Metaltown (21 page)

“And once you found out it was, it didn't even cross your mind you might get a reward?”

It might have crossed his mind.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Not everyone thinks in terms of payout.”

Her hip cocked to the side. She crossed her arms over her chest. “They do where I'm from.”

“Well, I guess you left for a reason, didn't you?”

He felt like an ass when her eyes glassed over with tears.

“Lena, I…” He took slow steps toward her. “Look over there.” He pointed across the beltway toward Bakerstown. The lights in the center of the city still twinkled. “I used to live out there. My brother and I went to school, and came home, and did homework, and hung out with our friends. We ate dinner together at night like a family. And then Cherish got sick, and my brother and I had to work. We couldn't afford our place anymore, so we moved out to Metaltown. Sometimes I come out here, and look across the bridge, and just wish … I don't know, I just think about those times, okay? That's what I was doing tonight. Just walking and thinking.” He swallowed a breath. He hadn't told anyone that, not even Ty.

She studied him for a long time. He would have cut off his own finger to read her mind.

“It's not always better over there,” she said finally.

He glanced over. From this side he could see the bruise on her cheek more clearly. “I hope you hit him back.”

Her posture went more rigid, if that was possible.

“Hit who back?”

Right. Pretend nothing had happened. She was just like Ty when she'd lost a fight.

“Here, face me.” He turned her, feeling her tense beneath his hands. “Gloves off.”

“
No.
” She clasped her hands behind her back.

His brows lifted. “Okay, gloves on. No problem. Lift your hands up, like this.” He showed her how to guard her face, and slowly, she mimicked his stance. “Elbows in, stagger your feet. There you go.” She was a quick study.

“Now swing.”

“What?” She dropped her arms. “I'm not going to hit you.”

“I know.” He smirked. “You couldn't if you tried.”

Her eyes narrowed. She lifted her hands back up and swung, nearly tipping over. He caught her around the waist and righted her. “Told you.”

She swung again.

“Thumbs in,” he cued, dodging to the side. “Follow through with your shoulder.” She bounced a little, trying to copy him. Cute. “Come on,” he said. “I know three-year-olds that can scrap better than you.”

She swung again, dropping her guard hand, and he reached in and tapped her once on the nose. “Got you.”

Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared. She locked her jaw, and the growl that came from her throat nearly made him laugh out loud. But she jumped at him with a burst of speed, and kneed him hard, right between the legs.

For thirty seconds there was nothing but pain. The worst kind. The kind that made you wish you'd never been born. When he opened his eyes he was on his knees and elbows, trying not to puke.

“I got you,” she said.

He winced. “You got me.”

*   *   *

As they entered the heart of Metaltown, he made her walk close. He kept to the more heavily traveled streets, but hugged the shadows, not wanting anyone to see the way she was dressed. Mostly just junkies were out now, trying to scrounge up a way to stay warm. They weren't generally trouble.

“I'm going to put my arm around you,” he said.

She missed a step. “Why?”

“So people know you're with me.”

She stared at him, but before he could explain that she didn't exactly blend in, she nodded.

He liked the way her small body fit against his. She smelled like vanilla, sharp and sweet. He rubbed one hand up and down her bicep, feeling her withdraw just slightly from his touch, then settle into him. She did a good job keeping up, and didn't once complain about the heels on those shoes she wore. Maybe she was less fragile than he thought.

“It's rude to stare, you know,” she said, without looking up at him.

“Not where I'm from,” he said. “Take it as a compliment.”

He was careful not to be so obvious after that.

They came to Market Alley, and Colin walked faster, refusing to look at Jed's office in the back. The Brotherhood would absorb Small Parts tomorrow. It should have made him happy, but it didn't. It stuck in his jaw like sour candy. Jed was a bastard and a liar. He wasn't one of them. He may have come from the streets, but he didn't honor the code of it.

He wondered again who had ratted them out.

