THE PHOTO TRAVELER (THE PHOTO TRAVELER SERIES - BOOK 1)

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

 

I can’t believe it. She’s the last person I’d ever expect to show up. I mean, I would’ve been less surprised to see Abe Lincoln standing there.

      Her blonde roots are pushing out the remnants of shadow-colored hair that she used to monopolize the bathroom taking care of. Her green eyes look dull, and she keeps turning around to look behind her. Something’s not right.

      “Hey, Gav. Can I come in? Please!”

      “Sure.” I open the door wider and she dodges past me.

      We sit down in the living room. She huddles in the chair across from me and I wait for her to say something, but all she does is stare pensively at the floor and rub at her lips with her fingers.

      “How’d you find me?” I ask, breaking the silence. I’m too wasted to be sarcastic. Plus, I’m puzzled about my own feelings; I’m slightly relieved to see a familiar face. Or maybe I’m just confused and hung over.

      “GPS. Jet had locators put on our phones, remember?”

      “Right. Of course he did.” I can’t help but chuckle. “What’re you doing here, anyway? Not that I want you to feel unwelcome, but I don’t figure you’ve shown up just because you’ve missed me so much.” Well, maybe I do have it in me to be sarcastic after all.

      Instead of rolling her eyes at my tone the way she usually would, she hesitates, then says. “Some people ransacked our house. They kept demanding to know where you were. They said you had something they needed.”

      Damn it! I guess I should have figured it would only be a matter of time, but I never thought of them going to Saddlehorn. I’ve been so preoccupied with the idea of them trying to attack us here in D.C. that it never occurred to me how easy it would be to find me by backtracking to my old life.

      “What’d they look like? What’d they say?”

      “They didn’t seem harmful, but they were aggressive. Especially the girl. They kept insisting that they weren’t there to hurt us but that I had to tell them where you were because you had the ‘crystal vials.’ They tore the whole house apart looking for them. Gavin…who were they? What do they want with you?”

      They must’ve traced me back to Nevada after they lost me at the rest stop in Kansas. Maybe they thought the best way to find me was by going directly to my “family.”

      “Tell me!” She’s so upset that she sounds almost hysterical.

      “It’s a long story. You don’t want to get involved.”

      “Are you kidding?” she explodes. “They’ve already involved me! Are they dangerous? Are you in danger? Tell me!” She actually seems to be concerned about me—which is something I’ve never seen in her before.

      “I’ll be fine. I promise. What about Jet and Dina? Were they home?”

      “No. He’s been attending all these anger management classes that the court made him take. And Dina’s been going with him.”

      My thoughts are racing. It’s only a matter of time before Naima and Axel track me down here in D.C. Maybe they have already and are just staying in the background until they’re ready to strike.

      “You need a place to stay?” I glance up to the second floor, but everything’s quiet. Estelle must still be sleeping.

       “It’s okay. I’m staying at the Key Bridge Marriott nearby.” But she doesn’t look as confident as she sounds. She picks up her purse. “Look, I need to go check in, and the taxi’s still waiting outside with all my stuff, but can we meet for lunch? We need to get to the bottom of this.”