Page 16 of Shadowing You

Somehow, Lu Feng had found her again. She’d discarded her phone, so he must have somebody in the government watching the cameras.

Her face wasn’t as disposable as her phone.

God, shield me. You’ve gotten me this far. Please, don’t stop now.

She aimed the scooter toward a business district she’d trudged through the night before.

But the night before, she’d been half asleep on her feet. She couldn’t remember exactly where it was, and it took her hours to find the area. At least she hadn’t imagined the electronics shop, which had opened by the time she reached it. Mei Lin parked her scooter at the curb and walked in, smiling at the employee who greeted her. She gestured toward the phones. “I’m just going to look.”

“Let me know if you need help.”

Mei Lin moved to the back of the store, found the display model of a tablet, and pulled up the map, looking for the busiest area of the city. She’d never been to Changsha, but she’d heard of a place…

Here it was—Wuyi Square, a giant intersection surrounded by shops and clubs and businesses. There’d be plenty of other delivery drivers there. Mei Lin could fall in among them and be invisible. She studied the map in her head, memorizing the route she’d take to get there.

When she had it, she shifted to the table of phones, picking each one up, hoping to look like a customer while she searched for one connected to Wi-Fi.

She found one, opened a message app, and typed Ethan’s phone number and then a message.

Changsha. Wuyi Square today.

She waited, desperate for a reply—confirmation that he would send someone to help her.

That he hadn’t given up on her.

CHAPTER SIX

At the sound of a ding, Ethan practically lunged for his phone.

A message had come from an unknown number.

Changsha. Wuyi Square today.

He tapped a reply, fingers moving fast.

Are you all right?

When will you be there?

Do you need money? Anything?

The messages sat there, delivered but unread. He watched the screen a full minute, then added one more line.

I miss you. I love you.

Nothing.

His heart hadn’t settled into anything resembling a normal rhythm since Mei Lin’s call… When had it been? Two days ago? Three? The time zones had scrambled him. Now, his heart rate climbed even higher. When the display went dark on his phone, he set it on the nightstand.

Was she safe, or had she been found? And found by whom? Why?

He felt as though he’d been handed a final exam without having taken the class.

He shoved clothes from his suitcase into the backpack he’d bought in Hong Kong before he’d boarded the train the night before.

Ethan had checked into this Changsha hotel, exactly the kind of place he’d never have chosen for himself—marble floors, a bathroom large enough to host guests, a complimentary bottle of wine he hadn’t touched.

Gavin had insisted. “Do what they expect. Don’t be unique. They think all Americans are rich, so be rich.”