Dillard? My biological dad. I hadn’t seen him since we moved to Mountain View, and I didn’t want to. Not now, after so many years. Rupert was my dad, my
real
dad. Rupert was the best dad anyone could ask for. Not once had my real dad tried to contact me before, why would he now?
“Home? As in my home?”
“I don’t know. Will you give your mom the message?”
“I can’t. She’s in a coma.”
“I’m so sorry, Arizona. I didn’t know. What happened?”
“How come you didn’t know? You seem to know everything else,” I snapped. “Why did you bring me this message? Why didn’t you try to give it to her directly?”
“You were the first of the Darleys I found, apart from Ryker, and there was no point giving it to him.”
“Ryker?”
“Your cousin.”
“I don’t have any idea who you’re talking about,” I snapped impatiently. “Okay, now that you know I can’t give this message to Mom, what do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know. I’ll find out. Bye for now, Arizona.” Then he just disappeared into a mist.
I threw my head back onto the pillow.
~
“Kellan, give her time. She’s probably got feelings for you that she can’t understand. How could she?
So she’s withdrawing from you. Give her space to work through her feelings,” Harry suggested.
“Everything you say makes sense, but it’s so difficult. I feel like I’ve lost her. Then, just for a moment there in the pool, she was back. But then she stepped back again.”
“I know, buddy.”
“She’s going to want answers when she gets up. What are we going to tell her? Ella will tell her everything, anyway; she won’t be able to help herself. It’s probably better if we fill her in.”
“Yeah. Ideally, Mom and Dad would do this, but under the circumstances….”
“Arizona’s taking a nap, and Gramadea said to leave her alone until dinnertime. She also said that we wouldn’t be alone at dinner–your cousin’s visiting–so that won’t be a good time. How about we do it after dinner? Just you, me, and Arizona. Unless Ella spills everything during dinner, in which case….” He shrugged.
“Ella’s having dinner with Sally tonight,” Harry said.
“She transported back?”
“Yes, just for a playdate. Alexa took her. She was fed up with not being able to see her friends at school so Gramadea thought a playdate would keep her happy.”
“Well, that’s good. We’ll do it after dinner then.”
~
“Arizona, wake up.” Gramadea gently shook my shoulder.
I opened my eyes, disoriented for a moment. “Where am I?”
“You’re at my house,” Gramadea said. “It’s a bit confusing, isn’t it? I can see it in your eyes.”
I nodded. “Is it time for dinner?”
“Yes. Get dressed, and I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
I noticed that Gramadea had changed into a nice skirt, so I brought out a navy shift dress with a lilac bow belt and slipped into my navy Chanel flats.
Gramadea was back just as I finished applying my eyeliner. “You look absolutely lovely.”
Boy, I must have looked pretty rough recently.
“Your Granddad is home. He was very anxious to see you, so he decided to come over for dinner. He has to leave again right afterwards. He brought your cousin Ryker with him, so you’ll get to meet him as well. Ready?”
I nodded, then followed Gramadea through the house to the formal dining room, which had a massive oak table that would seat at least twenty people. Everyone had congregated at one end of it.
The man sitting at the head of the table got up and smiled, then he walked over and kissed my cheeks, both of them, like they did in France. “Arizona, it’s so good to see you. Are you okay?”
“Yes, thank you. You’re my granddad?” He looked a lot like Rupert. I had never met him before, which was odd. Gramadea came to visit once a year, but never with Granddad. In fact, Dad had never mentioned him.
“I am. Please sit down. This is Ryker, my sister’s grandson. I brought him along for a visit.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said to the boy who got up from the chair next to Harry’s and came over to shake my hand. He looked somber, like something was troubling him.
“Pleased to meet you.” He returned to his seat. I noticed him glancing at his watch.
I sat down between Granddad and Harry and was immediately presented with a plate of food by the servant who had quietly come up behind me. He placed the plate on the table and–just as quietly–made himself scarce.
Granddad turned to look at me. “I’m really glad you’re okay. I have to get going soon, so may I ask you some questions while we eat?”
“Sure.” I swallowed the piece of steak I had just put in my mouth, nearly choking in the process. I coughed. Harry thumped my back and handed me a glass of water. I drank some, and then nodded at Granddad. “Go ahead.”
“I’m really sorry you’ve become involved in all this again. Know that you are safe here–”
“Safe? How?”
“Potomal’s group won’t be able to breach my security, so Raj won’t be able to use them to get to you.”
“You sure about that?”
“Sure about what?”
“That your security can’t be breached.”
“Absolutely. Why do you ask?”
“Well, it’s just that Stan stopped by my room for a chat earlier and–”
“Stan?” Granddad interrupted. “Potomal’s son?”
I nodded. Everyone gawked at me.
