Chapter 5: Unexpected Visitor

I woke to the sound of my cell phone buzzing insistently on the nightstand. For a moment, I couldn't remember where I was or why I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. Then the events of yesterday crashed back over me—prophecies, supernatural abilities, Jake's promise to die protecting me.

The phone buzzed again. I'd turned it back on an hour ago to check for messages from school, despite Jake's warnings about being tracked.

"Sarah?" Jake's voice came through the connecting door between our rooms. "Everything okay?"

"Someone's calling," I called back, checking the screen. Lisa's name appeared, along with seven missed calls and twelve text messages.

Jake appeared in the doorway, already dressed and alert despite the early hour. "Who is it?"

"Lisa. My best friend." I hesitated with my finger over the answer button. "She never calls this much unless something's wrong."

"Don't answer it," Jake said immediately. "If she's been compromised—"

The phone stopped ringing, then immediately started again.

"She's worried about me," I protested. "I haven't been to work in two days, and she knows about the divorce. If I don't answer, she might call the police or show up at my apartment."

Jake's jaw tightened, but after a moment he nodded. "Answer it, but keep the conversation short. Don't tell her where you are, and don't agree to meet her anywhere."

I swiped to accept the call. "Lisa? I'm sorry, I've been—"

"Oh thank God, Sarah! I've been worried sick about you!" Lisa's familiar voice flooded me with homesick relief. "You missed work yesterday and today, and when I went by your apartment, you weren't there. Where are you?"

"I'm... taking a few personal days. After the divorce papers, I just needed some space to think."

"Space to think where? Sarah, you sound weird. Are you okay?"

I glanced at Jake, who was listening intently to both sides of the conversation. His expression was unreadable, but tension radiated from every line of his body.

"I'm fine," I lied. "Just staying at a hotel for a couple of days. I needed to get away from all the memories in the apartment."

"Which hotel? I could come bring you some decent food and wine. We could have a proper girls' night."

"That's sweet, but I really just need some alone time right now."

There was a pause on Lisa's end, and when she spoke again, her voice carried a note I'd never heard before. "Sarah, you're scaring me. This isn't like you. When you're upset, you call me. You don't disappear."

She was right. In all the years we'd been friends, through her divorce and my various relationship disasters, we'd always leaned on each other. My sudden withdrawal must seem completely out of character.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I just... I need a few more days. I promise I'll explain everything soon."

"Is this about David? Did something else happen?"

Jake was shaking his head frantically, drawing a finger across his throat in a "cut it off" gesture.

"No, it's not about David. Listen, I should go. I'll call you in a day or two, okay?"

"Sarah, wait—"

I hung up and immediately turned off the phone again.

"That was a mistake," Jake said grimly. "She was fishing for information."

"She was being a concerned friend!" I snapped. "Lisa has been there for me through everything. She's not part of some supernatural conspiracy."

"How long have you known her?"

"Since college. We were roommates freshman year."

"And how did you meet, exactly?"

I opened my mouth to answer, then stopped. The truth was, I couldn't exactly remember how Lisa and I had first connected. One day we were strangers sharing a dorm room, the next we were best friends. College had been a blur of classes and social events, but Lisa had been the constant.

"What are you implying?" I asked.

"I'm implying that your best friend since college just happened to call when you're in hiding, asked specific questions about your location, and pushed back when you tried to end the conversation." Jake began pacing again. "Either she's genuinely worried, or she's reporting back to someone who wants to find you."

"That's paranoid, even for you."

"Paranoid keeps you alive." Jake stopped pacing and fixed me with an intense stare. "Sarah, think about it. You've been friends with Lisa for almost ten years. Has she ever done anything that seemed unusual? Pushed you toward certain decisions? Encouraged you to stay with David when you probably should have left him sooner?"

The question hit uncomfortably close to home. Lisa had been supportive when I'd first started complaining about David's behavior, but she'd also consistently advised me to work things out, to give him another chance, to try harder to make the marriage work.

"She was being a good friend," I said weakly.

"Or she was keeping you in a situation that made you vulnerable." Jake pulled out his laptop. "What's Lisa's last name?"

"Parker. Lisa Parker."

Jake's fingers flew over the keyboard. Within minutes, he'd pulled up what looked like an extensive background check.

"Lisa Marie Parker, age twenty-nine, born in Denver, Colorado. Moved to Seattle for college, graduated with a degree in education, currently teaches third grade at Riverside Elementary." He scrolled through the information. "Parents divorced when she was twelve, mother remarried a real estate developer, father works in... interesting."

"What's interesting?"

"Her father works for a private security firm that specializes in background investigations and surveillance." Jake turned the laptop toward me. "The same firm that was hired to do a genealogy search on your birth family."

My heart sank. "That's a coincidence."

"In our world, there are no coincidences." Jake closed the laptop. "I'm not saying she's definitely compromised, but we can't take the risk. No more contact with Lisa until we know who we can trust."

The isolation of my situation hit me like a physical blow. No job, no home, no contact with friends or family. I was completely dependent on a man I'd known for less than forty-eight hours, hiding in a cheap motel from enemies I couldn't identify.