Quantum (36 page)

She yawned and lay down, closing her eyes.

Kellan laughed. “I guess not.”

“It’s not funny,” I said grumpily.

“I know. I’m sorry. You’ll see her again. We’re heading off to college next year anyway.”

“I know,” I said, leaning into him. I put my nose to his chest and took a deep breath, he smelled so good. He cupped the back of my neck with his hand and pulled me in, brushing his lips against mine. I lost myself in him for a while. The best
a-while
I had all day, hockey included.

“Shrimp, we better head over to my house, everyone is waiting. It was always meant to be a late dinner, but we’re now
very
late.”

I reluctantly extracted myself from his arms and stood up. “Let’s take Gertrude with us.” I picked her up and carried her out to the Jeep.

As I was driving, Kellan suddenly snapped, “Stop! Pull over.”

My heart skipped a couple of beats at his tone. I was filled with dread. “What’s up,” I asked, once I had pulled into the hard shoulder. “Did I drive over something?” I asked fearfully.

“No, no. Hold on just a sec,” he said, obviously gathering his thoughts.

He looked seriously worried, his brows twisted into a deep furrow. I waited, getting more and more anxious.

“Arizona, what if
you
disappear once Gertrude leaves?”

I shook my head trying to get my head around to what he was suggesting. “You mean you’re wondering if I’ll turn back into the original Arizona Darley?”

He nodded.

Wow. I had never considered that possibility. Had anyone else? The Wanderers? Mom? It was possible that when Gertrude left, she would take Arizona
Stevens
with her. She had, after all, brought me here. What would happen to
me
? Would I evaporate into nothingness, never to exist again? It is entirely possible that I would, for all intents and purposes,
die
. Arizona
Darley
could emerge again. I had sort of stolen her life, after all.

“Shrimp?”

“Kellan, it hadn’t even occurred to me,” I said, looking over at him. “I guess you would have your real
Shrimp
back.”

He got out of the car, slamming the door behind him. Sheesh. I shouldn’t have said that so flippantly. I got out of the car and walked around, put my arms around him and hugged him tight.

“Kellan, don’t be angry. I didn’t mean it like that. I have no idea what’s going to happen. I can’t imagine myself being any other way now. I
am
Arizona Darley who plays hockey and
loves
you.”

He nodded and brushed his lips against mine. “You are my
real
Shrimp,” he whispered into my ear.

T
he game had been wicked. Since David was away, I was subbing as captain, sweet! I had laid out two of our opponents and gotten myself banned from the next game, but it was worth it. David was going to be proud of me–I think. I had managed to keep our spotless record intact. It sucked not being able to celebrate it with him, though. It had only been a few days but I missed him. Sheesh, I snickered to myself. I have changed!

A lot had changed over the last year.

~

Last year, as I watched David get back into the cab to head back to Newark airport, I felt so low. I had walked into the house, not really wanting to chat with Dad.

“Hey, Arizona, where’ve you been? I was expecting you to be home. And what did you need all that money for?”

“Dad, I’m tired. Can we talk about this in the morning?”

“No, I have to go to Atlantic City again. I’ve been invited to another private poker game. Can’t miss it.”

“Why not?”

Dad looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “What are you talking about? I
can’t
miss it, you know that.”

I sighed. I
knew
that?
That
being that he was a compulsive gambler and couldn’t say no to a game.

“Anyway, where have you been and why did you need all that money?”

“Well, I went to camp, remember? You were supposed to pick me up at the bus stop, at school.”

He sighed. “Sheesh. I’m sorry, slipped my mind. How was camp?”

“Pretty awesome, really intense. The digs were bad, roaches and all. We didn’t spend much time in them, though. When I got there, I’d already been assigned a roommate–Marie from Vancouver. She was a really nice girl, you know, sweet and demure, not at all what I’d expected. I was a bit worried that the rest of them would be all girlie-girlie as well. But Marie was the exception. The rest of the girls were loud and aggressive. Marie turned out to be really good on the ice, though
. T
he scouts were all over her. It turns out that her mom is looking into a position at Princeton, so who knows, she may end up moving here. That would be cool. We could use her on the team, though the boys may eat her alive. Or not, she’s very pretty.

