“Why don’t you let me take over?”
“You need sleep,” she protested.
Despite the dark circles under his eyes, he smirked. “Please. Out of this whole group, I’m the only one who doesn’t need beauty sleep.”
Noa hesitated. “He might talk some more.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Zeke said in a low voice. “And I’m better at ignoring him. So go work on the Phoenix plan. I’ll handle this.”
“All right,” Noa said with a wave of relief. In truth, she didn’t want to spend another minute with the creep. “If you need a break, just come get me.”
“Sure.” Zeke made a move as if to hug her, and she stiffened. He looked wounded, but all he said was, “Night.”
“Night,” Noa said awkwardly, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she walked away. She wasn’t sure why she’d reacted so strongly—it wasn’t that she didn’t want him to touch her. More that she was afraid of what might happen next. And worse yet, how they’d act around each other tomorrow.
She didn’t have time for romance, anyway—she had work to do. Zeke of all people should understand that.
The blueprints for the Phoenix warehouse were stacked on the kitchen table, alongside a map of the Southwest. She planned on dumping the guy somewhere near Bakersfield with fifty dollars; more than they could spare, really, but they couldn’t just leave him with nothing. Hopefully he wouldn’t go running back to his cronies at Pike & Dolan.
But was Bakersfield too obvious? Noa traced her finger along the map. It made more sense to leave him outside Stockton, before they turned south. He might already suspect they were headed to Phoenix, no need to make it obvious.
Although she was starting to think the Phoenix raid was a bad idea. Peter’s messages were always coded, but with everything he’d sent in relation to Phoenix, he’d added take care . Noa bit her lip, wishing she could just call him.
Noa brushed the thought away, along with the strange yearning that accompanied it. He probably just shared her belief that the longer this went on, the more dangerous everything became. Plus he had things to lose that she didn’t have: parents, friends, a future. And his normal girlfriend , Noa reminded herself.
She pulled a chair out and sat, then started sifting through the documents. As always, Peter had come through in spades; not only were there blueprints, but he’d included outside shots of the warehouse, and a manifest from the security firm that installed the surveillance cameras. She felt a flash of appreciation for him. With all this information, getting inside would be easy. Now she just had to come up with a plan.
Amanda shook her head, trying to concentrate. These all-nighters were killing her. She should’ve stayed in yesterday to finish this paper, but Peter had wanted to go to the movies.
It was funny. Last fall, Amanda had felt saddled with Peter, like he was a final vestige of high school that she couldn’t shake. Now, he sometimes seemed older than she was. What made it even worse was that he clearly didn’t feel the same way about her anymore. So she found herself resenting a girl she’d never even met, this Noa person he was so fixated on. A girl, ironically, just like the ones she volunteered her time to help at the shelter.
Only Noa didn’t sound like the kind of kid who would have taken advantage of the Runaway Coalition. She was running around the country fighting a powerful corporation, while Amanda was stuck in an office filing papers. It made her feel like all the protests she’d gone to over the years, the petitions she’d marched from door to door, everything she’d done in the name of making the world a better place was pitiful in comparison.
Amanda shook off the ruminations and tried to concentrate on the blank computer screen in front of her. This paper on the repression of Victorian women was due tomorrow, and she’d barely done any work on it. Which was unlike
“You need sleep,” she protested.
Despite the dark circles under his eyes, he smirked. “Please. Out of this whole group, I’m the only one who doesn’t need beauty sleep.”
Noa hesitated. “He might talk some more.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Zeke said in a low voice. “And I’m better at ignoring him. So go work on the Phoenix plan. I’ll handle this.”
“All right,” Noa said with a wave of relief. In truth, she didn’t want to spend another minute with the creep. “If you need a break, just come get me.”
“Sure.” Zeke made a move as if to hug her, and she stiffened. He looked wounded, but all he said was, “Night.”
“Night,” Noa said awkwardly, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she walked away. She wasn’t sure why she’d reacted so strongly—it wasn’t that she didn’t want him to touch her. More that she was afraid of what might happen next. And worse yet, how they’d act around each other tomorrow.
She didn’t have time for romance, anyway—she had work to do. Zeke of all people should understand that.
The blueprints for the Phoenix warehouse were stacked on the kitchen table, alongside a map of the Southwest. She planned on dumping the guy somewhere near Bakersfield with fifty dollars; more than they could spare, really, but they couldn’t just leave him with nothing. Hopefully he wouldn’t go running back to his cronies at Pike & Dolan.
But was Bakersfield too obvious? Noa traced her finger along the map. It made more sense to leave him outside Stockton, before they turned south. He might already suspect they were headed to Phoenix, no need to make it obvious.
Although she was starting to think the Phoenix raid was a bad idea. Peter’s messages were always coded, but with everything he’d sent in relation to Phoenix, he’d added take care . Noa bit her lip, wishing she could just call him.
Noa brushed the thought away, along with the strange yearning that accompanied it. He probably just shared her belief that the longer this went on, the more dangerous everything became. Plus he had things to lose that she didn’t have: parents, friends, a future. And his normal girlfriend , Noa reminded herself.
She pulled a chair out and sat, then started sifting through the documents. As always, Peter had come through in spades; not only were there blueprints, but he’d included outside shots of the warehouse, and a manifest from the security firm that installed the surveillance cameras. She felt a flash of appreciation for him. With all this information, getting inside would be easy. Now she just had to come up with a plan.
Amanda shook her head, trying to concentrate. These all-nighters were killing her. She should’ve stayed in yesterday to finish this paper, but Peter had wanted to go to the movies.
It was funny. Last fall, Amanda had felt saddled with Peter, like he was a final vestige of high school that she couldn’t shake. Now, he sometimes seemed older than she was. What made it even worse was that he clearly didn’t feel the same way about her anymore. So she found herself resenting a girl she’d never even met, this Noa person he was so fixated on. A girl, ironically, just like the ones she volunteered her time to help at the shelter.
Only Noa didn’t sound like the kind of kid who would have taken advantage of the Runaway Coalition. She was running around the country fighting a powerful corporation, while Amanda was stuck in an office filing papers. It made her feel like all the protests she’d gone to over the years, the petitions she’d marched from door to door, everything she’d done in the name of making the world a better place was pitiful in comparison.
Amanda shook off the ruminations and tried to concentrate on the blank computer screen in front of her. This paper on the repression of Victorian women was due tomorrow, and she’d barely done any work on it. Which was unlike
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