Shadow Stations: Unseen Read Free Page B

town square. We lucked out and found a parking place in front of July Thunder (named after the month the Yankees and the Rebs blew each other’s brains out down the road).
    The place was already starting to get crowded, but Mike snagged a table with a couple of plush red armchairs by the fireplace. He held my chair out, which he’d never done before, but he was probably feeling sorry for me. I sat down, soaking up the fabulous warmth from the fire, and ordered yogurt while Mike went for the blueberry waffles with whipped cream.
    “ Decadence,” he said when the food arrived. “What’s up with your wrist?”
    “ What do you mean?”
    “ Your wrist is red.”
    “ Oh, I think I’m allergic to a bracelet.” The red line really stood out in the firelight. Maybe it was getting darker. Worried and self-conscious, I tugged at my sleeve to hide it. “I want to talk to you about something.”
    “ About what?” Mike cut into his waffles.
    “ About transferring. I might finish my last year someplace else. I’ve been thinking about it for a while and it might be a good idea.” I watched his face, expecting a nod of sympathy, figuring he would get it right away.
    But he didn’t. He just stared at me and put his fork down. The light in his eyes changed. Shock, maybe, and something else I couldn’t put my finger on.
    “ A good idea because of what?” he asked.
    I picked at my silverware. “Because of the accident. Because every single day I see Ben in all these places we were together. It’s hard for me to even go into the grocery store.”
    “ You just lost him a few weeks ago. And you have friends here. You’re not transferring and that’s it.”
    “ I haven’t made up my mind. I’m just thinking about it.”
    “ Well, don’t think about it anymore. I’m going to look at phones today. Why don’t you come with me, get out for a while.”
    “ I’ve got too much going on today,” I said, giving up on the conversation. My thoughts had turned to the device in the closet. In my mind’s eye I could see it in the coat in the dark. What if it somehow turned itself on when I wasn’t there? It almost seemed crazy to be drinking coffee with Mike and talking about anything when a thing like that was in the professor’s house.
    After he paid the bill, we took off through the town square, dodging pickup trucks and cars. Threatening clouds were still moving across the sky. I wanted to pick up the watch and take the dogs for a long walk before the rain hit.
    Just as we swung around the square, a blond man in a long black coat stepped out of a sleek black BMW. I caught my breath. It was John Savenue. Our eyes met as I gunned the Jeep through the crosswalk.
     
     
    Chapter 4
     
     
    I could see him in the rearview mirror standing in the cold with his eyes on me. He was still watching when I white-knuckled the steering wheel and took the first left into the narrow streets around the college. I sped through blocks of two hundred year old houses and massive oaks, blew through a stop sign at the college, and jammed on the brakes in front of our house.
    He’d recognized me. He couldn’t know I had the device. There was no way he could know I’d picked it up. His figure had dwindled near the wood line a quarter mile away by the time I began searching through the grass.
    Mike stared at me. “You ran a stop sign.”
    “ I know. I didn’t see it. I’m bad. Look, I’ve really got to go.” I took the front steps two at a time, collected my dog and the ticket for the watch, and almost flattened Mike on the way out. He followed me with his shoulders hunched up and his hands jammed in his pockets.
    “ Come on, Amy, what’s going on? You’re acting crazy.”
    “ Nothing, everything’s fine.” I coaxed Nikki into the back seat and slammed the door.
    He put his hand on the Jeep as though he were trying to slow me down. “You sure you don’t want to look at phones? I’m going to Hanover.”
    “ Not today. I