Page 6 of Savage Don

I give him a tiny wave.

He doesn’t wave back.

“Friendly,” I say.

“He is,” the girl says.

“I'll take your word for it,” I say.

My phone vibrates again.

A new delivery request appears. It pays twenty dollars for five point eight miles. I stare at it.

Insulting.

My finger hovers over the screen to decline. However, then I remember rent is due in five days, and I grudgingly accept. Dignity remains a luxury good.

“I have to go,” I say.

The little girl nods. “I’m Anya,” she says.

“Elara,” I say. “But everyone calls me Elle.”

“Why?” Anya asks.

I shrug. “I chose the name myself.”

She smiles. “I like Elara.”

“You’re in the minority,” I say.

I turn toward my car, already thinking about the next delivery, when someone calls out behind me.

“Anya!”

The alarm in the voice makes me turn. Anya is stepping off the curb, her attention somewhere across the driveway, while Kirill lowers his phone and starts toward her.

Then I hear the engine.

The cars in the pickup lane have barely been moving, inching forward as parents collect their children, but the black sedan coming around the bend is accelerating. Its tires squeal against the pavement, and for a moment I stand there staring, waiting for the driver to notice the little girl in the road.

Kirill breaks into a run. A teacher screams, and a whistle shrills somewhere near the school entrance.

Anya freezes.

“Anya!” Kirill shouts again.

She turns toward him, frightened by his voice, and I realize she still hasn’t seen the car.

My phone falls from my hand as I run.

I hear it strike the pavement behind me, but my eyes stay on Anya. She’s only a few strides away, close enough that I can see her fingers gripping the strap of her backpack, and I reach for her before I’m near enough to touch her.

The sedan keeps coming.

Through the windshield, I catch a glimpse of someone behind the wheel, their face obscured by the glare. There’s still room to slow down. I wait for the brakes, for the front of the car to dip, for anything that tells me the driver is trying to stop.

Instead, the engine grows louder.