They also reply to texts, so people know they haven’t been murdered or something.

“I’m sure I can help,” he said, reaching out to run his finger down my nose. I forgot to breathe for an instant. “Let’s start with the paint. Sit down and we’ll go through it step by step.”

Half an hour later I was doing better. I mean, it’s not like painting faces was really that difficult, but for some reason I’d been getting the paints way too watery, so they kept running together.

“You’re doing great,” Painter said, watching me brush green across the paper. “That one definitely looks like a lizard.”

I considered telling him it was supposed to be a flower, but decided to just add eyes instead. Still, I had a very nice sheet of rainbows, ladybugs, and clouds. I figured I’d do all right with the kids so long as I offered them only a few choices.

Glancing up, I smiled, because he was close to me and being around him always made me happy, even if it probably shouldn’t.

“So, can you tell me where you were this past week?”

His face shuttered. “Why do you want to know?”

“Don’t be so suspicious—I’m just making conversation,” I said, deciding that I’d get crazy and try to paint a Pokémon next. Jess had warned me the kids were hard-core about them right now, and the little yellow one looked like it wouldn’t be all that hard. Struck with sudden inspiration, I put my left hand palm-down on the table, outlining Pikachu on my skin instead of the paper.

“Wow, it’s different like this,” I said, glancing up at him. “Harder, because the skin moves more than the paper. So where have you been? Unless you can’t tell me.”

“I probably shouldn’t get into it,” he admitted, eyes fixed on my hand. I bit my lip, focusing on getting the little black points for the ears right. Nice. “Club business, that kind of thing. But just so you know, I’m going to be out of town a lot for the next few weeks, maybe longer. Not sure how things will play out.”

Frowning, I dipped my brush in the red for the cheeks.

“Aren’t you on parole?” I asked. “Can’t you get in trouble for traveling around?”

He startled me, catching my chin and turning my face toward his.

“You know I’m not like those guys you meet down at school,” he said with quiet intensity. “My life isn’t like theirs. I don’t want you to worry about me, Mel, because I’m being careful—but I’m never going to follow the rules, either.”

I swallowed, mesmerized by his gaze.

“But you don’t want to go back, do you?”

“Of course I don’t,” he said. “But I’m not going to let fear get in the way of what I need to do, either. If it makes you feel better, I’m not doing anything particularly crazy and I’m not on my own. We just need eyes on a situation. If anything serious goes down, they’ll keep me out of it, because my brothers don’t want me going back, either. FYI—you’re getting paint everywhere.”

I pulled back, looking down to see that I’d let my brush slide off my hand and across the sheet of little animals I’d worked so hard to produce.

“This sucks,” I said, and I wasn’t talking about the painting . . .

“It is what it is,” he said, shrugging. “And I can’t share it with you. Say the word and I’ll walk out, leave you alone. I’m not trying to fuck with your head, Mel, but I can’t change who I am, either.”

I swallowed, deciding to ignore that particular reality for now.

“Can you show me how to make a flower?”

He nodded, pulling the brush out of my fingers slowly.

“First, you need to start with a clean surface,” he said, catching my chin again, turning my cheek toward him. He dipped the brush into the green, raising it to my face. The paint was cool where it touched my skin, but it still burned deep inside.

“Long, smooth strokes will keep the color even,” he continued, as the brush slid down my face, all the way down to my chin. I studied his expression, intent and purposeful as he started another line. His eyes were so blue, so clear and full of light. Intellectually, I knew he was one of the bad guys. I just couldn’t reconcile that with the man sitting here next to me.

“Will you help me tomorrow?” I asked. He cocked a brow. “With the face painting, I mean. Do you want to come to the carnival with me? You’re way better at this than I am.”

A strange look crossed his face.

“I’m a felon, Mel,” he said. “I don’t think they’d want me there.”

“A lot of people are felons,” I said earnestly. “Spending time in prison doesn’t mean you can’t do any volunteering for the rest of your life. Well, aside from sex offenders, I guess, but that’s not you. Why couldn’t you volunteer? Aren’t you friends with Bolt? It’s his old lady—Maggs—who runs the program. He’s helped out a bunch of times. The club even did a fundraiser for the program last year.”

A thoughtful look crossed Painter’s face.

“I met Bolt in prison, have I told you that?” he asked. I shook my head. “The first time I was inside. He helped me figure shit out, hooked me up with the club. Good brother.”

“Well, your good brother is going to be there tomorrow, so I guess if he’s okay, you’re probably okay, too. And I know they can use the help—I mean, if they’re desperate enough to have me painting, you know it has to be bad.”