SIXTY-FOUR

Caitlyn! Caitlyn!”

From two steps away, Theo threw his little body as fast and as hard as he could at Caitlyn, and she rocked backward with the impact.

Caitlyn had been standing outside the shanty. Razor had made it clear that her safety here, unlike in the tunnels, depended on anonymity among the thousands of Industrials and Illegals. As long as she stayed in one spot and didn’t draw attention, no one would find her. There were men around who listened to Razor. Not too many, otherwise it would have been noticeable. Enough to handle most trouble. Enough to make sure Caitlyn didn’t leave.

As Razor had led Theo to this spot, he’d watched Caitlyn grin as Theo got so close he almost ran into her before he recognized her.

Theo continued to clutch Caitlyn.

She smiled as she looked down on his thatched hair, and Razor realized it was the first time he’d seen her smile with this kind of warmth. All he’d ever been given was the cold, tight version.

“What happened to your eyes, Theo?” Caitlyn asked.

“Nothing important,” Theo said.

Billy stood nearby in the classic shy stance. Head down, his toes suddenly far more interesting than Caitlyn.

“William,” she said softly. “Come here.”

He loomed over her, but she drew him in, and for a moment, they were a joyful family.

“Got to keep moving,” Razor said, more gruffly than he expected. Yeah, he felt jealous but didn’t want to sort out why. Not now. Probably not later.

Theo was the first to break the embrace, squeezing out from between Billy and Caitlyn.

“Hey,” he said to Caitlyn, pointing at Razor. “Who is this guy? Wouldn’t answer any of my questions. Wouldn’t even tell me his name.”

“Hundred and two questions,” Razor said. “I counted.”

“Some were repeats,” Billy said.

Razor couldn’t tell if Billy was being sardonic. His speed of talk matched his size. Either the guy was brilliant and hid it well. Or he was transparently not so brilliant.

Caitlyn began to speak. “His name is—”

“T. R.,” Razor jumped in before Caitlyn could finish. He was beginning to figure out the chemistry between Billy and Caitlyn. Irrationally, he didn’t want Billy even knowing his nickname. “T. R. Zornenbach. We’ve got to keep moving; we’ve got to keep safe.”

“Great,” Theo said. Heavy sarcasm.

“We can trust him,” Caitlyn admonished Theo.

“No,” Theo said. “Great. My glasses. We’re not going back to the soovie park, and that’s where I left them.”

“You can’t see much without them,” Caitlyn said. “How would you manage to forget to wear them?”

“We were at a soovie camp.” Theo spoke in his usual hyper rush. “Strange there. Real strange. Then a death doctor came and Billy tried to stop him from killing the mother. Made people mad. My glasses got broken when Billy was fighting one of the soovie gang guys. Thought we were dead. Then government came in with a helicopter and pulled us out of there. Billy almost didn’t make it. We were in the hospital all night. Government asked us to go back to the soovie park and spy for them. But we knew that was a lie. Billy said they must be tracking us, otherwise how could they know we left Lynchburg? Billy said it was strange they made sure to fix my glasses and give them back to me. Sure enough, that’s how they found us. So when we don’t want to be tracked, we leave the glasses behind. Right, Billy?”

Theo looked to Billy for confirmation, a satisfied look on his face that indicated he’d told the entire story, or at least the important parts of it.

“You need glasses bad?” Razor asked.

“Real bad,” Theo said. “Once, before I had them, I tried to eat a skunk. Really. Ask Caitlyn.”

“I’ll get you a new pair,” Razor said. “But I need to go back and get the old pair. Tell me how to find them.”

“Why?” Billy asked.

“He won’t answer,” Caitlyn said. “But you can trust him.”

Billy was shaking his head. Not to trust Razor.

Caitlyn put a hand on his arm. “Really. The same way you can trust me.”