Milo, however, had refocused his mental energy on Rochelle’s locked closet. “It is
imperative
that we pick the lock to that door as soon as possible.”
As pitiful as it sounded, Milo was
my
locked door. And despite my repeated efforts, these past few days felt a lot like I was getting that door slammed in my face by the same person who was supposed to
want
to let me in.
Calvin rolled up. “Maaay-an, that was some crazy shee-it.” His eyes were wide as he pulled his chair up next to Dana. “Did you guys see all of that?”
He grabbed the tablet out of my hands and started rewinding the footage eagerly. Everything Dana and I had seen had been digitally recorded so we could review it if we needed to. But best of all, with those cameras left in place, we no longer had to lurk outside Rochelle’s house, wondering what was happening inside. We’d be able to view the wireless feed from as far away as the comfort of Calvin’s playroom, which was our unofficial headquarters, on account of my house being off-limits because my mom was insane.
“We saw everything,” Dana replied. “And there is no lingering doubt in my mind anymore. That woman is a D-addict.”
Dana was right about one thing—Rochelle was definitely addicted to Destiny. But we
hadn’t
seen quite
everything
, had we? I glanced at Milo quickly before pulling my hand out of my pocket and chomping on a nail.
“And I’m just as certain that Jilly is
locked
in that closet!” Milo’s voice actually wavered as he spoke. “That’s why it’s
imperative
that we—”
“We heard you the first time, Miles!” Dana barked.
“Tell me about it,” I muttered, just loudly enough for Milo to hear me. Of course, I immediately regretted it. One corner of Milo’s mouth twitched, and he gazed at me for a moment with raised, helpless eyebrows—a silent
Et tu, Brute?
—before crossing his arms more tightly across his chest and looking away.
“Milo is right.” Cal added his two cents, even while he kept his nose to the tablet on his lap. “At least about checking that closet. We need to find out what’s in there. Look-it that deadbolt. Whatever the wicked witch has locked up in there, it can’t be good.”
Garrett, meanwhile, had given up on lecturing about the value of his car and, instead, hopped up onto the back hood. He looked pretty freaked. “So, what does this mean for Rochelle? If she’s an addict, is she just gonna… What?”
“She’ll continue to lose whatever small portion of a soul she still has left, turn into a full-blown sociopathic narcissist—assuming she’s not one already—and then die a horrible death. Most likely taking other people out with her if she’s anywhere near them when she jokers.” Dana recited the words, careful to keep any lingering emotion from her tone.
Garrett swallowed hard. “Um? Wow. That’s…harsh.”
Milo nodded vehemently. “All the more reason for me to go keep Rochelle occupied so that you guys can get to Jilly. Let’s do this before she’s too far gone! If I went back there, knocked on the door…? She’d let me in.”
What?
“You want to go keep Rochelle
occupied
, right
now
?” I was incredulous “How? Upstairs, with the
hundred-dollar tour
while we sneak in and break into the closet—”
“Not you,” he said. “Dana. And I wouldn’t let her—”
This time I cut him off. “She’s a Destiny addict, Milo!
And
a creeper! She wants
you
! Do you know for sure that she doesn’t have any powers? Because if she does, she’ll use ’em all to get what she wants. And oh yeah? Also? She’s a
Destiny addict
! You
know
damn well she could joker at any second—especially if you don’t give her what she wants! And—news flash! You’re not a G-T! It’s not like you can just
screw
the Destiny out of her!”
I’d shocked everyone—myself included.
“Sky!” Milo took a step toward me and grabbed my shoulders. I tried to shrug away—I was back to not wanting him anywhere near the too-noisy inside of my head—but he held on tightly. He moved so fast, I didn’t have time to even try to blanket my thoughts.
Is this why he wants space, he wants space he said he wants space; she’s a
Destiny addict
and she touched him and I’m pretty sure that she kissed him or maybe he kissed her and it’s not okay not okay not okay he wants space is this why
not okay
he wants space—
Milo shook his head. “No, Sky. No.” He spoke to me out loud, no doubt hoping to be heard over the noisy loop that was playing in my head. “No, that’s
not
what I meant.
Shit
, I’m so sorry—”
Milo had said
shit
. It shocked me into a mental silence of sorts, which he filled with waves of apology.
