Page 81 of Shadowing You

“Higher?”

The man repeated the gestures as if that said it all.

“Okay. Thanks.” He transferred everything into the new backpack and slung it onto his back, then headed north.

He found a rise in the center of town and climbed it toward a small temple, keeping off the road in hopes of avoiding cameras. It wasn’t that high, but it got him above the rooflines. He edged along the side of the building, watching his phone. One bar, then two, then three.

His phone dinged multiple times when it connected. The cousins’ Signal thread had continued without him. He scanned the last few texts:

DW

Hey E, heard you’re in mountain man mode. My money’s on you. Also Bryan says hello.

BW

Hello.

GW

Do you have a gun? If not, a knife will work in a pinch. Find one.

BW

Surely you’re not running around, stabbing people?

GW

If they’re asking for it, so tread carefully, brother.

That last comment had gotten a bevy of Haha emojis.

Ethan exhaled a small laugh. He didn’t know these guys, but he looked forward to meeting them. Assuming he ever did.

He dialed Michael, who answered before the first ring had finished.

“You’re alive.” Michael’s voice was alert.

“I’m in a village. Don’t even know what it’s called.”

“Hang on.” The line went quiet for a few seconds, then he said, “You with us, Gavin?”

“Ethan?” Gavin sounded even more intense than usual. “You’re okay? Mei Lin?”

“We’re both fine. We found a place to hole up, and she’s there, resting.”

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Yeah, me too,” Michael said, clearly done with the pleasantries. “I’m running out of contacts over there, so I’m working on finding⁠—”

“How’s Han?” Ethan asked. He’d been worried about the man he’d abandoned at the hospital.

“He was arrested,” Gavin said, “and released.”

“How? How did that⁠—?”

“Money might’ve changed hands.” Gavin seemed to brush that off as unimportant. “I’m working on finding someone to extract you.”

“I have an idea.” Ethan had been thinking about this all the way down the mountain. “My in-laws know a lot of people. Their village is a few hours away, but their church has a network. The problem is, I don’t know their phone number, but you could call the hospital⁠—”