I have no clue where Dylan’s taking me, but I don’t mind.
“How old are you, Dylan?” I ask.
“Twenty four.”
“Really?”
“How old did you think I was?”
I contemplate this. “About...four.”
Dylan rolls his eyes. “Very funny.”
“When’s your birthday?”
“First of February.”
“Hmm, a winter month. It sure goes with your personality.” I grin. Dylan shakes his head at me, trying not to laugh.
“And when were you born, then?”
“December twelfth.”
Dylan widens his eyes. “That’s just around the corner!”
I shrug. “It’s not really a big deal.”
“But you’re turning twenty four, of course it’s a big deal.”“Why is twenty four such a big deal?”
“Well, it has twenty and four in it, so I’d say it’s a big deal.”I laugh. “Good answer, genius.”
“What do you want for your birthday, then?”
“I don’t want anything.”
“Bullshit. You’re a girl, you always want something.”
“Dylan, that comment could be processed in many ways.”
Dylan throws back his head and laughs. “I suppose so,” he says. He smirks. “It’s still true.”“Dylan!”
He laughs again. “In all seriousness, Katherine, it is currently November twenty first, and your birthday is hardly three weeks out.”“So what?”
“Sew buttons.”
I snort. “That was a horrible pun.”
“It was a great pun.”
“O-kay, Dylan. It was a great pun.”
“You want to get out of this car and walk home?”
“No, sir.” I mock salute him.
“That’s what I thought.”
Dylan turns the car onto a dirt road, pulling it to a stop shortly after. “Here we are,” he announces and unbuckles himself.
“Dylan, we’re at an empty field.” I raise my eyebrows as I follow him outside.
“Not quite empty.” He puts a hand on the small of my back, pointing up at the black night sky. “Look up.”I tilt my chin up and gasp at the sight above me.
Millions of stars dot the sky, glimmering iridescently. The moon hangs as a sliver among the novas, glowing brightly. It’s the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.
“This is beautiful,” I breathe.
“I know.” I feel his eyes on me, instead of the sky.
My mouth hangs open slightly as I marvel at the stars, my breath visible in the chilly air. Dylan’s hand is still warm on my back.
“If you had one wish, Katie, what would it be?” Dylan asks out of the blue.
I contemplate this. “I think it would have to be...that I change someone’s life. For the better, I mean. To just...have an impact, I guess.” I shake my head. “It’s stupid.”“No, it’s not.”
I tear my gaze from the stars in the sky and look at the stars in Dylan’s eyes. The ones that are there all the time.
He swallows, looking at me deeply.
“What would be your wish?” I ask him.
He doesn’t break my gaze. “I’d wish for you, Katie.”
Chapter Fifty Six
Dylan looks down as soon as he says it, as if he didn’t mean to say it aloud.
I stare at him as a pink blush creeps onto his cheeks.
I’d wish for you, Katie.
I’d wish for you.
Wish for me? What does that mean? It could mean so many things, but with Dylan, I could never know.
“What do you mean, you’d wish for me?” I breathe.
Dylan blinks, bringing his gaze back to mine. “I don’t exactly know,” he says. “I think I...” He stops himself when his phone vibrates in his pocket.
What? He thinks he...what?
“Hello?” He says into the phone.
He immediately stiffens. “What do you mean?”
I part my lips.
“William, slow down. Tell me what the fuck you’re talking about.”Dylan’s eyes flick to me.
“Fine. We’ll be there.”
He locks his phone and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Damn it,” he curses, beginning to pace in front of me.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Alec...Alec’s angry that James didn’t recruit you, so he’s sending people to look for you. It’s not safe to go back to the apartments right now.”My heart rate quickens. “So...what do we do?”
“We’re meeting at Oliver’s place in an hour, we’ll figure it out then.” Dylan’s jaw is clenched tight as I follow him back to the car, getting in on the passenger side.
I’m dying to know what Dylan was going to say, but his earlier comments are long forgotten as he speeds back into the city. The peaceful time when we stared at the stars is now gone.
