Роберт Уилсон - Days Since... - Jenny - Day 986

Damn it… Hastily, Jenny unclipped her canine from the lead, and the two of them fled Grant’s suspicion into the back portion of the restaurant.

They rounded the front counter, Sherman sniffing, pacing around the kitchen, past the abandoned deep fryers, grills, stainless steel counters. Mouse droppings everywhere. Filthy. The back door was locked, and she left it that way. Across from it, an open door—the last thing to check. The manager’s office appeared ransacked. Papers strewn about. A safe broken into. Empty. She backed out, then turning around, stepped right into Grant’s chest.

“Spill it, girlie.” His jaw tense, eyes blazing. “Now.”

“What?” Jenny knew damn well what he meant.

“Two things. What’s the S.A. ‘bout to run into, and why you got Sherman?”

“Not so loud,” Jenny tried, but Matt had already heard—he stood leaning over the front counter. They both stared at her, unblinking. Her eyes went to the ceiling, deciding how to break the news swirling in her mind, but more than anything, she wished to ignore them and focus on what needed to be done rather than all the hurt. Do I just say it? A lump in her throat began to choke her. The truth swelling. She tried to swallow it again but couldn’t. The sorrow on her face forced her friends to hang their heads.

“Jenny…?” Matt asked, starting toward the kitchen, toward her.

“Danny died.” Both words spilled out while Jenny struggled to steel herself against the emotion building inside. Grant said nothing. Matt’s lips curled inward. She brushed past both of them and into the dining area. Their faces would do nothing but soften her.

“How did it happen?” Grant’s voice remained strong as he followed closely behind.

“Griffin too.”

“Griffin and Danny? What the hell happened?”

“The S.A. took you guys away, then…” She paused and shimmied her way into a booth before wiping the condensation from the window with her sleeve. Still refusing to make eye contact with anyone, Jenny quickly brought the binoculars up.

“Jenny, please…” Matt sat in an adjacent booth and rested his hand on her back. “I don’t understand.”

“Who attacked us?” Grant asked. “The S.A. was gone.”

“Griffin—” Lowering the binoculars, Jenny offered a shaky glance back toward them. “It’s fine,” she lied. “All that matters is that Danny and Sherman saved me.” The canine perked up at the mention of his name. “You’re good, boy.” Her chest trembled through a short chuckle.

“What about Griffin? Did he do something?”

“Matt…” she started but couldn’t bring the truth forward. “We just have to move on. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“The fuck if it doesn’t.” Scrambling to get to his feet, Matt banged his thighs against the booth’s table, knocking a napkin dispenser onto the floor. “What did he do, Jenny? I always noticed how you act around him. Never really talk about him. He did something, didn’t he? What was it?”

Xavier sent a few glances their way, but wisely remained at his post.

“You gotta tell me, Jenny.” He slapped his palms down on her tabletop.

“Settle down, Matty.” Grant took hold of his shoulders, trying to pull him away from the table.

What do I say…? If I tell him the truth, he’d never forgive me for hiding it from him, right? And the baby… What if he rejects it? Or me? I can’t risk it. I can’t let him know. “Griffin…” She searched for a reason. Something that would stick. “He—he gave you guys to the S.A., right, but he—” Jenny struggled to keep her voice steady through the lie. Most of this isn’t a lie. Just blurt it out. “Griffin was giving me away. Like a slave or something. I don’t know, but Danny found out, and they fought.” She calmed her words. “Sherman got a hold of Griffin, and he took out a pistol. Just started shooting and Danny got hit. He—”

“You ain’t gotta finish, girlie. We know…”

Grant eased Matt into one of the seats and sat down opposite him at the table. Neither said anything more, burying themselves in thought, in silence. Jenny turned her attention back to the Depot. They need some time…

Through her binoculars, she scanned across the parking lot, past the several-hundred-or-so vehicles placed in a deliberate pattern to slow the approach of unwanted guests. Her view was limited, but up to this point, still no sign of the Second Alliance along the ground. So far, so good. She focused atop the roofline. What the…? Defenses were bolstered—guards riddled the rooftop with rifles drawn toward the middle of the parking lot.

“One thing I don’t under—” Matt started, but Jenny shushed him.

She danced the lenses through the lot, between the cars. The guards’ immediate focus

failed to become apparent. “Lots of guards on the roof focused on something, but I can’t tell what.”

“What they got?” Grant asked, shooting up from his chair and toward her.

“I said I can’t tell right now.” Frustrated, she scanned once more before moving to a different booth to see if it would help. It didn’t. “Damn it…”

“You think it’s the S.A.?” Xavier asked from across the room.

“Naw, don’t think so.” Grant snapped his attention away from the window and over to Xavier. “There was some kinda agreement, or else they wouldn’t’ve taken us away in the first place. No way our guys would be pointin’ guns on them if that was the case.”

“Maybe… What if I went out there? I could scout it out.” Xavier walked away from his post. “At least if they see me, they won’t do anything. I can just say you guys let me go or something.”

“But what if it’s not them? And whoever it is does do something?” Jenny fired back, her eyes still scanning the parking lot through the binoculars. “Even if it is them, it won’t work anyways. The S.A. wouldn’t be able to get close to the Depot like that, it’d be over by now.”

“You gonna tell me why that is now?” Grant asked. “They seemed cozied up pretty good together yesterday.”

“So, about that.” She lowered the binoculars, turned, and allowed her companions to observe the smirk stretching across her face. “The Depot thinks the S.A. were the ones that killed Danny and Griffin. I didn’t see a point in correcting them. Figured it’d be best to let them take the fall for it.”

“Sounds good to me.” Matt stood from his seat, moving toward the window to observe. He gestured for the binoculars.

Jenny obliged but kept her attention on whatever standstill existed in the lot. “The S.A. needs more enemies. So, when Derrick caught me leaving out the backdoor with Sherman. I… I may have mentioned something about the S.A. Didn’t really have time to explain, and it just seemed like the right thing to do.”

A hand gripped her shoulder from behind. “At least you found a way to make us smile,” Grant said. “At least somethin’ good came out of this. I think you’ve done great, girlie, come a long way for sure. Knowin’ what you did all by yourself, I ain’t never been so proud of somebody before. Danny’s lookin’ down on you right now, prouder than ever on what you can do.”

Jenny slid away from the window. “I know.”

“He trained you well. Looks good on you.” He flopped back in his seat. “You’re a leader. How you handle that dog. How you came and got us. You’re meant for this.”

“Meant for what?”

“Stoppin’ the Second Alliance.” Grant stiffened upright in the chair, his voice eager. “Givin’ them what they deserve. They gonna keep comin’. Now, especially. We gotta let the Depot know that. When you walk over there and we’re with you, and you’re tellin’ them what happened, how you got the best of them, they’re not gonna have a choice but believe in you. I’m not sayin’ it’ll be easy or that you’ll be leadin’ some big army, but it’ll inspire them. Get them fired up to make sure what happened to River’s Edge doesn’t happen here.”