Haunted (18 page)

“Pretty much everyone is still weird around me, but I’m getting through,” Rae said. She glanced at Ms. Abramson,
and it was clear that she was going to have to get more detailed if she was going to satisfy the woman and get out
of there. She couldn’t talk about the really huge stuff in her life. Her fingerprint power. That there was someone who
wanted her dead-someone who might have even kidnapped Jesse to get to her.

But there was one thing that kept creeping into her mind. And it was probably big enough to satisfy Ms. Abramson,
who was just sitting there, watching Rae, waiting, obviously willing to wait all afternoon.

“Um, my old boyfriend, Marcus… he says he wants to get back together with me.”

“That’s big,” Ms. Abramson said, fiddling with the handle of her coffee cup. “Is it something you want?”

Rae shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, I was so happy with him, totally, completely happy. Being with Marcus was
the best thing ever. But then when I was in the hospital, he moved on to another girl in, like, three seconds. Does he
actually think I can trust him again after that?”

“Do you see any set of circumstances in which you could trust him again?” Ms. Abramson asked.

She took another sip of her coffee, grimaced again, then put the cup on the bookshelf behind her.

“Maybe if he was wearing one of those collars, the ones cops put on people when they’re confined to their house
or whatever,” Rae joked nervously. “It’s like Marcus ripped a chunk out of my body and now he’s saying he’s sorry,
like he forgot to call me when he said he would.”

“Have you ever considered saying any of this to him?” Ms. Abramson asked. “It sounds like something that needs
to be addressed before you can even think about whether or not you want a relationship with him again.”

“I’ve talked to him a little,” Rae said. She sighed, a sigh so deep, it hurt coming out of her lungs. “But I don’t think
he really gets it.”

Ms. Abramson leaned across her desk toward Rae. “I don’t want to be dismissive of your feelings about Marcus,
but is anything else bothering you? It doesn’t look to me like you’ve been sleeping well.

There are dark smudges under your eyes, and in group you seemed to have some trouble concentrating.” Ms.

Abramson pinned Rae with a gaze so intense, it got Rae squirming in her chair. “Is something else going on, Rae?”

Ms. Abramson pressed.

“Jesse,” Rae blurted out. “I’m worried about Jesse. He’s been gone so long. I keep thinking about what could have
happened to him.”

“Jesse,” Ms. Abramson repeated. Her gaze grew even more intense, like she’d switched on the high beams or
something. “That is a disturbing situation.

Tell me more about how you feel when you think of Jesse.”

“The idea that someone’s holding him prisoner just makes me insane,” Rae burst out. Immediately she realized
she’d made a big mistake.

And of course, Ms. Abramson picked right up on it. “Why would you think someone’s holding Jesse prisoner?”

she asked, her voice coming out the slightest bit strained.

“I guess I just… lately I kind of imagine the worst. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I was in the hospital and
saw all these people who had ended up so badly. I-I don’t know,” Rae stammered.

“You’ve gone through a lot in the past months.

It’s not uncommon for people in your situation to become more pessimistic.” She flipped open her date book. “I
only scheduled time for us to have a quick chat today, but I’m concerned that you’ve begun to see the world in a
negative way, and I’d like to work with you on it. How about if we meet for an hour after the next group meeting?”

It was one of those adult questions that weren’t really questions at all. “Sure. Okay. That would be good.” Rae
jumped up from her chair. “So can I go now? Someone’s waiting for me.”

“You can go,” Ms. Abramson said. “I’m glad we’ll have some more time to spend one-on-one. You have so many
gifts, Rae. I want to help you to realize all the potential inside you.”

“Um, thanks,” Rae answered. Then she bolted.

She hurried out to the parking lot and climbed into Anthony’s car.

“How’d it go?” Anthony asked.

“You know… she wants me to be the best me I can be and blah, blah, blah.” Rae opened her backpack, pulled out
her binder, and flipped it open, allowing her old thoughts to rush through her head.

She’d decided not to wear the Mush for a while. If she hadn’t been wearing it so much, she might have touched a
print that would have told her Anthony’s car was bugged. She couldn’t afford to miss any information right now.

“Like I told you, I went online at lunch and found a couple more buildings that fit the info we got from Jesse. I made
a little map.” Rae tilted the binder toward Anthony. “I think the old meatpacking place is the best bet. The other ones
are farther away from where they’re repairing the streets, and I’m not sure if the tar smell would reach them,
although it might.”

Anthony nodded, and he pulled out of Oakvale’s parking lot. “Are we picking up Yana first?”

“She can’t come. She called me on my cell at school. She said either she and her partner are finishing their project
tonight or Yana’s going to strangle the girl.”

Anthony punched on the radio, and pounding techno filled the car. The beat of the music filled her body, revving
her up. We’re going to find him today, she thought. No matter what it takes. If we have to stake out every warehouse
in Atlanta, we’re finding Jesse before we go home. She tried not to let herself think about the fact that finding Jesse
could mean finding the person who wanted to kill her.

“We’re finding him tonight,” Anthony half shouted over the music, echoing Rae’s thoughts.

When they were about a block away from the meatpacking factory, he killed the music, then parked as close as he
could to the factory without being totally obvious. The building was set about fifty feet back from the street and
surrounded by a high metal fence.

“You want to do a little work while we wait?” Rae asked. “I brought some clay.”

“Okay,” Anthony answered. He was actually giving it a real try. But that was Anthony. He didn’t back down once he
said he’d do something.

Rae pulled a Ziploc bag out of her purse/Anthony will/want to try another/maybe felt/ -and took out a couple of
balls of colored clay.

“What word do you want to do this time?” she asked.

“How about on? ” Anthony asked as she handed him some of the clay.

