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that made me sound like a total lunatic. Can you blame me?”
    “You need to tell him, Casey. If you don’t, how can he get the job done?”
    I looked at the squat building and envisioned walking back inside, through the sock-scented waiting room and into Detective Johnson’s grotty little cubicle, and then admitting I’d been hallucinating last night. It was the last thing I wanted to do.
    “I’ll call him later,” I said. “He seemed kind of busy.”
    “You better. No one messes with my little sister. We’ll find the guy and hang his balls from my rearview mirror.”
    “Eeeeew.”
    Rachel finally put the car into drive and sped out of the parking lot like the hounds of hell were in fact following us, despite our lack of gizzards. Not that she was reckless; she just ran at a higher speed than the average human.
    I braced myself against the armrest as we flew around a corner, and then I checked the dashboard clock. “Think you could drop me off at the dojo? It would do me some good to get out of the house under circumstances that don’t involve any burning.”
    “Your wish is my command, dahling,” she deadpanned.

    My nerves stopped jittering as soon as I got out of the car, which was a major relief. I hadn’t been to the dojo since I’d gotten out of the hospital. Every time I’d decided to go, I’d felt like puking and canceled at the last minute. But now? After what had happened yesterday, I felt like I had to come, despite the continued temptation to vomit. It was either that or be paralyzed with fear for the rest of my life.
    The thwack of bodies hitting the mats was clearly audible outside the doors; sensei had probably propped them open in a vain attempt to make the thick air circulate through thebuilding. I slipped inside, stepped out of my shoes, and bowed to the
kamidana
shrine on the wall.
    About fifteen students milled around, shrugging on gi tops, stretching on the mats, and throwing each other around for fun. A couple of black belts came through the back door with armfuls of bamboo practice swords, and I saw Sensei’s distinctive bristle-cut hairstyle among them. I sidestepped a white belt warming up on the floor and headed in that direction.
    “Sensei?” I called out.
    The acoustics in the dojo left something to be desired; everything echoed underneath the high ceilings. My voice got lost in the commotion, and he went back outside without seeing me.
    One of the black belts intercepted me.
    “Welcome to Black Sands Dojo! Can I help you?” she said, flashing a gap-toothed smile. Her hair was longer now and pulled back into a messy ponytail, but I would have recognized those teeth anywhere.
    “Darcy, it’s me. Casey.”
    The smile flickered and then pasted itself back on with fervor. Darcy fastened her eyes to my face, deliberately looking anywhere but at my bald head. I was beginning to regret shaving it. Even the leper ’fro would have been better than this.
    “Casey! I didn’t recognize you!” She gave me a one-armed hug that took me completely by surprise and nearly resultedin a face full of sword. We’d been training buddies for a couple of years, but we’d never hung out too much outside of the dojo because she went to Saint Joe’s and I went to Mackinaw Central. But inside the dojo, we’d been pretty inseparable, which is what happens when you start training about the same time and you’re both tiny junior high girls.
    “It’s so good to see you!” she said, her voice high and breathless. “Are you coming back to training?”
    “I was thinking about it,” I said. “Congrats on the black belt, by the way.”
    “Thanks! I had to work pretty hard, but you know how that is. You should come to the white belt class first thing on Saturdays. That would be a great way to get back into things! Today we’re doing
gogyo
again.” Darcy brushed a hair out of her face. “But next Saturday? I could give you a ride, if you want? I’m teaching the class, so I’ve got to be