Dana cleared her throat impatiently, and Milo looked up for a moment. It was long enough for him to relax his hold on my shoulders—and long enough for me to slip free from his grasp.
I didn’t want him to touch me. Yes, I got that he was sorry, but I still wasn’t sure quite what for. Because he’d said
shit
? Because he’d kissed Rochelle? Because he’d liked the dangerous game he’d been playing with her and was willing, under the guise of the mission, to take it even farther…?
“All right. Push the pause button on the lovers’ quarrel. We have stuff to discuss here. Milo.” Dana turned to face him. “The date-with-D-addict idea? That was a good call.”
I laughed, and I confess that I sounded a tad insane.
Milo turned toward me. “Skylar, I’d appreciate it enormously if you’d trust me,” he said.
Calvin was wide-eyed and I know he was trying to help when he chimed in with, “I think it’s Rochelle she doesn’t trust. You should check out this recording. The way she looks at you is…” He made a face as he shook his head.
Dana pushed the conversation forward. “You’re not going back there now,” she informed Milo. “That’s a no-brainer. It’ll be dangerous enough for you to meet her at some restaurant—and you are going to meet her, none of this picking her up. And while I wish that we didn’t have to wait twenty-four hours, it is what it is, and it’s better than nothing. In the meantime, it makes sense to continue the stakeout. Rochelle said she had plans tonight, so if she leaves, we’re right here—to go in and see if Jilly really is inside that closet.”
“She’s in there.” Even as Milo said the words, he gazed at me, his brow furrowed. I couldn’t tell if the look he was giving me was a result of his concern for Jilly or simply a reaction to my incredibly uncool crazy-girlfriend outburst.
Trust me.
I wanted to trust him. He loved me—I could smell it. At least I thought I still could… But why did he want so desperately to go back inside that house? And I knew he wanted to go, and
desperately
was putting it mildly.
As much as I wanted to look away, Milo’s dark eyes drew me in and kept me there. Even though I couldn’t communicate with him unless we were touching, I still felt a tiny charge shoot through the air—like radio static in a distant room.
Dana broke the spell. “Miles,” she said in a carefully even tone. Milo looked away from me, and the dubious connection between us was gone. “I acknowledge your conviction. And part of me believes you might be right. Jilly
could
be in there. But…” She sighed. “I’ve been thinking. If you were a D-addict like Rochelle, and you discovered that your daughter or your niece or your whatever the eff this girl is was a Greater-Than…? What would
you
do?”
She looked from Milo to me to Garrett to Cal, who glanced up from the tablet to say, “Uh-oh.”
“Oh no,” I breathed as light dawned.
Milo just clenched his teeth.
“Yup.” Dana nodded grimly.
“What?” Garrett asked, looking at us, then back at Dana. Because he was still new at this Destiny business, he was clueless.
“An adolescent G-T like Jilly,” Cal told him. “That’s not blood running through her veins; it’s gold.”
“Jilly’s got blood that Destiny dealers need. It’s an essential ingredient for their product.” Dana broke it down for him. “Also? The dealers have the product that Rochelle needs to survive. Do the math. It wouldn’t surprise me if Rochelle traded Jilly to her dealer.”
“Traded?” Garrett still didn’t understand. “Her own daughter?”
I made it as simple as possible. “Sold. You know. Like a prostitute or a slave.”
“Slave?” His eyes widened. “Whoa! Really?”
“It’s possible, yeah,” Milo said, but then he shook his head at Dana. “It doesn’t make sense. If Rochelle already received a supply of Destiny from her dealer in exchange for Jilly, then why is she paying off Man-in-Black in that parking lot—with money she got from pawned jewelry?”
Dana frowned. “Yeah,” she muttered, almost as if to herself. “If he’s her dealer? That part makes no effing sense.”
Everyone paused and considered this for a moment. It was like a question mark just dangled there in the air.
“Unless she’s paying down her debt for past purchases?” I suggested. “In weekly installments?”
“Maybe,” Dana said, but she didn’t sound convinced. “Hard to believe Rochelle wouldn’t include that kind of settlement when she brokered Jilly’s trade.”
“Maybe the man in black has nothing to do with Destiny,” I tried, but then Calvin cut me off.
“Yo! Guys! Check it out!” His eyes were wide as he smiled and held the tablet up and waved it around excitedly.
