Chapter 19: Unclear Landing

McKenna's heart jumped as the plane touched ground, jolting all of the passengers around. She wished should could have been sitting next to Luke instead of behind him so that grabbing his hand would have been easier. Not that she wanted to force anything lovey dovey. She usually squeezed whoever's hand was next to her on airplane landings.

The plane's wheels grazed the ground and then landed all the way. The plane zoomed down a runway strip but eventually slowly came to a halt.

She breathed a quiet sigh of relief. At least they hadn't died in the air or on the landing. Now they'd give the actual ground a try. McKenna didn't really know what they were even up against. All she knew was that Alfonzo seemed adamant about them all arriving to Paris and that Jewel and the whole train fiasco gang mash-up had to be rectified. She hoped Luke's white personality could actually have the power to make everything work out. Because her blue personality was worrying herself that they weren't going to all be okay after this venture to Paris.

Apparently they were all in mortal danger from the Gordovos gang if they didn't make their way to Paris. She didn't know if Alfonzo was planning on sitting down to negotiate over baguettes or what. Maybe they could try chocolate croissants. Who couldn't agree over a chocolate croissant?

But this being in the dark business was getting a little out of hand.

The plane finally halted and everyone stood.

"Hold up," McKenna said. "Everyone stay here. Now, Alfonzo, would you please explain what our goals in France are exactly?"

Alfonzo scrunched his eyes closed, and everyone else knew he'd be rolling his eyes if they were opened. But Alfonzo was too classy for eye rolls.

"We are here to find Chris, or any member of the Gordovos gang, so we can rectify this horrendous situation in which we are all running for our lives."

McKenna wasn't really that much more enlightened than before.

"Umm, okay. And how exactly are we going to do this?"

Alfonso gripped Jewel's chair headrest. "They know that we're coming. We will go to that train station and bargain with them to let them know we will not give them up to the authorities, and in return we will have all of our lives in tact."

The plane was silent. Then Luke ran a hand through his hair and turned to Alfonso.

"But, Fonz, how do we know that they're going to agree with us? What if they kill us all right there?"

Alfonso started toward the plane door holding his wounded arm gently. "I don't know this. But that's why we're meeting in the train station. I don't really think they want five bodies on the gang's hands. They have too many other problems to have us all publicly murdered."

Alfonso's sentiments didn't really assuage McKenna's worries or inquiries, but she followed the rest of her posse of the plane anyway so she could see what would be ahead for all of them. They were already deep into this and if they turned around and went home now, so didn't really foresee anything good for any of them if they were on their own.

Outside among the green trees of Paris there was an SUV with tinted windows. Of course. How in the world did Alfonso have all these connections? He seemed like he was straight out of a spy movie.

They piled into the SUV and McKenna made sure to sit between Luke and her father. This seemed to be the norm for them by now. She was linked to both her father and to this group through this strange train station boy, Luke.

I guess he isn't really a boy anymore, she thought to herself. But I still feel like a little lost girl unsure of what we're doing in Paris.

Jewel found an iPod hook-up in the vehicle and started playing her music to the group. McKenna just simply could not fathom the world's obsession with Adele.

She wondered what would happen when they made it out of this whole situation. Would they still always be looking over their shoulder for people out to get them? Would any of them truly ever be safe? Then she thought back to her mother. She would lose her boyfriend, because McKenna just didn't see how a gang leader boyfriend was going to be acceptable. Hopefully they would find a way to be safe again.

Luke nudged her with his knee. She looked over at him and he offered a half smile to her and nodded out the window. It was the Eiffel Tower.

McKenna didn't have any distinct memories of Paris when she was younger, but seeing the Eiffel Tower brought a little bit of nostalgia back. Why couldn't it just be as easy as it was back then? Sure, her parents had fought a lot, but she was usually the one to bring them both to their senses. They'd be arguing about tickets to the Louvre and she'd tell them to stop and look up, and then they both calmed down because they were in awe of the Eiffel Tower. That distraction trick had slowly stopped working through the years though.

McKenna sighed and then threw back a tiny smile to Luke and then turned to face the front.

She didn't know French but she saw a freeway sign that said they'd be at the Gare du Nord station in 1 kilometer.

Alfonso steered the car toward the exit and the station was suddenly in sight.

Here we go, she thought. Then she gripped the edge of her seat and prayed that they would all survive this.

Chapter 16: False Light

“Oh no, oh no, oh no.”

Jewel chanted the phrase over and over as Luke gripped Alfonzo’s shoulder to try to shake him awake.

“Fonz! Fonz, wake up, we’re gonna crash!”

Luke’s yelling had no effect whatsoever on Alfonzo. Another sharp gunshot whizzed through the night. Ron cursed and grasped McKenna’s hand tightly.

Before anyone could muster up a good panic, Luke plummeted himself up to the front seat to land on top of Alfonzo. Alfonzo didn’t move but his right shoulder was now beginning to drip blood onto the console.

“Jewel, get something to stop the blood, now,” Luke said brusquely as he gripped the steering wheel and tried to maneuver the gas pedal over Alfonzo’s Birkenstocks. McKenna hadn’t heard this authoritative tone from Luke before, and apparently Jewel wasn’t used to it either. “Jewel!” he snapped.

