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I feel like I should say soine what Ada, unsure where to putdoesn’t exactly coreat”

“Thanks, Elena,” she says, huggingkneepads and grab so and skips down to the next aisle

“Look!” She holds up a walkie-talkie headset for kids “We can use these to keep in touch”

“Good idea See, you’re rin at her and we throw six of therab so into”

We track down Chris and Adam in the aisle with the household cleaners, where they’re loading the cart with rags, latex gloves, bleach, and God only knohat else Trent joins us a hts and one of those laser pens he stole earlier, and then we head to the checkout There’s nobody working in the store—just a self-checkout—which saves us any aard questions about e need soproducts

I check my watch It’s 9:16 p Lynne Maybe we should get soet all of this ready,” Adam says “But yeah, we should probably eat first”

“And a nap wouldn’t hurt either,” Trent adds “Don’t want to be tired e break in”

“Shh!” I glance around quickly, but no one’s close enough to hear hi all our stuff and head back to the car Once we’re driving along the Pacific Coast Highith the dark ocean to our right, Chris asks, “Where should we eat?”

As the white spray splashes against the shore, I think back to ain I still don’t knohy it ends up on the beach or why I’ll choose that spot to kill o to the pier”

15:16

We stroll under the arch of the Santa Monica Pier sign and onto the rickety wooden ay heading toward the ocean The beach stretches to our left and right, the sound of the waves hter from farther down the boardwalk The clouds have thinned out now, and a soft hts of the Ferris wheel

The pier is another classic Los Angeles landmark, and like Hollywood Boulevard or the Central Library, this one hasn’t changed much in the last thirty years The most obvious difference is that there areout over the waves and curling into the sky I stop and take a long breath of the salty air aswith the creeping dread of seeing the spot where Ihere?” Chris asks

“Getting so

“Yeah, but there are a hundred restaurants between Lynne’s place and here We could have stopped at any of theht we should have so quickly I can’t tell theht be our last day alive, and we’ve spent all of today running fro”

Zoe nods “She’s right We should enjoy every

Adas from e kissed I pushed them deep dohile ith Lynne, but now they bubble to the surface again We hang back a bit fro shoulders, but otherwise not touching

We pass by shrimp shacks, an old-fashioned arcade, and tourist shops with Los Angeles or Santa Monica written all over s, sweatshirts, and randos you could buy back in our tilobe with aroller coasters and Ferris wheel, seagulls flying overhead, and crashing waves It looks as real as the pier we’re standing on, yet fits in the pal it I turn it upside down and sparkly lights appear instead of snow, dancing around the tiny pier They vanish the second they hit the “ground” The birds continue to fly in circles, and when I touch the water, it’s cool and wet Incredible