Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 145402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
Twice on Sunday they brought up the Witness Protection Program again, but Neil refused both times. He was giving them everything they needed to build a case and he was willing to testify if they could get any of Nathan's people on the stands. Until then he wanted to stay as he was. If they enrolled him against his will he'd simply slip his leash and go back to Palmetto State. Andrew said the Foxes would never let Neil disappear quietly. They'd raise a fuss and get the press neck-deep in it until someone turned him up. The agents called them selfish and reckless, but Neil and Andrew held their ground.
Neil didn't know they'd won the argument until Browning slapped a couple applications on the table in front of him. The first was an official name change request, the second and third were for a passport and driver's license, and the last was for a reissued social security card due to the first. A picture Neil only dimly recognized was held to the second with a paperclip; it was a mug shot Wymack had taken of him last summer for his school file. In it he still had brown hair and eyes, and his face was free of Riko's tattoo. Despite the picture, the application was half-filled out already and indicated his natural eye color as blue. Neil guessed the picture would shrink to where no one would really notice the discrepancy.
He was so distracted by the picture it took him a moment to understand the significance of what he'd been handed. Across the top of every page was the name Neil Josten. All Neil had to do was sign the dotted lines.
"Consider this a contract with us," Browning said, sounding as peeved as always. He waited for Neil to look up at him before continuing. "Once you sign this, we start the process to instate 'Neil Josten' as a valid and functioning member of society. That means no more running and no more fake IDs. You are going to be Neil from now until death. You are not allowed to change your mind. You so much as order a latte under a pseudonym and we are going to have a serious problem."
"Pen," Neil said, holding out his hand. When Browning didn't move fast enough, he said, "I get it. Just give me a pen so I can sign it."
Browning tossed it onto the table. Andrew caught it before it could roll off the edge and passed it over. Neil scribbled his name along every dotted line and handed the stack back. Browning passed them off to someone else and considered the file-strewn table.
"We're done here," Browning said. "If we think of anything else, we'll let you know."
"I'm sure you will." Neil got to his feet and stretched out the day's kinks. The conference room they'd taken over was windowless, but the clock on the wall said it was half past nine. They'd been in here for almost thirteen hours. The day had felt long as it dragged by, but knowing how many hours he'd lost pushed him one step past exhausted to drained. He carefully scrubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes and choked down a yawn.
"Stetson will give you a lift," Browning said when Neil dropped his hands to his sides.
Stetson was a humorless man they'd seen occasionally throughout the day. Neil didn't mind him half as much as he did Browning because Stetson hadn't said a single word to them. The end of the interrogation wasn't reason enough to break that silence, it seemed. He collected them with a glance and brought them to his car. Neil sat in the backseat with Andrew and toyed with the bandages on his face. Andrew popped the back of his head when he realized what Neil was doing and ignored Neil's scowl.
Stetson walked them upstairs to the hotel room, but the Foxes had spread out in their absence. Having to stay a night meant they'd needed to acquire enough beds for everyone. This room with its two queen beds now housed only Abby and Wymack. Wymack looked from Neil to Andrew, then turned his attention on Stetson.
"Giving me a ride to the bus?" he asked. He waited for a nod, then motioned for Andrew and Neil to make themselves at home. "I'll be right back. Figure out if we're staying or going."
He closed the door behind himself. Neil listened through the wood for the faint sound of footsteps on stairs, then locked the door and pulled the chain. Abby sat in the middle of one of the beds, and she held out both hands to Neil when he turned away from the door.
"Let me take a look at you."
Neil couldn't crawl across the bed to her or shove himself across with his hands, so he toed out of his shoes and stepped up onto the bed instead. He took a couple unsteady steps over to her and sat before he could fall. The mattress shifted as Andrew took up post behind him. Neil put down his bag of medicine where Abby could get to the antibiotics if necessary, but she had the Foxes' unusually well-stocked first aid kit on her night stand. She leaned over to get it, put it down at her side, and reached for the bandages on his face.
She worked in silence. She didn't need to say anything when her expression said enough. When she was finished she started unwrapping the bandages from Neil's right arm. Andrew shifted closer at that, as he still hadn't gotten a look at Neil's uncovered arms, but Neil kept his eyes on Abby. Grief and outrage warred for dominance on Abby's face, but she held her tongue until she made it to Neil's hand.
She swallowed hard. "Oh my god, Neil."
Neil finally risked a look down at his arm. His skin was striped with parallel lines that were black from bloody scabs but not quite deep enough to need stitches. Lola had filled the gaps between them with shallow burns, perfect circles leading from his elbow to an inch shy of his wrist. He'd torn his wrists open on the handcuffs in a way that couldn't yet scab; the skin was carved out in a shallow line along the scars Riko had given him a few months ago. Dark bruises made a thick band around his wrist and stretched up onto his thumb. His knuckles were burnt so badly Neil had to flex his fingers and make sure they worked.