Jewel tore her eyes from the road that was streaming by as Luke steered them as safely as he could through their high-speed chase. Luke was dodging around seemingly slow-moving vehicles while their followers lagged only seconds behind.

Looking around briefly and not finding anything to staunch the blood, Jewel started to panic. “Luke, what should I use?”

Luke was intent on finding an exit or somewhere they might pull off to find safety; McKenna realized she needed to pull herself together and be helpful to the cause of saving their lives.

“Here, use this,” she said, letting go of her dad’s hand and offering up her sweatshirt. “Dad, should I tie it straight around the wound to give it direct pressure even though the bullet is likely still in his arm?” She only possessed minor experience with first aid and nothing beyond that, and she was quickly getting sick at the sight of all the blood.

“Yes, just like you’re doing,” Ron offered, glancing behind at the fast approaching black vehicles. “Make it tight.”

McKenna tied the sweatshirt around the best she could.

“Any suggestions, folks?” Luke asked with a high-pitched edge to his voice. “I can’t find a turn off anywhere nearby. The signs are flying by too fast.”

“Jewel, keep holding this right here,” McKenna instructed. She looked up to try to offer advice to Luke, but only saw thick trees lining the highway and not much else.

Ron suddenly jerked his head up. “There’s a gas station on your right about two miles ahead,” he said excitedly. “I used to stop there on the way from the school to Artichoke. If they follow us there, the gas station will be populated so they shouldn’t be able to hurt us there. Well, I hope not anyway."

“Sold,” Luke said. “I don’t think we have another choice. Here goes nothin’.”

McKenna spied the speedometer creeping up to 135. If they missed the turn or didn’t slow down fast enough, they would all be toast before their assailants could even reach them.

Looking back, their followers had backed off a little bit and weren’t keeping pace with Luke’s higher speed. They might just be able to make it after all.

The rest stop flashed into sight. They were almost there, so close to the bright lights that would give them protection.

Then McKenna’s brain registered something rather strange for the late hour at the gas station.

“Luke, don’t turn in!” she screamed.

“Why?” he howled back, hands ready on the wheel to make the quick turn.

“They have back up!”

The other occupants of the car looked to the gas station and saw at the pumps another foreboding, black limo and sedan with tinted windows.

The image was brief as Luke swiftly took McKenna’s advice and rocketed past the gas station.

At the gas station, a dark-haired man jumped out of the sedan, but before any of them could get a good glimpse, they had flown by the station.

“Look, the other cars are pulling into the station. I think we’re free now,” Ron said with relief. “Good work, Ken.” He ruffled McKenna's hair like he used to when she was younger.

“Not to rain on our success train but we need to get Fonz to a hospital stat,” Luke said.

As if he heard his name, Alfonzo’s eyes slowly opened.

“No time for a hospital,” Alfonso croaked. Luke then remembered he happened to be sitting on his uncle so he shifted to try to make Alfonzo a little more comfortable in his injured state. “Jewel,” Alfonzo said, looking into his niece’s wide eyes. “Use my phone, call speed dial 7 and make arrangements to use the jet at location 4. We’re only about forty minutes away. Less than that if Luke keeps driving like a maniac.”

Everyone went silent as Alfonzo’s eyes closed again and his head rolled to the side, his forehead creasing with discomfort and pain.

“Fonz, what about your shoulder? You need a doctor,” Luke said forcefully.

“Luke, we can worry about my injury on the plane. We need to make this flight or we won’t be able to stop them in time.”

Nobody dared ask who and what they were supposed to be stopping and why it was more important than a crucial hospital visit.

Jewel wordlessly picked up Alfonzo’s phone, dialed 7 and waited for an answer.

Chapter 13: Love Entanglements

Alfonzo changed lanes and the blinker clicked loudly into the silence as the group awaited Ron’s story.

Ron took in a deep breath. 

"Well, college was a rough time for me. It took me a long time to figure out what exactly I wanted to do with my life. In fact, I went through a long period where I used to think I wanted to be an environmental studies major.”

McKenna couldn’t help but interrupt early in the story. “Really?” she asked incredulously. “I never knew that.”

“Actually, that's where the story starts,” Ron said, patting McKenna’s knee. “My decision toward environmental studies might have been triggered by a certain girl who I happened to have a crush on, or have the hots for, or whatever you kids call it these days.”

Luke chimed in. “I think we actually just call it love now.”

McKenna stole a look at Luke to see just how flippant his comment was. He seemed to be mostly joking with only a touch of seriousness. So, after rolling her eyes at him playfully, she turned back to her father. She had never heard the story of how her parents had met.

“Lisa was what you would call a flower child,” Ron began. “She had long, golden hair that she wore in a pony tail with a daisy in it and she always had homemade t-shirts with political statements about the environment on them. Some girls dressed that way to keep up with the fads of the time, but Lisa was truly passionate about what she believed. Really, I simply couldn't resist her.”

McKenna smiled, watching her dad light up as he told the story. She remembered seeing pictures of her parents back when the styles were full of flowers and peace signs.

“So, I didn’t actually know Lisa, and I used to be extremely shy. But one day, my friend, Chris, convinced me to go talk to her.”

Now everyone was acutely tuned in to the story upon hearing the name Chris. Even Alfonzo drifted out of the lane for a moment, only to hurriedly realign the car safely within the confines of the white lines.

“Dad, was it Mom’s Chris that was your friend?”

