“You’re not ready. We can’t risk—”
“We can’t risk Landers finding me before we go back to save Liam. We can’t risk Dru and Thomas and their baby.” I wrapped my arms around myself for comfort. “We can’t risk lots of things.”
Michael pushed the heels of his hands against his forehead. “It was so stupid to leave information about you where Landers could find it.”
“There’s nothing we can do about it now.”
“If we’re successful in saving Liam, he can make it all right again.” He lowered his arms. “We just have to protect everyone in the meantime.”
“What about Lily?” I asked. “Would he target her?”
“He could target anyone to get to you. Do you want her to come here?”
I did, but I didn’t think she’d go for it. “No. I’ll call her.”
“I’ll go find Dune. Get him started on the travel arrangements for Thomas and Dru.”
I dialed Lily’s number.
“Lily, it’s me. Something has happened, and I need you to do a couple of things.”
“Tell me what you need, sugar.” Leave it to Lily to stay cool and not ask questions. She was my best friend for a reason.
“The biggest thing is that you look out for yourself. This would be a good time to keep the baseball bat that lives by the back door pretty close to wherever you are.”
She let go with a string of curse words.
“And if anyone asks, you don’t know where Michael and I are.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end. “I don’t know where you are.”
“It needs to stay that way. No matter what happens.” I was terrified of what might be in the files, not just about me, but about my best friend. “Do you understand me?”
She was silent for a beat. “I understand.”
I didn’t let the tears fall until I’d hung up the phone.
Chapter 41
Michael sat at the kitchen table, laptop open, poring over newspaper articles and college records from six months ago. He had set up a timetable and was trying to find any holes. Dune held another laptop on his knees and searched traffic and accident reports to make sure we’d have clear roadways. Nate leaned against the kitchen counter, holding up a map of Ivy Springs for Dune.
I held an extra copy of the timetable, and tried to hold down the vomit.
Cat was as nervous as a mom sending her baby off to kindergarten. Possibly more, which was appropriate, considering what we were doing was way more dangerous.
o;That’s the very thing that makes people like you and Grace so special. And now that Grace isn’t an option,” Cat said, “it only makes sense that Landers would look for someone else with the same ability.”
“If he didn’t know about you before, he will soon. He’ll know you’re in town, close by. You aren’t safe anymore. Not if he has the files,” Michael said deliberately. “He has access to everything: your records, personal information. Your family’s address. My guess is it’s only a matter of time before he comes for you.”
I fought nausea as terror washed over me. “Oh, no, Michael. Thomas and Dru … the baby.”
My eyes landed on the phone hanging on the wall, and I almost knocked my chair over in my haste to get to it, grabbing it off the hook in a panic. It was the old-fashioned rotary type, the receiver attached by a long spiral cord twisted up in knots.
“You have access to more technology than NASA, and this is your phone?” I asked Michael, shaking the receiver at him. Cat and Kaleb disappeared from the kitchen, the door swinging shut behind them.
“It’s a secure line, so it …” He’d started to answer, but the expression on my face stopped him. I forced myself to concentrate and managed to put the right finger in the right holes as I dialed the number.
One thought pounded against the sides of my brain. If Landers killed Liam to take over the Hourglass, who would he be willing to hurt to get to me and my ability to travel to the past?