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thing doesn’t even have autodrive.
    They’d been on the road for more than an hour now.
Scarlett had no idea where they were going, only that they were
heading west. Every time she prodded him for a destination, Cash
avoided a direct answer. Finally, she lost her patience and
confronted him directly. “Where are we going, Cash?”
    Cash sat in the seat next to her, a baseball cap
pulled down over his eyes. “Just stay on this road. I’ll tell you
when to exit.”
    “ C’mon, give me a little more than
that. What’s with you anyway?”
    “ What do you mean?”
    “ Cash, you took control real quick
back at the house. Clearly you’re no stranger to situations like
this. Does it have something to do with your time in the
military?”
    “ Something like that.”
    Scarlett flipped on the turn signal but nothing
happened. She laughed to herself and nudged the car over into the
next lane. “Cut the BS. Ruby and Emma aren’t here, so there’s no
point in avoiding it anymore.”
    Cash eyed her from under his cap. “Avoiding
what?”
    “ Do you think no one notices how
you divert the conversation anytime it comes up? Do you think your
own mother didn’t notice how you quickly and efficiently you took
control back at the house? She didn’t argue or fuss.”
    Cash lifted the front of his hat with a finger.
“So?”
    “ Your mother plays dumb and
doesn’t ask questions because she thinks it’s some form of PTSD.
Emma just thinks that you’re too proud to talk about it. But that
bullshit doesn’t play with me.”
    Without looking, Cash pointed to a holo-sign ahead.
“There, take Beach Street. Go on.”
    “ I may not understand everything
you did, but I’m betting it wasn’t all rosy. I think you don’t talk
about it because some of it you’re not proud of.”
    He set his jaw. “I’m very proud of my service to
this country.”
    “ I didn’t say you weren’t. You and
I both know that sometimes the wrong thing has to be done to get
the right result.”
    “ My little sis, when did you
become such a cynic?”
    She glanced at her brother. “When some asshole tried
to kill me for a second time.”
    Scarlett guided the car off the freeway and turned
right. A quarter-mile further, they pulled up to the gates of an
old seaport shipping dock. The chain-link fence was tattered and
the docks beyond were long-abandoned. Hanging on one side of the
fence gate was a rusty padlock. It was unlocked.
    Cash pointed at the gate and waved his hand. “Just
keep going slowly. Nudge it open.”
    She inched the vehicle forward. At the first bump,
the gate swung open, screeching with every inch.
    Cash raised his hand and pointed to the left.
“Before we stop I want to tell you something that I think you
should know.”
    Scarlett eyed her brother. “Go on.”
    “ It’s about your
vision.”
    She followed her brother’s instructions and stopped
the car facing an empty pier. “Okaaay.”
    “ I had a friend look into what you
described, into whether there was any kind of accident at Universal
Dynamics, and it turns out there was. I’m not sure of the details,
since they’ve done a helluva job at cleanup, but a lot of people
died.”
    Scarlett put her hand over her mouth. “Oh my
God.”
    “ Only four people are listed to
have survived the explosion. Of those four, only you and one other
are still alive. The others died of mysterious causes.”
    Scarlett stared at the undulating water in the
distance. Her voice was soft and distant. “Derrick Martins.”
    As she said the words, an image flashed through her
mind. She saw his face above her, sweat beading on his brow. He
wore a warm, passionate smile. In his eyes, she saw love.
    “ How?” Cash turned to look at his
sister, his eyes wide. “How did you know?”
    “ Our unfortunate passenger told
me,” she whispered.
    “ Oh. So you know who he
is?”
    Scarlett shook her head. “No. I mean, I know I know
him, but I don’t know how.”
    “ Ah, well... He’s the new