CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Meesha drives me back from the mall and drops me at Estelle's house.
"You sure you gonna be okay here?" she asks. "You can spend the night with us, you know."
"Yeah. I'll be fine. If it's the last time I'm going to be sleeping here, I'd like to take advantage of it. Thanks though."
"All righty. Well, you give me a call if you notice anything out of the ordinary. K?"
"I will." I open the door, but before I get out, I twist back around in my seat and face her. "Thanks ... for being my rock." I lean over and give her a hug. For the first time, she doesn't respond right away. She just hugs me back.
Then she breaks the silence and whispers, "Everybody needs somebody."
I hop out of the car and wave as she drives off, then turn and stare at the yellow shutters and cherry-painted door. The first place that I can truly say has ever been my home. The past few weeks come to mind. The day the taxi dropped me off and I stood like a nervous wreck in this same spot. Before I knocked. Before everything changed.
I head upstairs, swing open the door to my bedroom, drop my camera bag onto the floor, and start removing my shirt.
"I wouldn't get undressed just yet."
I wheel around and glimpse Dakota standing there with a smirk.
I let out a yelp of surprise and clutch my shirt to my chest. "Are you kidding me? You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"Don't be such a wimp," she says.
"You don't just sneak up on people like that. Especially when they have crazy anxiety and countless people after them. What's with everybody sneaking into my room? Do the windows not have locks? How'd you even get in here?"
"I had to make sure I could trust you. I followed you to the library and once you left, I checked your library account and pulled your address. I needed to know you weren't part of those Peace Hunters. I'm not going to apologize for that. Picking the locks on these old doors is cake. You should probably consider changing them, though." She holds her hand to her mouth, covering a series of dry coughs.
"You okay?"
She makes an impatient shooing gesture. "I'm fine."
"So, do you believe me now?"
"Maybe."
"When did the Peace Hunters first start intercepting your travels?"
"A few months back. I was photo traveling to a picture of this castle in Ireland. They appeared out of nowhere, but I escaped quickly. They've intercepted a few other travels, but I never stay long enough to chat. But the last couple of weeks have been interruption-free. No sign of them."
"Yeah, because they've been after me." A reminder of Edwin's kidnapping flashes in my mind. My heartbeat picks up, my nerves flutter. My freak-out is halted when my phone vibrates. I rush over to my bag and see Perry's name on the screen. I mouth, "It's Perry."
"Hey," I say. "Yeah ... I'm good. Can you come over? No ... everything's fine. I just have some news I think you'll want to see for yourself ... Okay. See you in a bit."
"He's coming now?" Dakota looks flushed and nervous.
"Yeah. He's on his way. He just left the school."
"What school?"
"He's a photography teacher at Museum Magnet High."
She goes to the window and peers out. "This whole time he was just minutes from me. But I've googled him and nothing's ever come up."
