Every one of those pranks wasted time.
Every one of those pranks taught you to hesitate the next time something looked wrong.
And hesitation is a dangerous thing to teach a person who is supposed to respond first.
So when I eased the cruiser onto the gravel and heard the tires grind to a stop, irritation was the first thing I felt.
Not fear.
Not panic.
Just that tired anger that rises when someone has decided your duty is their entertainment.
I left the A/C running.
The moment I opened the door, the heat hit me like an oven door swinging open.
The air smelled like hot rubber, dust, and cardboard baked too long in the sun.
Underneath that was the faint metallic tick of the cruiser engine, cooling and working at the same time.
“Don’t these kids have anything better to do?” I muttered.
The box did not answer.
