Page 10 of Shadowing You

Ethan knew what he’d heard in Mei Lin’s voice during that short call. She’d been afraid, but not of him.

Unless he’d been duped. Maybe someone else had imitated Mei Lin’s voice and used her number to get him to do exactly what he’d done—wire money.

Maybe he was a fool.

He checked his watch. He probably should’ve left the Rolex at home in Virginia. He didn’t usually think about its value. Or how he’d come to own it.

A gift Gavin had sent when Ethan graduated from medical school. The man hadn’t been there—not that Ethan had invited him. The watch had come by courier the day he’d passed his last exam.

Though he’d claimed to want nothing to do with Gavin for years, he’d worn the watch every day since.

He shoved his earbuds in and pressed the contact on his phone.

Gavin answered before the end of the first ring. “You okay?”

“She wasn’t on the train.”

A pause. “How long have you been waiting?”

“Too long. Can you find out if she boarded in Zhengzhou?”

“She did. I already checked.”

“She can’t have, or she would’ve gotten off here.” Seemed obvious enough to him. That was how trains worked.

“Ethan.” Gavin’s voice was careful. “She must’ve gotten off before reaching Hong Kong.”

He stared at the board. “Where?”

“I’ll call you right back.”

The phone beeped in his ear.

Ethan still hadn’t moved, hadn’t stopped scanning faces, just in case she somehow came in on a different one. Which didn’t make any sense, but did any of this?

A family moved past him—two kids with matching backpacks, a mother with an infant in a carrier, and a father who looked like he hadn’t slept in days. One of the kids stared up at Ethan with a child’s unashamed curiosity.

Ethan forced a smile.

His phone rang, and he wanted so much to see Mei Lin’s name on his screen. He’d lost count of the number of times he’d called and texted her and gotten no response. It wasn’t Mei Lin, though. It was Gavin. “Anything?”

“Her face was picked up on the platform in Changsha,” Gavin said.

“Why? Why would she get off?”

Gavin didn’t respond. Ethan figured he had theories, and they were all bad.

“Something spooked her,” Ethan said. “Or someone.”

“Could be.”

Ethan looked around the station, all marble and glass, so clean it sparkled. Thousands of people moving through, and it barely felt crowded.

He could wait here in Hong Kong. Maybe Mei Lin would find a way to reach him or let him know what she needed.

Or he could go back to the States. He had a job he didn’t want to lose. He had a life there. Not that he was ready to deal with that life, or the woman who’d texted him more than once during his long flight.

Still praying. I hope you’re doing okay.