of the pay phone would have shown up on our caller ID when I’d called. Maybe she’d heard from my parents—either way, I needed to make sure she didn’t report anything suspicious to them. I walked back and picked up on the third ring.
It was then that I noticed two people, dressed excessively cool, who looked like they were in their mid-twenties, walking up to stand behind me. Were they waiting to use the phone? That didn’t make sense—they were both holding phones.
“Hello?”
“Hello,” a voice said—a voice that was not Willa’s. It was a woman, her timbre low. “Tonight. At eleven. The night to end all nights.” The voice was speaking carefully, like every one of her words was italicized, like she was sharing some fabulous secret with me. “See you in the elephant’s house. Alaska. Pilgrim. One thirteen. Password is Daedalus. Good luck… and good night.” The dial tone sounded in my ear, and I set the phone down in the cradle. I had no idea what that was about—maybe a prank or a clue for some escape room.
I walked a few steps away, and the couple swept past me to the phone. “Look how cute,” the girl cooed. She posed against it and turned to the guy. “Take a picture first.”
“We don’t have much time,” he said, even as he started to frame the shot.
I headed up the stairs, then walked back through the turnstile again. It was something that would have been unimaginable half an hour ago—me, leaving without Stevie. But here we were. I zipped up my coat and buttoned the toggles before I started on the last set of stairs that would take me back out onto the street. I paused for one more moment in the station. When I left, it would really, truly mean admitting that Stevie and I had had a fight so big that she’d left to go home and I was now on my own. The second I stepped out into the cold night, this would be real.
And as much as I might have wanted it to be otherwise… there was nothing left to do but go.
I took a deep breath and started climbing.
CHAPTER 11
Stevie
What?” I asked. Suddenly, a thousand openings to a thousand Law & Orders were flashing through my head—and I was the person it was never good to be. I stared at the blade in the guy’s hand, the one catching the flickering overhead fluorescent light. Was I being mugged? Like, for real? I glanced around, my heart pounding, but somehow the only other people around were the ones across the platform. And even if I yelled for help, what were they going to do about it?
“Your phone,” the guy said, taking another step toward me.
“Um,” I said. I took a stumbling step back but didn’t get any farther than that, because that was when Brad started to growl.
I was still holding him, so the dog was pretty close to eye level with the guy. I looked down in shock at the tiny, fluffy dog, who no longer looked so cute and helpless. His eyes were narrowed and locked on the guy’s, his top lip was drawn back, and he was baring tiny teeth that suddenly looked very sharp. And there was a low, steady, menacing growl coming from his throat. This dog may have weighed less than ten pounds, but he wasn’t messing around.
“Call off your dog,” the guy said, frowning at Brad, but I noticed he took a step back.
“He’s not my dog,” I said, rubbing Brad’s fur with the hand that was holding him.
“Look, I don’t want to hurt you,” the guy said, flashing the blade again but keeping his eyes on Brad. “Just give me your phone!”
“I don’t have a phone,” I blurted.
“Everyone has a phone. Give it to me and I’ll be out of here.”
“I don’t,” I said, and my voice broke on the last word. It was maybe not surprising, considering that I was actively being mugged at the moment, but a second later, I burst into tears. It was suddenly all too much, all at once. “I—don’t—have—a—phone,” I sobbed. “I had one but then my best friend and I—had—had a fi-fi-fight,” I managed to get out, feeling hot tears hit my cheeks. I hated that I was crying, but that was only making me cry harder, because it’s embarrassing to cry in front of strangers. Even if they are trying to rob you. “And my phone f-fell on the tracks