CHAPTER 20

Outside the skies were still threatening, and to accompany the frigid light rain a wicked crosstown breeze had begun to blow. In that sort of weather almost everyone on the street is looking for a ride, so it took a few blocks of trying before Noah and Molly were able to hail an empty cab headed downtown.

When they’d closed the door the driver turned and asked where they were going.

“Ninth Street and Avenue B, by Tompkins Square Park, ” Noah said. “And do us a favor, ” he added, passing through enough of a tip to make his point. “We’re not in a rush, so just take it really, really easy, understand? ”

The man in front took the money, gave a nod in the rearview mirror, and then signaled and pulled away from the curb with exaggerated care, hands on the wheel at ten and two o’clock, driving as if an inspector from the Taxi & Limousine Commission were watching from the shotgun seat.

Molly kept to her side of the car, looking out the window in silence as the ride got under way, but after a minute she reached across and found Noah’s hand to hold.

“There were no dates on those screens at the end, ” Noah said. “There’s nothing to say that this thing is happening tomorrow, or next week, or next year. ”

She shook her head. “It’s happening now. ”

“How do you know that? ”

“Because I can see it. The economy is crashing, Noah. There’s no net underneath it this time. That’s why they’re rushing through all this stimulus nonsense, both parties. All the cockroaches are coming out of the woodwork to grab what they still can. It’s a heist in broad daylight, and they don’t care who sees it anymore. That’s how I know.

“They’ve doubled the national debt since 2000, and now with these bailouts, all those trillions of dollars more‑ that’s our future they just stole, right in front of our eyes. They didn’t even pretend to use that money to pay for anything real, most of it went offshore. They didn’t help any real people; they just paid themselves and covered their gambling debts on Wall Street. ” She looked at him. “You asked how I know it’s happening now? Because the last official act of any government is to loot their own treasury. ”

He couldn’t think of a thing to counter that, at least nothing that either one of them would believe.

“We’ll be okay, ” Noah said.

“Who’ll be okay? ”

“The two of us. And look, I’m not talking about any commitment you have to make, or a relationship, or whatever, I know we just met so let’s take all that out of the picture and not worry about it right now. I’m just telling you that I’ll help you, you and your mom, no strings attached. ”

“I couldn’t do that. ”

“Just give it some thought. I know, it would probably feel like some pact with the devil. I feel the same thing, but it’s better than the alternative, isn’t it?

“Whatever happens, it isn’t going to hit everyone equally. A lot of people I know probably won’t feel a thing, and I’m set up to be okay through just about anything. So I’m just saying that we can fix it so you and your mother are okay, too. ”

“You’re wrong‑ you won’t be okay. No one will. If they accomplish half of what we saw on those screens then money won’t protect you. Nothing will. ”

She turned her attention back to the window and the dark, blustery night beyond the glass.

After a time her clasp on his hand tightened for a few seconds, but it didn’t really feel like affection. It was more like the grip a person might take on the arm of the dentist’s chair, or the gesture of unspoken things an old love might extend at the end of a long good‑ bye.

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