trying to get my mom killed!โ
โLights,โ Maddy rasped, and Red ripped her eyes away from the walkie-talkie, over to her friend. Her eyes were cracked open, barely. One arm was raised, bent at the elbow, index ๏ฌnger shaking as she pointed it. โLights.โ The word scratched out of her again.
โWhat, Maddy?โ Reyna said, leaning in closer.
โLights,โ Simon said, turning toward the windshield. Redโs eyes followed him.
Lights.
Blue and red lights, ๏ฌickering in the darkness of the dying night. Flashing through the glass, inside the RV.
โCops are here,โ Simon said incredulously, like he didnโt dare believe it yet. โThe cops are here! Red, they must have heard you on the walkie-talkie. They called the cops. Theyโre here!โ
Red scrabbled up from the booth, the un๏ฌnished walkie-talkie gripped in her hand.
Simon was running up to the windshield, Arthur behind him, Oliver next. Red followed them, peering through the gaps between their shoulders.
There was a black squad car pulling toward them on the road, red and blue lights spinning from its roof, lighting up the wide-open nothing. But it wasnโt pitch-black out there anymore, the sky was stained with the faint pink of twilight.
The police cruiser rolled forward, drawn by their headlights, wheels crackling against the road.
โItโs police, Maddy!โ Simon called behind him, his voice cracking, breaking open. โWeโre going to get you to a hospital real soon.โ
The car peeled to a stop, directly in their headlights, before it reached the back end of the white truck.
โArthur?โ Red said, her breath on the back of his neck. He turned to look at her.
โWould your brother kill a cop?โ she asked.
Arthurโs eyes darkened, his mouth tensed as he searched inside for the answer. โI donโt know,โ he said. โHe shouldnโt, weโre not supposed to. But Mike wasnโt supposed to kill anyone tonight, except you. I didnโt think heโd shoot Don or Joyce, or Maddy. SoโฆI donโt know. Heโs unpredictable. Heโs a soldier, my brother. He knows what the mission is: get the name from you and kill you. He wouldnโt let anything stand in the way of that.โ
โSo, he might?โ Red said, watching beyond Arthur as the driverโs-side door of the squad car pushed open.
โI donโt know,โ Arthur said quickly, turning back as a female o๏ฌcer began to step out of the car in her uniform, dark hair scraped o๏ฌ her pale face, blue shirt, badge glowing on her chest, throwing back the light. She was on her own, looking up at the RV, one hand gripped on the car door, the other by the radio on her shoulder.
Her eyes met Redโs for an instant and Red knew what she had to do.
There was no time to think it through. It was instinct, almost, something in her gut where the shame used to live.
She couldnโt let it happen. That woman out there might have a daughter waiting for her at home. Maybe they had a ๏ฌght last night, about homework,
about the state of the daughterโs bedroom. What had their last words been to each other? Red couldnโt let it happen to another little girl, to lose her mom and her whole world the same way she had. Killed in the line of duty. A mom who never came home, never ๏ฌashed the headlights at the living room windows, never pulled those faces again in the mirror behind the breakfast table. The ๏ฌag on the casket, the three-volley ri๏ฌe salute, โAmazing Graceโ on the bagpipes.
Red wouldnโt let that happen.
The undone walkie-talkie gripped in one hand, Red lashed out with the other, at Oliver. She brought her ๏ฌst down against his wrist. He wasnโt looking at her, he didnโt see it coming. The knife ๏ฌew out of his grip, falling to the ๏ฌoor with a clatter, skidding away under the table.
โWhat theโโ he began to say, but Red was already moving away, charging for the door.
Heavy footsteps behind her, on her heels.
โDonโt, Red!โ Oliverโs voice roared as he sprinted after her. She didnโt look back; she knew what she had to do.
With a last look at MaddyโReyna watching over Redโs shoulder, terror growing in her eyesโRed collided with the front door.
She grabbed the handle and shoved open the door. It crashed into the metal side of the RV with a crack.
โNot one more step, Red, or Iโll do it!โ Oliverโs voice ripped against his throat, battered against her ears.
