* * * * *
It was nearly five in the afternoon before the three of us made it over to our next stop, the Kool Spot. I’d already called my worried parents and let them know I was okay, and told the cops all about Josh and Kristina (leaving out the part about the bikes.) Yeah, I wanted to get home to collapse and die, but Jerry came first. I had to make sure he was okay, and let him know he didn’t have to worry anymore. Well, at least for a while.
Then it was off to dinner and a manicure.
The blue no one under eighteen sign still hung in the door. Big deal, but I knew it was just one of the many rules the Shadow Regime was bringing to the world. Worse stuff would come if someone didn’t do something.
And I had a feeling that someone was me.
I opened the door and stepped in to find the place empty. No shock. Jerry wiped the dust off a game table with a cloth. He probably didn’t have anything else to do.
Except stop, stiffen, and stare at me. “Rita? You can’t come in here.” His gaze darted around the room. “He could come back. A portal opened a while ago in here, but no one came out. I can’t take any chances, though—”
I held up a hand and did two things. First, I peeled the sign off the door, crumpled it in a ball, and tossed it across the room. It rolled under the shelf of books.
The second thing I did was run over and hug Jerry.
“It’s fine now,” I said, a rush of emotions coming over me. “He can’t come back here for a while. Sit down and lock up the building. We’ve got a lot to tell you.”