Page 71

CHAPTER 70

DUNHAM WANTS WENDY out of the cell now. He says it’s time to try to locate and contact members of her family.

“My… real parents?” Wendy whispers.

Dunham’s voice goes soft and sympathetic as he tells us that Wendy’s parents died two years ago—her dad of cancer, her mom of a stroke. “Before that, I talked to them every month,” he assures Wendy. “Every month for all those years. They never forgot you. And they never gave up hope.”

I can tell by the way Wendy’s eyes dart around, looking at the exits, that she isn’t ready for this. That all she wants to do is disappear. She did it once, and she can do it again. If she vanishes into the woods, no one but the wolves will be able to find her again.

But she can’t run away now, not unless she’s going to do it alone. Because we’re still in the jail cell. Even though it’s not locked, we can’t leave. Randall says we have to wait for Ms. Pettibon to come.

I overheard Pearl calling her on Rollins’s orders. He said that Holo and I had been “unofficial guests” of the chief too long. When Pearl protested—“They all like it just fine,” she said—he snapped at her. “We need to keep constant track of these kids while their case is under investigation. Since Chief Greene is apparently incapable of doing that, Kai and Holo need to be in state-approved care.”

I don’t know what state-approved care means, but I don’t like the sound of it.

An hour passes. Then another.

“Chester will come back soon and let us out,” Holo says. He’s sticking his finger into a hole in his T-shirt and slowly making it bigger. “He’ll take care of everything.”

Holo is so damn trusting. Me, I’m just pissed at the chief for following us. For bringing a dozen armed men with him. For trying to arrest Wendy, who was only trying to protect us.

But he’s probably the only one who’s really on our side.

“Excuse me,” says a bright, grating voice. Ms. Pettibon is sliding past Rollins and into our cell. “I’m here to see…”—her lips almost curl when she says this—“ them .”

She has the same red hair, the same fake-flower perfume, the same bullshit, lipsticked smile. I can feel the growl rising in my throat, but I push it back down.

Rollins says, “They’re all yours,” and goes back to picking paint off the cell bars with his fingernail.

“Well,” Ms. Pettibon chirps to me and Holo, “you’re not acting like wild animals, so obviously you’ve made some behavioral improvements since we last met.”

Holo looks over at me, like Should I bite her? Because I can totally do that.

As much as I’d enjoy seeing him sink his fangs into her shoulder, it’d do more harm than good. I shake my head no.

“But, unfortunately, despite these improvements,” she goes on, “there are clearly still issues with conduct, discipline, and attitude. If this weren’t the case, then you wouldn’t have been brought here in handcuffs, no?”

Her tone’s so condescending it makes me want to scream. On second thought, maybe Holo should bite her. I’m considering giving him the A-okay when Wendy bursts into the cell, having left Agent Dunham pecking away at Randall’s computer.

“Who are you?” she demands.

Ms. Pettibon starts to hold out a plump manicured hand. When she sees Wendy’s scarred, dusty one, she changes her mind. Smiles falsely. There’s a slash of pink lipstick on her teeth.

“Arlene Pettibon, Child and Family Services.”

“What are you doing here?” Wendy demands.

Ms. Pettibon stiffens. “CFS intervenes when it is determined that a dangerous family condition is present. You see, when children are not being properly cared for, we step in to provide a stab—”

“Kai and Holo don’t need you to take care of them,” Wendy says. “That’s my job.”

Now Ms. Pettibon’s lips make a bright-pink frown. “Really? Then how do you explain the fact that they ran away from you, and shortly thereafter they were arrested for shoplifting and vandalism?” she asks. “And then they were nearly expelled from school, which I can see you knew nothing about. This doesn’t paint a very good picture of your caretaking, ma’am, to say nothing of the fact that you have no claim to these children. And while Officer Greene and Lacey Hernandez have temporarily harbored them, they are not licensed caregivers or foster parents. As such, Kai and Holo will go into official foster care, where they can be in a supportive environment with other kids like them.”

What the hell?

“There aren’t any kids like us, lady,” I snap, “and if you haven’t figured that out by now, then you’re even dumber than I thought you were.”

“Kai,” Wendy says sharply. “Don’t.”

Ms. Pettibon ignores this exchange completely. “There are two different houses with openings,” she goes on. She beams like she’s about to give us really good news. “One will take the girl, and one will take the boy.”