Under the Viaduct, H. Anderson [top young adult novels .TXT] 📗

only supposed to be a reconnaissance mission tonight—I was only planning on observing from a distance. I wasn’t even sure this was where you’d be. I’ve already scoped out several other…umm…areas.”

“Ha! Def not a bright idea.” The young boy stood by the fire eating a sandwich made hastily from the contents of one of the grocery bags. “I thought college students were supposed to be smart.”

Kaylee laid her pounding head back down on her folded arms, ignoring the barb.

“You okay?” Blayne asked.

“My head hurts,” she answered. And this wasn’t going the way she’d planned. She just wanted to get back to her apartment, take a shower, and go to bed.

“I bet it does,” he replied.

“Well,” Mama C said. “It’s late. And cold. I’m ready to nestle down into my sleeping bag for the night. You’ll have to come back around at a more decent time if you want to poke at my brain.”

That sounded like a cue to leave. She’d overstayed her dubious welcome. Kaylee lifted her head. “Yes, of course. Will you still be here over the next couple of days?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. We’ve been here a while. It’s probably about time for some other group to come run us off.” She frowned, looking from Kaylee to Blayne and back again. “Especially after your little tussle tonight.”

Blayne shrugged, purposefully, it seemed, avoiding Kaylee’s gaze. “I couldn’t just let that guy hurt her.”

Mama C stood, wincing at the effort, and patted his arm. “I know you couldn’t. And I wouldn’t have expected you to.” She looked down at Kaylee. “How did you get here, dear?”

“I drove. My car is parked about a half-block away.”

Blayne raised his eyebrows. “Hopefully it’s still in one piece.” He reached a hand toward her. “Let’s see if you’re well enough to drive.”

Grasping his hand, she stood slowly, careful not to let his coat drop to the ground. A slight feeling of dizziness threatened, but not nearly as bad as before. She straightened up, removed her hand from his, and handed him his coat. “I’m okay. Much better. Thank you.” She patted her pockets, relieved to find that her keys were still tucked safely away in her jacket.

“I’ll walk you to your car.” Not waiting for an answer, he started walking in the direction of where she’d been attacked.

“You really don’t have to.” The tiny quaver in her voice gave her away. Fear tore at her insides at the thought of walking the short distance alone.

He slowed when he reached the area she’d been observing from. “Where’s your car from here?”

Kaylee pointed past two overflowing dumpsters where a small section of her rear bumper could be seen.

Shaking his head, Blayne muttered, “That’s the worst possible place you could have parked, college girl.”

Normally, that kind of assumption of her naivety would have riled her—and it kind of still did—but she just wanted to get to her car and get home where she could take a shower and go to bed.

“Did you at least have the sense to lock the doors?” He stopped and faced her a few yards from the dumpsters.

A tired sigh pushed through her pursed lips and she put a hand on her hip. “Of course, I did.” She pulled her keys out of her jacket pocket and put her thumb on the unlock button of the fob.

“Not yet.” Blayne put his hand over hers to stop her from pushing it. “Let me make sure no one’s lurking around.”

He jogged to the back of her car and around to the far side where she could no longer see him. A moment later he reappeared around the other side of the dumpsters.

Kaylee raised an eyebrow at him as he approached.

“All clear,” he said. “It looks like your car is intact, too. You got lucky.”

She could hear the condescension in his voice—and this time she couldn’t ignore it. “I’m not stupid, you know. I know this area is dangerous. I was only planning to stay for a few minutes.”

He looked down. “I never said you were stupid. But you do seem a little unaware of the danger around here.” He glanced back up. “Anyway, you should be going.” He turned and walked around to the driver’s side of her car and stood, waiting for her to catch up.

With a roll of her eyes, she joined him and pushed the unlock button. She reached for the door handle and her hand collided with his. Pulling away, she let him open the door for her. She looked into his eyes as he gestured for her to get in. He was definitely not what she expected from a homeless man. His eyes were clear and intense. He was able-bodied as far as she could tell. Why was he here? A rush of heat flowed to her cheeks as she realized she’d been staring at him for much longer than necessity would dictate under the circumstances. She cleared her throat and averted her gaze. “Thank you. Have a good night.” That was a dumb thing to say, she thought as she hurriedly slid into her seat and slammed the door.

She started her car and risked one more glance at this strange young rescuer. His eyebrows were drawn into a scowl, but she could swear his lips twitched into the hint of a smile just before she backed up then sped away toward the freeway. She would have to try to get his story. Hopefully Mama C and her group would still be there when she came back.

The clock on her dashboard read 1:25. Holy crap! She’d been there for a couple of hours. Touching the sticky mess at the back of her head, she groaned and remembered Blayne saying she’d need some stitches. She weighed the consequences of just going back to her apartment and dealing with the cut the next day or going to the ER to get it taken care of tonight. She thought about the filthy ground she’d bounced her head off of and her mind instantly turned