Red checked over her shoulder.
Oliver was standing by the sofa bed window, the mattress shoved aside. In his hand was the Zippo lighter, open, the ๏ฌame dancing, ๏ฌeeing from his breath. He was holding it out the window, pulling the shade up with the other hand.
โIโll drop it, I will!โ he screeched, head hanging o๏ฌ his neck again, tendons raw and red, a wild ๏ฌash in his eyes. โYouโre not leaving. Iโll drop it into the gas, set the RV on ๏ฌre. Iโll do it!โ He screamed those last words, foam and sweat around his open mouth, strings of spit hanging from his teeth.
โNo, you wonโt,โ Red said, one ๏ฌnal look at him before turning back to the open door. Oliver wouldnโt burn the RV for one reason: he was inside with them. His survival came ๏ฌrst, above everything; he was the highest-value here, in his head. Oliver wouldnโt drop that lighter, and she knew it.
Red left the RV.
She charged down the steps full speed, shoes crunching against the gravel road as she sprinted to the left. Toward the white truck.
The red dot might be here, following her. But Red was untouchable, he couldnโt shoot her. And she had to use that to save this woman.
She leaped over Donโs crumpled body, feet skittering as she landed. Could the o๏ฌcer see Don and Joyce from where she was standing? Could she see the blood, the red road?
Red ran, alongside the white truck, around the back of it, toward the police car. was emblazoned on its side in bright blues and yellows.
The womanโs eyes widened when she spotted Red.
โStay where you are!โ she shouted, drawing her handgun from the holster in half a second. She gripped it in both hands, pointed it at Red.
Red drew to a stop, dirt scattering, bunching around her feet.
But it was okay. She was standing right where she needed to be. Blocking the o๏ฌcer from the sniperโs line of sight. Her body a barricade against that red dot. The woman would be safe, because Red was here, and she wouldnโt move, she wouldnโt move whatever happened. This woman was going home today, and sheโd hug her daughter, if she had one, tell her how much she loved her. That was how this ended.
โHands up!โ the o๏ฌcer shouted. โHands where I can see them!โ
Red swallowed, raising her hands, the broken walkie-talkie still in her grip.
โRed!โ
Arthurโs voice screamed out into the breaking dawn. Her head whipped back over to the RV.
Arthur was charging down the steps onto the road, his eyes on her as she stood here, frozen.
But there was a dark shape behind him, backlit from the yellow glow of the RV. Faceless, wide shoulders.
Oliver was right on Arthurโs heels, leaping to the road after him.
Now that they were both outside, Red could see something new in Oliverโs eyes, something ๏ฌnal. The explosion must have hit at last, his face dis๏ฌgured with the rage, eyes black and hollow, not golden brown. And she could see something else too, the knife in his hand as he bore down on Arthur.
โNo, Oliver!โ
Reyna was outside now too, scrabbling for Oliverโs other arm, dragging him back in the same moment he swung the knife.
It caught Arthur in the neck, slicing through ๏ฌesh. Not as hard as Oliver had meant it, because of Reyna.
Arthurโs hands darted to the gash in his throat, dark blood trickling over his ๏ฌngers. But he was on his feet, he was still standing.
Oliver noticed that too, righting himself. He shoved Reyna away.
She slammed into the side of the RV, falling to the road. Oliver readied the knife, charging toward Arthur to ๏ฌnish it.ย Crack.
Oliver jolted back. A blast of blood behind him, spattering against the o๏ฌ-white sides of the RV.
He crumpled to the road, knees ๏ฌrst. It was instinct.
Redโs hands jumped to her ears at the sound of the ri๏ฌe, her eyes ๏ฌicking from Oliver, lying dead still on the road, to Arthur clutching at his neck, to the police o๏ฌcer in front of her.
But the woman wasnโt looking at Red. She was looking at the dark shape of the walkie-talkie in Redโs hand.
It must have been instinct for her too. Her gun ๏ฌashed. A tiny ๏ฌrework.
