Free Sneak by Evan Angler Page B

never have wanted to put us through all this.”
    “Yeah, well, he did,” Jo said. “Everyone here’s had it tough.
    There’s no excuse for what he’s done.”

“Peck seems to think there is.”
    “Then Peck’s an idiot.”
    Dane frowned. “So what if we find him? What if Hailey really
    64
    Sneak.indd 64
    6/22/12 4:09 PM
    Sneak
    is able to bring Logan here? Are you all just gonna stop being friends? After everything you’ve been through?”
    Jo stared into the pit, mesmerized by the sizzling of the last few ember pockets in the wood. “We’ll see,” she said. “But we
    probably won’t ever have to deal with that.”
    “You mean . . . DOME . . .”
    “Yeah,” Jo said. “Between you and me? Logan doesn’t stand a
    chance.”
    9
    Hailey and her mom dusted themselves off and walked out past the outskirts of Spokie, past the abandoned six-lane expressway, past the ghost town of Slog Row and the charred remains of the old
    warehouse, deeper and deeper into the woods beyond.
    “The house is bugged even worse than before,” Hailey said.
    “Surveillance powder everywhere. Bug tape . . .”
    “And you’re surprised? After your little outburst at dinner yesterday?” Mrs. Phoenix smiled.
    “I know,” Hailey said, and she took her mother’s hand.
    “So when are we gonna talk about those clothes?” Mrs.
    Phoenix asked.
    “We’re not,” Hailey said. She looked down at the dressy coat
    she was wearing. It covered a blouse, skirt, and leggings that screamed middle-aged.
    “You look about forty.” Mrs. Phoenix laughed, and she coughed
    a little when she did.
    Hailey shrugged and adjusted the heavy purse on her shoulder.
    “I’d hope that’s about right,” she said.
    65
    Sneak.indd 65
    6/22/12 4:09 PM
    Evan Angler
    Her mother sighed. “This is it, isn’t it? The endgame.”
    Hailey’s dress shoes clapped against the hard snow. “I need to know if you can take care of yourself after I’m gone.”
    The two of them walked for a long time under the branches
    and the clouds and the stars.
    “I don’t want you to think about any of that,” Mrs. Phoenix
    said finally. “I am . . . hardly what’s at stake here.”
    “It’s important to me,” Hailey said simply. “I need an honest
    answer before I go.”
    Mrs. Phoenix stifled another cough. “So you’ve found him,
    then?”
    “I think so,” Hailey said. “I think Erin finally slipped up. It’s urgent, Mom.”
    “So why are you wasting your time on me?”
    They came upon a cave in the woods and Hailey stopped
    abruptly, just outside of it. “This is where I’m going,” she said. “Can you read it?”
    Mrs. Phoenix knelt down. “Yes,” she said. “I can read it.”
    “Good. Also . . .” Hailey reached into her purse and pulled out an old wooden board covered with little odds and ends. “I wanted to give you this. It’s a sculpture to remember me by. I finished it today.”
    “That was fast!” Mrs. Phoenix said. “It’s beautiful.”
    “Might be my last one for a while. So take good care of it,
    okay?”
    Hailey’s mother nodded, sniffling once.
    “Do you know what it is?”
    Mrs. Phoenix examined the object, but at last she said, “No.
    I’m sorry. I don’t.”
    “Okay.” Hailey looked nervously over her shoulder, into the
    depth of the woods around them, listening carefully. “Well, when 66
    Sneak.indd 66
    6/22/12 4:09 PM
    Sneak
    the time comes, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” And she decided not to say anything more.
    “You’d better go,” Mrs. Phoenix said.
    “I can’t walk you back.”
    “I know that.”
    Hailey nodded.
    “But I’m not that fragile, Hailey. I’ll be just fine.”
    The clearing around them was wide and grassy and glowing
    under the moonlight. A breeze picked up and cooled their skin.
    Hailey hugged her mom for a long time.
    10
    “I don’t know what they were looking at,” Erin said into her tablet, several minutes later. “It’s sticks and rocks. There’s nothing there .”
    She