Anvil novel · Chapter 18 of 24

Chapter 18: Red Boots

Lizzie's POV

I had promised Dutch I would not move until he told me.

I broke that promise immediately.

The lamps came on, the shouting started, and from my place by the east door I saw a gray van pull out from behind the loading dock.

It had its lights off.

The man at the wheel had a broken front tooth, and I knew him from the Polaroid he had slid across my counter.

"Birdie!"

I did not decide to scream.

It came out of me on its own.

The van swung toward the gate, and I ran for it with my canvas bag banging against my hip.

I had told Tucker I was carrying my keys and my phone.

I had not told him I was also carrying my cast iron skillet.

The van's back wheel spun on gravel and slag, and for a second it slowed to take the turn.

That was all I needed.

I swung the bag by its strap, let go, and the skillet went through the driver's window with a crack that I felt in my teeth.

The man yelled.

The van jerked sideways and ran its nose into a pile of old iron castings and stopped, rocking.

I got to the driver's door and found him with both hands on his face and blood running through his fingers.

"You hit me," he said, through the broken tooth. "You hit me with a pan."

"I'll hit you with the rest of it if you move."

I took the skillet out of the seat where it had landed.

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