Natalie Whipple: Blindsided

He nods. “It’ll probably be fine. But we’ll do whatever we have to in order to keep you safe. I promise.”

I should be saying that to him. If Juan doesn’t think our money is enough, there’s no way I’m dragging him, Brady, or the Navarros into it. But I don’t push the topic, because he’ll fight me on it and I’m too tired for that. “You coming over later?”

“Of course.” He smiles, his eyes flashing with mischief. “Doing homework with you is my favorite.”

I laugh. So many of our study sessions have devolved into making out instead. “Yes, homework , because my mom is home tonight.”

He frowns as he parks in front of my place. “I guess I’ll take what I can get.”

“You better.” I hop out and wave to him as I head inside. The house is quiet and cool. I stand there for a moment to listen and wait, just in case something is off and I’m walking into a trap. Seeing that guy today brought everything back. My criminal senses are in overdrive—it feels like this is only the beginning.

Instead of showering, I sit on the couch and pull out my phone. My thumb hovers over number two, my speed dial for Miles. Maybe I’m overreacting. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time. I did ruin Graham’s plans to keep us safe because I didn’t dare trust him. But then it doesn’t hurt to be careful, to make sure Miles knows we might have trouble on the horizon.

I press the button and wait for him to answer.

“Hello?” The voice is not Miles, but familiar all the same. It still weirds me out that my brothers live together after so many years of fighting, but Graham didn’t exactly have a lot of places to go when he left Dad’s syndicate. Miles took him in with surprisingly little convincing by Mom, I think because he wanted to spare me the pain of living with Graham.

“Where’s Miles?” I ask.

“In the bathroom. You want me to hand him the phone?” I can almost picture Graham’s evil grin.

“Ew, no.”

He laughs. “What’s up? Miles seems to get all the calls—did you lose my number?”

I wince, not really wanting to talk to Graham. He tries to be nice and does his best to make up for all he did, but it’s still difficult. No matter how hard I try to forget, part of me is still scared of him. “No, I didn’t lose it.”

He sighs, and I think it sounds regretful. “Yeah, I figured.”

“Can you tell him to call me when he gets out?”

“Actually, we’re already running late. We have to pick up Allie before the movie, and she hates missing previews.”

“Ugh.” Allie is Graham’s girlfriend. It’s hard to accept that reality. Because seriously, who’d want to date an infamous syndicate lapdog? This Allie chick must have a hardcore bad boy complex, which is surprising because apparently she’s really smart. She’s twenty-one and already in a doctorate program for chemistry.

“Is it so hard to give me a message to pass on?”

Yes, yes it is. Especially when it showcases my paranoia all too well. “It’s not really a message-type conversation. I’ll just call—”

“Is something wrong? Is Mom okay?”

To his credit, he really does sound worried. And he did put his life on the line to get us out of the syndicate before Dad turned me into his deadliest assassin. I should probably stop throwing up walls. Well, some walls, at least. “She’s fine, but there was a guy watching me at soccer practice…”

“What kind of guy?” There’s a pause. “Don’t tell me this is some kind of love triangle drama, because you can leave that to Miles.”

“No!” I bite back my annoyance. “He had tattoos, Graham. And The Pack says Juan’s guys come here to collect money from the gifted families every six months. Pretty sure he’s with them.”

He swears. There’s shuffling noises, as if he’s searching for something. “What’d he look like? I’ll look him up in the Registry.”

I roll my eyes. The government made up this Registry for people with “potentially dangerous abilities” ages ago, but it’s horribly inaccurate even if a person does show up in there. Under my name it claims I may or may not be able to possess other peoples’ bodies, which is ridiculous. “That thing is a joke, and I didn’t get a good look at him anyway.”

“Hmm…you can’t give me anything? I am pretty familiar with Juan’s guys—maybe I’ll recognize him.”

It isn’t likely. Juan’s syndicate is bigger than Dad’s, at least in numbers. When your henchmen are so recognizable, I guess there needs to be a lot more of them. The chance of Graham recognizing one guy on extortion duties in a tiny town like Madison is low. But I decide I’ll humor him anyway, otherwise he might come here and check for himself. “He was in the bleachers so I couldn’t see much more than his long black hair and big tattoos, but he seemed really skinny if that helps.”

“How skinny?” Graham asks rather seriously.

“Uh…I don’t know.”

“On the verge of starving to death? Or is he gangly like your boyfriend?”

“Hey!” Seth is perfect just the way he is. He has way more muscle than people give him credit for. “Don’t be a jerk or I’ll hang up.”

He sighs. “Well?”

I purse my lips, trying to remember the brief moment I saw him. “Maybe more on the starving to death side?”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”

“Why?” My heart speeds up a bit. If Graham does recognize this guy, then he’s a lot worse than your average lackey.

“It’s just…Juan’s right-hand man fits that description. He can walk through walls, but if he eats it doesn’t work. So he starves himself as much as he can. If he pops some Radiasure he can even take other people through walls with him.” There’s a pause, and I fill it with my own worry. “No one knows much about him, not even his name. He just goes by The Phantom.”

I gulp, thinking about the way he disappeared. If it was this wall walker, he could have sunk through the bleachers to look like he was gone. “Way to freak me out, Graham.”

“Sorry, he’s just the first person I thought of! It probably isn’t him. He’d be on big missions—not somewhere like Madison.” I hear a voice in the background. “Hey, Miles is done so we gotta go. We’ll talk later, okay? Tell me if you find out more.”

“Sure. Bye.” I hang up, determined to only talk with Miles for the rest of my life. Instead of feeling comforted, I am more on edge than ever.

I rush for the shower, hoping that’ll distract me from my overactive imagination. But even with the warm water pounding my skin, I can’t shake the feeling I’m being watched. Even if that guy wasn’t a wall walker—maybe he jumped down or has super speed or I’m just blind—the idea that someone could enter any place they want is scary.

What if he walked right into my house? Is he standing on the other side of the shower curtain?

Okay, no more of that. Turning off the water, I dry myself and dress in minimal clothing. I’m invisible, so no matter where a wall walker went they still couldn’t see me. Graham probably wanted to freak me out. I wish he’d grow up and stop with the teasing.

A loud knock echoes through the quiet house, and all my attempts to calm myself are ruined. I’m not sure whether I should answer or not, but I creep down the hall and check the peephole anyway.

When I see who’s there, I let out a relieved sigh and unlock it. “Hey! What’s with the surprise visit?”

“You didn’t answer your phone. Figured you were in the shower since everyone was home from practice.” Bea steps in, looking worried. She runs both hands through her wild hair. “So my brothers told me and Brady about Juan’s guy. You okay?”