She pursed her lips, perhaps weighing just how crazy it did all sound. “How?”
I paced across the kitchen, wringing my hands together, trying to go through the options. There weren’t many.
“I don’t know. He’s gone with Michael, in his car, I doubt it was voluntary and even if it was…I have to go to New York.”
She stared at me blankly. “Sorry, what?”
I bit my lip and nodded to myself. “Yeah. I have to go to New York. Manhattan. That’s where Michael is taking him.”
“And how do you happen to know this?”
Splices of a dream came back to me. One with Pippa just a week ago, a dream of warnings on the Brooklyn Bridge. The other dream more recent, punctuated by raining embers in snow. A dream of death and Dex.
Now that I knew what had to happen, I was filled with an even greater sense of urgency. All signs were pointing to this.
I tried to explain to her as quickly as I could and as best I could, starting with what little I knew about Michael, about the Pippa in my dreams warning me about imminent danger, about what Michael had said to me. The more I talked, the crazier it all sounded but Ada, bless her soul, she was able to put that aside and just listen. She was able to believe me.
“You can’t just fly to New York, Perry,” she said after I felt absolutely breathless from the truth. “Where will you go? Wander the streets shouting for Dex like a nutter butter? You have nothing to go on.”
“No,” I said. “I have something to go on.” I brought out my phone and in vain tried Dex’s cell again. I hung up at his familiar message, ignoring the pang of hurt that threatened to rip through me at the mere sound of his voice.
This couldn’t be happening. Not like this. Not now when everything in our lives were finally coming together.
“Perry?” Ada asked and I realized I was standing there, hand to my chest, my grip nearly breaking my phone.
I quickly nodded and dialed a number on the phone. My first thought was to call Rebecca but as much as I needed her help, she also wasn’t like me, like us – she didn’t know how to deal with this sort of thing, despite what we had just gone through at the asylum. Also, she was still on the I-5, riding putt-putt toward his final destination and time wasn’t on my side.
So I called the only other person who not only would understand but could possibly help me and help Dex. The only person who knew a thing about Dex’s life in New York.
I called Maximus.
But, naturally, life was a sick bitch and he didn’t answer his phone. I started to wonder if perhaps Michael’s reach was farther than I thought and he too had been compromised. So I left a frantic voice message for the ginger to call me back and then ran upstairs to pack an overnight bag, Ada in my tow.
“What are you doing?” she yelled at me, hot on my heels.
“I told you!” I raced into my room and starting throwing shit around. I crammed a few pairs of underwear and a bra into a small carry-on along with a pair of jeans and a few shirts.
“Perry, seriously!” she screeched, grabbing my arm and making me stop. I’d never seen such worry in her eyes before. “Don’t just go and do this. You don’t know anything for sure.”
“I know that if he just wanted to talk to Dex, he wouldn’t have sought me out. He wouldn’t have done what he did to us. You saw his eyes, that…that emptiness. You know he’s bad news.”
“But he wants you to come to New York,” she said. “He’s baiting you.”
I stood up straight and looked her dead in the eye. “Then I’m taking the bait. But I can’t stay here and hope that he’ll come back, hope that I’ll get a hold of him. We both know that’s not going to happen. It’s this or it’s nothing and I’m supposed to marry the fucking guy! If there is anything I know about me and Dex it’s that nothing is never an option. I’m going to New York. And you’re letting me go.”
“Fuck that,” she swore, a strange gleam coming over her eyes. “I’m not letting you go. I’m going with you.”
“Ada,” I said incredulously. “No way.”
“Yes,” she said. “You’re my sister and I’m not going to let you do this by yourself.”
“You’ve got school,” I said feebly. Truth was, I wanted her to come. More than that, I needed her to come, I could feel it in my gut, like I was stronger with her by my side. But I wouldn’t be a good sister if I didn’t insist she stay out of it. She was too young to get wrapped up in something that neither of us understood.
“You can’t stop me,” she said full of fiery conviction. “If you do this without me, I’ll be right behind you. You have money on your credit card? I have money on mine.”
“You’re too young to travel alone,” I countered.
She smiled coyly. “I have ways.”
“Mom and dad will never let it happen.”
“You let me worry about them.”
“Ada.”
“Perry,” she answered and for once I saw how damn serious she was. “If you’re going after him, I am going with you. End of story. Now, would you rather me go with you now or trail your ass through the city trying to catch up? Though perhaps I’ll meet some nice New York men who’ll be willing to help me.”
I grimaced at the thought of my little sister alone in the Big Apple and trying to duplicate scenes from Sex and the City. Throw in some blood and gore and it would be pretty accurate.
Don’t think like that, I told myself. Don’t think at all. Just go there. Keep calling, keep trying. And go.
And so I did. There was no way I was able to prevent Ada from going with me either and from the conviction in her face, I know she’d be stupid enough to try it alone. She was better off with me, even if I had no clue what I was about to do.
While she packed in a whirlwind – I think, despite the dire circumstances, she was excited about going to New York for the first time – I called a cab and sent texts to Maximus, Rebecca and Dex. I knew the Dex one wouldn’t go through – normally I could tell when he read them and it wasn’t the case. I still watched with my breath in my mouth, hoping that he’d read my words.
When I realized he wouldn’t, I put down the phone and closed my eyes.
Dex! I yelled inside my head. It was a long shot, but I was still going to take it. Dex, can you hear me? I don’t know where you are or what’s going on but I know you need me. Michael, your brother, he’s not a good person and I’m scared for you. I’m coming to New York, hoping you’re there. I paused. I love you.
Even in my head, it came out more like a whisper.
I waited again, not knowing if he could hear me wherever he was, and if he could, if he would respond. But there was a void. There was nothing but the prickly grey behind my eyes and the sound of Ada running down the stairs.
My heart never felt so empty.
Ada put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. “Hey. We’re gonna get him back. He’s gonna be fine.”
I looked at her and tried to draw in her strength. I nodded. “Cab will be here. Let’s go wait outside.”
***
I’d never just shown up at an airport before and tried to buy a ticket for a plane. In fact, I don’t think I’d ever really bought a ticket for a plane in general. In the past, whenever I’d travel, it was always my parents who made the arrangements.