Page 41 of The Two Last Moments

Do I have a clue what I’m doing? Nope. I just didn’t feel right leaving the way I did. Until I’m sure she’s safe, Lark is still my responsibility. The least I could do is see her off with Kathy.

Maybe I should go into Fresno with them, meet the other people Lark will be staying with. Make sure they seem okay…

“Um, could you move?” someone says.

I glance over and find that I’m blocking the door to the convenience store. I step aside, and as I do, I catch a glimpse of my own reflection in the glass. My shoulders are tense, arms hanging at my sides. I look like a stalker. In fact, this isnuts. Lark isn’t my responsibility anymore, and I need to let her go. That’s what she expected me to do. Not to slink around spying on her.

I blame Matteo. My best friend is the pushiest asshole I’ve ever met when it comes to heroics, and he’s got me acting just like him.

I head into the convenience store, doing my best to act like a normal guy and not some kind of obsessive weirdo. The shop is busy with people grabbing snacks and trailing in and out of the restrooms.

I spot pay-as-you-go phones behind the counter, and boom—there’s a sensible excuse for being here. I’ll buy one, give it to Lark, then go on my way.

It takes a couple minutes to reach the front of the line. “One of those phones, please?” I point at the clamshell package behind the register.

As I pay, I glance across at the restaurant, which is connected to the store through an open archway. But Lark and her aunt aren’t sitting at their booth anymore.

Shit, did I miss them already?

Maybe I can head them off in the parking lot. New phone in hand, I’m about to turn toward the exit when someone charges into the restaurant, coming from the back hallway.

It’s Kathy Sullivan.

She grabs one of the waitresses by the arm. “Did you see my niece? The girl with the black hair?”

The waitress shrugs. “Maybe she’s in the bathroom?”

“I already checked. She’s not there.”

On instinct, I take a step behind a display of ball caps so she won’t see me. Kathy races to the front door and pushes outside without looking my way.

Where the hell is Lark? She must’ve left the restaurant in the last few minutes. But I doubt she’d go quietly if someone was forcing her, which means she decided to take off on her own.

I don’t know what’s up, but I do not like it.

I go outside after Kathy. She’s pacing in front of the building like she doesn’t know what to do. I slip past her, jogging toward the main parking lot and trying to guess where Lark would go.

The semis. If she wanted to stay out of sight, that’s where she’d go. I check my phone, hoping she’s somehow managed to text me, but I have no notifications.

Then a scream rings out across the concrete.

I break into a run.

Within seconds, I’ve found her. Lark is in the shadows between two trailers, and some piece of shit is holding her by the wrist.

“Hey!” I shout.

Before I can reach them, Lark knees him hard in the crotch. The guy collapses onto the ground. She took care of that all by herself, and I want to cheer, I’m so proud of her.

But too quick, the guy is struggling up to standing. I step in and shove him up against the trailer. “Who the hell are you? Did you follow her?”

At the same time, Lark turns and sees me. “Danny?”

The trucker guy is quaking in my grip. “I’ve never seen her before! Jesus, I didn’t mean any harm!”

“He’s nobody,” Lark says.

I let him go, and the guy scampers off.

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