No Safety in Numbers Read Online Free PDF

suggested they go to the mall to keep Ba and Bapuji from seeing what Shay had done. Nani could always be counted on to act as a coconspirator.
    “We should find you somewhere more comfortable to sit, Nani,” Shay said.
    Nani patted Shay’s hand. “I’m fine.”
    How would she explain the missing book to Nani?
Oh, I met a cute guy and wanted him to hang around and thought he got that, but then he ditched me and now it’s lost, your gift, gone.
Shay felt like a moron.
    Preeti, who in all her ten years of life had never beenmore annoying, kicked Shay’s chair. “I want to go home.”
    Shay pulled some money from her pocket. “Here,” she said. “Go ride the Ferris wheel again.”
    Preeti snatched up the money and raced for the Ferris wheel. Shay guessed that if they had to be trapped in the mall, they were in the best location. Not only was the food court a huge space with trees and plants, glass walls and ceiling (mostly open, as the third floor slimmed down to a narrow bridge of corridor above them), but opposite the food vendors was a Ferris wheel and merry-go-round. Not much entertainment for Shay, but perfect for keeping Preeti and every other child occupied. The Ferris wheel and merry-go-round were in constant operation.
    Those guys must be raking it in,
Shay thought.
They should cause a security situation on a regular basis.
    The phone rang: Her parents. Nani spoke with them, her voice rising to match the ascending tones on the other end of the line. Suddenly, Nani shoved the phone at Shay. “They want to talk to you.”
    Shay took the phone. Her parents immediately started asking the same questions they’d been asking all afternoon. Shay gave them the same answers: “No, they haven’t said anything more. No, we can’t leave. I already tried. We can’t leave the food court. No, I haven’t seen any terrorists. Yes, Preeti is fine. I’m sure they’ll let us go soon.”
    Her mother interrupted her father—they were on two different phones, talking over each other. “Nani’s medicine. Has she taken her medicine?”
    “I don’t know,” Shay said. She put her hand over the mouthpiece. “Nani? Have you taken your medicine?”
That’s right.
Nani had diabetes and needed insulin shots.
    Her grandmother looked into her bag. “Yes, tell my daughter. No need to worry.”
    Shay didn’t like the way Nani sounded: She was no longer annoyed. But why make her mother worry? There was nothing her parents could do for Nani on the outside.
    Shay took her hand from the phone. “Nani’s fine, Ba. We’ll call when we hear anything.”
    She hung up and turned to Nani. “You haven’t taken your medication, have you?”
    Nani smiled. “No, my dear. I only take it before breakfast and dinner. Who could have known we would be here so late?”
    “Do you need insulin?” Shay could not trust Nani’s smile. Her grandmother would rather starve than trouble anyone to pass her food at the dinner table.
    Upon closer examination, Nani’s skin seemed slack and her breathing shallow.
    “I’m going to go to the PhreshPharm,” Shay said. “It’s just down the hall.”
    “The man told us to wait here,” Nani said, but there was no force to her words.
    “You need your insulin.” Shay squeezed her grandmother’s hand. “Watch for Preeti and don’t tell her where I went. She’ll only try to follow.”
    Shay didn’t run; she walked calmly toward one of the food vendors, as if coming to make a purchase, then banked around the narrow wall of the FrankenHut and into the hallway.
    There weren’t as many people down at this far end of the mall, or maybe they’d snuck across the hall to the department store—Harry’s had a home section full of pillowsand beds. Shay considered sneaking Nani down the hall to Harry’s but gave up the plan when two mall guards stepped off the escalator. No way Nani could move fast enough to avoid getting caught. Shay ducked behind a plant as the guards passed, then booked it for the