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I picked up my phone, discarding the text message and finding Kota’s app to call him.

As it rang and I waited for him to pick up, I kept an eye on Mr. Hendricks behind us, who was pretending not to look at us now, instead facing a store window. Gabriel was watching behind me at Mr. Morris.

Luke switched from between all of the guys surrounding us and then settled on looking on toward Mr. Morris. “I’m going to talk to him,” Luke said, starting his way.

“No,” I said, grabbing his arm, still holding the phone to my face. “Don’t do that.”

“I’m just going to ask him directly what’s going on,” Luke said, pulling his arm from my grip and walking away.

I moaned.

“You should stay here,” Gabriel called out to him. “We can’t split up.”

Luke ignored him, filing past people on a path toward Mr. Morris.

Mr. Morris noted Luke coming toward him, and side-stepped into a store he was standing in front of.

Luke paused, looked back at us, and then signed to me, “I’ll be right back.”

“We should go after him,” I said, the phone was still ringing, not even going to voice mail. I pulled it from my face. “Kota’s not picking up.”

“I’ve got it,” Gabriel said, dropping the bags and pulling his phone out. “Wait here. Let Luke go in.” He turned his eyes to Mr. Hendricks.

Mr. Hendricks stood by, still on the phone, but wasn’t talking.

Jay kept his phone to his face. Rocky stood by, looking out at us, a serious expression on his face. Jay wasn’t pleased, either. Why were they all on the phone? Who was talking to them?

My heart was pounding a mile a minute. I was torn between going after Luke and listening to Gabriel. What could they do? We were in public. “Let’s take our stuff and get closer, so we can watch.”

Gabriel nodded, listening to his phone and then picking up what he could of the bags with his one free hand.

I carried the rest, heading toward the shop Luke had gone into, weaving around people. This was an unending nightmare. We were out of school, shopping and doing our own thing. Would we never see the end of this?

“They never followed us like this before,” I said.

“Something must be wrong.” Gabriel stopped in front of the store Luke had gone inside. He stood on his toes, looking over the heads of people. “Do you see him?”

The shop was one for electronics. Tablets, games and cell phones were posted as for sale. The crowd in this store was much larger than it was for the toy store. Some sale was going on during a specific time, and people were lined up awkwardly into the hallway, while others pushed on into the store to get at other items. I couldn’t find any blond hair. “Where’s Kota? Why isn’t he answering?”

Gabriel pulled the phone from his face, and pushed another icon, the one for Mr. Blackbourne and returned it to his ear. After a few minutes, he pulled it away again, frowning as he stared at the screen. “Nothing,” he said.

“Can’t we get through? Are there too many people with cell phones?”

Gabriel put his phone away, and then took some of the bags, pulling me toward the shop. “Let’s get Luke. We need to get out of here.”

I put my phone in my jacket pocket, following him. I wanted it close just in case someone called.

Entering the shop, it was much like the toy store, except the people were more frantic, fumbling for products, yelling at each other from across the aisles. There was a steep sale on some new phone and they all wanted it.

Gabriel and I stood close, elbow to elbow. We checked behind us for signs of Mr. Hendricks or one of the others closing in.

“I don’t want to get trapped in here,” Gabriel said. “If any of them come in…”

Someone bumped into me, I turned, apologizing, when another person ahead of us aimed right for between Gabriel and me, trying to get through.

Gabriel grabbed my waist, dragging me toward him, forcing the person to go around me, instead of through us. “Nope,” he said. “I’m not losing you right now.”

“We have to find Luke and get out of here,” I said, my breath hitching as I got even more nervous.

Gabriel scanned the space. “I don’t see him.”

I didn’t either, but there were tall shelves in the back that seemed not as busy.

We weaved our way through. Once we broke through a line, we were able to walk a bit more easily.

We did a circle of the aisle, excusing ourselves and our large bags while we walked.

By the last row, I was in a full-on panic. “He’s not here,” I squeaked out. “Gabriel…”

“Trouble, don’t freak out on me now,” he said.

“But what if they took him?”

“Then they’re in a shitload of trouble for kidnapping.”

Alarm seized me. Kidnapping? Would they dare? What would they do to him?

A hand gripped my shoulder. I whipped around, bags flying, assuming it was Mr. Hendricks.

Luke stood behind us. He held up his hands in surrender, looking perplexed and frazzled. “Hey, hang on.”

“Luke!” I cried out, trying to catch my breath.

“Shit,” Gabriel said, also obviously relieved. “I thought you were Hendricks.”

“I followed Mr. Morris in here, and then he disappeared,” Luke said. “I’ve been circling the shop. He either blended in and went out the front or…”

“We were just at the front,” Gabriel said. “I didn’t see him.”

“Then he slipped out the back, because he’s not here now,” Luke said.

“I vote we don’t follow him,” Gabriel said, and then scanned the busy store. “Our phones aren’t working. We need to leave.”

“Let’s go look and see if Mr. Hendricks is still there,” Luke said.

It took much longer to get out through the crowd that was flowing in. We barged out single file, ducking and maneuvering our shopping bags.

When we were out in the main walkway, we stood together. Shoppers walked with full bags around us.

We looked up and down, but no Mr. Hendricks. No Mr. Morris. No Jay or Rocky.

“They follow us, make it obvious, and then just disappear?” Gabriel asked. “What the hell?”

“I don’t get it either,” Luke said. “Should we leave?”

This didn’t make any sense at all. I agreed with them that the behavior was strange. Why would they follow us and then leave? I tugged at his arm. “I don’t like not being able to call Kota.”

“We could try from a pay phone,”

Gabriel said. “Or I could buy a new one here.”

Luke looked up the hall and then down. “Whatever we do, looks like our shopping is delayed.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Damn it, why the hell would they fuck up Black Friday?”

OLD SCHOOL WAYS

We got back to the Jeep, loaded in and then Luke sped out of the parking lot.

We sat in silence, staring out the windows, seeking out anyone who could have been following us. Traffic wasn’t bad on the way back.

“Maybe we should have gone to the hospital,” Gabriel said.

“I don’t know,” Luke said. “Maybe they were shopping, too, and then saw us and got on the phone, and asked each other what to do and decided we weren’t doing anything.”

Gabriel rocked his head against the headrest. “Then why aren’t our phones working?”

“Try them now,” Luke said, pulling the Jeep onto the highway. “We’re away from all those crowds. It might have been a bad signal in the mall. Maybe we should switch carriers.”

“We’ve got the best in town,” Gabriel said. He felt his front pockets, stopped, and felt again, patting at his back pocket. He traced his hands to his front and then over his sides. “Fuck, did I drop it?”

Luke peered over at him. “Don’t tell me you did,” he said.

Gabriel looking for his phone startled me and I reached for my bra. My heart leapt into my throat when it wasn’t there, but then I reached down, pulling out my cell phone from the jacket pocket. “Wow, I thought I lost mine.”

“No, wait, here,” Gabriel said. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket. “I don’t remember putting it there. It’s usually on the other side.”

I turned my phone on, about to type in a message, when something felt off as I held the case in my hands.

It was smooth.

I flipped it over, looking at it.

The scratches that I’d had gotten the other day had disappeared.

Gabriel was pushing the button to call Kota when I reached forward, grabbing his arm and shaking him. “Wait!” I said in a hurry. “Don’t call.”

“What the fuck?” Gabriel asked. “Why not?”

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