Julia Karr - XVI

“What are you doing here?” I glanced around, hoping someone would come down the street, but it was empty.

“Looking for you. I want to talk about Ginnie.”

“What about her” I tried jerking free again. “You didn’t call or come over after she was killed. Why the sudden interest now?”

Ed laughed, and I could feel the blood rushing to my face. “She’s the mother of my child,” he said. “Maybe she left something for me. Maybe you found it. Maybe I want it—now.” He shoved me against the wall, hard, but didn’t let go of my arm.

The streetlight shone on his face and I recognized the look in his eyes—the same one he’d get before Ginnie’d send Dee and me to Sandy’s. Instinct took over and I rammed my knee up between his legs. He yelped and loosened his grip enough for me to struggle free. I took off like a veljet. He lunged at me, catching the pocket of my coat. It ripped as I kept on running, narrowly avoiding crashing into a couple of guys as they exited an apartment. Ed wasn’t so lucky. I heard the collision and the ensuing curses and accusations, which grew fainter as I raced up the street.

Instead of going straight down Wells, I ducked into an alley that cut through to Clark. Slipping and sliding on the sleet-slick pavement, I somehow managed to get out the other side. Racing to North and Wells, I didn’t stop until I was inside Soma.

Bent over, hands on my knees, my lungs screamed for air. I saw Wei about the time she saw me.

She rushed over. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Bathroom,” I gasped.

We went down a narrow hallway and through a door marked “FEMS.”

“Are you all right?”

Still breathless, I pointed at the door, making a locking motion.

She secured it. “Nina, what on earth’s happened?”

“Ed.” I gasped for air.

“What about him? Dee’s okay, isn’t she?”

I finally managed to fill my lungs. Exhaling, I collapsed onto the stool in one of the stalls. “She’s fine. I was coming here… and I ran right into him… got away…”

“Did he follow you?”

I shook my head. “I dodged a couple of guys; he wasn’t so lucky. I don’t think he knows where I went.”

“We need to tell the others. Are you sure you’re okay? He didn’t hurt you?”

“I’m fine.” I looked down at my ripped pocket, “My coat, however…” I flipped the flap of ripped material back and forth.

We both stared at the torn pocket. I started to giggle. After a moment, Wei joined in. Then all my emotions burst out in uncontrollable laughter. I clutched my sides and Wei was rocking back and forth. We didn’t stop until someone banged on the door, yelling for us to get out.

As soon as we stepped into the main room, I scanned it for Ed. Wei spotted Sal and Mike. Sal. I didn’t realize he was going to be there. I took a breath.

“Forget your good coat?” Mike asked, pointing at my pocket.

I sat down in the chair facing the door, and tried to ignore Sal. “I ran into Ed. Literally.”

Sal raised an eyebrow at Wei. “Everything okay?”

“No. Ed attacked her when she was on her way here.”

Even in the dim light, I could see Sal’s jaw muscles tighten. However, any hope that he might still care about me was dashed when, without even looking at me, he said, “Guess you’re okay.”

“Yeah, sure I am.”

“What happened?” Mike asked.

With only a slight alteration of the truth, I said, “When I got off the trans, I turned the corner onto Wells and there he was.” I recounted the details and concluded, “That’s it.” I didn’t say why I was on that particular corner in the first place.

Then all the what-ifs started racing through my mind: What if I hadn’t caught him off guard, what if I hadn’t kneed him as hard as I did, what if—

“I wonder why he followed you?” Wei asked.

“Yeah. You’re not his daughter,” Mike said.

“I don’t know.” I really didn’t want to start dissecting things now. Soma wasn’t the place to be telling my secrets.

“Did your mother leave you anything valuable?” Wei said. “Maybe he gave her something and wants it back.”

Startled, I stared at her. It was as if Wei knew, but she couldn’t possibly.

She cocked her head and looked at me like she was reading my thoughts. I stuttered about for a second, gathering my thoughts, then said, “Ginnie didn’t have anything worth much. All her jewelry was fake and her designer stuff was knockoff. The only things Ed ever gave her were cuts and bruises.”

Sal had been quiet the entire time we were talking. It threw me when he said, “This Ed sounds like a great guy, I can’t wait to meet him.”

“There’s no reason you would,” I said, and quickly looked away.

“I’d like to,” Wei said.

“Yeah, the Cliste Galad girl.” Sal’s mouth curled into a half smile. “He wouldn’t know what hit him.”

“We can’t go out there looking for him now,” Mike said. “Sandy’s not here and Derek hasn’t played yet.”

“I’m sure he’s long gone anyway.” I made eye contact with Mike, purposely avoiding looking at Sal.

A sigh of relief escaped Mike—he was about the most nonviolent person I knew. Not a scaredy-cat, just not someone who’d go looking for a fight. Especially not against a former government spy and grown man. I didn’t blame him.

“You’re right,” Sal agreed.

“What I want to know,” Wei said, “is why he went after you, Nina. We all thought he was after Dee. Did he say anything, give you any clues?”

“Our apartment was broken into the other day, but nothing was taken. And Ed said maybe Ginnie gave me something that he wanted.” A chill ran through me. I thought back to those last few minutes with Ginnie—her certainty that my father was alive and her instructions to get the book to him. I had had enough of keeping all of this to myself. I needed help. But as much as I wanted to tell my friends about what was really going on, I couldn’t, not in public, where anyone might hear. I was contemplating when and where I could spill all my secrets when Sandy walked in.

Riley and Derek were on the stage, which consisted of two chairs set up in front of the tables. Derek was tuning an antique guitar he’d found in a junk store and restored. Riley was hitting a note here and there on his accordion. But no one was paying them any mind—all eyes were on Sandy. Even Sal watched as she approached our table.

Sandy’s Saturn blue plether pants were so tight there was no way could she have gotten them on over underwear—and it was obvious she hadn’t. She wore black thigh-high sueded boots and a cropped faux-fur jacket over a skimpy little top. Her hair was the only thing about her that looked familiar.

“Skivs!” Mike exclaimed. “What the hell did you do, Sandy? You look like—”

“A model,” I blurted out before Mike could make things worse. Yeah , I thought, a model for sex-teen of the year . The outfit made me cringe. I sincerely hoped the Sandy I knew and loved was under the Media-hyped crap she was wearing.

“I’ve missed you sooo much!” she squealed, yanking me out of my chair.

She hugged me and blew air kisses, and though I wanted everything to be like it used to be, it wasn’t. I tried to forget about her sex-teen look, but it was impossible. I pulled away and introduced her to Wei. They chatted for a minute before realizing that they both adored raw galactic music.

Sal stared at me as I sat back down. I could feel my neck getting hot. He cocked his head toward the door and got up. I don’t know why, but I followed him outside. It was freezing and I’d left my coat back at the table. Hugging my arms around me, I waited for him to say something.