Max: Oh

Me: I’ll tell you what happens

Max: Be careful.

Me: Olivia says sorry you had to see last night.

Max: No worries. Tell her I’m sorry it happened. I can meet up with you guys in a couple of hours if you want?

“He says to not worry about last night and he’s sorry it happened. Also, he wants to meet up with us later?” I scrunch my nose.

“Maybe. We might need him to hack into his uncle’s computer again.”

Me: Maybe. I’ll let you know

Max: okay

We sit in silence until our stop, then get out and walk in the direction I remember driving with Gram.

I want to go home and hug Gram and listen to Clay make plane noises. I want to watch Mom paint, and I want to play Boggle with Dad. I think about how, even though my family isn’t perfect, at least they’re still together. I don’t know how I’d feel if I were Olivia.

I grab her arm and point to the one-story office building. “This is the place.”

Olivia squares her shoulders. “Our plan is that we need donations for our school play. Got it?”

I follow as she barges through the front door like she owns the place. “Hello. My name is Piper Collins, and I am collecting donations for our school’s play. Can I speak to your manager?”

I bite my lip to keep from laughing. Olivia is doing an awesome job channeling Piper’s particular brand of haughty.

Two women are behind the front desk. One looks up and dismisses us, but the other smiles. “I’ll go get Mr. Zhabin. Please wait here.”

We wait for five minutes of excruciating silence until an older man lumbers out of the back office. He’s huge—way over six feet—and is pretty much completely bald. The tattoos across his forearms are written in the same Russian Cyrillic as Gram’s journal.

“Yes,” he says in a thick accent. “Can I help you?”

Olivia launches into her volunteer story while I study him. Do I know him? Is this the man who chased us in the woods?

He senses my stare and frowns at me. “Do I know you?”

“Are you Yakov?” I whisper. I’ve lost my voice along with any courage I might have had.

“Yes. I am Yakov Zhabin. You look familiar. I know you, da?”

Olivia lets out a small squeak of terror. Her arm clutches mine, and her breathing escalates.

“I don’t think so.” I shake my head and smile. “We have to go. My friend needs her inhaler. She has asthma.”

I turn and drag Olivia behind me. She wheezes impressively.

As soon as we’re outside, she whispers, “He knew you!”

I glance behind me. He’s staring after us. His giant form takes up the whole doorway. I can’t get away fast enough.