“Fuck, fuck, fucking...” Dylan curses under his breath as we drive along.
“Why do they want me?” I ask.
“Because you’re smart. Everyone can see that.”
“What use would I be? I don’t understand.” I shake my head.
“Katie, you’re a copy editor, yes?”
I nod slowly.
“Your job then requires close examination of a piece of literature for mistakes of any form, correct?”“Yes.”
“That skill is...highly useful for someone like Alec. You’re observant, like James said. You could potentially be Alec’s most valuable tool.”“Is he going to try to force me into working with him?”
“Yes,” Dylan says. “He’s going to do everything he can to persuade you, but remember what I’ve told you, Katie. Once you’re in, you can never get out. And I won’t let you be subjected to his schemes.”“I won’t be,” I tell him and he nods.
“Good.”
Dylan soon pulls up to a brick building similar to ours, but I recognize the neighborhood as Forest Heights.
“Stay close, alright?” Dylan looks over at me.
I nod faintly.
“Are you afraid?” He asks me.
“No,” I answer.
He stares at me for a moment longer before nodding and getting out of the car.
I follow behind him into the building, looking over my shoulder every so often. This is nerve wracking, knowing I’m being sought after by Lyone Enterprises.
Dylan presses the button for the third floor in the elevator, his foot tapping against the floor nervously.
He leads me down a hall, to a door where I assume Oliver lives, lifting his fist and knocking. I notice he knocks in a specific pattern.
“Morse code,” he informs me and I nod as Oliver opens the door.
“Hey,” he greets us. He seems to be just as on edge as Dylan.
“Hi,” Dylan says as we step into the place, the door shutting behind us.
“Ethan and William are on their way,” George says from the couch.
Oliver’s apartment is decorated contemporarily, with lots of art on the walls. Even the furniture he chose is almost abstractly artistic—the couch is bright red and the coffee table is sleek black.
Dylan motions for me to sit beside George on the couch and I do so as he turns to talk to Oliver.
“How are you, Katie?” George asks.
“I’m alright,” I say. “I’ve been better, you know, when a psychotic conman isn’t after me.”George chuckles. “Likewise.”
I look down at my lap. “Do you think that this...rebellion thing you guys have going will be successful?”George chews on his lip thoughtfully. “I can’t say,” he replies. “But I certainly hope it will be.”I hear commotion in the foyer area and turn to see Ethan and William entering, throwing their coats onto a chair by the door.
“Evening, Katie,” William greets me as the rest congregate in the sitting area where George and I are.
“Hi,” I say. Although I have no fear of him now, I am still wary of William (and Ethan, really) because of how they attacked me some ti
me ago when I was walking home. I know they were only doing it because they had to, though, and they are an important part of this alliance.
“First order of business,” Dylan says, remaining on his feet while everyone else sits. “What the fuck is Alec thinking?”“He spoke a lot of Katie at the meeting today,” Ethan says.
“Meeting?” Dylan’s eyes widen. “Fuck!”
“Shit, Dylan,” Oliver groans.
“That gives him another reason to be pissed, Christ.” Dylan presses his palms to his eyes, stressed.
“You need to go talk to him, so he won’t suspect you,” George says.
“I agree,” William says. “Go now, before he leaves Ivory.”“What’s Ivory?” I ask.
“Code name for Lyone Headquarters,” Ethan tells me. They really have codes for everything—even knocks.
“I can’t fucking go, he’ll know something’s up if I go,” Dylan says.
“What are your other options, then?” Ethan shoots back.
Dylan lets out a frustrated sigh.
“If I go, Katie needs to stay here,” he finally says.
“She’s fine with us, just go talk to him and make him think you’re aligned with him one hundred percent. He can’t have any doubts about your loyalty to the enterprise,” Oliver says.
“No, I think Katie needs to go,” George says. “Alec knows that Katie and Oliver work together as well, he knows they’re friends. He’ll send people here, it’s only a matter of time.”“What if we just give him what he wants?” I speak up.
All eyes turn to me.
