Free The Summer the World Ended by Matthew S. Cox Page B

sighed the rest―“for?”
    “For whatever put that mug on your face.”
    “Look, Dad, just… don’t call me that.”
    “Okay, okay… fine.” He sighed, seeming sad. “I guess I’ll have to learn you’re not my little girl anymore.”
    Why did you leave if it bothers you?
She squirmed in her seat. “Don’t hit me with guilt. I got enough already. You left. You still haven’t trusted me with why.”
    He squinted at the road. His mouth opened and closed a few times, words dead at the tip of his tongue.
    “Is it something Mom did, and you don’t wanna ‘speak ill of the dead?’”
    “No.” He pursed his lips for a moment. “I was getting involved with some stuff at work that I was afraid would wind up putting the two of you in danger. We got a whisper that some foreign nationals were attempting to threaten immediate family to turn someone.”
    She furrowed her brows. “Turn someone?”
    Dad wrung his hands on the wheel, causing the truck to wobble in the lane. “Pass sensitive information to hostile governments in exchange for… not hurting the people you love.”
    “Oh, damn.” She looked straight ahead. “Seriously? That’s…”
    “Like something out of a movie?” He reached over and squeezed her hand. “I didn’t believe it either until Dan’s wife died in a crash two blocks from their house. Only her car and a garbage truck were on the street. That was no accident.”
    “Who’s Dan?”
    “He sat across the aisle from me at the office in Edison. The company we worked for at the time was a frontend for DoD software development. It let them bring in civilians to work on classified projects, each person getting a small piece of the puzzle without having access to the whole pie. The code was modularized down to a level that no one really knew what they were working on.”
    “Oh.” She swallowed. “Are they, like, still trying to kill you?”
    “Nah. I’ve covered my tracks pretty good.” He eased to the right lane and took an exit ramp. “If it were possible, I would’ve quit. I’d already been approached by the Russians. I had no choice.”
    Riley twirled an extra-long piece of frayed denim on her shorts around her finger.
    “I can’t believe Lily let you wear those. You’re not old enough to show that much leg. Does your ass hang out of that thing?”
    “
Dad.
” Riley blushed. “Jesus… No it does not.”
    The truck stopped next to a row of gas pumps. Dad killed the engine and opened the door. A rapid pinging came from the dash since he’d left the keys in. “I’ll run inside and grab some road snacks.” He handed her a credit card. “Go ahead and fill it with regular.”
    Riley looked around. “Where’s the guy?”
    Dad paused halfway out the door. “What guy?”
    “The gas dude. The one you give the card to.”
    “Riley…” Dad cracked up for a moment. “Wow, you don’t get out much do you?”
    She glared.
    “New Jersey has this strange fear of people pumping their own gas. You have to pump it yourself.”
    She stuck the card into her chin and bit her lip. “Really?”
    “Yeah, come on.” He slid off the seat. “I’ll show you.”
    Riley undid her seat belt and climbed down out of the truck, scuffing flip-flops around the nose to the gas cap behind the driver side door. She turned the credit card over in her hands, standing on tiptoe to look around. One semi truck and a few normal cars dotted the massive filling station. No one paid much attention to her standing there.
    Dad pointed at the pump. “Put the card in that slot and push the button for regular.”
    “We’re not gonna get in trouble?”
    “Nope.” He walked her through the steps of running a gas pump.
    Riley wrestled the hose into place and squeezed the trigger with both hands, continuing to hold it.
    Dad waited a minute before he couldn’t stop from laughing again. “Flick the little kickstand thing down, you don’t have to stand there with it.”
    Riley did so, and stepped back with