396

I'll see what I can do," Jaime says. "That stuff can be bulky, so I'll how much fits in my car. Also, I heard there's a store—Thelma's Convenience Store on Walnut. You know the place. It still has food and other goods for sale. Opens sometime in the afternoon. At least, that's the rumor."

Through the phone, you hear sudden loud voices and the heavy strum of an automatic weapon.

"Jaime, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, these fools I'm with are messing around with weapons, like we have time for target practice. I better go," Jaime says, his voice dropping at the end. "I'm real sorry for not getting there sooner. You need me there, and I need to be with a real friend. I'm going to leave and be there—"

The line disconnects before Jaime finishes.