CHAPTER 9

ANA

Ana’s insides were shaking as Colin’s car pulled up in front of the Amtrak station. She took a deep breath. “So you’ll wait in the parking lot?”

“Yeah, it’ll look weird if I sit here idling,” said Colin. “But I’ll be ready for a quick getaway.”

“We probably won’t need it. Huffmann can’t be monitoring all the places we’ve gone.”

“But the cops might have ID’d us from the SolarStar break-in. Our pictures could be circulating by now.”

“So my goals are to grab the box and stay under the radar.”

“Right,” said Colin. “You got this.”

Ana smiled at him and got out of the car. She hoped she looked confident as she walked into the station.

Inside, she took a quick look up and saw two security cameras facing the ticket desk.

A lady at the ticket counter saw her and narrowed her eyes. Ana threw her a big smile and headed toward the lockers.

She hurried down the row of lockers, looking for the right number. She turned the corner—and there, sitting at a little table, drinking coffee, were two police officers.

Ana practically skidded to a halt and then cursed herself. If they noticed that, it was a dead giveaway she was up to something shady.

Of course, the locker she needed was halfway down the row. Almost directly across from the officers.

My luck. But she needed to find out what was in that locker. She just hoped that Huffmann or someone else hadn’t already collected it.

Ana stood in front of the locker, her back to the cops, and put in the combination that James had given her.

Nothing happened.

She tried again. Nothing.

Sweat started down her temple. Could he have given her the wrong numbers? She took a deep breath and tried it one more time. Success! She had been shaking too badly to do it right the first couple of times.

She yanked the door open and saw it: a cardboard box. No one had taken it yet. She grabbed it, closed the door quietly, and spun around.

Right into a guy who had been standing right behind her.

“Yer pretty,” the guy said. Ana could smell the alcohol oozing out of him. He smelled like her foster dad. The guy had bloodshot eyes and few teeth. He said, “Could a pretty lady give me a dollar?” He held out his hand. Ana felt for the man. But she did not have time for this.

“Sorry,” she mumbled and stepped around him. But he stepped right back in front of her.

“Pretty ladies should be nicer,” he said, his voice rising.

Ana glanced nervously at the cops. So far, they weren’t paying attention. “Uh, true. Good luck!”

She stepped around him again but this time he grabbed her arm. “What’s one dollar to a pretty lady like you?”

And suddenly, the two cops were right there. Ana knew she looked panicked, but she hoped they wouldn’t think it was because of them.

“Is this man bothering you?” one of the officers asked.

“Um, I’m just leaving. It’s no big deal.”

The other cop was looking at her intently. “Have I seen you somewhere?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so, officer.” Her voice squeaked at the end. She kept walking, forcing herself not to run.

The homeless guy said, “I was just asking this pretty lady if she wanted to get rid of a dollar.”

The first cop nodded and said, “Well, you can’t bother people about it, OK? Maybe we can get you some coffee or . . . ?”

Ana was almost to the end of the hallway when the other cop said to his partner, “I just got why she looks familiar.” When she turned the corner, she didn’t look back. She ran.

Luckily, a train had just pulled up and people were getting out. Ana weaved in and out of the crowd. Behind her she heard the officer yell, “Hey!” and then a few seconds later, “Did you see a Latina girl, maybe five-three . . . ?”

Ana reached the door and booked it across the parking lot toward Colin’s rickety car. She jumped into the passenger seat, then ducked way down, sliding into the footwell.

“Drive normally,” she whispered, “and don’t look down.” Colin nodded just barely, and she felt the car start moving.

A minute or so later, Colin said, “We’re clear.”

Ana sat up, clutching the package to her chest, and grabbed her seatbelt. “Well,” she said, “our pictures are definitely circulating.”