UnBound - Neal Shusterman Page 0,88
off of Pershing?”
Miracolina grabs a glass pot full of hot coffee at the same time Bryce issues a general denial about hanging about in alleys of any kind, but it’s too late—he’s already been made. Griffin raises his gun, and Miracolina hurls the coffee in his face, then throws the pot at him.
As Griffin crashes against a cabinet, the gun goes off, a tranq dart embedding in the wall behind Miracolina. Fear gives them wings as they race upstairs, and Miracolina fervently thanks God when they find the door at the top unlocked. Behind them, Griffin is cursing and wailing his fury, clambering up the stairs, just a few feet away.
She slams the door and locks it, hoping that Griffin doesn’t have the key with him. But even if Griffin had one, he’s not in the frame of mind to use it. He begins kicking and hurling his substantial weight against the old door, until it crashes off its hinges.
Dressed for their night journey, kids are coming from bedrooms and bathrooms into the hallway to see what the commotion is. “Parts pirates!” Bryce yells, hoping that for these AWOLS it will be like yelling “fire” in a crowded theater.
A small Asian girl with pink barrettes pats him on the arm. “No, that’s just Griffin.” Then she gulps as Griffin storms forward, waving the gun.
The kids start to back away.
Now Miracolina builds on what Bryce said. “He a traitor! He’s selling kids to the black market! He’s selling them to the Burmese Dah Zey!”
She has no idea if that last part is true, but it gets the desired response. The kids stop backing away and begin to make a stand. The little Asian girl and three large boys move forward.
“Stop!” yells Griffin. “I’m warning you!”
He tranqs two of the boys, but five more kids replace them.
Then the girl with the pink barrettes leaps at him, delivering the nastiest flying kick Miracolina has ever seen. It pushes Griffin against the wall, knocking the gun from his hand. And in an instant they are all over him. A dozen frenzied kids, punching him, smacking him, kicking him—Miracolina’s afraid they might actually tear him apart.
Griffin’s angry protests degrade to desperate pleas for them to stop.
Then Miracolina picks up the tranq gun. It slides comfortably into her hand. One by one the kids see her holding the gun as she moves toward Griffin, and they peel off him till only the girl with pink barrettes is left, sitting on his chest, punching him with enthusiasm. Bryce pulls the little girl away.
Griffin is bloody and bruised. It seems the fight has left him, but Miracolina will not take anything for granted. She holds eye contact with Griffin for a moment. Making sure he sees her raise the gun.
Griffin is not the least bit repentant. “You stupid little—”
She fires before he finishes the thought, and the last word comes out as a pained grunt. The dart embeds in his sternum. One second later he goes limp, out cold.
Miracolina sighs, knowing that she’ll be lining up for confession tomorrow with Father Lawrence. Not for shooting Griffin, but for enjoying it.
• • •
When Jack and Jill return with the extra vans they need for the evening’s operation, they realize very quickly that the situation has changed once they see Griffin tied up and unconscious. Miracolina shows them the incriminating pictures—but even without them, Jack and Jill believe her.
Jill is furious, and heartbroken—but to Miracolina’s surprise, she’s also relieved.
“Now that we know where the leak is, no more of our kids will fall prey to parts pirates on our watch.”
Since Griffin knew the location of the new safe houses, the plan is abandoned, and Jack spends the rest of the night on the phone, arranging a secure location. They still need to leave tonight—there’s no telling how many people know the kids are here. Best to abandon this location as soon as possible.
The question still remains what to do with Griffin. They can’t turn him in—because sheltering AWOLs is currently just as illegal in the eyes of the law as pirating parts. They’d all be arrested.
It’s Bryce who comes up with the solution. “Leave him here,” he says. “When you take the kids to the new safe house, just leave him. He’ll wake up, and everyone will be gone without a trace.”
“And since he’s already been paid for information,” Miracolina adds, “he’ll be more worried about retribution from the black marketeers than tracking you down.”
Half an hour later the kids