Ron squeezed his eyes shut upon hearing Chris described as Lisa’s Chris. But he knew he had to continue on, so he opened his eyes and looked squarely at McKenna.

“Yes, the very same. Chris practically dragged me over to talk to her. The two of them hit it off instantly because Chris happened to be an environmentally conscious fellow. He used that as an in and then claimed he had to run off for a biology meeting and left me alone with Lisa.

"At first, she seemed put out that Chris was gone. Soon enough though, I found my voice and ended up making her laugh all the way to her next class. However, I was still pretty shy and didn't ask for her phone number. I just hoped I'd get to see her again. But before I could turn to leave she grabbed my arm and scribbled her number in a huge purple scrawl.”

The mood in the car had lightened significantly as everyone relaxed and listened to Ron's love story.

“Anyway, I called her that night; I couldn’t help myself. We set a date for the weekend. That’s not really an important part of the story, but basically it consisted of a drive-in movie, my car breaking down, an intense pretend dialogue of us dubbing the cheesy flick we’d seen and a kiss on the cheek at the end of the night.”

McKenna had heard this part of her parents' history and wanted to hear it again, but she knew she had to be patient. Glancing up front, McKenna realized that Ron had Jewel’s complete attention. She hadn’t known that was possible. Even though Jewel had crossed arms and her usual wrinkled brow, there was a hint of a smile playing on her lips. Maybe Jewel was actually a sap, deep down under all her sarcasm.

“—And we couldn’t get enough of each other. Ice cream runs, study sessions, more drive-in movies; we spent practically every waking moment together. Some called it unhealthy, but we knew that we only wanted to be with each other. We’d talked about marriage and all I had to do was ask her father for permission and we were set.”

This fairy tale portion of the story was what McKenna had always heard growing up. Except she knew that there had to be a glitch to the story, or her father wouldn’t be telling it.

“So, I was all happy, floating on air everywhere I went. When Chris invited me to what he called an environmental debate, I agreed to go, since Lisa was busy with a group project. But I soon realized when we got there that this debate was actually a full-fledged protest. A local company had been accused of dumping into the city river and Chris and some of his friends had decided to protest outside the company’s gates. Being in love and all, I think I was easily convinced of anything. So I grabbed a picket sign and protested my heart out for the cause.”

Ron paused as Alfonzo steered the car to an exit off the freeway. “Wait, where are we going?” he questioned Alfonzo.

Startled at being addressed, Alfonzo jumped. Then he glanced back and said, “Grocery store. I figured we could all use some food before we really get going.”

Before McKenna could ask where they could possibly be headed after the store, Luke changed the subject back to the story. “So, how does this protest have to do with my sister being almost killed at a train station in Paris?”

Ron sighed and sat back. “I’m getting to that. So, after the protest, we got caught by the cops and got cited for trespassing. It was no picnic, being sent to the police station, but I figured we deserved what we’d been charged for, so I was taking the whole situation rather calmly. But Chris started reacting rather violently toward the police who were charging us, and he ended up getting arrested. Before being shoved into a police car, I heard him talking to his other protester friends, using odd code words, and I knew something wasn’t right. I'd never seen this side of Chris before. He looked maniacal as he screamed at the police with his blonde, greasy hair whipping back and forth. Picture a blonde Severus Snape and that was Chris back then. He definitely intimidated the cops. Anyway, once we all got released, I asked Chris about the weird code words. He answered vaguely but didn’t tell me anything concrete. Repeatedly though, I kept seeing people who had been at the protest glaring at me whenever I saw them around campus. I was quite confused by that point.

"Then we heard that one of the cops who arrested us had died in a fatal car accident. This was the officer who had arrested Chris at the protest. Since I’d heard Chris threaten this officer, I badgered him even more. Finally, he confessed that he was in a gang.”

McKenna gasped. What? Chris, in a gang? He seemed to be one of the calmest people she knew. He was usually opting for relaxing movie nights with her mother, and she had rarely seen him angry. Last week, hadn’t he even offered to take her out for ice cream? Then an urgent thought crossed McKenna’s mind.
“Dad, is mom safe right now?”

Ron opened his mouth to answer, but Alfonzo spoke instead. “Actually, he’s out of the country, currently. We’ve been tracking his whereabouts. Your mother is completely safe right now.”

McKenna sighed in relief and leaned her head back on the seat. Luke reached a hand over to rub her shoulder lightly.

Suddenly, McKenna felt safe, nestled between her father and Luke. Which was odd, considering her father had been estranged to her until only about an hour ago and she’d only met Luke yesterday. But strangely enough, she felt comforted by the two men beside her.

Before anyone else could comment further, Ron plunged on to get the rest of his story out.

“I finally understood that Chris had drugged that officer before he'd gotten into his car, which caused the accident. As if finding that out wasn't terrible enough, it turned out that the protest had been a sort of initiation into this gang, and that I had passed the test,” Ron said quickly, as if saying it faster diminished its importance. “Chris was the leader and he wanted me as one of his top guys. Well, actually, mostly girls were his top dogs; they're the ones who couldn't stop glaring at me for jumping the ranks.”

Ron registered the shocked look on McKenna’s face.

