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“I’ll take your word for it” I haven’t checked out Jake’s package and have no intention of doing so

“We should get a female pilot” Cyn makes a note in the tablet while I fold the week’s itinerary and tuck it into my back pocket

“If you find one, let me know”

“I’ll put an ad in the paper” Cyn jots soet rid of a body in the north woods

“We live in a town of five hundred,” I remind my cousin

“If you offer enough, you could lure someone out here” Her chin cogressive “Aren’t you getting a doctor to come here?”

“Maybe? The jury’s still out She irl” Cyn usted face “If she doesn’t like it, we don’t want her here”

“Pretty soon you’ll be kicking me out,” I joke

The o, but since my name is on the deed and it’s my bank account that funds this haven I think I’ht

The doorbell rings and Cyn’s sassy mood dissipates She folds the tablet across her chest and looks warily at the door Inwardly, I curse out her ex He’s in jail now and he better die there because thehim

“I thought you were checking on five and seven,” I prompt

Cyn makes a jerky motion with her head, et Jake is co so you look nice for him”

“In his drea the screen door slam noisily behind her as if to punctuate how much she dislikes Jake

She doesn’t fully recognize that her so-called hate for Jake outpaces her fear of rateful for it, so even if she does find a female pilot, I’ll never fire Jake

I couldn’t even if I wanted to It’s his ‘copter and his time that he volunteers to pick up wo them here If I told him that he couldn’t land in my backyard, he’d put his bird down in the middle of the road and wait for Cyn He’s determined to have her He feels like he ht He should’ve taken her away even though she was only eighteen and her daddy hated hie of character While I was off doing top secret shit for the governhest bidder—aher up because he couldn’t get a rise out of his pecker He thought a young ould change things It didn’t

I wasn’t around to save her Jake saw to that and I’ll be forever grateful But she wasn’t ready to acknowledge either his feelings or his actions I had ood for anyone’s ht her up here and we built this shelter together

Cyn’s got a whole network she’s developed Worid or who just need a place to hide for a while contact her We feed them, clothe them, and help them find new jobs—sometimes even new identities This place isn’t known to ht to feel a certain sense of unease at the ringing of the doorbell No one who knows us would use it No one who knows us would lean on the da now, being a darab my sidearm, slide it into the shoulder holster, and pull open the door