"Andrew thinks my father was a gopher who skimmed money off his boss's payment to the Moriyamas. I told him my parents were executed for their treachery and that I ran with the money. Andrew wants me to use the Foxes' infamy to stay safe. If we're in the news every week it's hard for someone to get rid of me, or so he says."

"Notoriety can't save a security risk like you," Kevin said. "You know too much. You could destroy your father's territory by speaking to the wrong people. They knew your mother would never betray her family to the Feds, but you are an unpredictable and frightened child."

Kevin shook his head and bulled on when Neil started to argue. "The master wants to salvage you. He's going to sign you to the Raven lineup in spring. So long as you keep quiet and keep your head down he won't tell the main family he's found you."

"I'm not a Raven," Neil said. "I never will be."

"Then run," Kevin insisted, low and frantic. "It's the only way you'll survive."

Neil closed his eyes and tried to breathe. His heartbeat was loud as gunfire in his ears, drumming holes into his brain. He dug his hands into his shirt, trying to feel his scars through the cotton. When he breathed he smelled saltwater and blood. For a moment he was three thousand miles away, stumbling alone and broken down the highway toward San Francisco. Neil's fingers ached with the need for a cigarette. His legs burned with the desire to run.

But Neil's feet stayed planted, and he opened his eyes again. "No."

"Don't be stupid."

"Running won't save me this time," Neil said. "If the Moriyamas really do think I'm a threat they'll send people after me. My mother and I could barely outrun my father. How am I supposed to escape his boss?"

"At least you'd have a chance," Kevin said quietly.

"A chance to die somewhere else all by myself," Neil said, and Kevin looked away. Neil put his hands in his pockets, feeling his keys in one and his phone in the other. He twisted his fingers through the key ring, tracing ridges with his fingertips until he found the key to Nicky's house in Columbia. Andrew gave it to him in August when he first promised to protect Neil.

Neil looked down at the fox paw they were standing on. As he spoke his fear seeped away and was replaced by an unhappy calm. "If I was going to run, I should have done it in August. Andrew told me it was my last chance to get out. I decided to stay. I wasn't sure he was enough to stand between me and my father but I wanted this too much to care about the risks. Maybe I didn't fully understand the stakes then, but this hasn't changed."