Unforgettable - eARC by Eric James Stone

“because he never meet you before. How do you make him forget?”
    “I’m very forgettable,” I said. “It’s a talent I have.”
    “Talent?”
    “It’s happened ever since I was a baby. No one can remember me for more than a minute after they don’t see or hear me.”
    A cute wrinkle appeared in her brow as she looked at me skeptically.
    “I’m serious,” I said. “You’ve seen it work twice now.”
    “Twice?”
    “Remember the guard who locked us up in Barcelona? I was able to surprise him because he didn’t remember I was there.”
    “But…how is such thing possible?” There was still an edge of incredulity in her voice.
    I shrugged. “I wish I knew. I used to think maybe it was some sort of pheromone I give off, but since it works against computers, that can’t be it. Now I think it’s something to do with quantum mechanics.”
    “What do you mean, works against computers?”
    “Information about me just disappears from anything electronic. That includes any computer logs of my actions, which is why I can be so sure I can find the info about your sisters without leaving a trace.”
    She remained quiet for several seconds, but I could tell from the concentration on her face that she was thinking things through, so I waited for her to ask more questions.
    “I chose this bar,” she said. “But I come here many times. You could know that. I chose Vasilyi, but he is bartender, so he is most likely person I know in here.”
    “You think I’m setting you up, that I arranged something with Vasilyi to pretend to forget me.”
    Yelena shook her head. “No. Is possible, but I do not think Vasilyi lies so good. I just look at other possible explanations.” She pulled her cell phone out of her purse, opened the back, then removed the battery and dropped it in her purse. Rising to her feet, she said, “Wait here.”
    She walked to a table a few yards away where three guys in their twenties were drinking. After a brief conversation, during which she showed them her dead cell phone, one of the guys handed her his phone.
    On returning to our table, she handed me the phone and said, “Show me how this forgets you.”
    I pressed the phone symbol, which brought up the number dial pad. “What’s your phone number?”
    As she said each number, I punched it in. It started ringing, and I hung up. I handed the phone back to her. “Bring up the call log.”
    She did. Her number was at the top.
    “Okay,” I said. “I’m just going to sit here quietly, and in about a minute, your number will disappear. There will be no trace of my having made a call.”
    We sat and waited, and the number disappeared right on schedule.
    “Is incredible,” she said, but her tone conveyed acceptance. She went and returned the phone to its owner, then came back. As she replaced the battery in her phone, she said, “You have always been like this?”
    I shrugged. “I’ve learned to live with it. Use it to my advantage—it really helps when I’m on a mission.”
    “Make you sloppy,” she said.
    Now it was my turn to be puzzled. “Sloppy?”
    “You expect me to forget you—that why you not hide your face outside my building. I not like working with sloppy people. The plan is too risky.”
    “Yelena,” I said, “you are the first person in my life to remember me when seeing me again. The first person ever. I wasn’t sloppy—I didn’t even know it was possible for someone to remember me until you said my name. We’re connected somehow, and that’s why I want to help you find your sisters. Trust me, I can do this.”
    She studied my face for a few seconds, then said, “I will trust you.”
    * * *
    Even outside Klub Kosmos, I could feel the bass beat in my chest. Yelena bypassed the line and walked right up to one of the bouncers, with me right behind her. The bouncer, a barrel-chested man wearing a black suit and black tee-shirt, unhooked the velvet rope to let Yelena in.
    “He’s with me,” she said in