Chapter Six

I noticed it at a stoplight…a black BMW parked along the curb a few blocks down. The windows were tinted, it had a sunroof, and there was a long horizontal crack across the front windshield. The cracked glass made the car stand out in my memory. I’d seen it twice before that day. It was hard to believe seeing it a third time was coincidence. Weirder things had happened, but still, it sent chills of alarm up my spine.

I checked my rearview mirror. The BMW’s windows were so darkly tinted I couldn’t tell if anyone was in it until it pulled onto the street a few cars behind me. My first instinct was to bury my foot in the accelerator and get away as fast as possible, but that would have brought a lot of attention or a traffic ticket. I didn’t want either, so I pulled forward at a conservative pace when the light turned green. The dark car fell back a bit, but it was still there behind a Subaru and a Nissan. I took a left at the next light to see what would happen. The Subaru followed and so did the black car. Five blocks farther down the Subaru peeled off, leaving just me and the black car. I took another random turn hoping to shed it, but it kept coming.

Feeling the pricklings of panic, I made a right turn and headed for the Vegas Strip. Traffic would be slow there, but there would also be a lot of people to get lost in if I ditched my car and ran. It was vital that I lose the guy. I couldn’t let myself fall into the wrong hands. Not so close to my family.

I pulled over near one of the larger casinos, shut the car off, and climbed into the passenger seat. Thankfully, it was a busy night. The tourists were thick and noisy under the brightly colored lights. I waited for the black car to show itself, planning to throw open the door and bolt into the crowd if it did.

After fifteen of the longest minutes of my life, I hadn’t seen it. Still, my mind wasn’t at ease. I drove home, keeping a sharp eye out for the BMW. I even did two circuits around my neighborhood before driving through my community’s gates.

It was a miserable night for me. I tossed and turned, having thrown logic to the wind. If it was a choice between logic and a possible threat to my family, I had to go with the threat. I wasn’t 100 percent certain I’d been followed after work, but getting attacked by a book robber and then tailed by a dark car the next day were occurrences too bizarre to ignore. I didn’t see an immediate connection between them, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there.

Huddled in a pathetical ball of hopelessness under my covers, I made myself face a harsh reality. Whether I understood what was going on or not, if one more bizarre thing happened to me, I would have to leave Vegas for good. It was the only way to be sure the McKyes were safe.

I was late getting up the next morning, and no one was home when I went downstairs. Feeling utterly depressed, I grabbed a handful of granola and headed for the garage. Getting in my car, I leaned over to the passenger seat and felt under the dashboard. I kept an envelope with all my savings taped under it. I pulled the envelope off and opened it to recount the money I had. There was enough to get away, change my appearance, and buy new IDs, but it wouldn’t last very long after that. Short of robbing a bank it was the best I could do. I stuck the envelope back in its place and backed out of the garage. I’d pack a few clothes in the trunk after school, and I’d be ready to run if I had to.

My morning was gloomy but uneventful until Connor caught up with me just outside of fourth period. “You headed for the cafeteria?” he asked hopefully.

It was nice of him to offer, but I’d made up my mind to eat in my car again. “Nope. I’ve got something to do,” I replied, sending the same thought at him.

He paused for a second. “Maybe tomorrow, then?”

“Doubtful,” I replied, turning away.

I got about three steps before Ian and Brandy showed up. “Let’s go, I’m hungry,” Brandy said, hooking her arm in mine.

“I’m just on my way out.”

“You have to eat with us,” she cajoled. “You’ve given me too many excuses already.”

Connor grabbed my free hand and started pulling. “Yeah, you’ve given her too many excuses. Let’s go.”

Ian didn’t say anything as I let myself get pulled down the hallway. He watched me closely, though. I could feel it. When we were about halfway there, Connor and Brandy let go of me. They’d fallen into such deep conversation they didn’t notice when I peeled off and turned back to go to my locker. Ian wasn’t so easy to shed.

“Go away,” I said. “I’m in a terrible mood.”

He gave me a side glance. “You should be grateful they’re making you eat in the cafeteria. It’s dangerous to drive around in heat like this. And after my experience yesterday, I should know. I’ll bet it’s ten times worse in your car because the air-conditioning doesn’t work. You could die of heatstroke.”

“My air-conditioning works,” I replied defensively.

“But not very well. Am I right?” I opened my locker and stowed my backpack. “A bit of friendly advice,” he said. “If you pretend it’s no big deal and stop acting like you’re going to your own execution, you’ll blend in better.”

My nerves were stretched to the limit; I was sleep deprived and on the verge of leaving my entire life behind. I was in no shape to hear anyone critique how I did things. Closing the locker door, I spun the lock and moved away from him.