I sit up a little straighter. “If I go to, uh...Ivory...to talk to him, maybe he’ll see that I’m no threat.”“That’s fucking insane,” Dylan snaps.
“No, it’s not,” William says. “This is a game of cat and mouse, all of this is. The more Katie runs, the more intent he’ll be on finding her. If we send her in, and have her act like she knows nothing, he’ll leave her alone.”“We can’t just send her in, though,” Oliver points out. “If she shows up on her own will, Alec will know something is up.”“I could take her in,” William says. “Alec doesn’t suspect anything of me, and he’s sent me after her before.”“You’re overlooking the big problem, here,” Dylan says. “Alec wants to recruit Katie.”“If he sees how little she knows about the enterprises, he’ll lose the desire,” Ethan says.
“He can easily educate her on it,” Dylan rebuts.
“He wouldn’t, because what if I refuse?” I say.
“Katie’s right, he wouldn’t risk it,” George agrees.
Dylan pulls at the roots of his hair. “Fine. So what do we do?”“I’ll take Katie, the rest of you should stand by along the perimeter,” William says, standing from his seat.
“None of us have shifts tonight,” Ethan points out.
“We’re close to Alec, anyone one standby will believe us if we say we have a shift,” Oliver says.
“True,” Ethan agrees, nodding.
“Alright, let’s go. If all goes well, we’ll be back here in less than two hours,” George says.
I stand and nod, following along as everyone files out of the apartment.
We take the elevator down, the atmosphere heavy with angst.
In the parking lot, everyone spreads off to their respective cars, but Dylan grabs my arm.
“Be careful,” he says, his brow furrowed.
“I will.”
“Katie...” He sighs. “This is exactly what I wanted to avoid. You talking to Alec.”I nod. “I know.”
His hand runs down my arm to meet mine, lacing his fingers through my own and squeezing.
“Stay hidden, if you have to,” he says and I nod again.
He lets go of my hand as William pulls up in his car, nodding for me to get in.
I slide into the seat next to William and have barely shut the door when he speeds off, pulling out of the lot.
“Katie, I hope there’s no hard feelings about the time Ethan and I stopped you on the street,” he says, humor glinting in his dark blue eyes.
“No, there’s none,” I say, smiling.
“Good, I was afraid you hated me or something.”
“Well, you did scare the shit out of me.”
“True.” He smirks.
I look out the window as he drives. “Why do you call the headquarters Ivory?” I ask.
“It’s just a code, I guess. We have codes for a lot of things.”“I can tell.”
“Most of them are pretty stupid, actually. Alec’s not a creative guy.”We laugh lightly.
Despite the small smile I put on for William, I’m terrified inside.
What will Alec ask me? What if he successfully convinces me to join Lyone Enterprises? What if he hurts me? What if my answers to his questions give away something?
William parks in an alley, pulling his keys from the ignition. He turns to me.
“Whatever happens now, you cannot reveal anything. I know it’s going to be difficult, because Alec’s a cunning guy, but don’t ever, for a moment, let your guard down.”I nod. “Okay.”
“Are you doing alright?”
“Yeah. I’m just nervous.”
“You’re fine. The others are standing by, if anything happens.”I take a breath.
William looks at me for a bit longer before stepping out of the car, and I follow suit.
I feel like I’m walking to my doom here, but I know I need to do this.
I follow William across the street and into an alley I recognize.
The sleek door is unmistakably the one I followed Dylan into. Sure enough, William punches the same code into the keypad and gestures for me to follow him inside.
My nerves skyrocket as we walk down the narrow corridor.
William pushes open a door to the side wrapping his hand around my arm. At first I’m startled by his contact, but he gives me a look and I know it’s part of the act.
Inside is a different room from when I followed Dylan here. This one is considerably smaller, and it has another door off to the side. A silver desk sits in the middle of the room, with two small fountains on either side of it. Clear, blue water bubbles out of each, creating a serene atmosphere. The walls of the room are white, with paintings of famous historical leaders on them. George Washington, Miguel Hidalgo, Abraham Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth each have portraits—to name a few.
He Looked Back Page 29
