Page 67 of Sunflower

Holding tight to the blond, the brunet laughed at my expression. “Bye, Joey. We’ll see you and Callum again, I’m sure.”

I blinked once more, and they were gone.

Twisting in my seat, I looked everywhere, but they’d vanished, like they’d never been standing in front of me at all.

The only evidence of them that remained was the bunched-up glove that I still gripped in my hand tightly.

Still turned inside out.

Still presumably holding the Agent’s hair.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Joey

Inadaze,Imade my way back to my car and headed to the agreed-upon rendezvous point where Callum had said to meet him once the meeting with the Agent was done. I knew he’d been watching us from a well-hidden distance and would be eager to discuss what we’d talked about. He was waiting for me, pacing the footpath anxiously and about dove into the passenger seat as soon as I slowed down enough for him to open the door.

Before he had a chance to say anything, I pressed my index finger to my lips and shook my head, motioning to my scarf.

Annoyed and beyond agitated, Callum pressed his lips together so hard they whited out, but nodded in understanding.

“Hey babe,” I said, trying to sound natural. “How was lunch? Did you have enough time to catch up with your friend?”

“Yeah, lunch was good,” he responded, rolling his eyes and yet sounding so much more natural than I did. It was obvious that starring in a future box office smash would not be in my future.“Charlie’s headed back to campus tonight, so I was lucky to see her when I did. Thanks for dropping me off.”

“No problem. I needed to exchange that crap Erin picked up yesterday, anyway. Gave me a good excuse.” And there went the extent of my supremely well thought out fake dialogue. I gave Callum afor the love of all that’s holy, please God, help melook and shrugged, not knowing what the hell else I was supposed to say.

He chuckled at my antics, but kept up the fake conversation, anyway. “God, Mam never could refuse the sales, but yeah, she really outdid herself this time. Whatever possessed her to buy that ugly ass clown lamp, I’ll never know.”

Knowing that Erin hadn’t bought any lamps at all yesterday and I had my sneaking suspicions she was actually terrified of clowns, so her buying one as a lamp was simply ludicrous, I raised my eyebrows at him and mouthed,what the fuck??at him. He ignored me and started fiddling with the radio, searching until he found a heavy rock station, then turned the volume up until it was nearly rattling the windows.

Leaning back in his seat, he crossed his arms and watched me drive for a moment before he leaned over and started carefully unwinding my scarf from my neck, keeping the folds and creases in place as he went. I felt his fingers pause for a moment against my skin, shivering as he caressed my neck gently with his thumb.

After a moment, he drew back from me and relaxed into his seat again, taking the scarf with him. When I paused at a red light, I watched him fold it methodically in his lap, keeping one segment clear and on top, and purposely not touching what was in or on it. Hidden amongst the woolen material, a metallic glint caught both the sun streaming through the window and my attention. Right there in front of us was a tiny listening device, no larger than a hearing aid battery.

If I’d had any lingering doubts we were being spied on, they were completely erased now.

“I thought we’d go back to our folk’s place,” I said, taking one last look at the bug before I accelerated through the intersection. I desperately wanted to go to Callum’s apartment, but I didn’t know for sure if the Agent knew where he lived. Thanks to him showing off before, Ididknow that he knew where Erin and Dad lived. I wasn’t skilled enough to know if I was being tailed, so I figured that was a safe enough place to regroup and make it at least look like I was going along with his plan.

Plus, Callum had packed the sweeping device he’d picked up from Kiddo last night in a backpack and had left it in the car, so I knew he could run a basic check of my room.

Callum looked at me with a raised eyebrow but went with it. “Okay. It might be nice to have dinner with them tonight.”

I winced, and he mouthedwhat?at me. Shaking my head, I said, “Actually, I thought we could go out again tonight somewhere? I’ve only got a couple more days free before I have to head back to campus, and I want to spend as much time as I can with you before I go.”

He smirked, no doubt at my terrible, terrible acting ability, but nodded agreeably. “Sure. What do you feel like having?”

Pulling into our parent’s driveway, I shrugged. “I’d kill for a decent burger. Maybe Urban Grind?” I had no idea if the Agent knew enough about local diners to know which spot I was referring to, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Urban Grind was popular with teens and young adults, because they made tasty, greasy treats that were affordable for those on a student budget. Being a Saturday, it’d no doubt be packed wall to wall with customers, but we didn’t have to go there. As long as the person on the other end of the bug thought we were, that was good enough.

“Sounds like a plan,” Callum said as I turned off the engine. We got out, Callum holding onto my contaminated scarf in one hand and grabbing the backpack that held the sweeping device from the back seat with the other, and headed in.

“Dad? Erin?” I called, dumping my keys in the bowl in the entryway, before toeing my shoes and socks off. “You home?”

The house remained quiet.

“Must’ve gone out,” Callum said, leaning against the wall to remove his own footwear.

Humming in agreement, I headed into the kitchen to find a note on the fridge. I pulled my jacket off and dumped it on the bench before leaning forward to read the note.

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