That was a pass, then. She hadn’t given them a compelling enough reason to join New Salem, and now they were gathering up their dishes, clearly done with the meal, the conversation, and her.
Mrs. Newman pushed her chair away from the table. “I meant what I said earlier. If there’s anything we can ever do for you, let us know.”
“As soon as I get a new phone,” Callum added, “I’ll text so you have my number. I owe you. I won’t forget that.”
Charity smiled, even though once her family moved to New Salem, the phone number wouldn’t work anymore. The government blocked access across the breakaway states.
She wished them all well and left the hospital feeling like she’d failed.
15
Enzo tromped through the grocery store, checking to see which of the items on the list were in stock. About half of them. A pretty good haul for one grocery store. Still, he was in a bad mood. He’d called headquarters on his way to the store and told them he needed some black-market items. He asked if they could set up a place for him to buy things so he wouldn’t have to go to Speedy’s.
Enzo had arrested Speedy about a year ago for selling narcotics. The man might remember him and blow his cover. Ditto for any other blackmarket places that carried drugs. Enzo only knew the ones where he’d arrested somebody.
Mr. Perry, Schmitt’s assistant, hardly seemed worried about Enzo’s problem. He said in an unconcerned voice that he would pass on the message. No amount of insisting on Enzo’s part made him see the urgency of the situation.
For Enzo’s suggestion to work, Schmitt would need some time to locate a place, convince them to cooperate, and send the drugs on Charity’s list.
Enzo’s phone buzzed. Charity was calling. He answered the phone. “Hello?”
“I’m walking into the store,” she said. “Where are you?”
And that was another thing that irritated him. The girl was far too naive for her own good. “I’m halfway to Iowa. Thanks for giving me your truck.”
“No, really. Where are you?”
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that you shouldn’t give your keys to someone you hardly know?”
She sighed. “You wouldn’t steal the truck. It has a tracking device on it.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“How do you know that?”
Because he’d checked. “Because I know you got it from the slavers. They wouldn’t have a tracker on it. Do you know what these things sell for? You could be stranded in the city right now.”
“If you wanted to steal the truck, you would’ve done it before. You have a gun. You could’ve pulled it on Callum and me and forced us out of the truck on the way to the city. So I assumed you wouldn’t steal it now instead of going to the grocery store.”
Granted, if he’d planned on a carjacking, stranding Charity and Callum miles away from the city where they couldn’t report the theft for some time would be a better plan. “Maybe I didn’t take it then because you also had a gun.”
“You could’ve disarmed me while I slept.”
“You weren’t sleeping. You were just ignoring me.” A person’s breathing rate changed when they slept. Hers hadn’t.
“Okay. Fine. You’ve made your point. I shouldn’t trust you.”
Not what he was going for. “The point isn’t that you shouldn’t trustme. The point is that you shouldn’t trust anyone so quickly. People will think you’re an easy mark.”
“Are you going to tell me where you are? Oh, never mind. I see you down the feminine hygiene aisle.”
He turned and spotted her at the far end of the row. “Yeah, and you shouldn’t have assigned those items to me. I don’t know what women want.”
“Clearly.”
Ouch. The girl wasn’tallsweetness and light. Before he could come up with a response, she ended the call and put her phone back in her pocket. She strode over to the cart and checked the items in it. While she sorted through them, his eyes couldn’t help but linger on her profile. The curve of her cheeks and pink lips. Those lips, now pursed in thought, had kissed him so eagerly last night.
He shouldn’t think about those sorts of things right now.