She blinked, clearing her eyes so that she could see her screen. For Noah, she had to be careful. After he’d left, she’d called Ethan and at his direction had taken precautions, routing through a dozen proxy servers to make tracing her online movement difficult. But ShadowCo could still find her, and the blame might fall on Noah.
And that wouldn’t do at all because Noah was a good man. There had to be a way to stop this monster. Just knowing he’d been in Shadowland, messing around with avatars, wasn’t good enough. She had to use what she knew to make him show his face in the real world. It wouldn’t be easy. Noah’s monster was very smart, so far staying one step ahead of them. I’ll just have to be smarter.
Tuesday, February 23, 2:30 p.m.
Liza sneaked out the ditching exit, the first time she’d ever ditched class. It wasn’t like it was real class, just a stupid assembly with a stupid jock. It was making her crazy, sitting in a stupid assembly when she could be looking for Lindsay. So she left.
“Hey, girl, you gotta light?”
She jerked around, startled. A kid was standing by the door, hunched over, hands in his pockets. “No. I’m sorry.” Unsteadily, she kept going. Too little sleep and no food had her light-headed. She had only a few dollars left and she needed them for bus fare.
The city bus stop was up a block, so she put her head down against the wind and started walking. The next thing she knew she was on her butt, her bookbag spilled, and her papers blowing away.
“I’m so sorry. Let me help you.” It was a really tall boy. No, older. College maybe. He gathered her papers and brought them to her. “Some of them got a little dirty.”
“It’s okay. Thank you.” She shoved the papers back in her bag and stood, stumbling at the next little dizzy spell. Note to self. Need to eat.
“Are you okay?”
She looked up. Way up. Liza was five-ten, so this guy had to be six-six. “I’m fine.”
He frowned, studying her face. “You don’t look fine. You look pale.”
“I’m fine. Really.” Then she huffed, frustrated as the city bus pulled away. “Except now I’ve missed my bus. The next one isn’t for twenty minutes.” Wasted time. Dammit.
She started walking fast and he walked beside her, ambling easily. “Did you come out of the smoker’s door?” he asked.
She glared up at him. “Are you gonna turn me in?”
“No. But, well, why are you ditching? You don’t look like the type.”
“And what type is that?” she asked between her teeth, thinking of the way that officer had dismissed Lindsay as a missing person because she was a… prostitute.
“The type to take AP English. Your paper on Heart of Darkness,” he added. “Most advanced students I knew would never ditch class. Plus, your eyes are red. You’ve been crying.”
“Allergies,” she snapped.
“In February?” He shook his head. “Try again.”
“I have someplace to go.” She glared up at him again. “Do you mind?”
“Where are you going?”
Liza rolled her eyes. “None of your business.”
“Well, I feel bad that you missed your bus. Can I give you a lift?”
She stared up at him, appalled. “No. If you don’t leave me alone, I’m going to call the cops. In fact, I’m going to the police station now and I’ll just report you.”
“Are you going to the police station because of your sister?”
Liza stopped short. “How did you know that?”
“Just guessed. One of the papers I grabbed was a police report. Barkley, Lindsay. The name on your English paper was Liza Barkley and you look like the mug shot.”
Liza shook her head. “What are you? Some kind of CSI wannabe creep?”
He smiled. “No, but you look like you need help and I feel bad that I’ve kept you from where you’re going. You can take a cab to the police station from here.”
“Yeah, right.” She started walking again, muttering under her breath, “Can’t even afford lunch and this idiot wants me to get a cab.”
“No, I’ll pay for it.” He was walking beside her again, holding out a twenty. “Get yourself something to eat while you’re at it. You don’t look so good.”
Liza stopped again and stared at the money in his hand. “You scare me.”
“Tell you what,” he said when she didn’t move. “There’s a sandwich place across from that bus stop. I’ll buy you some food and you can wait for the bus where it’s warm.”
She hesitated. “I don’t want your charity.”
“But you’re hungry. Come on.” He took the bag from her hand and started walking.
“Hey.” She stumbled trying to catch up. “That’s my bookbag.”
“Liza, trust me as far as that sandwich shop, okay?”
“Like I have a choice?” she asked, and hurried behind him.
True to his word, he went into the sandwich shop and put her bag on the table. “Sit. I’ll be back.” She obeyed, and a few minutes later he brought two sandwiches and fries. “Eat,” he said. Again, she obeyed, ravenous. “Slowly. How long since your last meal?”
“An egg this morning. Before that, lunch yesterday.” She said nothing more until she’d eaten her sandwich, fries, and his fries, too.
He was impressed. “Girls usually pick at food like it’s a disease. I’m Tom Hunter.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Tom. Thank you for the food. I was hungry.”
“Why did you ditch class?”
Now that she was no longer hungry, she could think. “It was just an assembly. They took us out of class to tell us to stay in school. How stupid is that? And jocks… like they know anything about school.” He was smiling at her. “What?” she demanded.
“I’m one of the jocks from the assembly. I graduated with a 4.0,” he added helpfully.
Liza’s face burned. “God. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Mostly you’re right. But that’s why I come to the schools. If the kids will listen to me, even one, it’s worth it. Why are you going to the police station?”
She studied him. He was handsome, blond with clear blue eyes. A basketball player, she remembered from the assembly announcement. A big-time college player. Some of the boys in class were drooling at the thought of seeing him. “Why do you care?”
He shrugged. “My mom’s something of a social worker. It’s ingrained. Look, I have a baby sister. Her name is Grace. If she were in trouble, I’d hope someone would help her. I won’t hurt you. If nothing else, I’m a damn good listener. So why were you crying, Liza?”
She let out a breath. “My sister’s missing.” And she told him the whole story, everything except living alone. “Yesterday I got that police report and last night I asked every hooker I could find and nobody knew her. I started thinking today that maybe somebody was arrested with her, in a raid, or maybe somebody bailed her out.”
“So you want to know if the police can tell you that?”
“I have to try. Nobody’s going to look for a missing hooker. Nobody but me.”
He frowned. “You went looking for your sister? Where did you find hookers?”
“Internet. I googled and found where they hang.”
He looked pained. “O-kay. I know a few cops. Let’s take a cab to the station, see what we can find out.”
“The city bus goes to the station. Give me the cop’s name and I’ll ask him.”
“You missed the bus again. But you were eating, so I didn’t want you to stop.”
She sighed. “You’re not going away, are you?”
“Not just yet. Come on, let’s go.”
Chapter Eleven
Tuesday, February 23, 4:45 p.m.
Noah stopped in front of the fifth and last waffle house on Jack’s list. It was a diner off the interstate, next to a gas station. He hoped this had been Christy’s last meal.