Read Burn for Free Online Page A

know that every man has a breaking point. I’m not arrogant enough to think I’m different.
    â€œYou’re not just going to walk in there, are you?” Leo asks.
    â€œShut up,” I say, sighing. I’m so fucking tired. “Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going in, and when they let her parents out, you and Christina will go to The Fifty and—”
    â€œThat’s stupid. You could fight. You could figure something out.”
    â€œLeo, there’s a bus ticket to Chicago with your name on it.” I hand Christina the phone. “What’s the next major town on the route? We’ll drop him off.”
    â€œTate,” she says wearily, “calm down. He wants to help.”
    â€œHe’s doing the opposite,” I snap.
    â€œYou’re nothing like your dad described,” Leo blurts out. “He made you sound like some kind of prodigy with balls of steel. I freaking idolized you for years, and you turn out to be a total coward!”
    â€œShe has a little sister!” I shout, slamming on the brakes. Christina’s hand shoots out, and she braces herself against the dash as I pull to the side of the road, fields on either side of us. “Her name’s Livia! Am I a coward for wanting her to get out of this alive?”
    â€œYou can get her out and not let them take you!” Leo’s face is red, and his green eyes are bright with fury. “You can’t just lie down and let the Core get what they want! It’s not about you, either. It’s about your dad’s invention. I heard him telling George how crucial the device was, and how that was only one part of his plan. That’s the thing the lunch lady was talking about, wasn’t she?”
    â€œYeah, but the Core already have it, Leo.”
    â€œAnd now they want you to help them get to the rest—a freaking spaceship that they could use to do God-knows-what—and you’re willing to let them do that?” His reedy voice fills the car.
    I’m about to reach back there and toss him into a ditch when Christina whispers, “He’s right.”
    It freezes me in place. “What?”
    She looks over at me. “If anyone can get my family out alive, it would be you. I trust you. And I don’t want to lose you.” A tear slides down her face.
    I slump in the seat. Can I do this? And what happens if I can’t? “Christina, it’s your mom and dad. It’s Livia.”
    â€œI know. And I believe you can make a plan to get them out safely.”
    I take the phone from her and text my mom again.
Have to go back to NY. Please call when you can.
    After a few moments spent staring at the screen, waiting for a reply that doesn’t come, I put the phone away and pull back onto the road. “I want complete silence for the next hour, please,” I say when Leo starts to ask questions. “Not a single fucking word.”
    He respects that request, and I let the gears in my brain turn, running through scenarios, remembering everything I can about Christina’s place, a fourth-floor condo across from Morningside Park. Fire escape along the back of the building, connecting to her bedroom. Narrow courtyard between units, parking lot at the back. Quiet neighborhood, and—
    â€œWill,” I say. He lives only six blocks away from her. The memories of our exploits are enough to inspire me. “I think we might have a chance.”
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    Christina falls into a restless doze just before we reach the border of West Virginia. I glance into the rearview mirror to see Leo’s eyes on me. “What?”
    He shrugs. “You look like him.”
    â€œConsidering that he contributed fifty percent of my DNA—”
    â€œJust an observation. You asked.”
    I did. “Sorry.” I check the mirrors for the millionth time to make sure we aren’t being followed. “Not at my best