Between the Cracks and Burning Doors: Book 2 of The Extraction List Series by Renee N. Meland

I hadn’t taken in those children. I could have stayed there, between Maureen and her satin sheets, far away from everything but her perfume.
    She got up before me. I just watched her dress. Even right out of bed she was elegant, quickly pinning her hair into a bun and slipping on a lace bra and panties. No cotton underwear and sports bra for her. As expected, she slipped something satin over the rest of her. The dress reminded me of the warehouse woman’s from the night before but I didn’t say anything. Maureen made it new again.
    “Hey, if you’re not busy, or not doing anything, why don’t you come to the church and hang out with us today. I mean, if you want to.” My words came out in sharp chunks, sectioned off with brief pauses in between.
    “Naw, I have…I have a lot to get done today. New girl starting and all.”
    I turned my face away, trying to hide my disappointment. “It’s cool, no big deal.” No big deal? Don’t make her feel like shit or anything. “I mean, it would have been cool but I understand.”
    She gave me a weak smile. “Yeah. Well, you better get back to them; you’ve been gone all night. Feel free to grab some food on the way out.”
    And with that, she closed the door behind her.
     
    As I walked home, I thought about the night before. Images flashed through my mind. Without Maureen’s arms around me, visions of the broken men ripped through my head.
    My father’s face snuck in there too.
    In my trance, I almost ran right into him. Luckily, I glanced up fast enough to see Officer Keegan before he saw me. He was standing in front of the store where I had stolen the knives. The shopkeeper was there too, next to him. There were several people around me so I was able to slip behind the building and flatten myself against the back wall. Somehow, I was able to separate their voices from the noises of the street surrounding me. Officer Keegan was showing the shopkeeper something.
    “…both of them…”
    “…found them in a car in the lake…”
    “…sad, sad thing…”
    I heard the crack of photo paper being bent open.
    “You seen him?”
    I held my breath. “This guy did it?”
    “Yeah.”
    “You sure?”
    “Why, you seen him?”
    Goosebumps burst through my flesh. The shopkeeper paused for just long enough that I thought for sure it was over. “Nope, haven’t seen him.”
    I exhaled, hard and quick. The shopkeeper saved me one more time.
     
    I shut the door of the church and leaned against it, sliding down onto the floor. I’d hoped to have a moment to myself, but I heard the pattering of three sets of feet scurrying down the hallway upstairs and down toward me. “Hi, guys, sorry I was out so late. Not expected.”
    Nick reached me first. “Dude, we got a problem.”
    A sick feeling rumbled in my stomach, like being poisoned from the inside out. “What’s that?”
    Alexis piped in, “A man was here, same man as before, Nick said. The policeman.”
    My breath caught in my throat. “You didn’t let him in, did you?”
    Felix joined in, “Nope. Nick saw him out the window.”
    Maureen had taught them well. “So what happened?”
    “He had a photo with him. Big one, eight by ten. Close up of a dude’s face.” I already knew what came next. “It was you.”
    I took a deep breath, their three faces just staring at me. I had to tell them something. But what? The truth would scare them, and they didn’t need that. “It’s just a misunderstanding. I’ll get it worked out.”
    Nick punched me in the arm. “We’re not dumb. What happened?”
    I had to remember these weren’t normal children. These children had survived on the streets, meaning a little white lie wasn’t going to cut it. “They think I did something I didn’t do. I mean I did part of it, but not the rest. And not for the reason they think.”
    Nick scrunched his face up, like he was processing what I’d said, defining, deciding what to do with it. “Well, you better stop running around at