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for them.
They were part of a crew so dangerous, other bad guys in the South
Side were scared of them. She’d seen them do a lot of damage in her
short time in Cabrini.
    “I do know I’m lucky to just have a couple of
broken ribs.”
    That was an understatement.
    “Anyway, thank you. You probably saved my
life, and I wanted to thank you for that. So I hope you still have
this phone, and that you listen to this message.”
    Something warm and golden like sunshine
pierced the worry and exhaustion and hunger that had wrapped around
her like a sweltering blanket she couldn’t escape from. It lit her
up inside, however briefly, and she let it.
    “I saw you at the shelter. I don’t know what
your circumstances are, but if you need any help, please let me
help you. It’s the least I can do. Just call me back. If you have
to leave a message, I promise I will get back to you.”
    It was a tempting offer. She could damn sure
use a break. But she didn’t want to risk leading anyone from the
lab who might be searching for her to an innocent.
    “Oh, my name is Kevin, by the way.” He
cleared his throat, and she was positive it was a nervous gesture.
“Again, thank you. I hope you get back to me. I’d like to thank you
in person.”
    Message over, Dani put the phone back in her
pocket. It was so, so tempting to accept help from this guy. He
didn’t have to know anything about her, even her real name. It
would get her out of Point Sable much sooner. Depending on just how
much help he offered, it might get her to the other side of
the world. From what she’d read online, it sounded like the guy had
an obscene trust fund.
    But was it right to take payment for helping
someone? Even though she probably had saved his life – the Dogtown
crew killed as easily as other people changed their clothes. It
wasn’t like she’d be handing him an invoice. He’d offered any help
she might need. He knew she’d been at the shelter, so he knew she
had nothing. And while he may not have specifically mentioned
money, that’s what he meant.
    The rain intensified, coming in hard enough
that she had to move further away from the window to keep from
getting soaked. She didn’t like being too far from an easy exit,
but she didn’t want to spend the night in sodden clothes
either.
    God, she hated being on the streets again.
Kevin’s offer of help stayed in her mind all night.

Chapter
5

    Laughter. That was the sound Kevin remembered
most. Not the words spoken by the attackers, but the way they
laughed while kicking him. It echoed in his head at odd moments.
Usually in quiet lulls but sometimes when someone was speaking to
him. Like right now, as two of his friends carried on a
conversation in front of him, apparently unaware that Kevin hadn’t
said anything for several minutes.
    One of them laughed. Kevin’s body jerked at
the sound, the movement sending a wave of pain outward from his
broken ribs. He placed a hand on his chest and tried to focus on
the here and now instead of memories.
    “Hey,” said Brandon. “You okay, man?”
    Brandon Hodge and Tyler Kincaid were his
oldest friends. Brandon was the son of college professors, neither
of whom knew what to do with the fact that their son had gone into
corporate law. Tall and muscular, wearing jeans and a white button
down shirt that glowed against his reddish-brown skin, he had an
easy smile and a generally carefree attitude despite his high
pressure job. He’d worked elsewhere his first couple of years out
of law school until Sean had finally convinced him to work at
Moynihan Consolidated. Those two could talk business for hours, a
fact that had always amused Kevin, who could spend just as many
hours talking books and history with Brandon’s parents.
    “Yeah,” Kevin said. “My ribs hurt, that’s
all.”
    Tyler said, “You run out of the prescription
stuff, I can hook you up. No problem.”
    And that just about summed up Tyler. He’d
always been the one to provide the booze, the