Wendy nodded. “Yeah, of course,” she said, her voice small. She knew Jordan was worried about her. She had been so distracted by Peter and everything else she had suddenly found herself thrown into, that she was forgetting about the person who was always there for her.

Jordan gave a curt nod. “Good.” She tugged on Tyler’s arm, breaking him from the trance of his iPhone. “It was nice to meet you, Barry!”

Peter continued to scratch behind Bucky’s ears, murmuring happily to the dog.

Wendy nudged him with the toe of her shoe. “Barry.”

“Oh yeah,” he said, glancing up to flash Jordan a smile. “Nice to meet you, too.” Bucky climbed out of Peter’s lap and waddled off after Jordan and Tyler. Peter stood, let out a wistful sigh, and gave a small wave. “Bye, Bucky.”

Jordan waved at them over her shoulder. “Later, Wendy Lou Who!” she sang before disappearing around the building.

Wendy rolled her eyes. It was a terrible nickname Jordan had picked up, in reference to Wendy’s least favorite live-action Christmas movie.

Peter was grinning at her.

“What?” Wendy asked.

“Later, Wendy Lou Who!” Peter said, imitating what Jordan had said, except in Jordan’s voice.

Exactly her voice. Hearing it come out of Peter’s mouth startled Wendy so much that she actually jumped. “How did you do that?” she demanded.

Peter looked at her as if that were a very strange question to ask. “What? I told you, I’m good at mimicking things. Like the crickets, remember?”

“Well yeah, but I didn’t realize you could do people’s voices that well, too!” She frowned at him. “That was dead-on! And kind of creepy,” she added.

“Want me to do you?” he asked, lips hooking into a grin.

“God, no.”

At the table, what was left of Wendy’s ice cream was a melted puddle, so she dumped it and the rest of their trash. Wendy squared her shoulders, summoning her nerve. She plucked at the hem of Peter’s shirt. “Come on,” she said, leading the way across the street to the road that wound back to her house. “We’ve got a shadow to find.”

CHAPTER 14

Into the Woods

Peter and Wendy stood side by side at the small white fence that separated her backyard from the woods. A breeze snaked its way through the trees, lightly brushing against her cheeks, her neck, her wrists. She took three slow, deep breaths, eyes stinging as they stared, unblinkingly, into the depths of the forest. Peter was watching her out of the corner of his eye. She could feel his apprehension, but she lifted her chin and blew out one last breath between pursed lips.

They needed to do this. She needed to do this. John and Michael were depending on her, and she wouldn’t fail them again.

Wendy pulled out her phone to check the time. The screen was filled with unread text messages and missed calls from Jordan. It felt wrong, but she closed them and cleared her throat.