Cipher

After his taillights were lost in a sea of others, she hurried back to the house, eager to have some time to focus on her last memory of Mom. As soon as she was inside her room, door closed securely behind her, she sat down on her bed.

Usually, she avoided the memory. Now she forced herself to plunge on in.

The temperature in Chicago had hovered at the ninety-nine degree mark that day—they’d broken the previous record-high for August. Mom was at the door, getting ready to head out.

“I’ve got to go, Summer,” she’d said.

“Oh wait.” Summer got up from the couch, abandoning her television show. “Can I get some money before you go? The girls and I are going to grab lunch.”

Mom reached into her purse and handed her a twenty.

“Thanks, Mom.” Summer leaned in for a hug.

Mom hands her cell phone to an unfamiliar red-haired woman. The woman pushes several buttons and holds the phone up to her ear. Aisles of candy are lined up behind her, a magazine stand is off to the right.

A large, mangy-looking man standing near the cash register pulls a gun from his hip and aims it at the cashier. “Give me the money! And don’t do anything stupid or everyone in here will die!”

He turns and swings the gun in Mom’s direction.

Mom holds her hands up in the air.

“Get off the phone!” The man yells at the woman behind Mom, leveling the gun on her. The woman’s lips are moving quickly, speaking into the cell phone.

“She’s almost done,” Mom says in a soothing tone.

The man pulls the trigger, and the woman talking on the phone goes down. He shoots again. Mom falls back into the candy-filled shelves and tumbles to the ground. Blood pours from the wound in her chest.

“Mom, don’t go,” Summer said as she released the hug, her heart racing, her mind swimming. “I’ll blow off lunch with my friends and go with you somewhere. We can see if there’s a dance class we can slip into, or catch a movie, or hit the mall. Whatever you want to do.”

“Don’t be silly,” Mom said. “I’ve got to go, and I’m in a hurry. I’ll see you when I get back this afternoon.”

“Mom, please. Please don’t go.” Summer had had the flashes before and nothing had ever happened—well, not that she knew of. This was her mom, though. She wasn’t willing to take any chances. “I really want you to stay with me today.”

“I’ve got to go do my job.”

“I thought you had the day off,” Summer said, desperate to keep her here no matter what she did. “Just stay here. Please!

“Someday, you’ll understand. You’ll see you can’t help when you have to go.”

Summer’s heart thumped faster and faster, harder and harder. “But I need to tell you something, and it can’t wait.”

“It’ll have to wait. This is something I can’t be late for. Now, be good. You’re awesome. I love you.” Mom blew her a kiss, then walked into the garage and pulled the door closed behind her.

Summer bit her lip, debating what to do. I’m going to have to tell her. Even if she doesn’t believe me, even if she thinks I need to be put in a mental institution, I can’t let her go. She heard the garage door close and ran for the front door. By the time she’d unlocked it and stepped outside, Mom was already driving away. She pulled her phone out and called Mom’s cell.

No answer.

She called five more times.

Mom never picked up.

It made sense now, why Mom insisted she had to go. Why she said Summer would understand someday. Mom had been going out on a Cipher job, Summer was sure of it. And Mom had been killed trying to do that job.

Summer hadn’t saved Mom, and it had eaten away at her every day since. But she was going to save Ashlyn. There had to be a way, and she was going to find it.

Because Summer couldn’t have another death on her conscience.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Summer bent down to pull on her boots. When she straightened, Gabriella was there. “Oh, holy crap,” she muttered. “I mean—Just crap. Not holy. But seriously, you scare me every time.”

“It’s been over a month, Summer,” Gabriella said, ignoring the popping-up-and-scaring issue. “You’ve got to know it’s drawing near.”

Bile churned in the pit of Summer’s stomach. “Just tell me when exactly. It’s driving me crazy.”

“I don’t even know for sure—those orders go out last minute. I do feel the urgency of the situation, though, which means you must, too. Those instincts were given to you for a reason. You can’t delay any more, or the only result you’re going to get is horrible guilt for you, Ashlyn, and Pamela.”

Ashlyn. Who might still be mad at her. She was going to fix that at school first thing, but while she had Gabriella here, she wanted confirmation on her theory. “My mom died on a Cipher job, didn’t she?”

Gabriella sighed. “Yes. That one came down to the wire. It was literally seconds before her death that your mom got her to call and talk to her husband. I’m not sure why she didn’t get there earlier.”

“That call cost my mom her life. I saw it. The man with the gun got mad because that other woman was on her cell phone.” The realization of what had happened hit Summer, knocking the air out of her. If I hadn’t delayed Mom, she wouldn’t have been in the store when the gun went off. She would’ve done her job before the woman went inside. Her head swam as she tried to put together words. “Does anyone die on accident?”

“Summer, this is complicated stuff. I can’t reveal the secrets of the universe to you. I’m here to do my job, which is to get you to do your job. I will tell you that Ciphers have failed before. Sometimes they’re too late—it’s not a perfect science. There are ways to get past it for the deceased and the family members, but it’s much more extensive and emotionally scarring. Some people never come back from it. That’s why it’s so much easier if you do your job now. Before it’s too late.”

Summer grabbed Gabriella’s hand, desperation throbbing through her veins. “Just tell me if some deaths are accidents.”

Gabriella’s watch chimed. “I’ve got a tight schedule, Summer. I don’t have time to keep coming down here, so please put a little more effort into this.”

She tightened her hold on the Angel of Death’s hand. “I’m trying as hard as I can. But right now, I really need you to tell me if people die when they’re not supposed to. Suicide, that kind of thing? Do people die before their time?”

Gabriella’s outline started to fade, and then Summer was clinging on to nothing but air.

* * *

“Did you see Ashlyn this morning?” Summer asked Troy at lunch. Ashlyn’s usual spot across the cafeteria was empty, she hadn’t answered any of her calls, and Sumer was starting to worry she was too late. Everything inside her turned cold and hard. Not only did she fail, but her friend had died mad at her.

“She stayed home today,” Troy said. “I know that Aaron got her math assignment to take to her.”

At least she was alive—she’d take pissed if it meant okay. Now she just needed to figure out how to fix things between them. Summer pressed her fingertips to the headache building at her temples. “I’ve managed to make a mess of everything.”

“What’s up?”

Summer glanced at Ashlyn’s empty space again. “I really need to talk to Ashlyn, but I think she’s avoiding