I braced myself against the hatred that burned in my heart, waited until my skin no longer felt like it would split down the seams. One thing was for sure—the investigation had started. Mom’s body had been recovered, which meant a medical examiner, fingerprints … Sooner or later, they were going to uncover her real identity. And when they did—
Any fleeting thoughts of flying under the radar with Hunter for a day or two flew out the window. I had to find Richard Grady. Now.
In less than a second, I’d discarded thousands of Gradys through an advanced search. None of them relevant. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was looking for, but the facts sped through my head at lightning speed.
Gradys, from all over the country. The world. I sifted through facts, searched for holes in stories—Gradys missing big chunks of their lives, which might suggest involvement in a clandestine organization. Gradys from military families. Nothing was ringing a bell, and although only a few seconds had passed, I knew I was operating on limited time.
Finally, I found three possible candidates.
One was a buff blond man who looked vaguely Scandinavian, had worked in Homeland Security, and now lived in Denver.
The next was retired military, a thin man with a receding hairline and puffy eyes who’d gone through an ugly divorce where, in an article, his former wife had blasted him for spending too much time on covert ops and not enough on his kids. Interesting.
But the one who made my heart pound with excitement had been named in a tell-all book by a former government operative as a CIA data analyst, even though according to his online persona, he’d worked for a military supplies company. There were no photos online, either—not a one. In this day and age, an oddity, for sure—and one that most likely wasn’t coincidental. But the thing that really made me sit upright was his grandmother’s birthplace.
Clearwater, Minnesota.
If that was a coincidence, it was one I was willing to gamble on.
His current residence was listed as Knoxville, Tennessee.
I began recording all the details.
“Hey, anyone else having a Wi-Fi issue?” Somewhere to my left, I heard an irritated male voice.
“Yeah, I just got booted,” returned a younger voice to my right. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the teen boys scowling at their monitor, fingers pounding on the keys.
Crap. Maybe my supersecret android method of using the internet wasn’t so supersecret after all. Was I jacking up the Wi-Fi for everyone else? Hogging it, somehow?
Just as that thought materialized, somewhere, in a dim cavern in my mind, I felt a tiny pinprick of awareness. A needle-sized hole, worming its way into existence. I hadn’t opened any new ports, or issued any new commands. I’d never felt that spot before.
So what was it?
Around me, the disgruntled voices were growing louder as the Wi-Fi refused to cooperate.
Close ports.
In a flash, my mind cleared. The wormhole disappeared. And a loud “Yes!” sounded from the scraggly-haired boy on my right, accompanied by a fist pump.
Apparently, Wi-Fi was back.
“What are you doing?”
I whipped around and faced Hunter.
He dropped his hand on my shoulder. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. It’s just that I got a little worried when you weren’t back in the room when I got out of the shower.”
His jaw was freshly shaved, his hair damp and curling at the ends. He looked amazing, but I couldn’t just put off my search for Grady on the basis of cute hair and smooth cheeks. I had to ensure that Mom hadn’t died in vain, which meant that I needed to survive. The only way to do that was to keep moving and stay vigilant.
And the more I stared at him, the harder it was to fit him into the equation.
“I was doing a little more research. On my dad.”
“Did you have any luck?”
I nodded. “I think I may have found him this time.”
Hunter looked surprised, not that I could blame him. “Really? That’s great. Where is he?”
“Knoxville.”
“Tennessee?”
At my nod, he plucked his phone from his pocket. “So we should try to call him, right?”
I shook my head. “There was no phone number listed.” Considering his previous occupation, I doubted that he had a traceable phone at all.
“Then I take it we’re driving out there?” Hunter asked.
I sort of half shrugged, like, Who wouldn’t want to drive across the country in search of a total complete stranger?
As we stood there, in the middle of the café, I noticed one of the teens elbow his friend and nod at us. Fear twined icy tendrils through my body. Why were they staring? Had they recognized me, from the drawing?
I yanked on Hunter’s arm and started for the counter. “Why don’t we grab that coffee I was supposed to get and map out a plan?”
As we stood in line, I knew it may be the stupidest move ever, but I had to know if they were still looking, so I peeked over my shoulder. They were. And when they caught me staring, the middle one’s grin widened and he elbowed his friend again. Then, he proceeded to make obnoxiously loud kissing motions on his arm.
Turning back to study the menu mounted on the wall, I wasn’t sure whether I should laugh or roll my eyes. I did neither. I just allowed the relief to wash away my fear. Still, even though they hadn’t seen anything suspicious, that didn’t mean my concern had just gone away. There was a picture of my face, circulating out there on the net.
Now more than ever, I had to try to be someone else.
Or flat-out disappear.
Fifteen minutes later, Hunter and I sat on the back of a wooden bench, our feet on the seat, our elbows on our thighs. As we sipped our coffees, I watched the waves roll in and thought about how carefree he’d appeared yesterday as he’d swum in them. Then in the distance, one of the military jets zoomed across the sky, and I hunched my shoulders, my mind reeling back to all the suffering Lucas had gone through because he’d befriended me. Even though he was okay now, the consequences he’d experienced were more than anyone should endure.
I crossed a line inside of myself and made a choice. I couldn’t put Hunter in danger any longer, and now that a police sketch of me was being broadcast online, we were in much too deep.
“So …” Staring hard at the horizon, gathering my resolve, I cleared my throat. “I figure you can just drop me off at the bus station.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him snap his head around, his brow furrowed. “What?”
I forced myself to look at him, to keep my voice and gaze steady. “Look, I don’t know anything about this man or how he might react to me showing up on his doorstep. He could be really pissed that I tracked him down. Besides, there’s no point in you giving up your fall break for what might turn out to be another wild goose chase.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
I was relieved by his acceptance, but disappointed at the same time.
“It’d be way more fun sitting in my room playing video games.” Then I heard it, the sarcasm in his voice. “Come on, Mila. I don’t have anything better to do. And if this guy does turn out to be a jerk, you don’t want to be by yourself.”
I shook my head. “I can’t ask this of you. I can’t be that selfish.”
“Why