Ro made a face. “But she knows about the slashed tires. She knows that Shanks was grilling us about Barnes. You need to tell her what’s going on. She won’t wilt, you know.”
“You’ve never been with her at this time of year.” Ben looked at his sister. “Should I tell her?”
“Call Dad and ask him again.”
He phoned his father. The conversation was very short. “Don’t tell Mom, but he’ll be here in an hour or so to oversee, okay?”
“Oh please,” Haley shot back. “Call him back and tell him we’re fine.”
“None of this would be necessary if you guys would wait at the police station.”
“And what would Mom think about that?” Haley looked at him with hard eyes. “Ben, we’re fine. I mean, like how long are you going to be gone? Like two hours? I mean, like, c’mon!”
“Here, here,” Ro said.
To Lilly, Ben said, “You okay with this?”
“I can study anywhere.” She gave a weak smile. “If you have to go to rehearsal to go to graduation, then go to rehearsal. We’ll be fine.”
“Can we go already?” Ro was tugging on Ben’s T-shirt.
“I’m halfway done with college. Why do I need to graduate high school?” To Ro, he said, “Go on without me.”
“I don’t believe this!” She was angry.
Lilly stepped in. “Ben, the graduation ceremony isn’t for you. It’s for your parents. You owe it to them.”
Ben knew she was right and that stank.
He wasn’t meant to be the oldest child, to be the first one to go to prom, the first one to wear a cap and gown or go to college or get married or have kids or experience any of those milestones. He was born second in line. He should have been second in line. Totally wrong but what could he do?
Ben turned to Griff. “You don’t answer the door for anyone, right? Even if he says he’s Shanks. Even if it is Shanks . . . well, if it is Shanks, you call me first. No one goes through that door unless I say so!”
“Dude, I hear you.”
“Don’t dude me right now,” Ben said. “It doesn’t inspire confidence.”
Griff turned serious. “It’s a little embarrassing that you don’t trust me.”
Ben took his arm and spoke in a low voice. “Griff, he killed four people.”
“I’m on it, Ben. Besides, the guy would have to be a moron to come to the house.”
Sometimes you’ve just got to let go. Ben said, “Did you preprogram your cell phones with the numbers?”
“We all did: yours, Shanks’s, your dad’s, my dad’s, and nine-one-one.”
“And you’ll keep the lines free at all times, right?”
“I got the memo.” Griff was staring with his big blue eyes. “I can handle it.”
Ben finally saw what he wanted: genuine concern in Griff’s eyes. The past year the boy had not only grown taller, he had filled out. He had broader shoulders and muscle in his arms. If he kept going this way, he’d make varsity football. In an arm wrestling match, Ben wouldn’t be surprised if Griff could take him down. But in a life-and-death struggle, Ben had an advantage over any of them. He had the passion because he knew what he was fighting for. “I’m counting on you. Don’t let me down.”
“I got it, Vicks.”
Ro was pushing Ben out the door. “See you guys. Lock up!” She dragged him to her car. “Will you relax?”
“That is out of the question.” They got into her Explorer and he pulled out a gun from a boot holster. It was only a little mouse gun, but it was better than nothing. Ro’s eyes went wide. He shrugged. “Just in case.”
“You’re nuts.”
He stowed the gun in her glove compartment. “Look, I know I’m being ridiculous, but it’s the way I’m wired, okay?” He took out his phone.
“Vicks, c’mon!”
“I just want to make sure that Haley’s keeping the line open.”
When she answered, she said, “I’m still here.”
“Keep the line open.”
“I can’t if I’m talking to you.” She hung up.
He didn’t feel right about leaving them, but as long as they toed the line—stayed inside the house with the doors locked—he supposed that they would last a few hours.
That’s what Ben told himself over and over and over.
Fifteen minutes into the hour, Haley put down her laptop. “How much longer is that damn truck going to beep?”
Lilly looked up from her workbook. She furrowed her brow as she listened to the incessant wheep, wheep, wheep in a high-pitched range. “I hadn’t noticed it until you said something.”
“How could you not notice it?”
“I was concentrating.”
“Well, bully for you.”
Lilly forced her lips shut to prevent herself from saying something she’d later regret. It wasn’t that Haley was grumpy, it was that she was selectively grumpy. With Griff, she was all smiles. Lilly was a third wheel, again. She got up and went to the window. “It’s street repair. The truck is hauling away broken asphalt.”
“So why is it beeping?”
“It does that every time it backs up.”
“Well, it’s driving me crazy! I hate studying to begin with and I’ve got four finals and a paper.” Haley regarded Lilly. “Did you do the English paper yet?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Of course you did. And I bet you already studied for finals?”
Lilly sighed. “How can I help you, Haley?”
“By not being so condescending. You and my brother are really a pair.” She stood up. “I’m going to the library.”
Griffen said, “You know you can’t do that.”
“Why? Because Ben said I can’t?” She made a face. “Who made him lord and protector?”
“Haley—”
“I understand where he’s coming from.” Her eyes got moist. “She was my sister too, you know. He acts like he’s the only one who’s suffered. Just because I’m not hunting around for some phantom killer doesn’t mean I don’t care or I’m inferior.”
Lilly said, “Haley, he’s not trying to be superior, he’s just worried about your personal safety.”
“He’s bossy.”
Griffen said, “You know we’re not going anywhere. Put cotton in your ears or something.”
“Let’s look at this logically,” Haley said. “The library is like ten blocks away. If we all go together and we all stay together, it’s probably even a better place to be because it’s public.”
“Why didn’t you say anything to him about the library when he was here?” Griffen asked. “I promised him I’d look after you two.”
“So look after us in the library. We’ll all stay in the same place at the same table.” Haley looked at Lilly. “You just said you can do work anywhere.”
“It’s not a problem for me,” Lilly said. “But if he comes back and finds us gone, he’ll freak. Why don’t you call him up and tell him your plans.”
“How about if we go to the library first and then I’ll call him up and tell him the change of plans? Because if I call him now, he’ll come rushing home and I don’t want to deal with him because he’ll be pissed. He’s always pissed. It’s hard being with someone so pissed off.”
Tell me about it, Lilly thought.
“With my mom being a zombie and my dad never around, things suck, okay? I know that Ben’s being protective, but you know he truly likes bossing me around.”
“That’s not fair,” Lilly said.