I made it four blocks before I heard them.
A set of footsteps behind me.
I didn"t look back. They were a distant echo, the kind of thing I could only hear because everything else was so quiet. But when I reached the intersection, I stayed straight instead of turning left toward Eli and the playground.
I kept walking. I didn"t change my pace, and judging by the sound of the footsteps, neither did whoever was following me.
I walked for two more blocks until I saw the gas station in front of me. It was lit up like some kind of beacon, and there were a few cars parked in the lot. I wasn"t sure exactly what my plan was, but I headed toward it.
Filling up his car with gas was a guy from the city guard, still in uniform. He"d probably just gotten off duty.
I went inside. My first thought had been maybe there was a back door I could leave through. Maybe I could sprint down a side street or something, cut through some yards and backtrack to the playground. But after I walked down an aisle to the rear of the store, I realized there wasn"t another exit.
There was, however, a kid leaning up against the cash register reading a book. He was probably a year younger than me, but he was about my height.
"Hey, you work here?" I asked.
He looked up at me like I was some kind of idiot because of course he worked there.
I leaned over the counter. He had a red baseball hat and a jean jacket back there. I made my offer.
He stared at me. "You"ll give me fifty dollars if I walk around back to the bathroom and lock myself inside for five minutes?"
"And we switch jackets," I said.
He shrugged.
I moved around the counter, away from the window, and took off my jacket. He put it on.
"Just keep your head down," I said.
He held out his hand, and I gave him the money.
When he was gone, I put on the jean jacket and his hat. I bent the rim so that it curled around my face and shaded my eyes, then I went outside. I walked right to the guy from the city guard.
"You like your job?" I asked.
He stood up straight, like he was sizing me up. He was blond and probably Derek"s age. His arms were as thick as my head.
I tried my best to stand in a way that said nonthreatening. "I"ve been thinking about enlisting," I added, remembering what Stacee had said about Ian.
The guy relaxed. "The six to three shift isn"t the best one, but the job has nice perks."
"Oh yeah, like what?" I said.
I didn"t listen to his answer. A tan sedan pulled into the lot, and a guy stepped out of the shade and got into the pa.s.senger seat. The car idled there.
They weren"t watching me, though. They were facing the bathroom.
"Thanks, man," I said to the guard, cutting him off. "I"ll definitely look into it."
Then I left. I didn"t walk back the way I had come. I took the long way, cutting down several different side streets to make sure I was alone.
When I finally got to the playground, Eli was waiting. He was sitting on one of the swings. "What took you so long?"
"Someone was following me. I"m pretty sure I lost them," I said, looking around.
Eli rolled his eyes. "I"m sure you did."
I pulled out my phone. "Check the pictures," I said.
He reluctantly took the phone from me. "What, you"ve taken pictures of Derek"s apartment? That"s great," he said as he scrolled through the gallery.
"No, Ia""
"You look like perverts," Derek said, coming up around the jungle gym to the bench we were sitting on.
"Good job losing Derek," Eli said.
"What are you doing here?" I asked my brother.
"Checking up on you. Obviously."
"How"d you know we were here?"
"You left a note, dummy. I"m serious," Derek added. "It"s almost five a.m. and you"re checking out a kiddie playground. You look like perverts."
"There aren"t any kids here," I said, turning back to the phone. I scrolled through the pictures. "I"ve been taking pictures of everything in the apartment before we leave for work, and then I check it when we come back. See how stuff has moved?"
Eli looked at the phone. "Maybe you"re taking them from a different angle."
"Thank you," Derek said. "He"s been agonizing over this all week."
"I think it"s IA," I said. It was the only thing that made sense.
"Who"s IA?" Derek asked.
I swallowed and looked at Eli for permission. If it was IA, I"d need to tell Derek what happened.
"Go ahead," Eli said.
"We didn"t tell you everything about how we got back here," I said.
"No s.h.i.t." Derek leaned against the metal jungle gym, clearly waiting for the real story.
"It"s long."
"Let"s get breakfast," he said. "On me."
We ended up at another diner, in a booth near the back. We got eggs and toast.
"Ready now?" Derek asked. We had all been silent on the way here.
I told an abbreviated version but a complete one. I didn"t leave anything out.
"Okay, so why would this Interverse Agency be following you if you"re back home now? Have you been opening any more portals?" he asked when I finished.
