Page 62 of Happily Never After

“I’m sure you’re right.” Still, she couldn’t peel her eyes off the black sedan with tinted windows behind them. Surely lots of people in California had tinted windows. Maybe there was a movie star behind them. Or an FBI agent. Or even a new PI hired by her overbearing mother. It wasn’t necessarily a member of ESA.

“Oh yay, we’re here,” Mindy said, turning off the highway and into a beach parking lot. The pier rose in front of them. Hundreds of people were enjoying the beach, sunbathing, playing Frisbee, even surfing.

Claire glanced in the mirror again. The car was still behind them. Maybe they were just headed to the beach too. She hammered the stop button on the stopwatch. Just short of twenty minutes. Not awful, even with moderate traffic. She made a notation on her clipboard and set it at her feet.

The black sedan disappeared into a back corner of the lot. Claire shook her head and set her eyes on the pier. All the different smells and sounds hit her as soon as she exited the car. People screamed on the nearby roller coaster. The smell of fried fish drifted out of one of the restaurants, mingling with the cloying sweetness of funnel cakes. Dozens of people crisscrossed the pier—families, teenagers, obvious tourists.

The crashing waves drew her eyes, but the back of her neck prickled. If they were being followed, it would be hard to spot a tail on such a crowded boardwalk. She glanced behind her, but there were too many faces to catalog. There were easily a dozen men within ten feet of her, and a tail would probably keep his distance. A place like this must be Sawyer’s nightmare.

“What’s wrong?” Mindy asked. “You look weird.”

“It’s probably just me being paranoid, but I feel like we’re being followed,” Claire said, surveying the pier again. Was that teenage boy looking at them because he wanted to murder them, or just because Mindy was wearing a low-cut top?

“Let’s get lost then.” Mindy grabbed Claire’s hand and dove into Pacific Park. Children screamed on the nearby rollercoaster. Claire ducked behind a cotton candy cart and watched. Mindy crouched next to her. No one looked in their direction.

“Bathroom,” Mindy said. They wound through several rides, dodging strollers and tiny dogs, and sidled into a bathroom.

Mindy dug through her purse until she found a scrap of fabric and a black wig. “Here.” She passed them over.

“You went through my suitcase?” Claire frowned. She had tossed half a dozen wigs and disguises in her suitcase beforeleaving for California. It was impossible to be too careful now that ESA activity had ramped back up.

“I was looking for a phone charger. And then naturally I stole these and shoved them in my purse in case we needed them. I will never doubt your instincts again. Put them on.” Mindy pulled another wig out of her purse and swirled her hair into a bun.

Claire stepped into a truly disgusting bathroom stall and hung her purse on the hook. She kept her elbows glued to her sides as she struggled into the hot pink dress that Mindy had offered her. With one look, Claire’s late grandmother would have said she could see what Claire had for breakfast. But maybe that was a good thing. She bumped the door open with her foot and stepped back to the sinks. Between the black wig and the bodycon dress, she was unrecognizable.

“Second thing.” Mindy turned around, wearing a new top. “Let’s split up and meet back at the wheel. If there’s someone watching us, they’re going to expect there to be two of us. Take ten minutes to make sure we lost them.”

“Has Sawyer been giving you lessons?” Claire asked as she adjusted the wig a final time.

“Maybe.” Mindy snapped her compact shut. “Okay, you first. Remember, take a meandering route, don’t stop to talk to anyone, and scream the code word if someone comes up to you with a chloroform rag. Be. Careful.” She punctuated her sentence with a finger jab.

“Platypus. Got it.” Claire slung her purse back over her shoulder. “See you at the wheel.”

She emerged into the sunlight and slid on a pair of sunglasses. A quick scan of the immediate area didn’t reveal any looky-loos. A father and son pulled pieces off a hunk of cotton candy. A toddler screamed at her mother and pointed at an ice cream stand.

She went out the opposite park entrance and kept her head down as she walked. A small clump of people was clustered at the far end of the pier. It would give her a chance to put her back to the ocean and watch all incoming foot traffic. If someone was being shady, she stood a better chance of seeing them from the edge of the pier.

Her Jimmy Choos clattered over the boardwalk. She probably could have picked more low-key footwear for this adventure, but her ballet flats that folded into a bag were in the car.

She rounded the corner of the pier and nearly came screeching to a halt. There, leaning against the railing, was a white male, mid-twenties, arms casually folded. The breath caught in her throat as though someone was squeezing it. There wasn’t any reason to suspect him. He was dressed in black from head to toe, which didn’t exactly match the attire of the people around him but didn’t necessarily make him stick out. He wore sunglasses, but she could feel his eyes on her. Something about him made her skin crawl. Was this guy just a run-of-the-mill creeper, or was this a member of ESA?

Claire’s phone beeped, and she risked a glance at it. Was Mindy all right?

Alice:Are you okay, Clairebear? I just have a bad feeling about this California trip. I said a prayer of protection for you.

Claire pursed her lips. The last thing she needed was another infamous prediction from her psychic mother.

But still…the base of her spine tingled. Something wasn’t right. Claire swung her phone up and pretended to take a selfie. Instead, she snapped a picture of the man on the boardwalk andsent it to Mindy and Luke with the caption “probably nothing, but in case I disappear: bad vibes from this guy.”

She walked past the man with her head held high. Every cell in her body screamed for her to turn around. Were those footsteps behind her? Of course it was, there were three hundred other people on this nightmare pier. She quickened her pace, passing men, women, and children, not bothering to search their faces. Her heart rate ticked up like she was jogging a 5k.

She was only twenty yards or so from the railing overlooking the Pacific. At least from there, no one would be able to approach her from behind like a coward. She could get her bearings, decide whether or not she needed to bail on the Ferris wheel, and maybe uppercut a creepy asshole into the Pacific. She pulled her keys from her purse and clutched them between her knuckles. Maybe moving toward the end of the pier that had only one entrance and exit was not the best idea. But it was too late now.

It was foolish to think that moving cross-country would solve anything. At least in West Haven, she had cleared out the ESA sect. Who knew how large the one in California was? There could be a dozen people here right now, waiting to grab her.

Her pulse beat in her eyes as she beelined for the railing. The keys in her hand cut into her fingers because she was holding them too tightly. Her phone beeped again, but she ignored it. If she could just reach the railing, everything would be fine. Everything would be?—

Suddenly, something heavy and hard collided with her left side. Claire shrieked like she had been stabbed.

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