Sneak (Swipe Series)

you? You’re really gonna ruin the surprise.”
    Logan narrowed his eyes, and he waited for Bridget to explain herself.
    “Okay, okay.” She laughed, easing up a little. “Tomorrow morning. There’s a landfill half a mile north of here. If you still wanna know, meet me there when the sun comes up.”
    Another night in the underpass. A secluded meeting place. Just thinking about it, Logan’s palms began to sweat. “How do I know I can trust you?” he asked.
    “You can’t,” Bridget said with a wry smile. “But if you really wanna know so bad what it is I’m hiding from you . . . well, then I guess you’re just gonna have to risk it.” She shrugged. Then she turned to sing with the other Markless, leaving Logan in the dark.
    3
    In the morning, the sun shone brightly through the windows and cracks of the barn, but none of the Dust were awake. Meg and Dane slept soundly in two of the three empty stalls not occupied by horses. Blake slept sitting up, his back against a wall, next to a pile of hay where Rusty was sleeping soundly and sucking his thumb. Eddie dozed on a stool beside the stallion’s stall at the far end of the stable, swatting idly as the stallion leaned over to chew on his thick blond hair. Jo slept beside the barn door, intending to keep watch. And Tyler lay smack in the middle of the barn, laughing in his sleep.
    Mama Hayes stood in the entryway, taking inventory and shaking her head. “All right, kids. If you’re gonna stay, you’re gonna work.” She spoke over a chorus of groans and mumbling. Tyler rolled over and said something about rest for the wicked, which Mama Hayes ignored on her walk past. “Come on,” she said. “Everybody up.”

    Mama Hayes was not a farmer herself. Until recently, she spent her days maintaining an abandoned convenience store out on Slog Row, where for years she and her husband, Papa, stocked black market food and supplies for the Markless living in Spokie. It was only after the Slog Row raid in September that the Hayeses fled to the farm, and only last week that the Dust finally heard about it, after nearly a month of following the vague leads and best guesses from stray Markless in the area.
    The field between the stable and the farmhouse was wide and patchy with hard, gray ground and untouched snow. Withered cornstalks from the summer still stood against the monochrome backdrop, and Tyler and Eddie made a point of kicking each one they passed.
    Inside, the farmhouse smelled like oatmeal and cinnamon. The Dust filed in through the front door, kicking off the dirt and snow from the tatters that remained of their shoes. Blake leaned in and whispered to Tyler and Eddie, “Behave, or you’re sleeping outside tonight.”
    But Tyler was too focused on the kitchen to respond. His mouth hung slightly open, and his eyes were wide, as if the smell of the food were good enough to see.
    “Good morning,” Peck said, waiting patiently at the dining room table to everyone’s left. “Please, join me. Breakfast is served.”

    Not many words were exchanged among the Dust over the course of their meal. It was all Blake, Joanne, Tyler, Eddie, Meg, Rusty, and Dane could do to sit, chew, and listen while Mama and Papa Hayes discussed the latest news with Peck.
    “You’re in quite a pickle,” Mama said. “I don’t envy it.”
    “It’s true things are . . . a little out of hand at present. I’ll admit to that,” Peck said.
    “Peck mentioned that you kids spent these last few weeks in the woods. Couldn’t have been easy with this weather.”
    “It wasn’t,” Blake said.
    Jo frowned. “The weather wasn’t the problem. The problem was DOME. They have scouts everywhere now.”
    “Well, you’re safe here,” Mama said. “And we want you to stay. At least until you’re able to find that Langly boy.”
    Eddie snorted. “Can we all just admit right now that waiting around for Logan is a terrible idea? Please? This is getting ridiculous.”
    “We’ll find him,” Peck said. “I know Hailey can do it.”
    “Hailey. I remember her. The girl who’d visit the Fulmart, evenings and weekends,” Mama said.
    Peck nodded. “That’s right. She was with her mother when DOME ambushed the warehouse, so she’s still in Spokie. Goes to school, walks around town . . . they haven’t arrested her yet.”
    “Yeah, because DOME’s hoping she’ll lead them straight to us!” Blake said.
    Peck shrugged and spoke again to Mama and Papa Hayes. “Never underestimate