“I’ll keep my cool,” I tell him, “at least until Hannah is safe. I may need your help then.”
“Anything you want, brother.”
“Once I have her away from them, I’ll need someone to watch out for her for a while.”
We stare at each other for a moment, understanding one another.
“Gladly.” Chuck holds out his hand, and we shake. “When are you going to leave?”
“You got room for Katrina to stay here? She’s on her own.”
“Sure.” Chuck looks over to where Katrina is sitting with Marco and Sam. “Looks like she’ll fit right in with the younger crowd. I swear, Christine thinks we’ve adopted the boys.”
“I bet they appreciate that.”
“Sometimes.”
“You’re going to have to make sure no one sees her.”
“Yeah,” Chuck says with a nod, “I was just thinking that. We’ve got decent cover here, but I’ll rig up something to make it better. By the looks of it, I’ll get lots of help from the boys.”
“Good.” I head back over to the fire, toss the cigarette into the flames, and crouch down in front of Katrina’s chair. “I’m going to be leaving.”
“Oh, okay.” She stands up.
“You’re staying.”
“What?” She puts her hands on her hips, and Marco and Sam quickly excuse themselves.
“I’ve got a lead on them, Katrina,” I say, “the first real lead I’ve had in a long time. I’m going after them, and you need to stay put.”
“I’m the reason you have a lead,” she reminds me.
“I know that, and I’m grateful. That doesn’t mean you’re going to continue along on this ride.”
“I want to go!” She glares at me, and I almost expect her to stomp her foot in protest. She doesn’t, but her hands ball into tiny fists.
I sigh and stand back up.
“Let me make this really clear to you,” I say to Katrina. “I’m about to walk into a group of human traffickers. Not just people who took the opportunistic approach after all this shit happened, but people who used to make money off of it before the shit hit the fan. You aren’t going anywhere near there.”
“I might be able to help.”
“You might just get in the way. Getting in the way is a lot like getting killed. I’m sorry, Katrina. You know I appreciate the help you’ve given me, but I want you to stay here.”
“I don’t even know these people.”
“Well, I do. You’ll be safer with them than you would be on your own. I don’t even know if I’ll make it back.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because if I can’t find her, I’m going to kill them all.”
Chapter 4
The hike to Georgia Tech is only about an hour, but I’m trying to keep out of sight as much as possible. That means staying off the roads. I don’t see any signs of anyone as I reach the old Fox Theatre and its broken sign. The whole street is in ruins, much like the rest of Atlanta. This is the area where Sam said he saw Caesar and Brett, and though there are signs of looting, I don’t see any signs of people.
I head across the highway and onto the grounds of Georgia Tech. The buildings are all flattened, making the campus look more like a collection of hills made of bricks and littered with pieces of the bleachers from the Bobby Dodd stadium.