“You could make a skateboard, and I could make Jesse. Then we could put Jesse on the skateboard,”

Rae suggested. Anthony gave one of his signature grunts, and they both started to work. Rae made sure to glance
at the factory every few seconds. So far, it looked deserted.

After they finished the clay representation of on, they did one for after -a baby elephant holding a big elephant’s
tail; one for even -a perfectly balanced scale; and one for what -a girl with a question mark for a head.

“Let’s stop for a while,” Rae said, doing another factory check. Still nothing going on. Anthony handed her the
clay, and she stuck it in the Ziploc along with hers, then jammed it back in her purse. As she pulled her hand back
out, one of her silver rings hit on something hard. She felt around and realized that there was something in the
inside pocket.

What would I have put in there? she wondered.

She never used that pocket. She unzipped it and slid in two fingers. Almost immediately they brushed against
something cool and smooth.
never felt like I do about Rae
hope she knows/ Oh God. Rae recognized the flavor of
that thought. It came from Marcus. She pulled the hard, smooth object free. It was the locket Marcus had given her
on their two-month anniversary. The chain had broken a few days before The Incident. Rae’d put the locket in the
little pocket for safekeeping. Then with everything that had happened, she’d forgotten about it. Gently she ran her
fingers over it.
want to be with her all the time
can’t stop thinking
think I love him
That last thought, the think-I-love-him one, was Rae’s. It brought with it a burst of old emotion, of love so new and wonderful, it made her giddy,
and of a passion that burned until she thought she’d go crazy.

Tears stung her eyes. Would she ever feel that way again? Would anyone ever feel that way about her? Could
Marcus still actually feel that way after everything that had happened? He was so freaked out by her being
hospitalized. How could he even want to look at her again? “What’s that?” Anthony asked, glancing over at her,
then returning his gaze to the factory.

“Nothing,” Rae said quickly.

Anthony paused, then shrugged. “We’ve been here a couple of hours and haven’t seen anything,” he said. “I think
it’s safe to go a little closer. At least up to the fence.”

Rae climbed out of the car/today has to be/ -and she and Anthony walked across the street and down the sidewalk
to the fence. There was a gate held closed by a thick chain and a padlock. Rae pulled in a deep breath, then ran her
fingers lightly down one of the metal bars. A blast of pure terror slammed into her, knocking her heart back against
her spine. /don’t make me go in there/don’t/what if gun/ “What?” Anthony took Rae by the shoulders and pulled her
away from the fence.

“Jesse’s in there,” Rae answered, rubbing her fingers against the front of her pleated pants. “At least he was. And
Anthony, he’s terrified.”

Anthony wrapped his arm around Rae’s shoulders and walked her back to the car, trying to look casual in case
anybody in the factory was watching. He opened the passenger door and helped her inside. Her whole body was
trembling, and it made him want to punch something. Instead he slammed the door as hard as he could, then strode
around the car and got in his side. He slammed his door, too. It didn’t make him feel any better.

He shoved his hands through his hair. He couldn’t just sit here if Jesse was inside. “Wait here,” he ordered Rae.

“I’m going in.”

Rae grabbed his arm with both hands. He could feel her nails, even through his jean jacket. “Are you insane? We
know there are guys with guns guarding Jesse. We know this whole thing could be a trap. You can’t just go strolling
in.”

Anthony jerked away. “I’m going.” He studied the factory. “It looks like there’s a skylight up there.

I can climb onto that Dumpster over on the side, and from there I can make it up the fire escape to the roof.

No one’ll be expecting me to come in that way.”

He opened his door. Rae grabbed his arm again.

“If you’re going, I’m going with you.”

“You don’t look like you could even do one pull-up. You’re not going to be able to haul yourself up from the
Dumpster to the fire escape.” He could give her a boost, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. He wanted her in the
car. Safe.

Before Rae could protest, Anthony pulled away from her again and scrambled out of the car. He headed back to
the gate, not going too fast. If someone was watching, he wanted them to catch him while he was still outside. He’d
have a lot better chance of staying alive that way. But no one stopped him when he approached the gate again. He
waited a few more seconds, then climbed over. Keeping low, glad that it was dark, he ran to the Dumpster and
swung himself on top of it. One half was open, and he could see that it was empty. Whoever was inside was being
careful not to leave any traces.

Anthony looked up at the fire escape over his head. The bottom rung of the ladder was almost in reach. He stood
on his toes and stretched one arm up until it felt like it was about to pop out of its socket.

He reached for the rung, missed it, tried again, and snagged it with two fingers. Yes! He gave the ladder a yank, and
it came down with a rusty screech.

Anthony froze, sure someone would come running to check out the sound. But the only sound was his heart
pounding in his ears. No footsteps running toward him. No gunshots.

Go. Just go, he ordered himself. He started to haul himself up the ladder. It swayed under his weight, but Anthony
didn’t let himself think about that. He concentrated on moving up one rung at a time. When he reached the roof, he
muttered a quick prayer, then crept over to the skylight. He stretched out on his stomach and pressed his face
against the grimy glass.

But he couldn’t see anything. Too dark.

Anthony reached out and started to scrub one section of the glass with the sleeve of his jacket. He heard a faint
cracking sound and saw a hairline fracture run through the glass. Okay, okay, don’t panic, he told himself. He slowly
began to slide backward. If he could just get off the skylight. But it was too late. The glass shattered, and Anthony
was falling. He hit the floor with a bone-crushing thud, then everything went black.

Oh my God,” Rae gasped. She wasn’t completely sure; it was almost too dark to tell, but it looked like… it looked
like Anthony had just fallen through the skylight. She scrambled out of the car and ran down to the gate.