Page 99 of Shadowing You

“Hold on,” Michael said when he answered. There was a pause and a click.

“Are you all right?” This wasn’t Michael’s voice.

“It’s Gavin,” Ethan whispered. Then louder, “We’re fine.”

This was his father, the good man who’d done a bad thing—and seemed to be working very hard to do the right thing now.

“How are you?” Gavin asked, the words crisp. “And Mei Lin. Is she all right?”

Ethan gave her a go-ahead nod.

She leaned closer to the phone. “I’m here. Hello.”

“Hello. Glad to hear your voice.” He sounded like he meant it. “Where are you?”

“Uh. I forget. Let me look.” Ethan tapped the phone screen.

She told them the name of the town, then spelled it in pinyin.

“Got it,” Michael said.

“That works.” There was a rustle on Gavin’s end. “Stand by.”

The background noise got quieter, but Michael was still there. “We’re working on a way to get you out by boat.”

“How?” Maybe she shouldn’t question him, but… “The harbors are watched. They have ways to see if people are hiding on boats. We will be caught.”

She’d surprised herself, contradicting him, but she knew firsthand how good China was at guarding its walls.

“You’re right.” Michael didn’t sound put off. “All those systems depend on someone watching them, though. And people can be bought.”

“You will bribe somebody?”

“It’s the simplest solution, unless you have a better idea.”

She considered the problem. “I don’t. No matter what we do, it will be a risk. A person can take money and feel clever, and then they get nervous and go to the police. Maybe they’re reprimanded, but if they’re smart, maybe they’re rewarded for being a good citizen.”

“I understand,” Michael said. “We’ll choose someone carefully, someone we’ve worked with before. It’s a risk we have to take.”

Ethan shifted beside her. “I’m not excited about risks.”

“You should’ve thought of that before you went to China.”

Her husband’s mouth tightened, perhaps trapping his response in his mouth.

Gavin’s voice returned. “A contact will meet you in two hours. There’s a town northeast of you…”

He named it, and Ethan thumbed the phone, brought up the map, and zoomed in.

“Found it.”

Gavin recited an address, and Ethan typed it into the phone. “You’ll meet at an apartment complex on the edge of town.”

“I’ve got it,” Ethan said.

“Why there?” she asked.

“There are back roads to get there, no cameras near the complex. As long as you can get out of town, you should be safe. Don’t go into the complex. There’s a wooded area. Hide there.”