The boardwalk carnival was loud—louder than she remembered. Or maybe it just felt that way now. Everything buzzed. The kettle corn popping behind them, the ride lights blinking like damn sirens, red then blue then red again. Too much noise. Too many people. Camille couldn’t catch her breath, not really, not all the way. The air was thick—fried dough, sunscreen, something sharp and sour under it, like something rotting beneath the fun.
She held Ellie’s little hand tight. Probably too tight. But she couldn’t let go. Couldn’t even think about letting go. Not after the tracker yesterday, blinking like a goddamn warning bell in her brain ever since. Her stomach turned again—like it had been for days now, curling around the same sick fear.
Ellie bounced, carefree, that cotton candy nearly as b
