Standing near her is a guy. His face is bloodied and swollen, almost unrecognizable. But she knows who it is. Parker.

He’s still alive. Miranda holds tight to that thought.

Suddenly a man dressed all in black appears to the right of the Jeep. One of the killers. He transfers his rifle to his left hand and with his right reaches behind him and pulls out a gun. A handgun, but it looks weird. Like a pistol, only the barrel is way too long.

No Safe Place

NO SAFE PLACE

6:01 P.M.

Heels turns to Blazers. “The brother’s got the candy store. What store are you taking?”

The guy from AT&T whispers, “There’s lots of forms behind our counter. They should burn pretty good.”

“Want to take my lighter?” Blazers asks. “I’m not that fast anymore, and you know where all that paper is.”

Parker can see the struggle on AT&T’s face. Is it better to act, or to not risk drawing any attention to yourself? Then again, whoever is in a store lighting a fire might be out of the not-so-proverbial line of fire. For a moment, Parker wonders if he should take Moxie back into the candy store with him. But Stanford’s right: There is no safe place. Not here.

“Okay,” AT&T finally whispers. Blazers starts to slide one of his zip-tied hands into his pocket, but Heels gives her head a short, sharp shake. “Give me a couple of minutes. Don’t start until I distract them.”

Parker wonders what it’s going to be. Will she feign illness or pretend to be going crazy? Whatever it is, she risks being slaughtered just like the sheep she originally compared them to.

As he speaks, a high-pitched whine makes everyone turn their heads toward the food court. At first Parker can’t place the sound. It’s familiar but also terribly out of place. Then something ankle high and moving fast appears on the floor at the edge of the hall.

It’s a remote-control car. A white Jeep less than a foot long. It stops about twenty feet from the killers and executes a tight turn. As it comes closer, he can see that in the front seat of the Jeep, a phone lies sideways. Parker squints. Is he really seeing faces on it? Understanding dawns. It must be Miranda and the people she’s with.

“Go!” Heels whispers from behind Parker. “This can be our distraction! Go, go, go!”

I Didn’t Know

I DIDN’T KNOW

6:03 P.M.

“What’s that?” Grace whispers.

Cole’s eyes don’t move from the phone’s screen, but his voice betrays his surprise as he turns the Jeep in a tight circle. “He’s got a silencer.”

Down the hall, the sound is muffled to a loud clap. Then the screen goes dead.