They rounded the corner between the two brick buildings. The doors to the basement apartment were down a few steps, and metal fire escapes rose above on both sides.

“Look familiar?” he asked her.

She glanced around, relaxing a little when she saw the way was empty. “This is where we met. Is this where you live?”

He scratched his head. “Not exactly.” Part of him wanted to bring her home, but it probably would have run her off. Shima's place was nicer than his. Less crowded. Cleaner. More what Lena was used to.

Who was he kidding? Nothing here was even close to what she was used to.

“I'm not staying with you? I mean … I didn't mean to assume…” She wriggled. “You can let go of me now.”

She wanted him to stay.

“This is the safest place I know,” he said. He didn't want to let her slide away. Soon, she'd realize he was trouble, that Jed was after him, and that he'd tried to get the others to stand against Small Parts. There'd be no more backseat chats then. No more talks on the beltway. No more forgetting, just for a little while, the heavy weight of Metaltown.

He knocked once on the door before he said something stupid.

“Wait. Before we go in, I need to tell you something,” she said, fidgeting from side to side. “Something bad.”

“And things were going so well.” He took a deep breath, bracing for what was to come.

“My father was angry that I met with you this afternoon. Otto told him, and … he assumed things had happened that certainly had not happened.”

Colin tilted his head. “What kind of things?”

“
Things.
You know.” She circled her hands. “Anyway, I … I think Otto might try to take it out on you.”

He'd like to see him try. Still, a knot tied in his gut. “I can handle myself.”

“He might fire you,” she said in small voice. “I tried to tell them the truth—that I called on you, and that you didn't do anything wrong—but they wouldn't listen. I'm so sorry.”

He thought about Small Parts, about Jed Schultz and Minnick. About Ty and how no one else would stand up for her. “I'm probably going to get fired anyway,” he said.

Her chin shot up. “You shouldn't go back. It's not safe.”

“You're worried about me.”

“I am not,” she said, frowning. “Don't be silly.”

Slowly, gently, he touched her face, pressing his cool skin against the heated patch below her eye. Was that why she'd been hurt? Because of him? No one but Ty had stuck their neck out for him before.

“I don't have much of a choice.” If he didn't go to work, Otto and Lena's father would use it as proof that Colin was hiding something. Were they right? He'd broken the rules the second he'd offered to bring her here. Anyone in their right mind would have taken her straight home.

Her eyes were so bright when she was angry, and her cheek was even softer than he thought it would be. He moved closer, feeling the warmth of her, hearing her breath catch. Her lips parted.

The door behind him swung out, and Shima blinked at him. “For God's sake, Colin, it's the middle of the night.” She pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders. “If it's Hayden again, I swear I'll beat that boy myself…”

Lena stepped out from behind Colin, her mouth open in surprise. “Shima?”

 

20

TY

Colin hadn't gone home. Ty waited outside his place for an hour before heading to Lacey's, but no one there had seem him either. She felt sick over what had happened. She'd known Jed was trouble from the beginning, but Colin hadn't believed her. Now he was on the warpath, stopping payments to Colin's mother, forcing the workers at Small Parts to join the Brotherhood. He was more dangerous than she'd ever imagined.

Her stomach clenched again. She'd known he was trouble, and she'd mouthed off to him anyway—in public, no less. Now Colin's family was going to pay for it.

Not if she could help it.

She was going back to Jed Schultz. She was going to do whatever it took to make things right. He wanted her to apologize? Fine. She'd eat crow. She didn't have to believe it.

She walked fast back toward Market Alley, pausing when she saw a man coming up from Factory Row. He was broad in the shoulders and looked to be sober from his even gait, which meant he'd be harder to beat in a fight. With her eye she couldn't chance the trouble. Ducking into the shadows, she held her breath and waited as he approached from across the street.

Something moved behind her. A scuffle on the sidewalk brought the knife from her belt to her hand. She stayed low, peering into the darkness. A bottle rolled across the hard ground. Maybe it was a cat on the prowl. It was hard to tell with half her vision.

