Free The Line by Teri Hall Page B

let the door swing closed. She stood for moment, still holding Rachel’s wrist. She was shaking.
    “Mom?” Rachel was torn between her urge to go help the woman outside and her concern over her mother.
    “Rachel, follow me back to the counter and be quiet.” Vivian whispered the instructions, smiling incongruously at Rachel the whole time. “Act as though there is nothing wrong at all.”
    “But, Mom . . .” Rachel started to protest, but her mother tightened her grip and turned to go.
    “Just do what I say,” Vivian hissed, still smiling grimly. She walked back toward the vendor with Rachel in tow.
    “Forget something, folks?” The fish vendor had finished with his other customer. He put his hands on his hips and surveyed the cases. “The salmon is pretty good, and the halibut is on sale right now if you like white fish.”
    “That’s what we were thinking,” Vivian said, her voice a note too bright. “Some of that halibut would be perfect.” She stared at the vendor, keeping her smile fixed in place.
    The vendor looked past her though, out the window to the street. “Look at that,” he said, walking out from behind the counter. “Looks like some trouble out there.” He moved closer to the window.
    “Oh?” Vivian half turned. “I hadn’t noticed.”
    “Yeah, looks like government men . . . well, I think that’s an Identification!” The vendor opened the door for a better look. “We haven’t seen one of those in Bensen in years.”
    The other customer, an old man with gray hair, shuffled toward the door as well. “Been at least ten years since the last one if I recall,” he said. “I think I’ll have a closer look.”
    “Ma’am, if you don’t mind waiting for a minute, I have to see this.” The vendor smiled and shrugged sheepishly at Vivian. “It’s the most excitement there’s been around here for a long time. I’ll come right back.” He left without waiting to hear Vivian’s reply.
    Once the shop was empty, Vivian’s smile disappeared. “Rachel, get behind me and stay close. I’m going to wait until nobody is looking this way, and then we are going to get out of here as fast as we can.” She held the door open a few inches, peeking out.
    “Mom, what are you talking about?” Now that Rachel knew what was happening to the woman across the street, she understood why Vivian didn’t want to interfere. Her mom had always instructed her to stay far away from any government officers. And though she had never seen anything like it in Bensen, Rachel knew things like this happened; streamer coverage of Identifications was common. News announcers always described the incidents as “another example of your government at work protecting the public safety” and usually cited a long list of crimes committed by the person being Identified. None of the coverage showed such violent treatment though; Identifications were always quiet and orderly, if you believed the streamer coverage.
    Rachel didn’t understand why they had to sneak away. Everybody else was standing around staring. Even if Vivian wanted to avoid trouble, the woman in the red coat was the one in trouble, not them.
    “Rachel”—her mother didn’t even turn around—“when we get back on the road, I have some things to tell you. Now stay close, we’re going.”
    They slunk out the door, Rachel staying as close to her mother as she could. Once they were on the street, Vivian put her arm around Rachel and turned her toward the vendor’s display window. She watched the crowd in the window’s reflection, waiting for the right moment to move. When it seemed as though everyone’s attention was fully on the Identification, Vivian hurried Rachel down the street.
    One person in the crowd wasn’t watching the Identification anymore. He had stopped paying attention to that as soon as he had noticed Vivian across the street. Her odd behavior interested him, and he followed her progress until she and Rachel disappeared around