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It was midmorning; I burst out into strong sunshine. Spiraling once, I glided downward, feeling the warmth on my wings.
And then I saw him.
There was a man looking in through our motel room window, wearing tan pants and a short-sleeved plaid shirt. He had a camera. He was trying to take photos, but I could feel his frustration — it was too dark in the room. He didn’t know who was in there, and he had to find out; it was urgent. As I watched, he aimed the camera again at the inch or two of open curtain.
In a dizzying rush, I flew back to my body.
I woke up with a jerk under the crisp motel sheets. I was in the room; it felt like morning. Relief swam through me as I exhaled. It was just a dream. I’d been flying, and I’d gone outside —
I stiffened as I heard a noise: a slight shifting, like someone standing nearby. Slowly, hardly daring to breathe, I rolled my head sideways on the pillow. The curtains were open a crack, just like I’d seen. And there was the dark outline of a man, standing on the walkway outside.
Oh, God, it wasn’t a dream; it was real. I lay there, my pulse echoing in my ears. Could he see us? Could he see who I was? I watched, too scared to look away, as the man tried to peer in, his head moving behind the curtain. Finally I heard the sound of a car approaching, and he abruptly left. The room lightened a fraction as a slit of sunshine angled in through the window.
Flinging my covers back, I lunged across to Alex’s bed and shook his shoulder. “Alex! Alex, wake up!”
“Mm?” He stirred, lifting his head from the pillow. “What is it?”
“There was a man looking in our window. ”
He came awake in a second, sitting up. “When? Just now?”
I rubbed my arms; I felt cold suddenly. “Yes, I saw him. He was looking in through the crack in the curtains. Then a car came, and he left. ”
Alex swore, glancing at the window.
“I’d better close the curtains —” I started off his bed; he stopped me with a touch on the arm.
“No, don’t — then he’ll know we saw him. ” He sat silently, gazing at the window and tapping his fingers on his knee. “OK. Whoever it is can’t know for sure it’s you, or else he wouldn’t have been trying to look in. But he’s going to be watching the room now — we’ve got to get out of here somehow without him seeing you. ”
The fact that Alex already seemed to be planning what we should do helped my own mind to clear, and my panic faded slightly. “The bathroom window?” I suggested.
His dark eyebrows rose as he considered it. He nodded. “Maybe — I could kick the screen out —”
We both jumped as the phone rang.
Our eyes met, startled, as it shrilled through the room again. Finally Alex leaned across the bed and picked it up. “Hello?” I couldn’t believe how relaxed he sounded, as if he’d just woken up and was still half groggy. There was a pause; I could hear a man’s voice. “OK,” said Alex finally. “Thanks. I just got up; I’ll be there in about an hour. ”
He looked at me as he hung up. “The garage, supposedly. They said that the car’s ready. ”
My eyes flicked to the gap in the curtains. “It — it could be someone trying to lure us out of the room. ”
“Yeah, it could,” he said.
We both stared up at the digital clock on the TV. It was ten twenty.
“He said the car wouldn’t be ready until around noon, but . . . ” Alex trailed off, his face intense, thoughtful. “It sounded like him, though. And he seemed OK to you, right?”
I shrugged, not really wanting our lives to depend on this. “As far as I could tell, but . . . ”
“I think we’ll have to take a chance. ” Alex moved suddenly, throwing his covers back and getting out of bed on the other side from me. “Keep out of sight while I get dressed, OK?”
He grabbed his things and went into the bathroom. Shakily, I went and sat down at the table; it was close enough to the outside wall that no one would be able to see me. I heard Alex take what had to have been the fastest shower in history, and a few minutes later he was out again, dressed in jeans and a gray T-shirt, his hair damp. I watched as he moved around the room, throwing clothes into his bag. Finally he took his pistol from the dresser and tucked it into his holster; I caught a glimpse of toned, flat stomach.
“I’ll go get us some breakfast,” he said.
“What? Alex, I’m not exactly hungry right now. ”
He smiled slightly. “No, me neither. But if he sees me coming in with breakfast for both of us, he’ll think we’re staying in here for a while. ” He looked at the window again. “Get dressed while I’m gone, OK? But make sure you’re not seen. ”
I rose from the chair, my legs feeling weak. “Alex, be careful. ”
“I’ll be fine. No one’s going to do anything until they know it’s you. Just keep out of sight, all right? Lock the dead bolt when I go, and check the peephole when you hear me knock. ”
I nodded, determined that I was going to at least pretend to be as calm as he was. “Yes, all right. ”
Alex’s gaze lingered on me for a moment. “Don’t worry. We’ll be OK,” he said softly. And then he left, his body language casual as he went out the door and closed it behind him.
I locked the door, then grabbed my clothes from the day before and scurried into the bathroom. Knowing that he’d be gone at least five minutes, I jumped in and out of the shower and then got dressed, twisting my wet hair up under the baseball cap. Then I finished packing, shoving my clothes and our bathroom things into Alex’s bag as well. When I came to the picture that Mom had taken of me, I wrapped it carefully in tissues and tucked it into my drawstring bag.
Just as I was fastening the bag shut, a knock sounded through the room. Even though I knew it was probably Alex, my heart leaped into my throat. I edged over to the door, craning on my tiptoes to look out the peephole. “It’s me,” said Alex’s voice at the same time. I could see him standing outside, balancing two cups of coffee and a napkin full of donuts.
I undid the lock, then shut the door hastily after him as he came in. “Did you see anyone?”
He nodded as he dumped the food onto the table. “Yeah, there’s a guy at the far end of the parking lot, sort of hanging around outside his car. ” He took a quick slurp out of one of the coffees, glancing at me. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah, I think so. ” I looked at the small pile of white-powdered donuts and thought I’d never felt less hungry in my life.
“Good, then let’s get out of here. ”
I followed Alex as he went into the bathroom. The window there was only half the size of the ones in the bedroom, but still large enough to climb through. Beyond, there were some pine trees and a road; I could hear cars going past. Alex slid the window open and balanced himself up on the toilet. A short, hard kick to the screen, then another one. It fell out with a clatter, landing on the ground below. And even though it seriously wasn’t the time to be noticing it, for a second I found myself just . . . admiring the way he moved. His muscles were so fluid, so confident.
Alex jumped back down and went and got his nylon bag, which he lowered toward the ground outside, then let drop. My drawstring bag followed after it. “Can you climb out?” he asked me. The window was sort of high up, almost at chest level.
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