“Anyhow, practice started at six in the morning every day, so we were up at five. The day started out on ice, followed by breakfast and theory, which was achingly boring, but could have been run by scouts so I tried paying attention.”

“Good. Were you approached by any of them?”

“Yeah, two. They asked for my contact details and said they’d be in touch.”

“Let me know if they do. So what did you need the money for?”

“Well, when you didn’t pick me up at school, I got Christian to drop me off at home. I went straight to bed. Then someone broke in….”

“Broke in? Did you call 911?”

“No, I didn’t have time. I heard glass shattering and thought it might be you, having forgotten your keys or whatever, so I came into the living room to have a look. And someone grabbed me….”

“Arizona, are you hurt?” he asked, visibly shaken.

“No, Dad. I’m fine. Anyway, I was put in the back of a van and driven to Mountain View in California.”

“You were kidnapped?” He was now gaping.

“Yes, Dad. Know anything about it?”

“What?”

“Well, think about it, Dad. Why would anyone kidnap
me
? You and your gambling debts could be the only reason,” I said angrily.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Arizona! I don’t gamble with kidnappers! Have you called the police?”

“No. Dad, do you gamble with Raj Sen?”

“Never heard the name. Who’s he?”

“He’s the one who kidnapped me. He is also Simla’s dad.”

“Simla?”

“Oh never mind! Don’t you pay attention to anything I say? I’ve mentioned Simla hundreds of times before. She’s the girl who got bullied at school. Remember the bathroom incident with the cell phone camera?”

“Vaguely,” he muttered unconvincingly.

“She’s a friend of mine, sort of.”

“What do you mean, sort of?” Dad asked.

“Well, she’s not a buddy like Ariele or Monica. Simla is a bit distant and very shy. She’s hard to connect with. She doesn’t have a lot of friends, any friends, really. I’m the closest she has to a friend at school. I look out for her, make sure that people know not to bully her. And she helps me with math.”

“Ah!” Dad said knowingly.

“No, it’s not like that.”

“Arizona, are you telling me that your friend’s dad kidnapped you? That’s bizarre. Why? Did you fall out with Simla?”

“No! I assumed it had something to do with you.”

“Call her.”

“Simla?”

“Yes! Who else? I want to talk to her dad. Wait, we should probably let the police deal with this.”

“Yes. Dad, where’s Gertrude?”

“I don’t know. She was here with you when I left, Arizona.”

“No, I left first, Dad! Anyhow, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that we find her! Maybe Raj Sen took her. She wasn’t here when I got back. Maybe he did something to her so she wouldn’t bark and wake me up when he was breaking in. Dad call the police, we need them to find her.”

We spent the next few days talking first to the local police and then to the FBI. I told them everything–even about Dan and Sophie, even though I had promised I wouldn’t. The police couldn’t find Simla or her dad. The whole family seemed to have disappeared. That was a big concern, if Raj was in hiding, he might try something stupid again. The FBI put a watch on our house. Dad was beyond pissed off that he missed his poker game.

He left for AC the first chance he got, two days after I came back home. I wasn’t ready to be left on my own, but couldn’t get myself to tell him. Not that he would care. My next-door neighbors, Raymond and Beth, insisted that I stay
with them during the nights at least. Normally that would have been a total drag, but I was grateful for it. They were both horrified that I had been kidnapped right under their noses.

“I’m so glad you decided to stay over,” Beth said, showing me to her son’s old bedroom. “This is yours for as long as you need it.”

“Thanks, Beth,” I said, looking around at the room. Beth’s son played college football now but he must have started off young by the looks of all the football gear in his room, including the tiny cleats. “When did he start playing?”