some sort of shock, because suddenly nothing is making sense to me. Somehow I manage to put one foot in front of the other and follow as he leads me out of the airport.
The next thing I know I’m being stuffed into a cab, still clutching my backpack to my chest as though my life depends on it. A full ten minutes pass before I’m able to speak.
“Who are you?” I ask, because that is the first question that pops into my mind, but before he can answer I’m asking another one. “Who were they ?”
He smiles again, and it’s getting kind of annoying at this point. “I’m a friend. Let’s just leave it at that.”
But I don’t want to leave it at that. I want answers. I’m getting sick and tired of secrets. Jason could have avoided a lot of trouble if he had just told me the truth in the first place the night he left. As far I as I can see, Peter has no reason to keep secrets from me. What can he possibly know that would change anything?
“Can you at least answer my second question?” I ask, glaring at him.
His smile turns grim. “I’m afraid I don’t quite know who they are.”
This news doesn’t make me feel much better. Even without his input, I have a good idea who the two thugs are already. More importantly, I know who they work for and what they’re after.
I realize that Peter hasn’t asked me any questions about myself at all, which leads me to believe he knows a lot more about me than I know of him. I want to ask him if he knows anything about Jason, but his earlier reticence stops me.
I decide that if he’s not going to be upfront with me about who he is then there is nothing I can do besides keep to myself. I glance down at the backpack in my lap and realize I already have my hands on the next clue. Right now I only need to go somewhere quiet and get to work. The sooner I do, the closer I will be to finding Jason. It isn’t much comfort in light of what has just happened, but it is something at least. Something to keep me from drowning in fear thinking of what Jason might be dealing with right now.
“There’s nothing more I can tell you now and I’m sorry,” Peter’s saying, but I barely hear him. I’m already focused on the next step.
Just then the cab comes to a stop and I see we’ve pulled up to the curb outside the hotel I stayed in last night.
“Go back to your room, get some dinner, and rest. Call your father. Whatever you do, don’t go back out,” he says as he opens the door for me. Gone is the light-hearted old man I met last night. This person is completely different, commanding and in control.
However, I’m past the point of taking orders from anyone, especially not some old man who refuses to tell me who he is and why he keeps popping up in my life. My goal is to get Jason back, nothing more or less. And I sure as hell am not about to call my dad.
I nod anyway. I know I should thank him, but my social graces seem to have fled. He gets back in the cab and is gone just as quickly as he came.
My room is still available, so they just give me my key right back. Numbly I climb the stairs, too tired to even notice or be bothered by them for once.
There are so many things that I should do once I get into my room and lock the door, double checking the locks. I should call Alexa and give her the update, but I really don’t want to get into the whole “I nearly got kidnapped” thing. I really should break out the other red book and start looking for circled letters or codes written in invisible ink. I need to find Jason, desperately now. So much it’s starting to hurt. Because for the first time I’m able to push aside the small hope that says he’s okay. Now I know he’s not okay. Far from it, V’s men have him, and it’s killing me that I couldn’t find him in time.
As I stand in the middle of my room, so obviously alone, everything that has just transpired wells up inside of me. For the first time in my life I have been pushed around, threatened with a gun
The next thing I know I’m being stuffed into a cab, still clutching my backpack to my chest as though my life depends on it. A full ten minutes pass before I’m able to speak.
“Who are you?” I ask, because that is the first question that pops into my mind, but before he can answer I’m asking another one. “Who were they ?”
He smiles again, and it’s getting kind of annoying at this point. “I’m a friend. Let’s just leave it at that.”
But I don’t want to leave it at that. I want answers. I’m getting sick and tired of secrets. Jason could have avoided a lot of trouble if he had just told me the truth in the first place the night he left. As far I as I can see, Peter has no reason to keep secrets from me. What can he possibly know that would change anything?
“Can you at least answer my second question?” I ask, glaring at him.
His smile turns grim. “I’m afraid I don’t quite know who they are.”
This news doesn’t make me feel much better. Even without his input, I have a good idea who the two thugs are already. More importantly, I know who they work for and what they’re after.
I realize that Peter hasn’t asked me any questions about myself at all, which leads me to believe he knows a lot more about me than I know of him. I want to ask him if he knows anything about Jason, but his earlier reticence stops me.
I decide that if he’s not going to be upfront with me about who he is then there is nothing I can do besides keep to myself. I glance down at the backpack in my lap and realize I already have my hands on the next clue. Right now I only need to go somewhere quiet and get to work. The sooner I do, the closer I will be to finding Jason. It isn’t much comfort in light of what has just happened, but it is something at least. Something to keep me from drowning in fear thinking of what Jason might be dealing with right now.
“There’s nothing more I can tell you now and I’m sorry,” Peter’s saying, but I barely hear him. I’m already focused on the next step.
Just then the cab comes to a stop and I see we’ve pulled up to the curb outside the hotel I stayed in last night.
“Go back to your room, get some dinner, and rest. Call your father. Whatever you do, don’t go back out,” he says as he opens the door for me. Gone is the light-hearted old man I met last night. This person is completely different, commanding and in control.
However, I’m past the point of taking orders from anyone, especially not some old man who refuses to tell me who he is and why he keeps popping up in my life. My goal is to get Jason back, nothing more or less. And I sure as hell am not about to call my dad.
I nod anyway. I know I should thank him, but my social graces seem to have fled. He gets back in the cab and is gone just as quickly as he came.
My room is still available, so they just give me my key right back. Numbly I climb the stairs, too tired to even notice or be bothered by them for once.
There are so many things that I should do once I get into my room and lock the door, double checking the locks. I should call Alexa and give her the update, but I really don’t want to get into the whole “I nearly got kidnapped” thing. I really should break out the other red book and start looking for circled letters or codes written in invisible ink. I need to find Jason, desperately now. So much it’s starting to hurt. Because for the first time I’m able to push aside the small hope that says he’s okay. Now I know he’s not okay. Far from it, V’s men have him, and it’s killing me that I couldn’t find him in time.
As I stand in the middle of my room, so obviously alone, everything that has just transpired wells up inside of me. For the first time in my life I have been pushed around, threatened with a gun
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