Chapter 3
"Don't hit me. Please don't hit me." The man held his face and backed away in a hurry. "I came over to borrow a pair of pliers. That's all I wanted."
Dad stopped and watched him carefully. "Pliers? What do you need pliers for?"
The man was sweating through his shirt.
He said, "My daughter was playing around and got her hand stuck in a railing, and it won't come out.
"I saw the RV and figured you might carry tools, so I came to ask.
"Then your daughter ran up and hit me before I got a word out."
Dad wasn't sure what to believe.
He looked where the man was pointing.
There was a crowd around a railing not far off.
A little girl was screaming somewhere in the middle of it.
Most of the tension went out of the air.
Dad looked embarrassed and spoke up fast, "I'm sorry, man. We had you wrong. I've got pliers. Let me grab them."
I stood there staring at him and couldn't make it fit.
My heart was slamming.
The man in front of me wasn't tall.
He was a little heavy through the middle.
He and the man from my last life had nothing in common.
Guilt came up through me.
My ears went hot, and I apologized quietly, "I'm sorry, sir. I got scared. I shouldn't have hit you."
He waved it off with a tired smile. "It's all right. It's good for a girl to stay alert. Try not to swing first next time."
Dad dug out a pair of pliers.
He climbed down and put them in the man's hand.
The little girl was still crying not far away.
The sound of it put everybody on edge.
Dad couldn't stand it, and he offered, "I'm a retired firefighter, so I've handled a few of these. How about I come over and take a look with you?"
The man's face lit up and he thanked him fast. "That would be great. I really appreciate it."
Every alarm in me went off.
My first instinct was to stop him.
But before I got a word out, Mom turned a hard look on me.
She lowered her voice, and there was real anger in it.
She said, "Emily Summers, what has gotten into you today?
"You hit a man before you asked him a single question.
"He's being decent about it, and your father is trying to make up for what you did."
My eyes went hot. "But, Mom."
"No buts," Mom cut me off, sharp. "With this many people around, what could possibly happen? Stop making trouble out of nothing."
Sophia took my hand too and spoke quietly, "Emily, it's all right. Don't worry. Dad is a few steps away."
My palms were wet, and my nails were nearly through the skin.
I knew Mom couldn't understand it.
None of them could.
They were living in a safe afternoon and couldn't see the thing I had already lived through.
They believed a crowd meant safety.
They believed daylight kept evil out.
But the man in my last life used the noise as cover.
I couldn't let my attention go anywhere else.
I kept my eyes on every shape moving around us.
Then Dad called from across the lot, "Honey, bring me a wrench. This thing isn't sitting right."
Mom answered right away and dug a wrench out of the toolbox.
She started toward him.
My eyes went red and I caught the hem of her shirt.
I said, "Mom, please don't go. Don't leave here."
Mom's face went red with frustration as I held on.
She said, "Emily Summers, have you lost your mind? There's a child stuck over there. That's a life. And you're standing in my way?"
My voice went hoarse, and the tears wouldn't stop. "Mom, there's a life over here too."
Mom decided I was talking nonsense and snapped at me with her brows drawn.
"What are you even saying? The four of us are fine. What could happen?"
Dad called again from across the lot, sounding urgent. "Hurry up, honey. The kid is crying herself sick."
Mom stopped hesitating and pulled her hand out of mine.
"Emily, listen to me and stop making trouble."
She took the wrench and pushed into the crowd.
I couldn't ease off for a second, so I took Sophia's hand.
Every nerve in me was pulled tight.
Sophia felt the panic coming off me and soothed me gently. "Don't be scared. The second the road opens, we go home."
My teeth were chattering, and I said it to her again and again.
"Sophia, don't get half a step away from me. Do you hear me?"
Sophia laughed, helpless about it. "All right. Whatever you say."
People were laughing all around us, and the sun was bright.
Then a low voice came out of nowhere.
"Hey there, do you have any food?"
The second I heard it, cold sweat came out across my back.
The blood in me seemed to stop.
It was that voice.
I had heard it thousands of times in my nightmares.
I could never mistake it.
I turned around stiffly.
A tall, heavy man stood in front of me.
He had a black mask on, and the brim of his cap was pulled down low.
Nothing showed but a pair of cold eyes.
It was him.
It was the man who destroyed my whole family in the last life.
He kept his eyes down and made himself sound weak.
He said, "I think my blood sugar dropped. I'm very dizzy. Could you give me a little something to eat?"
Sophia was soft-hearted and suspected nothing. She said, "Of course. Hold on, let me get you something."