“Maybe we should.” I squeeze his hand. “Ignore him and avoid him. And leave his car alone,” I throw back for Laila.
“Yeah, yeah,” she says. “I’ll leave his car alone, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to find out all we can about this guy. I want to know who we’re dealing with. We’ll do an investigation.”
“I happen to know a whole team of guys who could use a new punching bag.”
It’s weird to see Duke like this. I’m used to his ever-present smile. “No, Duke, don’t. Please don’t do anything to him. It’ll just make things worse.”
He turns toward me and grabs both my hands in his. “We’re going to practice Thought Placement. If you’re ever in trouble, we need to make sure you can let me know.”
“You can do Thought Placement?” Laila asks, which is the same question I was about to ask. “I thought that was nearly impossible if your ability is related to manipulating objects and not other minds.”
He gives an irritated glance back to Laila before looking at me again. “The word nearly is used for a reason, isn’t it?”
“I’m not good at doing it over long distances yet,” I say. “What’s the point of telling you I’m in trouble if you’re standing right next to me?”
“We’ll practice. We need to learn each other’s energies. Be in tune with each other.” He puts a hand on the back of my neck and pulls me toward him until our foreheads touch. We’ll practice, I hear in my mind. The thought comes in my own voice, but I know he placed it there.
“Gag,” Laila says. “Please practice when I’m far, far away.”
My cheeks go hot, and I back out of his hold. “Let’s not forget that I’m not the only one in trouble here. Laila is in just as much danger as I am. Maybe more, since it’s her father he’s after.”
They both laugh.
“What?”
“Addie, my ability alone puts me at an advantage.” Then her eyes travel over me. “And that’s just the first thing.”
“You think you’re tougher than me, is that it?”
“Know.”
“Fine.” I fold my arms and sink back against my seat. “Whatever.”
“But if you want to give the bad guy the two paths he can take, I’m sure he’ll be impressed,” Duke says with the first smile I’ve seen since we got in the car.
I roll my eyes and try to stay irritated, but his smile makes it impossible. “Funny.”
“She can’t tell the bad guy his two paths. Only her own. So she’ll be able to tell him if she dies or not.”
“You two are a regular comedy duo. I think I liked it better when we were all worried about me.”
Duke’s smile disappears. “That hasn’t changed.” He turns back toward Laila. “Okay, let’s find out all we can about this creep.”
“Can’t we just wait until tomorrow?” We’re standing in the dark hall of Laila’s house. Our first step is to get Poison’s number from her dad’s cell phone. His snores echo down the hall.
“No, he’s a more predictable sleeper at night,” Laila says. “Just wait here.” She tiptoes into her parents’ room.
Duke, who’s standing behind me, slips his arms around my waist. “Are you nervous?”
I relax back into him, and his breath tickles the hair on my neck. I can feel his heartbeat against my back. “Not anymore.”
“Good. We’ll fix this. He probably just gets a kick out of scaring people. Especially pretty young girls.”
“I guess.”
Laila comes back out and motions for us to follow her to the living room. The cell phone is in her hand, and she scrolls through his phone book.
“Addie, put his number in your phone.”
“Okay.” I wait, phone ready.
She tells me the number, and I enter it into my contacts attached to the name Freakshow.
“More like Dead Freakshow, if I ever see him again,” Duke says, looking over my shoulder.
I elbow him.
“Okay, I’m going to put this back.” She leaves, and I stare at the numbers on my phone. This all seems so pointless.
“What’s wrong?” Duke asks.
“We have a number, but now what? It’s not like we can call him up and ask him to tell us all about himself.”
“No. But my best friend happens to know how to hack into computer systems. It’s one of the perks of his ability.”
“Really? Who?”
“Bobby.”
I groan. “Bobby? Are you serious? I don’t think we should share this with him. I don’t trust him.” I still haven’t told Duke about what Bobby did to me in my Search. I wonder if I should, if he’ll think I’m overreacting. It’s hard for people to understand how real my “memories” are. Laila’s the only person who knows what Bobby did … would’ve done … to me. The night I told her, she held my hand and asked me if I wanted her to wipe his memories and turn him into a drooling vegetable. I said no, but just the thought made me feel better.
Duke pushes a button on his cell phone, then spins it once before pocketing it. “Well, I trust him. And right now, we could use his help.”
“Right now?” I look at my phone. It’s past eleven.
“Yep, I just texted him. Bobby stays up late.”