Page 12 of Counting Quarters

Chapter Five

Kyle — Past

Mybestfriendswere going to be parents. They shared the news with me and Asher first. Of course, Mason was stressed about what Bonnie's parents would say about them conceiving a child when they didn't even have a place of their own, but Bonnie seemed ecstatic. Not a drop of doubt could be heard in her excited tone as she and Asher gushed over the idea of a new baby together.

Rayner walked into Mason's garage as they were squealing about going shopping for baby clothes and invited himself into the conversation.

“What's so exciting?” he asked.

Mason and Bonnie shared a look, debating whether or not to tell him, and she shrugged.

“I suppose you'll find out soon enough. We're pregnant.”

His face lit up with pure joy for our friends. “Congratulations! When are you due?”

“March first,” Mason answered proudly.

“That's near Freya Winters' due date.”

We all exchanged confused looks. What did that have to do with anything?

“Yeah, I guess so,” Bonnie said uncomfortably.

“Bonnie, do you realize how amazing that would be? If your child was a Counter?”

I didn't see the appeal. It seemed like nowadays, a Counter was the most threatening thing against a Quarter, and therefore the most precarious.

“Not really, Rayner.”

He clapped his hands together excitedly. “Oh, this is great. We might already have the upper hand. We could destroy them from within…” His voice trailed off as he became lost in thought.

“Well, based on that creepy smile on Rayner's face, I certainly hope it isn't,” I said teasingly. My lame attempt to ease the tension that his odd rambling created. He had truly gone off the rails in the past two years.

Rayner cut me a look of pure distaste, but Mason and Asher lightly chuckled. Bonnie still looked a little spooked.

Later that night, when Rayner finally left us to do whatever he did when he was alone, Bonnie turned to Mason with a look of pure horror on her face.

“Whatever happens, no one leaves that kid alone with my baby,” she said, and it was almost like she knew what was coming.

Present

Tabitha Granger was a surprisingly useful ally to keep, so long as you managed to remain on her good side. So far, I'd done a pretty good job of that.

She acted as an intermediary between me and the Quarters over the last few months, delivering messages between us to keep anyone else from knowing about our plans. I couldn’t risk having Mayor Douglas, or anyone else who was suspected of being on the Movement’s side, knowing that the town’s sheriff was working with their enemy.

But working with her also meant spending a lot of time at her hotel, which was unusually quiet since Mayor Douglas kept restrictions on all tourist travel and celebrations. Blaire was often the one stuck sitting in the dingy brown office. She never failed to greet me with a frown and a scowl before directing me to the attached home that Tabitha was often waiting for me inside.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d guess that Tabitha purposely put the sourpuss in my path as some kind of joke. I knew she never cared much for me or the Graves, especially after the way Storie’s parents were run out of town and we were left to clean up their mess.

Today, I was meeting her to discuss the latest animal carcass that had been left behind by the Movement. Blaire and I sat in awkward silence as I waited for Tabitha to invite me inside.

“Do you mind if I hang this here?” I gestured to the bulletin beside me and gave the flier in my hand a subtle shake.

Blaire shrugged, squinting to read the bold words on the paper.

“I'm finally renting out the loft,” I explained, wincing as I tacked it on top of a yellowed advertisement for the Broomstick Diner that closed over a year ago. The likelihood of anyone seeing it here was slim, but worth the try.

Blaire noticed me pause and her eyebrows shot up, a teasing smirk playing on her lips. “There's this crazy thing called the internet that's been around for a few decades. It usually gets the word out faster.”

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