"I thought Marcus was coming,” I say.
“He’s at the party,” he says.
“Oh,” I say. What party?
He settles down on the bench next to me, giving the empty cone a brief, puzzled glance. “It’s good to meet you. Marcus says you might need help.”
My brain is buzzing like a hive. I’ve got to keep following this, but I’m lost. I try to come up with Dora’s defensive attitude. “Not really.”
He smiles pleasantly. He’s got a narrow face, and his eyes are bright blue and interested behind his wire rims. He’s wearing a polo shirt and pleated khakis, standard nerd attire. Boat shoes and white socks. I try to get something from him, some kind of wave, the way I’ve done with strangers. Sometimes people have something that is so present on their minds that I can just pick it up like a radio station. But Jonah Castle is a blank. I can’t get anything from him.
“Oh, okay,” he says genially. “I guess he got it wrong. Marcus is a mysterious guy.”
“I’ll say.”
“He said you were upset at camp the other day,” he says. “He wants to help, that’s all.”
“The way he helped Kendall Farmer?”
He looks blank. “Kendall Farmer? Should I know her?”
“She was in the camp last year,” I say. “She ran away.”
“Oh. And Marcus tried to help her? I’m not surprised, he’s such a good guy.”
You think so?
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Marcus never mentioned her to me.” He hooks two hands around a knee. “I lost a sister, you know. So I know about loss. Guilt. All that stuff. I know how bad feelings can grow inside you until they feel like they can eat you alive. I know how scary that can be, and how the fear can add to it until you just want to run and run to get away. But there’s no place to run to. You know that saying, ‘Wherever you go, there you are’?”
No, I don’t know it. But I like how true it is. I’m listening now.
“So I started this thing, this focus group foundation. I mean, Megawall has the computer camp, and other charities, but my foundation doesn’t get any publicity. I don’t want reporters around, poking into people’s privacy. I’m out to revolutionize how social services treat at-risk kids. I’ve got scholars and shrinks on the payroll, but mostly it’s the kids themselves who have come up with the ideas. Bright kids like you. When I asked Marcus if he knew anyone I could talk to, he mentioned you. I hope you don’t mind.”
“My life is none of his business,” I say.
“No, it isn’t. And if you don’t want to get involved, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t get mad at Marcus. Remember, I’m his boss, in a way.” Jonah Castle smiles. “I can’t deny that even if I don’t use my leverage, it’s there.”
I can’t get a read on this guy. Never mind the paranormal, the normal me can’t read him, either. I feel apprehensive, but I don’t know if I can connect the feeling to Jonah Castle. Everything about him tells me that he’s an ordinary mega-billionaire looking to unload some millions on charity so he can sleep at night. But somehow he’s connected to Marcus, and Marcus asked Dora to meet him here.
Could Jonah Castle’s foundation be the key? Marcus directs troubled kids to the foundation. But not all of them. Some of them, he keeps for himself. Maybe he’d targeted Dora, only Jonah Castle got in his way.
It’s hard to think and carry on a conversation at the same time. I focus back on Jonah Castle. “I don’t think of myself as an at-risk kid,” I say. “At risk for what?”
He laughs. “Yeah, here I am saying social services is messed up, and I’m using their terms. Let’s just say this: You need a home where you can feel safe.”
That breaks like a wave of longing inside me. Those two words. Home. Safe. When those two things get taken away from you, there’s no other feeling more desolate. Maybe Jonah Castle knows what he’s talking about.
“Listen,” he says. “We’re having a party for the third anniversary of the foundation. Most of the kids we’ve helped will be there. It’s right in the park—that’s why Marcus suggested this place to meet. Would you like to come?”
My antenna is up, but it’s not picking up danger. There will be plenty of people there. Jonah Castle will be there, other adults. Diego is nearby.
My cover will be blown if Marcus sees me, but I don’t care. I’ll make something up. I’ll say I pretended to be Dora so I could go to the party.
“I just need to call my cousin and tell him,” I say.
“Sure. Ask him if he wants to come.”
I flip open my cell, but I get NO SERVICE on the screen. We hadn’t checked our phones when we arrived. Stupid.
He peers over. “Happens all the time. If we walk a bit, you can try again.”
“Okay.” I get up. Diego is probably watching us right now. And I can call again. I can hear the children running through the grass, and I can see the parents now, chasing after them. I’m fine, I’m safe, Diego would tell me to keep going.
“Great.” He stands up and starts down the path.
We’ll pass right by Diego, but that’s good. Diego can tail us.
We get to the entrance of the gardens, and Jonah looks around. I do, too, but I don’t see Diego. I figure he’s lurking behind a lilac bush, watching.
“Shoot,” Jonah says, and looks at his watch. “It’s later than I thought. They must be on the boat already.”
“Boat?” Everything lights up now. I’m close. I’m so close.
“Marcus has a boat. Well, his parents do.”
Marcus has a boat. That’s it, I think. That’s how he gets them away. Marcus invited her out on the boat. At first, she’s happy, he’s going fast, and the wind is whipping her hair. But something happens, somehow he gets her down in the cabin, and she panics.
I have to see the boat. I have to get on board. If I can just touch it, see it, be in that space, I can pick up something. I know it.
“Do you know the marina? It’s a short walk from here.”
“Let’s go.” I don’t have a real feeling about what is going to happen, but I do have a real feeling. It is that somehow Emily is calling me. She’s telling me, follow.
So I follow. It’s almost as though I don’t care what’s at the end.
I just have to find it.