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Inside was a can of what looked like heavy duty mace. From under the seat he got out a long baton.

His eyes flicked again to the rearview mirror as he reached for the door handle. But Will was locked in the backseat, with nowhere to go. Will saw Gary make that deduction, and then decide to leave him.

Will said nothing as the officer slipped out, keys left in the car, lights still flashing from the vehicle. Gary immediately started shouting for crowd dispersal as he pushed through the thick rioters, clearly aiming to make it to the front steps.

Will tried the handle again, then the other one. It was almost worse to be sitting here in the car than to get to the police station. He might have had an opportunity then to run if he swung on Gary unexpectedly.

But now he was just here, watching the sky darken into night, the minutes ticking by as Itori–

What was he going to do? He couldn’t just sit here. There was no telling how long this was going to take. He could no longer see Gary through the crowd, but it didn’t seem like the town was paying any heed to the shouts for dispersal.

Across the way, another cop car had arrived. Will could see it by the flash of blue and red lights.

Shit, shit.

Could he kick the grate out? Or the window? He eyed both, but they seemed incredibly sturdy. Maybe he could try–

Suddenly, a hand smacked hard against the backseat window. Will jumped before he recognized the man under the black ball cap.

Adrián.

Adrián looked from Will, to the empty front seat, to the crowd. There wasn’t a leather jacketed officer in sight.

Satisfied, Adrián opened the front door of the cop car. He reached down and hit something in the front seat, then came to Will’s door again and opened it.

“Come on, quick!” Adrián hissed, but Will was already scrambling out of the backseat. His heart was pounding as he got out. Adrián shut the door behind him.

“They got somethin’ on you?” Adrián asked.

There was a shout from behind them. A Hey! Stop! that was clearly aimed in their direction.

It was another cop; Will could tell from the overblown authority in their voice. Both of them looked, but Adrián was quicker to process, grabbing hold of Will’s arm and yanking him in the other direction and toward the rioting crowd.

“They found the bags of sugar,” Will shouted as they pushed into the crowd. It was thick and angry, and only seemed to be getting more rowdy. Near them someone threw an orange, aimed back in the other cop’s direction.

Adrián cursed in Spanish, keeping tight hold of Will as they disappeared into the mass.

“I’m sorry!” Will said, because he hadn’t had an opportunity to yet, and he knew his guilt also implicated Adrián and his store. There might never be another opportunity to apologize. “I’m so sorry, Adrián!”

“Don’t be,” he said. They were not heading toward the front, but through to the other side of the crowd. “You did what we all should’ve been doing.” He was only half looking at Will, the rest of his attention was scoping the crowd. “We can’t let you take the fall for this. We–I have a cousin in Miami. He could take you, get you out of here.”

Will was lost. A cousin in Miami? What was he–?

And then it clicked. Adrián was trying to offer Will an escape plan. Someplace to lay low, hide from the cops.

It caught Will unexpectedly in the chest. He remembered at the meeting how Adrián had told them he did his records in pencil.

I know some about how to protect myself and others.

He didn’t just talk that talk either. He was ready to act on it. Ready to pull Will out of a cop car and ship him out in the night.

At his silence, Adrián’s head swung back in his direction. “Will?”

He shook off the emotion because they didn’t have time for it. “No, I–I have a way. Someone to leave with. I just have to get back to the store!”

They were slicing diagonal through the crowd, but still getting nearer to the front where people were loudest. He could make out now what Becky was yelling into the megaphone.

“Don’t let them silence you!” She shouted. There was a roar of agreement, fists thrusting up with signs. “Don’t let them take your land from you!”