“McKenna, obviously I didn’t want in this gang,” Ron’s voice pleaded for her understanding. “I had everything I wanted in front of me in your mother. I told Chris I wasn’t interested. Chris and I grew apart soon after that, but not because of the gang. He found out that I was going to ask Lisa to marry me. He went crazy one night when I got home from class, throwing things everywhere, claiming he always thought Lisa was really interested in him and once she got over me that they would be together. Why he hadn’t told me his feelings sooner, I had no idea. But there was no stopping me from marrying Lisa by then. We were married within the year.

"Concerning the gang though, Chris told me I could decline with no consequences, but that they'd always be watching me. No consequences actually consisted of yearly checkups where he’d randomly appear to me to ask if I wanted in yet. I think he really just wanted to glimpse Lisa and reconfirm that we were still married. Looking back, I can see how he was able to use this to his advantage and find her so quickly after the divorce. Anyway, I always declined his gang offers. One year though, he came to me with an assignment.”

Jewel whipped her head around, breaking her rare silence. “Me?” she asked.

Ron nodded. “I declined, of course, but Chris kept returning to me, holding a paper bag and claiming he needed my friendly cooperation because I was the only one who could help him. He said that when I took my sabbatical to Paris that I could be of service. After denying him multiple times, finally it was time for my family and I to head to Paris. The entire trip I was extremely paranoid. But by the end when nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, I began to relax. Only later did I find out that my daughter had gotten in the midst of my problem right under my nose,” he said accusingly to McKenna.

McKenna just smiled sheepishly, waiting for the rest of the connections to fall into place in the story.

“Apparently Chris had crossed paths with another gang that was heavy into dealing drugs. There was a guy, Matthias, who had an initiation assignment to kill his girlfriend, who apparently knew too much about their operation. Matthias went to Chris, who had owed him from some previous dealing, and convinced Chris that he needed to kill this girl because he couldn’t go through with it himself. Chris was under the radar, hiding from the law since his gang had dispersed, so he came to me, probably his only friend left, to have me carry out the operation. I honestly didn’t think he’d leave a gun for me to do the unthinkable.”

Jewel was turned, gripping the edge of the seat she was in as she listened to the story of her assassination attempt. “Why didn’t they come after me again?” she asked.

“The gun was gone, and although no reports of a death in the train station had been given, Chris assumed I had done the work for him. He came later to commend me when I told him the truth. Matthias apparently had lied to his gang leader, saying he’d gone through with it.”

“That’s when Matthias came to us,” Alfonzo chimed in. “He wanted to protect Jewel, even though he'd  started out with awful intentions. His gang is called The Gordovos; they’re a well known murderous drug gang in the Maine and New Hampshire area. I’d heard of them and knew that we had to hide Jewel as quickly as possible. Luckily, Jewel had already come to me with her apprehensions about Matthias’s gang, so I’d already sent Jewel to Paris to hide out for a while. Then Luke and I had to fly to Paris to track her down, ensure her safety and go to the train station where Matthias told us her killer was waiting. We had to put a stop to it all. Now, somehow, The Gordovos has realized that Jewel is still alive. They're doing everything they can to make sure we don't expose the gang and its secrets. Which is why we’ve been trying to solve this, so we can all live in safety.”

Just then, the car pulled into the lot of a 24-hour grocery store.

“And now we need to get prepared for the next step of our journey,” Alfonzo concluded.

“Where exactly are we going?” McKenna asked tentatively.

“Where else?” Luke asked, getting out of the car. “Paris.”

Chapter 10: Alliances

McKenna’s head bumped across the cool window. How had she managed to fall asleep after everything she’d just heard?

She sat up and wiped the corner of her mouth, assuring herself that she wouldn’t have zombie-drool face, as Greg called it.

Greg. McKenna wondered when she’d see him next. She repressed the urge to text him to see what he was up to. He probably would just want to hang out tonight anyway and she really wouldn’t be able, seeing as she was three hours away from home.

She had told her mom that a last-minute trip to a zombie convention was going on so she and Greg had to get to the city to stay the night with the zombie club to get there on time the next day. After some convincing and assurances that she wouldn’t spend all of her weekends participating in zombie-related activities, her mother allowed her to take the trip. That had bought her a couple of days.

Lying to her mother wasn’t common behavior for McKenna. The truth generally came easier for her. Why not tell the truth when lies always ended up hurting people?

Signs for the University of Minnesota kept cropping up, reminding McKenna of the night’s purpose. She didn’t want to know all the lies her father had told or see the wake that his path of destruction had left. Why did it have to be like this? She had once been part of such a tight-knit family.

McKenna’s mind suddenly jumped to her mother. Did her mom have any knowledge about her dad’s secret life?

This thought gave her an instant headache. She couldn't stand it any longer.

“Hey, guys? Can we stop at the next gas station?” McKenna thought the occupants of the car might be asleep, but obviously Alfonzo wasn’t since the car didn’t seem to be veering off the road.

“Very well,” he answered quietly.

Luke stirred on his side of the car and stretched. “Not a bad idea. I could use a snack anyway.”

McKenna rolled her eyes, not thinking of snacks at a time when she had to focus on how she was about to see her estranged father for the first time in years.

Okay, it’d been about a year and a half. But still. She hadn’t seen him for all that time. It wasn’t like she was the exact same person she was before the divorce. And obviously he wasn’t the person she thought he was.