Granddad got up. “Amadea, secure the house, maximum security, and have the children stay in here until I return. Ryker, come with me.”
Amadea spoke into her cell phone relaying the message to someone, and then turned to me again. “What did Stan want?”
“He had a message from Raj for my mother. He wanted me to tell her that
Dillard is home
, whatever that means. I told him that I couldn’t give her the message because she’s in a coma, so he took off again, saying he’d be back.”
Amadea reached for her phone again, repeating what I had said to someone. She listened quietly for a moment before putting her cell phone down again.
“Kids, we have to move to a new location,” she explained, as Granddad and Ryker came walking back into the dining room. Gramadea got up and stood behind me. Ryker stood behind Kellan’s chair and Granddad behind Harry. They put their hands on our shoulders, and we were wandering again. Where to? I had no idea. Home, I hoped, but there was a slim chance of that. The journey took quite a while.
When my feet touched a hard, slightly warm floor, I opened my eyes. We were indoors, but it was humid. We were standing in a room with huge bay windows and plants. There were a few beige, fabric-covered, wooden futon-like chairs and wooden side tables surrounded by huge potted plants.
“We have to go,” Granddad said. “I will return with Ella shortly.”
Ryker and he took off before I could even say goodbye.
“Where are we?” Harry asked.
“At the Bellagio in Las Vegas. We decided to relocate to a hotel rather than one of our other homes, in case security has been breached at the other locations, too,” Gramadea explained.
“Oh.” I creased my forehead in confusion. This didn’t look like the Bellagio; I had stayed there before. This looked, and sounded–I could hear gentle water sounds–more like a spa. There were even white pebbles lining the white stone-tiled floor.
Seeing my confusion, Gramadea smiled. “This is the solarium. Let’s go to the living room.”
We followed her into a massive room. Harry, Kellan and I looked around in awe. A big couch and four armchairs were placed so that anyone sitting there could see the large flat screen TV that hung above the fireplace. Four chairs surrounded a breakfast table standing next to the sitting area. Further along, two walls, one slate and the other mohair, enclosed a lovely dining room. A granite kitchenette completed the ensemble of rooms.
“Cool!” I finally said.
“Yeah, no kidding. This really is a cool suite,” Kellan agreed.
Harry peeked around the drapes. “Sheesh, look out the window!”
We walked over as the Bellagio dancing waters started, and we had an amazing view. Simply amazing. We stood in silence and watched the show.
Once it was over, I slumped down on the sofa. Gramadea was on the phone again. Harry and Kellan sank into the armchairs and looked over at Gramadea expectantly.
“Spencer will bring Ella in the morning. She is safe for the moment at her sleepover. I suggest you all head to bed. I have to leave, but there will be someone here watching over you. There are two bedrooms through there. Harry and Kellan, you will have to share, unless one of you prefers the couch out here. The room has a king-sized bed. Arizona, you’ll be in the other one and will share it with Ella once she arrives. You can’t leave the suite. I know it’ll be tempting, but we can’t risk you being seen.”
Bummer! Vegas was so much fun.
“Don’t look so disappointed, Arizona. Hopefully it won’t be for long.”
“What about Mom? Can we still visit her tomorrow?” Harry asked.
“Yes. I’ll make the arrangements. I have to go now,” she said, as a woman suddenly appeared.
“Kids, this is Rowena. She is here to keep an eye on you; she’ll be as unobtrusive as possible.”
Rowena smiled thinly, her hard and serious-looking eyes not reflecting the smile. She nodded and silently sat down at the breakfast table.
Gramadea hugged us, and then was gone just as suddenly as Rowena had appeared.
Obviously hungry, as our dinner had been cut short, Harry walked through to the kitchenette. I had barely begun eating earlier, when all hell broke loose. Kellan must have been hungry as well, but he stayed by my side.
“Shrimp, sit down for a moment. We need to talk.”
Uh, oh.
“Arizona, want some hot chocolate?” Harry shouted from the kitchenette.
“Yeah, that would be great.”
“Kell, Rowena?”
“Yes, please,” Kellan replied.
Rowena shook her head and continued sitting still in her chair.
“What’s with her?” I whispered, nudging Kellan.
“I guess she’s been told to concentrate on keeping us safe.”
“I guess.”
Kellan’s eyes fixed on mine. “So, are you remembering anything from the past year?”
I furrowed my brow and shook my head. “Like what? Help me out, Kell. Maybe if you tell me what’s happened, I’d remember some of it.”
“I’m not sure that’s how it would work.”
“Here’s your cocoa.” Harry put a tray on the coffee table. The tray had four mugs filled with whipped-cream-topped hot chocolate and plates of snacks and sandwiches. Harry took a mug and put some snacks and a sandwich on a plate, then took it to the breakfast table for Rowena. She nodded, but didn’t say a word.