Whatever it was moved closer.

One in front, one behind. A quick glance up the road revealed that the man was still far enough away not to have seen her. Run or hide—she had to choose fast. Making her decision, she charged the shadows behind her, heart in her throat, hoping to catch whatever tailed her by surprise.

She collided with a boy almost half her size and pinned him to the ground.

“Get off!” he squeaked, reeking of garbage.

“
Chip?
”

“Course it's Chip. What are you doin' out here?”

Ty rolled off to the side, pulling him into a sunken doorway. “Shh!”

“I looked for you at Beggar's Square, but you never came.” He wiggled in her grasp.

“Shut. Up.” He finally went still.

The man up the street slowed, and Ty could make out his white chem plant uniform pants below his coat. He passed the Stamping Mill, pausing to gaze in their direction. A moment later he continued on, disappearing around the corner of the building toward the Brotherhood office.

“Who is that?” Chip whispered.

“Hayden,” whispered Ty. Why was Colin's brother coming to see Jed this late? She knew Hayden had gotten into business with him; that's why she and Colin had gone to Bakerstown in the first place. Despite the knowing, his presence here, now, didn't sit well with her.

“Go back to the Board and Care,” she told Chip.

“No,” he said stubbornly. “I got your back.”

The reference to his pledge to street code pulled at something deep in her chest.

“Chip…”

“You're tracking that guy, huh? Why you following him? Is he going to the Brotherhood?”

She shook her head. “I don't have time for this. Stay back here.”

She kept low and ran across the street, staying beyond the stretch of the yellow streetlights. She inched around the corner but the way was clear. The carts from the day were absent. The door to the Brotherhood was wide open, the lights within burning. Curiosity taking over, she tiptoed closer, catching laughter from within.

And footsteps from behind.

Go,
she mouthed to the kid. He mocked her and continued on, holding an old rusty fork in one hand like a shank.

Half of her meant to turn back. If Chip had her back, she had his, and this put him in danger. She should have taken him to the Board and Care and dumped his skinny ass in the kids' room. But she remembered her last time there and wondered if he wasn't safer by her side.

Giving up, she crept forward, honing in on the voices. Holding her breath, she looked around the corner. Three jackets hung on a standing rack in the hallway. Cigarette smoke gathered at the ceiling. Against all good judgment, she snuck inside.

“What's wrong, boy? Run yourself dry already?” Jed asked. “What do you have for me tonight?”

“Nothing.” Ty's hand closed around her knife at the sound of Hayden's voice.

“Oh, come on, you know that's not how it works. Is your brother planning to organize or not?”

“He's not doing anything.”

“That's not what you said last night.”

“I was wrong last night. Listen, Jed…”

“Mr. Schultz,” corrected Jed. Hayden cleared his throat.

“Mr. Schultz, whatever you've got going on with Small Parts, Colin's got nothing to do with it. I was off last night. I wasn't thinking clear.”

“And you are now, is that right?”

There was a pause, and then a crack as something hit the wall. “We can't have a charter organize at Small Parts, do you understand?” Jed's voice was low, menacing.

“I understand,” choked Hayden. Ty was torn. Colin's brother was being roughed up, and he would have counted on her to step in. But if Hayden was the leak, she couldn't possibly help him. He'd ratted them out. He'd put Colin in danger.

Her loyalty was to Colin. Always.

“I'm not certain you do,” said Jed. “Those kids build parts of bombs. The steel mill builds parts of the same bombs. The chem plant, where you work? Guess where that nitro goes?”

“Into a bomb, sir.”

“The same bomb,” Jed told him. “Every factory in Metaltown works together to make one product. So do you know what will happen if those kids refuse to work? Every other factory in town will have to stop production until we find replacements. This town will shut down. Hell, I might as well gift wrap it for McNulty.”

Another crack, and she could hear Hayden's groan and labored breaths.