As Booker returned to the wood pile, the window of opportunity appeared to Caitlin in an instant.
She just hated how it presented itself.
Setting her bowl down next to the trailer stoop she’d been sitting on, she locked eyes with Booker.
Please trust me.
“You didn’t have to be so harsh,” she said, voice just loud enough for Seth to hear.
And he did.
Seth stared intently as Caitlin faced off with Booker.
Frowning, Booker replied, “He’s been lingerin’ around them kids too long. I don’t care what he thinks he’s doin’—”
“You didn’t have to embarrass him though,” Caitlin argued. “He’s just trying to help.”
Confusion and anger bled into every corner of Booker’s expression.
“Cae, what in the hell has gotten into you?” He asked in a harsh whisper.
She couldn’t risk Seth hearing her explain. All she could do was hold Booker’s stare and hope.
“I’m sick of you bullying people,” she snapped. “Not everyone has to do what you say, Jack.”
For a millisecond, pure, blindsided pain flashed in Booker’s eyes.
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry.
Curling his lip, he waved her off. “A’ight, if you’re so sick of it, why dontchu go on then?”
Caitlin clutched her silver bird pendant, staring up at Booker.
“Fine,” she said, never looking away from him.
“Fine.”
Turning on her heel, Caitlin tossed her hair over her shoulder.
“Jackass,” she muttered, loud enough for anyone paying attention to hear.
Striding across the short lawns, she wove around the back end of one of the trailers and slowed.
Footsteps followed her but they weren’t Booker’s.
“Hey,” Seth whispered, catching up to her.
Caitlin took a deep breath, steadying herself.
Facing him, she wrapped her arms around her middle. “I’m so sorry, Seth. He had no right—”
“It’s okay,” he told her, offering a smile. “Guys like Booker just like to blow a lot of hot air.”
She let out a dark chuckle. “You’re telling me.”
It felt like setting a snare. Careful loops and knotwork, all for a single purpose.
“He can be such a tyrant sometimes,” she continued. “And the way he manipulates the officials and everyone else… It makes me sick.”
Intrigue lit up Seth’s eyes. “Booker has their ear, huh?”
“He has them all in the palm of his hand,” she said. “But no one sees it ‘cause he’s handsome and so charming with that southern drawl.” She sneered. “If only they knew what he was really like.”
Taking a measured step closer, Seth said, “It sounds like you need someone to talk to.”
Caitlin ducked her head, careful not to play it too eager.
“I wouldn’t want to burden you.”
“It’s not a burden,” Seth countered gently. “Especially not for you.”
Loop and knot…
“He just…” She swallowed. “It’s like nothing I say matters.” Lifting her gaze to his, she added, “You know, I told him that the fence at the school was a hazard. I tried to convince him to tell the elected officials, and you know what he said? That I was being too sensitive. That I should let the people in charge handle it because I didn’t know what I was talking about.”
Seth shook his head in disgust. “And look what happened.”
“Exactly,” she said, reaching to grab his forearm.
She spotted his instant delight at the touch and knew it was the right call.
“Look what happened,” she repeated, leaning closer. “First there was a swarm of Geeks and then the fire…” She sniffed, looking away. “I knew something bad would happen and no one listened.”
“Sometimes we have to make people listen,” Seth said. “It isn’t enough to tell them what we know, we have to show them.”
“Well someone clearly showed the officials,” she said. “I don’t care what Booker or the others say, the fire wasn’t an accident.”
Seth stared at her, breath frozen in his lungs for a moment.
“You think?”
Caitlin nodded. “Absolutely. There’s no way it was just a lit cigarette left in a trash can. But Booker expects me to just go along with that story.”
Seth shifted his weight, and she noticed how fidgety he became. But it wasn’t a need to run.
More like a need to share.
Loop and knot… Loop and knot…
“Can I tell you something awful?” Caitlin whispered, tugging on Seth’s wrist.
His eyes widened and he nodded.
“I kind of think the person who set the fires is a hero,” she murmured, holding his gaze. “They were just trying to get everyone to pay attention. To see the weak spots in our defenses. They were just doing what no one else was willing to do. That’s what a hero does, right?”
Turning his arm in her hold, he slipped his hand into hers, gripping her fingers like a vice.
“Can I tell you a secret of my own?” He asked, voice trembling.
Loop, knot, set the trap…
“Of course,” Caitlin urged.
Seth licked his lips, a grin toying at the corner of his mouth.
“I… I set the fires,” he said, releasing his breath in a rush. “I knew we’d never be safe there. Everyone kept overlooking the obvious—the fence, the lack of security, how untrained everyone was. It was just a matter of time.”
Caitlin clutched his hand in hers.
“So, you showed them,” she murmured.
Seth smiled. “Yeah. I did.”
Got him.
As Caitlin stared, she struggled to keep up her adoring façade as grief and anger twisted in her gut, making bile rise to the back of her throat.
“I knew you’d understand,” Seth continued. “I knew the moment we got to talk back at the first tent city we set up. I knew you were special.”
Just as he tilted forward, reaching for her, a sharp, high whistle sounded from above them.
Booker.
Taking her chance, Caitlin grabbed Seth by the shoulders and kneed him in the groin with all her might.
Yelling out