When Alfonzo pulled up to a 7-Eleven, she immediately bolted to the bathroom. After splashing a bit of water on her face, she stared at herself in the mirror.

At least I haven’t changed through all of this, she thought. I’m still the same person. She stared. Right? Then she had no choice left but to step back out into the fluorescent lights of the gas station store to meet up with her kidnapper posse.

Luke startled her from behind. “Please tell me you like cherry licorice bites. Those are pretty much the only candy Alfonzo, Jewel and I agree on.”

Her immediate answer was to say she hated that candy. She whipped around to face Luke with a scowl ready at her lips. But she turned and saw Luke standing there holding out cherry licorice bites and trying to juggle way too many packages of mini donuts. He seemed totally earnest and innocent, like he was just as thrown into this as she was.

And why was it such a good thing to always be disagreeing with her captors? They were just as confused as she was. She could handle being civil, at least toward Luke. He was a likable fellow, after all. Under the circumstance, he seemed to be doing the best he could to make her feel comfortable. Maybe in a different context the two of them could have been good friends.

Luke sensed her oncoming scowl and backed up a bit, turning toward a shelf of Corn Nuts. But then McKenna released her desire to be rude with a pent-up sigh. “Sure, I love those.”

Luke beamed and grabbed an extra package off the shelf and headed toward the front of the store. “We probably need Slurpees too then,” he announced.

McKenna mumbled facetiously, “Now that’s just pushing it.”

Luke turned and eyed her, gauging her humor. “If you mean it’s pushing our limits to consume cherry Slurpees and cherry licorice in the same sitting, then you’re right,” he said slowly. “We really can’t ignore an opportunity like this.”

With that, Luke turned to get started on filling four tall cups with the sloshy, red drink. McKenna shook her head and chuckled to herself that Luke had managed to make her smile at a time when she felt like that wasn’t a possibility. As Luke searched for a cardboard drink holder, he turned to find McKenna holding one out for him.

And with the peace offering exchange of cherry licorice and a cup holder, the two seemed to be on better footing. They cracked a few jokes about Alfonzo’s stoicism and Jewel’s snoring as they walked out to the car digging into the licorice bites.

Now, off to see The Professor. AKA her dad.

The drive to the school seemed to last only a moment. Suddenly McKenna couldn't get down any more licorice bites. The university loomed before them.

“Wait, how do you guys even know my dad will be working here tonight?” McKenna suddenly asked. “He might be taking a night off, or something.”

Alfonzo pulled the car next to a red Honda Civic. “The Professor is always here,” he said.

McKenna crinkled her brow. Was this all her dad did with his time now that he didn’t have a family? Spend time late at school?

She was beginning to feel guilty for not calling him back all those times. She had just been so angry.

No. She shouldn’t feel guilty. This trip to see her dad was about something bigger. It was a quest for answers from him.

Biting her lip, she surveyed the campus and leaned against the car door. “Do you know where to go?” she asked the group.

“Probably where the signs tell us,” Jewel responded with a sarcastic edge in her voice.

“And the signs will say, ‘The Professor with the paper bag assassination assignment this way’?” McKenna spat back. Her nerves put her on edge and she wasn’t going to let some redhead with an attitude make a fool of her.

“Let’s just focus here. I say we head to the biology department. That would make the most sense, eh?” Luke tried to diffuse the tension with calming words and a gesture toward a sign indicating the different departments of the university.

After wandering the campus up a grassy pathway, they arrived at a building with a few lights still gleaming, even though it was past midnight.

This is it, McKenna thought. I’m about to see my dad.

After a deep breath, they pushed open the doors to the biology building. Quietly, the four made their way toward a light at the end of the hallway. Their footsteps clacked louder as they got closer. Or maybe that was McKenna’s heart pounding harder.

Finally, they reached the door to the office of Ron Olson. McKenna gently pushed the door ajar.

What she saw startled her beyond measure.

The office was destroyed with books strewn everywhere, a broken microscope shattered across the floor. Shelves and trinkets littered the carpet.

And her dad sat bruised, beaten and tied up to his office chair.

“Dad!” McKenna ran to him and put a hand to his cheek. His eyes weakly opened and he turned to look at her.

“I’m sorry, McKenna. So sorry,” he whispered. “I never meant for this to happen.” McKenna struggled to keep a tear from leaking down her cheek. “And Sweetie… I’ve missed you so much.”

The tear skimmed her cheek and she quickly wiped it away, giving her dad a hug while starting to untie him.

She noticed that Luke, Jewel and Alfonzo all stood together by the door with attention on something else. A note that sat on her father’s desk.

McKenna gulped back more tears, and then walked to stand by Luke to read the note.

Stop trying to play detective and you’ll live. If not, you’ll all end up deader than a redhead in a train station.

After exchanging a frightened glance with Luke, McKenna looked over at her father.

He caught her gaze, then promptly looked away.

Another tear slid down McKenna's cheek, this one out of frustration and confusion, as silence overtook the room.

Chapter 7: The Choice

739 Wind Stone Road.

McKenna looked from the Chinese takeout menu her mother had scribbled Luke’s address on back to the site in front of her.

This can’t be 739 Wind Stone Road, McKenna thought to herself. There wasn’t even a house in sight. All that sat on this small city block was a greenhouse that had gone out of business a few weeks ago. Maple trees dominated the rest of the block, towering over the greenhouse. There were signs still plastered to the sides of the greenhouse reading, “Petunias half off,” “Get a tree dirt-cheap to plant on Arbor Day” and “There’s still time to plant a garden!”

