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"He’s a uys, from the Nez Perce tribe He was involved in a de a little boy"

"And what happened? Did it work?"

Silence "The boy died," Bird said

"Okay, so how about we look at option B"

"There is no option B This is the most I can do for you at this hour I haven’t even called hiht not even be open to it But I feel that this is the option we have to take Like I said, if things get rough, we can back out But Perry isn’t a little boy She’s got age and fight and spirit on her side If anyone can handle this, it is her"

He was right about that, even though the risk was bigger than I originally thought

"Dex, we’ll do whatever we can," he continued reassuringly "I’ll call you back after I hear fro up the phone and I sat back in the chair, pullingout I eyed led-in Valium would help me out But I needed to think I needed to be alert and ready to act I couldn’t medicate or drink my way out of this one Perry needed me more than I needed relief

I sent a quick text to Ada, asking for an update on the situation Nothing had really changed, which was great, but it looked like she’d be taken away byon her parent’s conversations and they were ada a mental breakdown and needed professional help She said they never believed her, no matter how much Ada backed her up

I told her I’d be there in a few hours, that I was just waiting on so I did not want to ht up the idea of possession, it didn’tsoic on her sister People had different limits when it came to what their brain could accept, I knew this all too well

Finally, after I paced aat

"Bird!" I exclais and heart and everything else I considered vital

"Roman said he’ll do it," Bird said "I have his address here I’et ready"

"Oh, you don’t have to do that," I told hienerosity Bird was a ranch hand from a poor reserve in New Mexico He did not have ht

"It’s no bother," he said, and he somehow made me believe it "I’ve already made o to Perry and get her out of there And be careful"

"I owe you one," I told him

"You already owed ave ue directions that sounded sioodbye That h-class hooker for his next birthday or so You know, as a way to say thank you

I exhaled, steadying myself, and texted Rebecca I asked her to take care of Fat Rabbit while I was gone and that I’d let her know if there were any develop to pack anything I had my wallet and my car keys; it was all I needed I stopped by the nized myself For the first time I really saw the differences in my body My face was skinnier, now covered in a layer of scruff that I didn’t shave every day My aro jacket and noticed that even that didn’t fit the same as it used to

Did this mean I was a new man? I didn’t know Perhaps not yet Perhaps it wasn’t a quick fix and athe crazy fucking nutjob that I was Still, I decided to take outand placed it in my jacket pocket Now I looked different And hopefully, different enough for Perry to put her trust in uy anymore, the one that hurt her I wanted to be me Perhaps the same me she had seen underneath all this tihlander down the I-5 like a dey, but I felt aled to clock record speeds while sole speed trap there was out there I wasseemed to be on my side--I just hoped it would be as kind to Perry

I texted Ada as I drove, letting her knoas on s as secret as possible I was pretty sure that their parents wouldn’t be too happy to have me in their house and would probably throw me out on my ass, especially when I decided to quiz the about hiiant ginger king was there, in Portland, in their house,that he and I had been through, this just reeked of sabotage

It was raining steadily and dark as fuck outside when I turned the car onto Perry’s street Aswould be fine and that the plan would work, I was a nervous pervous I was not only afraid of as happening to Perry, afraid that I eneral Not of the thing that had apparently taken over her, but of her Of what she’d think of me Of the way she’d look at me

Christ, I was in overtumbleweed in love with a constant breeze at my back I slammed the car into park a few houses up from hers, and wished I had a whole packet of Nicorette that I could jam into my mouth

Alas, I didn’t So I settled for one--bite, bite, chew, then sent one last text to Ada and waited for five painful, agonizingdown the street through the rain She juer seat and sla all Debbie Harry on her