Chapter 60

CHAPTER 60

" I 'm going in alone," I told Pike as we neared Oddities, just in case he tried to stop me.

He nodded. "Serena will want to talk, Rose. She wants the film more than anything else. Keep her talking. We have to take out the perimeter people. Then we'll come in."

I shook my head. "Not until I'm sure Poppy is safe."

"You have two minutes from the moment you get out of this van," Pike said. "Then we're coming in. Do you want a gun?"

"I have Serena's."

Two minutes. That was probably an eternity in the world Max and Pike came from.

When we got into town, State Street was deserted. I could see Serena's big black Mercedes SUV parked down a space from Oddities. Pike slowed down and then turned and stopped the van about twenty feet from the SUV, so that my side was to the store.

" Two minutes ," he said.

I got out of the van and faced Oddities. The lights were all on.

I took a deep breath and walked forward along the blue line into my store.

To get my kid.