Amy slid her phone into her pocket, smiled, thanked Peggy for her help, and turned to leave. But as she turned to face the crowded bar, a room full of patrons mixing and mingling and sipping on drinks, she spotted something odd. There was a man looking in her direction. Looking directly at her. He was middle-aged, with a long, thin face and a tuft of receding brown hair. He was staring at her from one of the small tables along the window. There was someone else with him—a woman—but he didn’t seem to be paying her the slightest bit of attention. His gaze was locked on Amy. Despite the commotion and activity inside the bar, his eyes never shifted, never wavered. A chill raced up Amy’s spine. She wondered if she knew him from somewhere, but nothing about his face sparked any recognition. She had half a mind to walk over and ask what his problem was, but the truth was that there was something off about him, something that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

“Amy, over here!”

Someone was calling her name.

“Amy!”

There it was again.

Rising above the din of the bar, the voice sounded bright and young, and even a little familiar. Amy broke off her stare with the man and looked around the room. Over by the door to the lobby, she saw a young girl—the same one she had spoken to this morning while waiting for her taxi. The one who had spouted all those strange questions.

The girl skipped over, zigzagging a path through all the tables and chairs. She drew up right in front of Amy, smiling gleefully.

“Hi! It’s me!”

“Um, hi?”

“Amy? It is Amy, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Do you remember me?”

“Yes, I do. But wait, how do you know my name?”

“You told me, silly!”

“I did?”

Amy wasn’t sure if that was true. She couldn’t remember. The truth was that she couldn’t concentrate on anything but that strange man. She glanced back at him to see if he was still watching her, but to her surprise he was smiling and chatting happily to the woman at his table, acting as though nothing had happened. Still suspicious, Amy watched him a moment longer, waiting for his beady eyes to swing back in her direction, but they never did.

“Hey, I really need to talk to you.”

Amy blinked and turned her attention back to the girl. “Me?”

“Yes, you!”

“Why?”

“I can’t say—not in here.”

Before Amy could gather her thoughts, the girl grabbed her by the hand and started dragging her through the crowd. Amy tried to shake her loose, but her grip was surprisingly strong.

“Whoa, what are you doing?”

“This way.”

“Wait! Can you stop, please?”