“Do…do you think what I’ve done…had anything…?” And then his voice stops, turns to a ragged breath.

“No. No, Ned. It couldn’t.” She grabs his forearm, squeezes it. “It couldn’t.”

“What if…?” he says. “What if…?” And Julia realizes these are the two most poisonous words ever.

She takes a deep breath. “But you have to stop doing it. For a while.”

“I’ll get in trouble if I stop.”

“No. It’ll be fine.”

Slowly he shakes his head.

She cannot argue with him, not at the end of this awful day, so she doesn’t. But she squeezes his hand.

“I think I just want to go to bed,” he says. “Like, for days.”

It’s not a time for big decisions, but they may not have a choice. “Let me take care of this problem for you,” she says. “I’ll talk to the guy for you.”

He shakes his head. “It doesn’t work that way, Jules.”

But she’s already decided. She just won’t tell him. “All right,” she says. “I won’t do anything. We’ll get through this. Are you sure you’ll be OK?”

He shakes his head. “I can walk you back to your house,” he says.

“No, I’m fine. There’s a patrol out there. I saw a friend of yours on the trail, near your house. Keeping an eye on it. Guy named Marland?”

Ned’s eyes grow wide. “Tall guy? Older?”

She nods.

If she didn’t know him well, she wouldn’t see him gather himself this way. But she does see it.

He’s scared. Of this man who was so friendly to her on the greenbelt.

“What?” she asks. “Who is he?”

“I’ll walk you back.” Ned goes into the kitchen, then the den, and she hears him telling Peter he’ll be back in a few. Then they head out, back to her house, skipping the greenbelt, sticking to the streets. They cut through a yard to the trail, but Marland is gone. For a moment Ned stands there.

“Who is he?” she asks again. “Is he…the guy?”

“Don’t tell anyone you saw him. I beg you. I’ll be in so much trouble, Jules. Please. It…it has nothing to do with Mom. OK? Please.”

“All right.” But she’s not one bit sure about keeping this odd promise. Something is terribly wrong. She goes into her house silently, Ned waiting until she’s inside, and as she shuts the door, she sees Ned turn and run into the darkness, eager to be gone.

15

Grant