This couldn’t be right. McKenna already felt uneasy about meeting this boy, who was apparently named Luke, at some random address. Now it wasn’t even a house. Maybe her mother had written it down wrong.

McKenna stood on the sidewalk across from the greenhouse, scrutinizing the area. Then she saw movement inside the greenhouse. No way, she thought. She breathed deeply. It’s probably just some stray cat living in there eating tomato remnants.

But after a squeak of the door, a dark head of hair popped out the front door, glanced from side to side and then spotted McKenna standing alone.

It was the brown-eyed boy. Luke. He gestured with one finger for her to come to him and then he hurriedly slipped back inside.

Her instincts screamed that this would probably be the stupidest choice she’d ever make, yet her feet still moved her slowly across the street to the no longer abandoned greenhouse.

As she reached the door and slowly pushed it open she heard it creak ominously. Even though it was bright outside with only a few friendly clouds dotting the sky, the maple trees shaded the greenhouse and it was dark within. McKenna’s eyes strained to get used to the dark and to find Luke among the remains of dead plants and old pots.

A sudden movement directly to her right startled her. McKenna jumped and suddenly felt a hand on her arm. Gasping and looking up, she somehow saw through the darkness into Luke’s brown eyes.

“It’s alright, McKenna. We have to be quiet in here though. We don’t know who might be listening.”

Luke dropped McKenna’s arm and turned to head deeper into the greenhouse, but McKenna suddenly grabbed his arm in return and whirled him around.

“No, Luke. Just…No.”

Luke stepped closer to her, confused by her outburst.

 “I can’t keep doing this, you know,” McKenna said matter-of-factly. “Why did you find me and how do you know my name? And what do you want?” The words tumbled as she nervously tacked on even more questions. “Why are we sneaking around? Why are we here?” She let his arm go and gestured to the dark greenhouse. “Your little partner in crime isn’t here, is he? That older guy who lacks a sense of fashion telling him not to wear sandals with socks?”

Luke leaned in close to her, promptly terminating her slew of questions. McKenna suddenly lost any instincts informing her how to breathe.

“McKenna, it’s okay,” Luke assured her. “I know you’re confused, but I brought you here to give you answers. You just have to let me tell you in my own way. This is a long story that we have ahead of us.”

McKenna’s mind whirred. What could she possibly have to do with this whole mess? Why had they brought her into it? Luke leaned back away from her and McKenna took a deep breath.

“What do you mean that we have ahead of us? Aren’t you just going to tell me what happened in Paris and then run off to snatch other paper bags from ten-year-old girls?”

Luke sighed, clearly not anticipating the struggle from McKenna. He ran his fingers through his slightly too long dark hair and then began pacing, crunching dead leaves as he walked.

“McKenna, all those years ago in Paris, I was so young. But I knew so much.”

McKenna restrained herself from letting any unnecessary comments slip out. Finally, she was going to get her answers. Luke hopped onto an old shelf to sit and McKenna found a giant overturned pot which she sat atop after dragging nearer to the shelf.

“My sister, her name’s Jewel,” Luke began, kicking his legs against the bottom of the shelf. “She’s 5 years older than I am. Even though she’s a little bit older than I am, we always have gotten along pretty well. When I was twelve, she got this boyfriend, Matthias, who was a nice enough guy, but he was always randomly leaving and acting mysterious about it, so my parents always suspected he was involved in some shady type of business, probably drugs. They really cared about her, but they wanted her to be happy, so they never questioned him.”

Unsure of how this story about Luke’s sister was related to a simple paper bag left at a train station, McKenna continued to listen and found she was interested to hear about Luke’s life.

“Jewel told me she always wondered where Matthias went but he would always brush off her questions. I really just wanted my sister to be happy. Anyway, so being the stupid twelve-year-old kid I was, I followed him when he up and left one day. Because it was winter and Maine was especially freezing that January, I bundled up and figured Matthias wouldn’t recognize me trudging behind him. Matthias and I got on a bus which took us all the way out to the fishing district side of town. There were warehouses everywhere and I really was beginning to think that Matthias was headed for a drug deal. But then he turned toward the wharf by the boats docked up from their trips out to get lobster. I was having a hard time staying under cover because the area was deserted, so I had to stay really far behind him. Then Matthias—”

Luke suddenly stopped talking. Gravel crunched out in front of the greenhouse as footsteps came close. Quickly lunging forward and grabbing McKenna’s hand, Luke pulled McKenna through the greenhouse, hopping over bags of soil until they reached the back door. McKenna became instantly grateful she’d taken track and field for all those years and learned to perfect her hurdles. The two slithered through the door and back outside into the maple tree shade.

They tiptoed over gravel until they reached the sidewalk behind the greenhouse that led out to the sidewalk. Letting go of McKenna’s hand, Luke dashed across the street into the confines of a quiet neighborhood. After a moment of contemplation, McKenna followed him.

When she reached him, Luke glanced all around and behind them.

“I knew we were risking a lot by meeting like that. At least they didn’t see us. Alfonzo and I should have seen this coming.” Luke started muttering to himself now.