"No, of course not," I said.
"So what would they want with you? Maybe they"re just trying to keep an eye on you, make sure you don"t."
Eli shifted a little but didn"t say anything. I couldn"t tell if he agreed with Derek or not.
"I"m going to go back," Eli said suddenly.
Derek started coughing. "Back?"
Eli nodded and looked at me. I knew he wanted me to tell Derek now, but I couldn"t. "It doesn"t feel like we fit here," I said.
"So you"d go back? After everything?" Derek pushed back from the table. "I can"t even believe you"re considering that."
"If we did, it wouldn"t be like before," I said. "You"d know where we were. We could figure out some way to come and visit."
Eli"s look told me he thought that was a ridiculous thing to say. And I knew it wasn"t exactly possible right now, but we"d figure it out.
Maybe I could ask IA.
"You"re serious, then?" he asked. "You"re considering going back?"
"Not right now," I said. "Maybe someday."
"I"m going back," Eli said. "Not someday. I"m going back soon."
I didn"t say anything else. I focused on my food. Eli had never been easy to argue with, and who was I to say he wasn"t right? No matter where he was, he"d need to start over and build a life. Maybe that would be easier for him if it wasn"t here.
We"d spent the last seven years of our lives in another world. The majority of our memories were from there. As hard as it was to admit now, it was that world that had shaped who we were.
Derek paid the check without a word, and we headed outside. The tan sedan was waiting for us.
Eli saw it when I did. "Let"s go see who it is."
"You"re just going to walk up and ask if they"re IA?" Derek said with a laugh. The windows were tinted and we couldn"t see inside. "It"s probably just parked."
Eli shrugged. "Beats wondering if it really is IA."
The three of us walked toward the car.
As we got closer, Derek started to laugh harder. "I feel like we should have some kind of ominous soundtrack."
"What if it"s two old people making out?" Elijah added.
I was the only one who didn"t think this was some kind of joke. I"d have loved to say that they were right, that I must be paranoid, but too many bad things had happened to people I cared about. If this was IA, I couldn"t just leave and go back to Janelle.
Derek swung an arm around my neck. "I"ve missed you, brother."
I"d missed him, too. That was why it was so hard to admit I didn"t belong here.
When we were only a few feet away, the car flared to life.
We stopped.
With a speed that was too excessive to be casual, the car peeled backward, turning 180 degrees. Then the brakes squealed and the car lurched as the driver threw it from reverse into drive and sped out of the parking lot.
We stood there and watched it disappear down the street.
"See?" I said.
"See what?" Derek said.
I caught Eli looking at me. The humor was gone from his face, and I knew he believed me now. "They weren"t just parked. I told you."
"All that proves is that they drove away," Derek said, but I heard the false confidence in his voice.
He was trying to convince himself as much as me.
We didn"t bring it up again. Not until later that night.
After work we went to have dinner with my mother. She"d made roasted chicken, fried rice, and spinach, and the three of us sat around the dining room table, like we did most nights, trying not to acknowledge my father"s absence.
"Ben, have you thought about what you might want to do?" my mother asked.
I shrugged. It wasn"t the first time she"d asked me. I knew she didn"t think working as a mechanic was enough, not for me and not for Derek, either. But I was having the same problem that I"d had back at Eastview on career day freshman year. I had a hard time picturing my future here.
Back then I pictured myself back here with my family. Eating Sunday night dinners and going to work at the government science center, taking over my mother"s research. That was impossible, though. The science center had been shut down, her research destroyed. Because of her unlawful imprisonment, she got government aid each week, but she wasn"t allowed to go back to work.
Now when I thought of my future, all I could see was Janelle.
"You should think about finishing school," my mother said. "It wouldn"t be easy to get you into university, of course, since you don"t have a track record, but I talked to a few people. With the right recommendation letters and good entrance exams, I think we could get you in."
"You could join the city guard," Derek added with a laugh.
My mother frowned.
"Oh come on, what"s wrong with what he"s doing now?" he said. "We"re hanging out every day, and he"s good with cars, like I am."
"Derek, there"s nothing wrong with what you do," she said. Her voice was calm and steady, but despite her words, I knew she didn"t really mean what she was saying. "If it makes you happy, it"s a good profession, but Ben needs to decide what"s going to make him happy."
She didn"t come right out with it, but clearly she was implying she thought something else was the way to go.