“At first, I thought you were just shy,” he continued, catching up with me. “I thought that’s why you kept to yourself. Now I’m pretty sure it’s something else. I think you’re trying to hide yourself in the crowd, but you’re going about it all wrong.”

That’s when my brain processed the implications in his first comment, and I stumbled forward. He caught me by the elbow before I could fall on my face. “If you want to stand out less,” he whispered in my ear, “you should get more involved. Everyone around here thinks you’re standoffish and they wonder why.”

“They wonder why” echoed loud in my mind until the world around me started to spin. He was right. There had to have been a few kids I missed when I did thought transference. It would only take a couple of them saying, “What’s with that Alison girl?” and an undercurrent of feeling would be created. Good or bad, that undercurrent generated curiosity about me. By trying so hard to stay in the shadows at Fillmore High, I’d put myself on the radar.

“I don’t know why you’ve tried so hard to erase yourself,” Ian continued quietly, “but if it makes you feel any better, I believe you thought you had a good reason.”

Still holding my elbow, he steered me toward the cafeteria. When we got there, he handed me a plastic tray. I wasn’t hungry, but like a robot, I put things on my tray and carried it to where Brandy and Connor were sitting. Brandy glanced at me questioningly, but Ian shook his head at her, so she didn’t say anything.

I was quiet as the others ate and continued in a numb haze after dumping my uneaten food in the trash. Ian stayed by my side until we got to the north hall. Then he reached over, squeezed my hand, and drifted away.

I walked down the hall on autopilot and froze when I got to my locker. My fingers and toes started to tingle as the blood drained from them in a fight-or-flight reaction. The door was standing open. Someone had gotten into my stuff while I was at lunch. My mind whirled as I took my backpack out and searched through it to see if anything was missing.

A few pages had been torn out of one of my notebooks. I knew they were gone because the ragged pieces were still attached to the spine. I had OCD about removing those bits. Taking long, slow breaths, I reviewed my memory and saw the pages weren’t that important. On one I’d written a list of cities I might go to when I left Vegas. Unless the thief knew my plans, the list wouldn’t mean anything to them. On the other pages, I’d drawn doodles of my family members, but they could be interpreted as doodles of almost anyone.

That should have calmed me, but it didn’t. Someone had searched my things, and this was the third bizarre event I’d been dreading. Three anomalies in three days couldn’t be ignored. I’d leave Vegas.

I was numb during the last two periods of the day, but when I found Ian waiting at my locker after the final bell, tears welled in my eyes. I pushed them back.

“What’s up?” he asked conversationally.

Where should I start? “My life has spun completely out of control,” or “Someone broke into my locker during lunch and took some of my stuff,” or better yet, “Surprise, I’m not human.”

I leaned my back against my locker, closed my eyes, and slid down the length of it to the floor. A second later I felt Ian next to me. He didn’t touch me or say anything comforting. Which, in my messed-up state, I took as a sweet gesture. I was so overrun with dread and fear that I started to shake. I wrapped my arms tight over my chest and fought to pull myself together.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“It’s just been a really bad day,” I replied.

“Looks like more than just a bad day.”

“I shouldn’t be freaking out,” I said. “It’s really not that serious. Someone went through my locker while we were at lunch. You were right earlier when you said I was hiding. I’m a private person, and I don’t like that someone poked around in my things.”

I expected his reaction to be a shrug or some reassurance that it had been a harmless prank. Instead, he took a deep breath and looked me straight in the eye. “I think someone has been following you,” he stated.

That startled me. Could he really know about the black car that tailed me last night? I couldn’t see how. I tried to play it off by laughing. “Why would someone follow me?” I asked.

“Maybe it’s the guy who stole your book.” I started to object, but he stopped me. “It’s okay, Alison. You’re not in this alone.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but I wanted to get away from him and his concern as quickly as possible. I tried to get up, but he put a hand on my shoulder and held me back. “There’s a lot I need to tell you,” he continued, “but not here.”

“You have a lot to tell me about what?” I asked lightly.

He bent his head to meet my gaze straight on. “You can trust me,” he whispered. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

I shook my head at the absurdity of it all. It sounded like he was repeating words from a movie. Was this really my life? I didn’t think Ian was a bad guy. Since I met him a few days ago, he’d been nothing but helpful. Annoying but helpful.

I took a shaky breath and smoothed my hair back. “I need to get to the Shadow Box,” I said. “I’m late.”

He stood up and pulled me to my feet. “I’ll walk you to your car. We can talk when you’re done at work. Call your parents. Tell them you’ll be home late.”

He made it sound like I didn’t have a choice.