“What is it? Cal, we can’t see what you’re holding up if you move like that.” Dana sounded like a teacher lecturing a student.
But Cal couldn’t stop wiggling around in his seat and waving the tablet around victoriously. If he’d been physically capable of getting out of his chair and bouncing up and down, he seriously would have done it.
Garrett actually attempted to focus on the tablet screen as Calvin waved it through the air. His quick head movements reminded me of a cat trying to pounce on a laser light.
“Morgan! It’s an email! Morgan-the-super-G-T actually emailed me back! She wants to meet us tonight!” Cal whooped and waved the tablet around once more. This time, in his excitement, he almost dropped the thing on the ground.
Dana used her own G-T powers to impatiently swipe the tablet away from Cal. It flew through the air and landed neatly in her own hands.
“Whoa,” Garrett said. “
Heh-heh.
”
Dana scanned the screen quickly and rolled her eyes. “Wow. And she only charges two hundred and fifty bucks for this meeting, huh? What a bargain.” Her tone was the opposite of enthusiastic.
Milo came around the front of the car and leaned against the driver’s side door next to Dana, so he could read the tablet over her shoulder. I turned, wanting to look as well. But the last thing I needed to be doing right now was following Milo around some more.
“What’s it say?” Garrett asked.
“She wants to meet up in Palm River,” Milo read. He glanced up at Dana and Cal. “That’s not too far, right?”
“Only half an hour!” Cal answered. “Twenty-five minutes if we hoof it…” He frowned. I knew it was sinking in, and he was thinking about the two hundred and fifty dollars that he most definitely didn’t have. Two fifty—simply to meet this girl. It would cost more, guaranteed, if she agreed to help us help Sasha. “Should I tell her no?”
Dana locked eyes with Cal. And then she sighed mightily and reached into the pocket of her leather jacket with her free hand before pulling out a wad of cash and tossing it onto Cal’s lap. “Tell her yes.”
Cal beamed at Dana—who looked away, mainly because Calvin’s grin was severely contagious, and I knew that Dana was in no mood for smiles because I wasn’t either.
“You!” She pointed at Garrett. “Stay with me and help me keep an eye on the Rochelle-cams. Cal? Sky? Milo? The three of you can go to Palm River and get yourselves disappointed and scammed, for all I care.”
But she
did
care—we all knew that. If Morgan was for real, and if she had the ability to get inside little Sasha’s head, and if Sasha really
had
seen Lacey at some point during her abduction… There were a lot of
ifs
there, but after months of hitting dead ends, this
could
be the path to finding Dana’s long-missing sister.
Cal’s smile faded as he reached out to touch Dana’s sleeve. “But maybe you should come with me, or…I could stay here at the stakeout with you, and let Sky and Milo go—”
“No,” Dana interrupted. “You’re the one with the connection to Morgan. You need to go. G and I will be fine here.”
Garrett smirked. “Yeah, dude. We’ll be
extra-fine
.”
Cal shot Garrett the evil eye. I didn’t realize my best friend had it in him. But he wasn’t messing around.
Garrett knew it too. “Man, I’m joking,” he added. “I’d never shoplift your lady.”
Milo was gazing at me, and I looked up to lock eyes with him again. I didn’t need telepathy to read his expression. He was dreading the drive to Palm River. I didn’t blame him. A half hour there and a half hour back? The tension in the car would be thick enough to cut with a knife.
Of course we could both man up and have a grown-up conversation right here and right now. But the look on Milo’s face was clear. He didn’t want to talk.
And I wasn’t going to force him.
“Milo should stay here, with you,” I blurted, my heart breaking a little as I turned to Dana. “You’ll need his help if Rochelle leaves. In case Jilly really is inside that closet.” I swallowed hard and nodded, as if I needed actual reassurance from myself that I was making the right call. “Just…” I glanced at Milo again, and my voice grew softer. “Just stay here. Please?”
“Good call.” Dana nodded approvingly. “Good with you, Miles?”
Milo looked miserable. He glanced from me to Dana, and then back to me again. “Yes,” he said finally.
“Good.”
Calvin let out a whoop, trying desperately to change the grim mood. “Lessssss goooo, beeeetches!” he exclaimed and clasped the wad of cash in his hands excitedly before doing a little happy dance in his wheelchair.