As McKenna was about to ask who exactly was stalking them, a white car suddenly whipped around the corner and halted right in front of them. McKenna simply stared with wide eyes while Luke pulled open the door. Then he turned to her.

“What now?” McKenna asked, finding her voice because of the fear at seeing him leave again. “You need to finish telling me your story.”

Luke gripped the door and McKenna glimpsed through the window and noted the older newspaper-holding, poor-sense-of-fashion guy, who apparently was named Alfonzo, in the driver’s seat.

“McKenna, we can’t finish this here,” Luke said with an apologetic look crossing his face. “I know you need your answers and I really need your help, but we have to do this another time.” He paused, craning his neck to look back again to make sure their followers hadn’t caught up. Then he looked straight into McKenna’s blue eyes and said, “But you can come with us.” He raised his eyebrows expectantly and opened the car door wider.

McKenna bit her lip, pondering her situation. Really, the thought was out of the question. She didn’t even know this boy. Let alone the creepy guy who was driving. McKenna and Luke both turned as voices shouted just around the corner.

Luke clambered inside the white car but kept the door open for her as a choice.

Then her mind flashed back to the taxi that sped out of her life but stayed in her mind forever. This car was about to do the same thing. But this time a hand stretched out toward her, inviting her to know the secrets.

 All she knew was that Paris and that paper bag were bigger than she ever imagined. And that her mother would kill her when she found out about her day’s activities.

Nevertheless, she took Luke’s extended hand and slid inside, slamming the door and welcoming the sound of the car peeling away from the curb because this time she was in the midst of it all.

Chapter 4: The Viking's Secret

Bzzzzzzzzz. Finally, McKenna thought. Lunch time.

McKenna gathered her belongings, then followed a herd of students as they streamed into the hallway. McKenna stopped by her locker, dialed her combination, then stared at her sack lunch sitting crumpled on her math book. Finally, after a moment of staring, she succumbed by snatching it up and heading toward the front foyer of the school.

She was supposed to meet Greg by their school statue, a bronze viking who looked like a leader announcing the call to battle. Because the viking was in such a warrior pose with sword held high and shield bracing oncoming evils, Greg had always said the viking would be the first warrior to head off a zombie attack. Greg and McKenna met at the statue every Wednesday for Zombie Club, where they learned how they would fight off zombies in an attack. The club was not so much about if there was attack but rather when there would be an attack. McKenna didn't fully believe in zombies and an apocalypse of them, but she liked to support her friends and their interests.

McKenna walked over to lean against the railing protecting the school's precious mascot and looked through her texts while she waited for Greg to arrive. However, after a moment of clicking through her phone, she sensed someone staring.

Cautiously, she looked all around her. The hallway was quickly emptying with students either headed to lunch or class, so there weren't many people to watch. A couple walked together, laughing arm in arm. A lone girl huffed by, clearly late for class. The front office receptionist stared at her computer, clicking periodically and picking at a half-eaten salad.

Finally, McKenna casually turned around and saw two figures standing stationary on the other side of the viking statue. She could only see their feet. It appeared to be two men, both with jeans, one with socks and Birkenstocks, the other with gray Converse sneakers. She could hear them whispering and saw the finger of the one with Birkenstocks below the viking's shield, pointing right at her. Were these the people who she could feel staring at her?

Suddenly, she got a sick feeling in her stomach. Lunch, she knew, would not be on her agenda today. She backed away from the viking quietly and headed as nonchalantly as she could back toward her locker. Once she turned the corner, she ran through the hall and ducked into the doorway to the school's copy room.

Why she felt nervous, she couldn't figure out. One of the guys was older, but the other appeared to be her age. Maybe it was just his dad, pointing something out on the plaque of the viking statue. Trying to figure out her next move, McKenna suddenly realized she was empty-handed.

She'd left her sack lunch by the statue.

Blast, she thought. I don't want to go back there now.

She flinched as a group of students walked by. Then she took a deep breath. You're fine, you're fine, she chanted to herself.

Deciding she should really just calm down and see if Greg had ever gotten his zombie butt over to the statue, she crept out from behind the corner. The only person she glimpsed was a lone boy with a bright blue t-shirt and jeans, walking down the hallway away from her. With her sack lunch.

No, wait, she thought. That isn't mine; surely he brought his own and is just headed to the cafeteria to eat.

Her brain worked so murder mystery-like sometimes. This sack lunch day had to be over soon or she'd go crazy.

As she walked back through the hallway to the statue, she realized that the boy was headed in the same direction. He took his time walking, running his fingers along the reddish brick wall of the school as he went. Curious, McKenna slowed down her pace to watch him. Finally, she watched the boy's fingers launch away from the bricks as the wall ended and they arrived in the front foyer of the school.

She glanced over at the statue to locate her lunch. It wasn't anywhere in sight.

Shoot, she thought. What if I actually do get hungry?

The boy turned to lean against the statue as she approached it. He smiled at her and she politely smiled back, not recognizing him. She didn't see anyone lurking behind the viking, so she felt better now, safer. Hopping up on the railing to wait a little longer for Greg, she noticed that the boy beside her smelled nice. Like fresh, minty soap. Then she happened to notice his shoes.

Gray Converse.

She looked back up at him and he stared at her with a half smile, his hands gripping the railing. Only a brief few seconds passed of her looking into deep, brown eyes that seemed to graze her soul before he suddenly hopped off the railing and disappeared around the other side of the statue.

