Instead he loops his arm around her neck. The move turns Amina and yanks her to her tiptoes at the same time. Her sock filled with quarters clunks to the floor. He raises the thing he was hiding behind him and points it not at Amina but at the others. It’s a long gun. A black rifle with a curved clip.

It looks just like the guns the killers used.

Miranda’s muddled brain tries to make sense of this. Did he take it from one of them? Because the security guards here don’t carry guns. These guards are all wannabe cops, but the worst thing they have is pepper spray. Pepper spray, zip-tie handcuffs, plastic gloves, a walkie-talkie. But not some kind of automatic rifle meant for killing as many people as possible.

All this takes only a second. “You guys,” he says, “have to come with me. Or she dies.” Even though he’s holding the rifle with just one hand, it’s clear he could comfortably fire it.

Miranda hears footsteps pound away behind her.

Still holding her coin-filled sock, Miranda freezes. She can’t just leave Amina. What if he shoots her? Is there some way Miranda can attack him, save Amina, and not get killed herself?

Over the stranglehold of the security guard’s forearm, Amina’s panicked eyes meet Miranda’s. Her hands claw at his muscled arm but don’t find purchase.

He points the rifle at Miranda.

She rips her gaze away. Already starting to cry, she turns and runs while Amina croaks her name.

Miranda sprints flat out. And waits for the bullet in her back.

The Last Thing They’d Expect

THE LAST THING THEY’D EXPECT

5:43 P.M.

Miranda races around the bend in the corridor. Leaving Amina behind. Hot tears run down her face. Will the security guard—who must also be one of the killers—shoot Amina now?

With every step, the coin-filled sock thumps against her lower leg, hard enough to bruise. Her heart is beating so loudly in her ears that it takes her a second to realize the only footsteps she hears are in front of her, not behind.

Ahead of her, Javier is desperately hobbling forward. He can walk, but he can’t run. He’s only able to take short strides on his bad leg. Grace and Cole have disappeared. They must be around the second bend, maybe already back in Culpeppers.

It’s everyone for himself, like her dad said. Or is it? She catches up to Javier, lifts his arm, and puts it over her shoulder. He turns his head, and one corner of his mouth lifts. With her bearing some of his weight, he’s able to go faster.