Page 47 of Ordinary Girl

“So, you’ve been spending a lot of time with her. Any idea what might be on her mind?”

“She wants out, Cady. She wants to find her friends, she wants her old life back, it’d be a fucking surprise if shewasn’tdistracted. And from experience, believe me, it’s best to just let her deal with this in her own time. She’ll find her own way of coming to terms with it all.” We head outside, sitting down at one of the trestle tables out in the compound. “Thanks, by the way.”

“For what?” Cady asks, lighting up a cigarette.

“For helping out with Ana.”

She shrugs and takes a long drag. “It isn’t a chore, Joel. I want to help her. I hate seeing someone so sad. So defeated. She doesn’t deserve that.”

“No,” I sigh. “She doesn’t.”

Cady raises an eyebrow. “Something you want to tell me?”

“Like what?”

She gives another shrug. Takes another drag. “Like I said, you’ve been spending a lot of time with her, that’s all.”

“Not out of choice.”

I’m not getting into the conversation Cady’s obviously edging toward.

“How’s Skip doing?” she asks, finally changing the subject.

“To be honest, I don’t know. But he’s changed, since Sofia’s death. Meeting her, that changed him. So losing her, when he already had their future planned out in his head, it’s hit him hard.”

Cady lets a beat pass. “Why’s it taking so long to hit back? I thought Skip would’ve wanted instant revenge for what theHawks did. And I would’ve also thought the Hawks would’ve wanted their own revenge for the two men you took out. Shouldn’t this be all out war by now? What’s going on, huh?”

“None of this is really your problem, is it?”

She stares at me, still dragging on her cigarette. “Maybe not. Let’s just say I’m curious. Seems a bit weird to be leaving it this long. It’s not the way you usually operate.”

She’s right, to some extent. “Not my call. I just do as I’m told.”

She stubs her cigarette out on the table leg. “We killed two of their men, and an eye for an eye is straight out of their playbook, we all know that. It’s no secret. So it’s weird that no one seems to be taking any revenge at all. It’s weird that it’s gone all quiet.”

Everything she’s saying is right, but I don’t have an answer for her. For some reason, Skip’s holding back on any all-out war with the Hawks, and they don’t seem to be looking to start one either. And that’s a little weird, which is why we’re keeping a very close eye on them: why they’re probably doing exactly the same to us. And that’s why we have to keep Ana safe. We have no clue what they actually want.

“What can I tell you, Cady? I don’t know why Skip’s holding out, and I have no idea why the Hawks haven’t come for us either. I guess we just have to stay on our guard.” I sit back, glancing around the compound where it’s very much business as usual, while it feels like my life is suddenly taking a turn I’m nowhere near ready for. “It was common knowledge, right after that night, when they gunned down Sofia and we took their men out, that they wanted to hurt us.” I turn my attention back to Cady. “And whether that meant targeting Ana, we didn’t know for sure, but they let us know something was coming. But, so far, there’s been no sign of anything.”

Not entirely true. What happened this morning: the fucked up weapons deal, the hacked bank account, that could have something to do with them. And if they’re involved, in any way…

“Doesn’t mean it isn’t going to happen, Joel.”

“No. It doesn’t.” I’m not going to tell Cady about the weapons deal going south or the hacked bank account because it’s not her business to know any of that. Especially when we don’t have a clue who’s responsible yet, or what the fuck’s going on, but it isn’t sitting right with me. I can’t believe that hacking one of our off shore bank accounts is the work of the Hawks, it really isn’t their style. Fucking with a lucrative weapons deal, though, that’s very much in their wheelhouse. Are the two things connected? Or are we looking at shit coming at us from all angles? From someone we know nothing about?

“Joel? You okay?”

I must’ve drifted off, and I look at Cady. “Sorry, yeah, I’m fine.”

“You sure?” She frowns. “Seems like there’s a lot of distracted people around here at the moment.”

“Everything’s good, Cady.”

“Okay. Just making sure you’re alright, you know, like friends do.”

I sigh quietly, throwing my head back and staring up at the sky. “I’m sorry. There’s a lot going on right now, that’s all.”

“I get that.” She reaches into her bag for a bottle of water, opens it, and takes a long swig. “But if you’ve got something on your mind, to do with the Hawks, or anything else, why don’t you talk to Skip? You two are like brothers, you can talk to each other, can’t you?”

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