Something stung Red in the chest, breaking through. She stumbled back.
Another clap, another ๏ฌrework in the o๏ฌcerโs hands. A second punch, lower down, through her ribs.
Red blinked.
Her hand cradled her chest, pressed against her dark red shirt. Her ๏ฌngers came away and the red came away with them.
Then the pain, a wet kind of pain, gathering around the two holes in her chest. But it didnโt stay long, a cool numbness taking over as Redโs legs buckled beneath her.
She fell back, onto the road. Legs out straight, arms beside her. A gurgling sound as she tried to breathe.
A beep. A hiss of static.
โShots ๏ฌred,โ a womanโs voice said through the fuzz, panicked and high. โTen-thirty-three. Ten-thirty-three. Requesting immediate backup!โ
โRED, NO!โ
Arthur was screaming, his voice strange and far away, but he must be close, Red could feel that.
โStay back!โ the o๏ฌcer shouted. โDonโt come any closer.โ Another gunshot.
The sound of footsteps pounding the road, running away.
โOne of them is running. Ten-thirty-three. Requesting immediate backup.
We have fatalities. My god. What happened here?โ Red blinked up at the sky.
Dawn was breaking, pale yellows and pinks dissolving the darkness, scaring the night away. But the stars remained, they stayed, blinking back at her.
Red couldnโt feel it, the blood burbling out of her chest, nor the road, dirt and gravel hard against her back. She didnโt feel anything, except the cool plastic of the walkie-talkie, still gripped in her hand.
She shifted her head, told her eyes to look at it. It was undone, un๏ฌnished, broken. But she blinked once, twice, and the walkie-talkie came alive, the green screen lighting up, a glow against her face.
A hiss of static that wasnโt there, because it was broken, but it was, she could hear it against her ears. That white noise. Home.
The walkie-talkie wasnโt on, except it was, and it was tuned to channel six. Their channel.
Red couldnโt move, she couldnโt move to press her thumb against the push-to-talk button, but she didnโt need to. Because her own voice was coming through the speaker, Tiny Red, from a decade ago, hiding behind the door as she played Cops and Cops.
โAttention, attention,โ Red said, voice low and serious. โO๏ฌcer down.
O๏ฌcer down, requesting backup. Over.โ The static hissed, ๏ฌlling up her head.
And then she heard it, clearly, for the ๏ฌrst time in years. Momโs voice.
โOh no, O๏ฌcer Kenny,โ her mom said, that kind lilt at the end of her words that Red missed so much. โHave you been hit?โ
โMom, you have to say: Over.โ โSorry. Over.โ
Red smiled, watching the walkie-talkie sputter in and out of life, between then and now.
โYes, Iโve been hit,โ Red said. โThey got me.โ
โOh dear, sweetie,โ Mom said. โBackup is on the way to administer get-better kisses. Over.โ
Red coughed, a rattling in her chest that shouldnโt be there. But there was something else too, something that did belong.
And here it was, the proof that sheโd been wrong all these years. Red knew it was coming, just like Mom must have done, on her knees against the concrete, Red on her back against the road. But it wasnโt hate she felt, or regret, or guilt, or blame. They didnโt exist anymore, not here in this place, ๏ฌickering in and out. She wasnโt thinking about last words, she was thinking about all the words, all the memories. It was love; thorny and complicated and sad and happy. But it was a red feeling too.
โAha, there you are, O๏ฌcer Kenny,โ her mom said, breaking through the not-there static. โLooks like I got here just in time. Youโre going to make it.โ
Red giggled, the radio waves carrying her voice through time as Mom wrestled her to the ground, covering her in kisses.
โMom, stop,โ she laughed and laughed and laughed. They both did. โLove you, Red.โ
โLove you, Mom.โ
Red blinked away a tear, smiling up at the wide-open nothing of the sky. Time must move backward here in this in-between place, reversing,
because the night was coming back, darkness reclaiming the sky, taking Red with it. But Mom stayed with her, right here in her hand, at the end of all things.
Mom stayed, and so did the stars.
