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Except that Gansey would never have been a good target; the manhunt for his killer would be monumental Really, the Parrish kid would have been a better bet No one would miss a kid born in a trailer He always turned his hori to lift hisUntil then, Whelk hadn’t even been aware that the phone was there; he thought cell phones had driven pay phones out of business years before He eyed the only other car parked in the lot to see if anyone aiting a call The other vehicle was eht tire indicated that it had been parked in the lot for longer than a fewtwelve times, but no one appeared to answer it He was relieved when it stopped, but not enough to reer and stood up

The phone began to ring again

It rang all the while that he walked to the trash can on the other side of the service station’s door (COME IN, WE ARE OPEN! lied the flip-around sign on the door), and it rang all the while he returned to the curb to retrieve one of the fries that he’dthe entire time that he walked back to where he’d parked his car

Whelk was not prone to philanthropy, but it occurred to him that whoever was on the other side of that pay phone was really trying to get ahold of so -- such an old-fashioned ring, really, now that he thought of it, phones just didn’t sound like this anymore -- and he removed the phone from its cradle

"Hello?"

"Mr Whelk," Neeve said "

Whelk clung to the phone "How did you knohere to contactfor me, Mr Whelk, and you aren’t difficult to find Also I have some of your hair" Neeve’s voice was ht, should sound so much like a co lad that you asked," Neeve re the idea that you proposed the last time we spoke"

"The last tiabout the fact that this wo slowly and h his dark abandoned apartment was not a pleasant one He turned his back to the service station and looked out into the night Possibly she was out there, somewhere, perhaps she had followed him and that was how she knehere to call him But he knew that was not true The only reason he’d contacted her in the first place was because he knew she was the real thing Whatever that "thing" ed my mind"

Chapter 38

"Hey, Parrish," Gansey said

The Camaro was parked in the shade of the ay just outside the glass hospital doors As Gansey had waited for Adae, he’d watched them open and close for invisible patients Now he sat behind the wheel as Adaely unmarked; usually after encounters with his father, there were bruises or scratches, but this ti of his ear

"They told me you didn’t have insurance," Gansey said They’d also told hiain This was the hardest thing to internalize, that so permanent but invisible had happened He waited for Adam to say he’d find a way to pay for it But Adam just turned his hospital bracelet around and around on his wrist

Gansey added carefully, "I took care of it"

This here Adary Where he snapped, No, I won’t take your damn money, Gansey You can’t buy me But he just turned that paper bracelet around and around and around

"You win," Adah his uneven hair He sounded tired "Take et my stuff"

Gansey had been about to start the Canition "I didn’t win anything Do you think this is hoanted it?"

"Yes," Adaer warred furiously inside Gansey "Don’t be shitty"

Adam picked and picked at the uneven end where the paper bracelet sealed "I’ you that you can say ‘I told you so’ Say ‘if you left earlier, this wouldn’t have happened’"

"Did I say that before? You don’t have to act like it’s the end of the world"

"It is the end of the world"

An ambulance pulled in between thehts weren’t on, but the paramedics leapt out of the cab and hurried to the back to attend to so behind Gansey’s breastbone felt red-hot "Moving out of your dad’s place is the end of the world?"

"You knohat I wanted," Adam said "You know this wasn’t it"

"You act like it’sdown"

He wouldn’t lie; he wanted Adam out of that house But there had never been a part of him that wanted him hurt to accomplish that There had never been a part of him that wanted Adam to have to run instead of march triumphantly out There had never been a part of hi at him now So it was the truth when he replied, "I’ down"

"Whatever," Adam shot back "You’ve wantedhis voice (in his head, his mother said, People shout when they don’t have the vocabulary to whisper), but he heard it happening despite himself and so, with effort, he kept his voice even "Not like this At least you have a place to go ‘End of the world’ … What is your proble aboutthere? Why is it that everything kind I do is pity to you? Everything is charity Well, here it is: I’ around your principles"