"I'm hip, but I want details tomorrow," she adds with a grin. "All the details."
"Maybe some stuff is private," I tease her.
"Fine, fine. Just the important stuff then. Like whether it was worth waiting on him tonight."
"It will be, I can guarantee that." We both dissolve into giggles like we're teenagers again.
As the sun continues its descent toward the horizon, I find myself thinking about how much my life has changed in such a short time. A few weeks ago, I was still jumping at shadows, afraid to leave my house after dark. Now I'm slowly putting the pieces of myself back together.
It's messy and complicated and sometimes terrifying, but it's also real. Maybe that's what healing looks like – not a straight line from broken to whole, but a winding path full of setbacks and breakthroughs, fear and courage existing together.
"You know what?" I say to Allison as she stretches out. "I think everything's going to be okay."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. For both of us."
She smiles, and in that moment, surrounded by the pinks and oranges of sunset and the promise of our future, I actually believe it.
Chapter 21
Devil
I'm not too excited to approach Keegan to get information on teenagers, but Chief Harrison needs to know what's going on at the high school, and so do we. When I pull into the parking lot of Saint's Outlaws Garage, Keegan is in one of the bays, listening to Dime.
Dime is one of the best explainers I've ever known. Back when I started undercover and he was introduced as being my best friend, he took it upon himself to really bring me into the fold. He'd been slightly introducing himself to Saint's Outlaws for weeks. I have no doubt that if we weren't thrown together, we would've ended up being friends.
"Hey Prez," he says, a grin spreading across his face. "How's it going?"
"Can't complain, I'd like to talk to Keegan though, if I can borrow him."
Dime's eyebrows shoot up. "Is everything okay?"
"It's good, just have a couple of things I wanna talk to him about."
I direct him behind the garage, to where we have some picnic tables set up.
"Did I do something wrong?" He asks as he has a seat and looks up at me.
He favors his dad so much. If anyone ever wondered who he is, they would see Ransom in his facial features and eyes. It reminds me of a few weeks ago when Ransom saved my life. "Not at all, I just have a few questions for you. It has to do with Laurel Springs High and the kids there."
He shifts, seeming to be uncomfortable. "What about it?"
I take a seat across from him, studying his face for a moment. The kid's got good instincts—probably inherited from his family. But right now, those instincts are making him nervous, and I need him to relax if I'm going to get anything useful out of him.
"Look, Keegan, I'm not trying to get anyone in trouble here. But there's some stuff going around the school that's got people concerned, and I figured you might have some insight."
His shoulders relax slightly, but his eyes remain cautious. "What kind of stuff?"
"Drugs. Word is there's been an uptick in what's floating around campus, and it's not just the usual harmless shit kids experiment with." I lean forward, keeping my voice low and serious. "I'm talking about the hard stuff, the kind that can kill someone."
Keegan's face goes pale, and I know I've hit a nerve. He looks down at his hands, fidgeting with the edge of his t-shirt. The silence stretches between us for a long moment before he finally speaks.
"There's... there's been talk, yeah. Kids are getting stuff that's supposed to be one thing, but it's not."
"What do you mean by that?"
He glances around, making sure we're alone. "Like, someone thinks they're buying weed, but it's been messed with. Stronger and more dangerous."
