Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Oscar
I wait until Selkie is out of sight then quietly follow her. I know who Sadie is. I know what he is. And dad was horrified when he saw the Blackbeard in the backseat of Selkie’s car at the school.
No wonder Henri’s like she is with her crazy mother.
I make sure there’s a half-block space between me and Selkie, keeping as quiet as I can, but it doesn’t really matter, because Selkie hasn’t looked back once. She’s not actually very good at her job, I decide.
She stops dead at the end of a street, peaks around the corner of a building, hesitates, then disappears.
When I finally catch up with her, I catch a glimpse of her running down an alley.
God, she’s crazy. I think of Henri without her mother and feel sorry for her.
I got a dad and usually that’s good enough, but I wouldn’t mind having a mother.
If Selkie died, Henri wouldn’t have anyone but her grandma.
I park that thought as I step into the alley in time to see Selkie bounce off some big guy’s chest. “What the fuck!” she exclaims loudly.
These guys aren’t Blackbeards and they’re definitely too old and too well dressed to be gang members. One of them grabs her and the other catches the fist she swings, then takes her gun out of her holster and slides it in his waistband.
My heart is beating hard in my chest and I struggle to slow my breathing. I feel shaky and nervous. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Dad’s so cool under pressure. I gotta be more like him. I need to help Selkie. If I don’t, dad’ll think I’m a coward.
I sneak closer trying to figure out how I can get Selkie away from the men.
I could just stroll past, then attack from behind.
Yeah, that might work, but what if Selkie says something stupid like, “I told you to wait in the car.” She doesn’t seem to understand that less is more. That’s what dad would say.
I’m still undecided what to do when one of the guys says in a heavy accent, “Your father wants to talk to you.”
“Thanks for letting me know,” Selkie replies as she attempts to yank her arm out of his grip. “I’ll be sure to call him.”
“No,” the other guys says. “You come with us to see him.”
“I’m busy. You either help me or get out of my way.”
I shake my head. She’s cool like dad, but in a totally different way.
“Whatever you’re doing will keep. Let’s go.” He starts to drag her, but she struggles, swears, and kicks one of the guys really close to his balls. I think of Henri with admiration as Selkie sinks her teeth into the other guy’s hand as he tries to restrain her. That’s exactly what Henri would do.
Then the guy Selkie bit slaps her and that fires me up as I think of my dad. He’d be so pissed. And he’d do something about it so I gotta too.
“Hey!” I shout. “Get away from her!”
All three freeze and turn towards me.
Selkie glares. “I told you to wait in the car!” she snaps as she’s dragged out of sight.
Called it, didn’t I?