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“Rome?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for telling me about Zoe. It wasn’t your fault, you know.”

“Yeah, it was.” I hung my head, feeling the shame ofthatfailure wash over me yet again. “I was her team leader. I should have been able to save her.”

“Woulda, shoulda, coulda. That’s what you told me, remember?” he retorted. “And my warden says you gotta keep moving forward. Even if it’s a baby step at a time, you have to keep trying. Evil wins when we give up.”

“Then take your own advice.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Forgive Gemma when she asks you to and move past it. Don’t run away because you think you’re not good enough.”

“How did you— Never mind.” He made a face at me. “Must suck being a know-it-all.”

“It does.” I grinned and dodged his wadded-up shirt.

27. Joined-Up Letters

Rome

Mira was still sleeping, and I was grateful Kerry had automatically pocketed the keys last night so we didn’t have to wake her up. The girl looked like she could use the rest, and Gigi had agreed to stay and watch over her and John while Travis continued to research.

Before we left, Kerry told Gigi what information she could share with Mira, and I made sure she was clear on what she couldn’t. Then we took Mira’s car and followed the desk clerk’s directions to the superstore.

As we walked toward the entrance, I noticed Kerry seemed nervous or upset. I wondered if I should ask or let it come out on its own. Deciding to wait, I snagged a cart from the corral and headed for the grocery side.

“Uh, here.” Kerry’s face was red as he thrust a paper at me. “The girls’ list. Don’t know why Gigi gave it tome.”

Taking it, I scanned the paper and raised my eyebrows.

Bras and panties and tampons. No wonder he’s embarrassed. Really, Gigi? But then again, I suppose Mira only has the clothes on her back. Literally.

“Do you have the list Travis made? You can take a cart and get that, and I’ll get the girls’ stuff.”

“I have it.” He waved another piece of paper. “But we’ll stay together.”

“That will take us twice as long,” I started to argue, then noticed his skin had taken on a blue glitter.

Uh-oh. I’m missing something here. Let’s get it out in the open.

“What’s wrong?”

His jaw clamped shut for a moment and he crunched Travis’ list in his fist. Then he took a deep breath and met my eyes.

“I can’t read the kind of writing Gigi uses, and I’m not sure about some of these longer words on Travis’ list.”

“The kind of writing Gigi uses,” I repeated, feeling lost.

“You know, joined-up letters.” He gritted his teeth.

The light bulb finally went off. Clem had said Kerry was still learning to read and write, but I’d forgotten. Now I felt like I’d shamed the kid.

“No worries.” I shrugged, trying to make it seem like no big deal. “At least the shopping gives us something to do.”

“Yeah. Anything’s better than sitting around and waiting.”

At first, everything went smoothly with only one minor hiccup. Kerry insisted on peanut butter crackers, but the shelf was empty. Seeing a meltdown coming, I asked an employee to check their stock. Fortunately, the young woman - Yvonne, according to her name tag - brought out two big boxes, which placated him.

Then we started on Gigi’s list and stopped in our tracks.

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