Ыоуве Been Warned   ::   Patterson James

Minutes later, I duck into a phone kiosk and watch Penley in front of the school’s gates asshe practically shoos Dakota and Sean away. Amazingly, she’s still on her cell.

Is she talking to Stephen?

Is he meeting her at the gym?

“Excuse me, are you using that phone?” I hear.

The man’s voice startles me. Does it sound familiar? Actually, yes.

I turn around to see a guy in baggy jeans and a Gap T-shirt. Damn it, I know him! I haven’t seen this guy since we were in high school together. I have no idea what happened to him after school, but here he is, wandering into my nightmare.

I point at the phone. “I don’t think anyone’s using it,” I say. “You’re Harvey, right? From Concord?”

He stares at the frayed wire jutting from the receiver like a rat’s tail. “There’s a call coming for you, Kristin,” he says. Matter-of-fact, just like that.

Then the phone rings, and I literally jump. But I sure don’t answer it.

“Yeah. I’m Harvey,” he says, then he shuffles off.

“And let me guess,” I say to him. “You’re dead, right?” But Harvey doesn’t bother to answer.

I immediately turn back to Penley standing in front of the school. Only she’s not there. Oh, great.

My head turns like one of those automatic sprinklers. Not until my second three sixty do I spot her humping down Madison. Her walk gives her away. “I’m better than you,” it says with each stride. “So get out of my way!”

I hurry across the street, falling in behind her again. Now that the kids are gone, she’s off the phone. I’m shielded by the crowded sidewalk – the morning rush hour traffic – but I’m careful not to get too close.

We head south a few more blocks, and I try to remember what gym she belongs to. Is it Reebok? Equinox? Did she ever even tell me?

Anyway, I’ll find out soon enough. If I know Penley, it can’t be too much farther. Otherwise, she would’ve cabbed it, for sure.

My eyes remain trained on her while my mind looks ahead. One kiss, that’s all I need. A suggestive embrace would do the job, but a kiss, that would be the money shot.

That’s assuming Stephen’s even there.

She told me the gym is where they met. Then again, she also said he and I would make a nice couple. Ha!

Maybe this is nothing more than a wild goose chase and maybe it isn’t. I don’t care. I’m determined to get the proof I need – that Michael needs – if it’s there to get.

Then why am I starting to feel so uneasy about this?

There’s a hollow forming in my stomach, and with each step it grows.