Chapter 19 · Juno's Bill Comes Due

Juno was already shoving clothes into a duffel when we hit her clinic door.

"Five minutes," she said without looking up. "That's what they gave you, right?"

Mara stopped. "How did you—"

"Because they called me first." Juno zipped the bag and tossed it at the exam table. It landed next to a row of pre-packed supply kits, the kind you grab when the power dies and you need to work by flashlight. "Crowe wanted to know if I'd seen you. I said no. He said he'd ask again in person."

Kade moved past me to the window. His shoulders were locked tight, and I could see the tremor in his left hand even from across the room. The protein packs Claire gave him had bought maybe an hour. Now his body was eating itself again.

"We need to move," he said.

"Yeah, no shit." Juno pulled a metal case from under the counter and flipped it open. Inside were three transit passes, the expensive kind with no name attached and enough credit for a cross-city ride. She held one out to Mara. "Take the southbound line. Get off at the industrial stop and don't use the main exit.