We started down the street together. Neither of us spoke for the first hundred yards or so. We were waiting each other out. It was odd. I had always thought my . . . what was he anyway? My mentor? My immediate superior? I didn’t know. But I always thought that my relationship with a guy like this would be more teacher-student, master-pupil, like in some karate movie. But it wasn’t. He was on my side. I knew that. He had been with Abeona a long time and would, I’m sure, help me in a pinch, yet there was always a tension between us.

“You have something that doesn’t belong to you,” Dylan said.

“What’s that?”

“A tape.”

“Oh, right. Well, since my father was on it, I kinda think it belongs to me too.”

We kept walking.

“My father helped rescue Luther, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“So why is Luther our enemy now?”

“It’s a long story,” Dylan said.

“I can walk slower if you’d like.”

“You’re still new to this,” Dylan said.

“Not that new.”

“Do you know who Abeona was?”

“A Roman goddess who protected children.”

“Something like that,” Dylan said. “To be more exact, Abeona is the Roman goddess of outward journeys. She guards over children as they leave their home for the first time to explore the world.”

“Okay,” I said. “And how long has the Abeona Shelter existed?”

He smiled. “No one knows.”

“What does that mean?”

“I was called. You were called. Lizzy Sobek was called. There were ones called before her. There will be ones called after us.”

“And you don’t know when it all started?”

“No.”

“Who calls us?”

“For now? It’s Lizzy Sobek. One day, we will have a new leader.” He smiled at me. “I have been on both ends, Mickey. I’m a rescuer. And I was rescued.”

I flashed back to the “memorial” service for a little boy named Dylan Shaykes. “Everyone thinks you’re dead.”

He kept walking.

“Even your father.”

“Yes.”

“You’re okay with that?”

“He’s the reason I was rescued. My father . . .” He closed his eyes for a second, as though in pain. “He was a cruel man.”

“Did Bat Lady rescue you?”

“Her name is Lizzy Sobek.”

“I know. But it’s dangerous to use her real name, right?”

He nodded. “Good point. Yes. She rescued me. I was in the hospital. My father had hurt me. Again. I told the police that I fell down the stairs. Again. I don’t think they believed me, but my father could be a very charming man when he wanted to be. I remember sitting in the hospital room and thinking about hurting myself again. So I could stay longer. I didn’t want to go back to that house. I was scared.” He stroked his chin. “Do you know those containers for disposable needles?”

I nodded.