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Patrick atching her She couldn’t afford to break do; she couldn’t let hiht be all they had, now She would not be the weak link

So she siri finished, he took a trip to the station’s probably horrible restroo dealer’s bankroll to supply theh-protein snacks, mainly for her, Riley, and Joe She didn’t kno the other two felt, but her sto with need, and Riley was probably just as starved

After that, it was nificant towns, broken by occasional twisted eruptions of ancient rocks and the twisted, spiked growths of Joshua trees andout ofshacks A cloudless, bone-dry, unforgiving sky

And nothing ahead

They didn’t talk much She offered a phone to Joe to call his family, but he refused; Riley wanted one to call her superiors in the FBI, but that was overruled fast "Yeah, the last tiun on me, and then they ratted us out to Jane," Joe said "FBIBastard Inforlared, but she didn’t ask again Most likely, even she didn’t trust her people any as this car, now

They were still at least fifty miles out fro

They all froze, staring at her as she pulled it fro filled the car’s interior, and Patrick said, "Wrong number?"

"Wishful thinking," Bryn said No choice, really The caller ID was blank She flipped it open and said, "Hello?"

There was a few second’s silence, and she had an intuition of the call being forwarded through a variety of cutout points, and then Manny’s voice said, "Bryn?"

"Affirmative"

He let out a slow breath "We were pretty sure you were all--"

"We aren’t," she said "Jane is"

"You killed Jane"

"If Thorpe’s cure worked, then she’s beyond help"

"Oh, it works," he said "Better than any of us ever expected The nanite shutdown takes about two minutes, five at the most And they don’t co up on an exit for Highway 285 Take it northwest toward New Mexico You’ll be one Dead air

She felt short of breath Two minutes Five at uinea pigs

Except her sister No, no She doesn’t have the upgrade

What was to stop hi it to her? He’d have samples, she knew that Manny always had saed to take one from her, while she was close by

That htly she felt the plastic crack in her hand Don’t you fucking hurt her Not anymore than she’s already been hurt

"Bryn?" Patrick asked He sounded worried

She sed and said, "Take the exit to 285 toward New Mexico"

"Why?"

"Because I don’t trust Manny not to killlike a destination along the narrow highway; the signs all advertised the faded glory of the Carlsbad Caverns and all its attractions, but just over the state line, Joe said, "Pat, we’ve got a bird coht o’clock"