Chapter 23

Tetra reached over the counter. “Hey, cowboy, take this. It’s real. You use this if you need to; no second thoughts. The times they have changed. You need it, you use it. You stay alive.”

Finn nodded.

“See you at church,” our new friend said, nodding. “I hope they have a harp. I’ll pluck that mother like a chicken.”

* * * *

Outside, the gangster hugged me. “I missed you. I didn’t know if we could trust that man or not. Are you okay?”

My heart smiled in response. It was a stupid time to fall in love with someone half my age, but how in hell could I not? Not to mention, it was the only time we had.

We hit the bookstore and then roamed through the abandoned Starbucks, which looked like a tornado had hit it. An unexploded bomb (I knew this from movies) lay just behind the counter, half covered in boxes of coffee and spilled pastries. We left in a hurry, with Finn taking a few boxes of tea with him.