Free The Dead Won't Die by Joe McKinney Page A

he said to Chelsea. “That sounds fair enough. Lead on. We promise not to behave like a bunch of slack-jawed yokels.”
    Chelsea frowned at that, not getting it, but evidently decided it wasn’t worth the effort. She started walking the long road that led to the airfield’s main terminal.
    â€œJacob, is this safe?” Kelly asked. She looked around nervously. “Being out in the open like this?”
    Jacob looked around. A long line of cars slid silently by, but nobody seemed to be paying them any attention. He realized he’d been bracing himself for one of those cars to suddenly veer to the curb and for armed men to jump out. He had no idea what they’d do if that happened. Out in the open like this, there was no way for them to run.
    â€œI don’t like it, either,” he said. They weren’t far from the terminal now, and he nodded toward it, where large crowds of people were hurrying about their business. “Something goes wrong, I say we run that way, try to get lost in the crowds.”
    â€œYou think that’ll work?”
    â€œI think we’ll be okay,” he said.
    She frowned at that. “Do you really, or are you just saying that?”
    He didn’t answer. He’d managed to break her heart, all those years ago, but he’d never been able to lie to her. She had a way of seeing right through him.
    He followed after Chelsea, and after a few steps, Kelly rushed forward to walk with him. Within a few moments they’d started to merge with the crowd. Jacob had lived in Arbella nearly his entire life. He was no stranger to crowds and markets, but back home the markets were noisy, happy places, with children running everywhere and vendors calling out to their friends and neighbors, trying to arrange trades of produce or chickens or whatever they had to barter with.
    The mood here was very different. All around him, the main hall bustled with travelers as they pressed impatiently through the crowd. Everybody seemed to be in such a hurry. Chelsea had said this was the hub for travelers from all over the world, and he no longer doubted that. Such wild clothes. So many unusual faces. They walked around him, speaking languages he couldn’t recognize. He turned and tried to take it all in, his smile growing wider.
    There were food booths all along the walls, and the smell of roasting meats and spices and fresh baked bread was overpowering. He saw chicken cooking on grills and meat being sliced from long sword-like skewers and huge shallow pans with a reddish-yellow rice dish piled high with chunks of seafood. He’d seen pictures of squid, back in school, but he’d never seen one in real life until now. He was simultaneously disgusted and intrigued. It smelled so good.
    The woman sitting on the far side of the shallow pot smiled at him. “You like paella?” she said.
    â€œI don’t know,” Jacob admitted. “It smells amazing.”
    â€œYou try,” the woman said. “Five BCs. I make you a big bowl.”
    â€œBCs?” Jacob said.
    Kelly touched his shoulder. “They use money here, Jacob.”
    â€œOh,” he said. He turned to the paella woman. “I’m sorry, I don’t have any money.”
    The woman’s expression hardened for a moment. But when she turned to other passersby, her smile returned. Jacob stood there in surprise for a moment, a little taken aback by the transparency of the woman’s feigned friendliness.
    â€œHey,” Kelly said in a whisper. She gave his arm a nudge. “We’re supposed to look like we do this every day, remember?”
    â€œYeah,” he said. “Sorry, but that just made me realize something. How are we going to get a ride to El Paso without any money?”
    Chelsea had been over at a bank of video monitors, but she returned in time to hear Jacob’s question. “We have plenty of money,” she said. “From my