McKenna froze. There's no way, she thought incredulously. That was not him.

That boy who had haunted her dreams for ages.

Knowing she had to chase after him, at least to look into his eyes again, she flung herself from the railing to run around the statue. She kicked a brown paper bag in the process. She paused. Was this her lunch or the boy's lunch?

She supposed she could at least have an excuse to talk to the boy with the haunting eyes if she had his lunch. So she unrolled the paper, peeking inside to see what was within. She saw the lunch her mother had packed and a small piece of paper. A note from her mother?

Her fingers wrapped around the tiny roll of paper that had been sitting atop the contents of the lunch. Unfurling it, she read:

Meet me by the willow tree on the end of your street at 4. Just you and me. I need your help and I have answers for you about Paris.

McKenna gasped and dropped the paper. She hurriedly ran to the other side of the viking, frantically searched from left to right, but the boy was no where in sight. Dumbfounded and stricken with the memories of Paris rushing back to her, she made her way back to the brown paper bag lying crinkled on the tile floor.

A meeting with the boy... What if he wouldn't really be alone? The man with the newspaper had to have been the other figure behind the statue, she thought. That guy creeped her out beyond measure. Her brain had perused so many possibilities as to his role in the Parisian paper bag incident, most being villainous. So was it worth the risk of going to meet the boy?

Picking up that tiny scroll and rereading the tiny paper, she realized something. There was no way she could ever turn down this opportunity. A meeting that could help her understand the mystery which had been hiding inside her for so long that she could not solve alone. She had to take the chance to find answers and talk to the brown-eyed boy.

Chapter 1: The Train Station

There was a little brown paper bag sitting on the white plastic seat.

Nobody noticed it. Except a 10-year-old girl named McKenna.

The paper bag had permanent creases in it like someone had gripped it ferociously for a good length of time. It was sitting on a train station seat in Paris, France. McKenna had traveled there with her parents and was waiting for her train to the airport to take her home to the United States.

McKenna's parents were bickering about carry-on luggage while McKenna stared at the brown paper bag beside her. What could be inside? she wondered.

She started guessing in her mind. Someone forgot their lunch... It's a piece of jewelry for a man's wife that he disguised in a simple bag... Maybe it's a bomb...

Her last thought startled her. Ever since she could remember, she had seen terrorism on the news. Whether actual terrorism or presumed terrorism, it was a constant threat to her society.

Maybe it was her duty to discover what was inside that paper bag. She reached her hand over to the bag, ignoring her parents' new argument about which of them should get a window or an aisle seat on the train.

She pulled at the rolled up paper bag a bit then stopped, having second thoughts about if she should be doing this at all. What if the owner came back and just really wanted her lost sandwich?

But suddenly, a boy of about 12 appeared in front of her. He immediately snatched the paper bag from her and held it close to his chest. McKenna glanced at her parents but they hadn't noticed.

"Did you look inside?" The boy inquired with a bitter tone.

"N-No," McKenna stuttered, not expecting the boy's hostility.

"You did, didn't you?" he said, taking her stuttered response as confirmation of his worst fear.

"I really didn't!" McKenna stood now and was pleased to find that she and the boy were roughly the same height. She stood up straighter and asked defiantly, "So what is in that bag?"

The boy jerked his head around and glanced at a man leaning nonchalantly by a soda machine with a newspaper on the other side of the train tracks. The man was staring openly at McKenna and this boy.

"I have to hurry," he said simply. "I shouldn't be talking to you."

A confused look crossed McKenna's face. "But wait, can't you just tell me what's inside?" she asked desperately.

The boy looked pained, clearly wanting to appease her but knowing he couldn't. "It's just something. I can't tell you." Then he started off toward the man leaning against the soda machine.

The cogs in McKenna's head started whirring as he walked away and she couldn't help but blurt out, "Is it a bomb?"

The boy whipped around and strode back over to her quickly. "This is not  a bomb. I told you I cannot tell you what it is. This is important and this discussion is over."

But before the boy could run away from her again, he stopped to stare deeply into her eyes. McKenna saw a pleading look, one of desperation, in his dark brown eyes. But what could McKenna do to help him?

Then, as quickly as he had arrived, he backed away from her and turned, then swiftly loped across the station platform. Both he and the man disappeared into a new crowd of people walking into the station.

McKenna couldn't stand it. She had to know where they were going.

"Mom, Dad, bathroom before the train comes!" she yelled over her shoulder as she sprinted away.

She heard her mother yell behind her, "McKenna!!" She knew she'd be in trouble by the time she got back to her parents. But she couldn't care about that now. Glimpsing the boy's white t-shirt out near the taxi station, she dashed out the door toward him.

Once outside, she whipped her head from side to side. Then she pinpointed the two climbing into a taxi.

"Wait!" she cried. She ran in their direction and the boy saw her right as he was getting inside the taxi. That same pained look crossed his face as he saw her coming. However, he hurriedly slipped in, pulled the door shut and the taxi peeled out from the side of the road before she could get to them.

McKenna gasped for air by the curb, not knowing exactly what she'd just witnessed. But as she stood with her hands on her knees, watching the cab disappear, she knew that it would haunt her for the rest of her life.

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Once (Aloe Vera)
upon (Keychain)
a time... (Squeeg)