Momentum (5 page)

“Let me deal with it, Ali,” Rupert said firmly. “I’ll call them if we need to, I promise. I want to keep the police out of this if I can. There's not much they can do if the Wanderers are involved anyway. I’ll call you later to let you know what’s going on.”

Once the girls left, Kellan stood up. “There’s something I need to–” He stopped.

“Yes?” Rupert prompted.

“Arizona doesn’t seem to be
Arizona
,” he mumbled.

“What?”

“Arizona called me earlier this morning,” Inez interceded. “She was looking for David. Apparently, they had arranged to meet at the coffee shop.”

Rupert nodded. “Yes, I remember her rushing out to do that this morning. When did you get back, David?”

“I came back when Mom called to tell me about Arizona’s call. We did have a coffee date, but that was a year ago.”

Rupert shook his head in confusion. Where was Olivia? He picked up his phone and tried her again, still no answer. Then he looked back at David. “You had a date at the coffee shop, but a year ago?”

“Yes. I was going to ask her out to the Orionid Ball.”

Rupert noticed Kellan clenching his fists.

“It seems that Arizona Darley is back.” Kellan’s voice was low and almost desperate, his eyes red. “She doesn’t seem to remember the past year at all,” he rasped, his voice breaking.

Rupert stared at Kellan. “How?”

“Could it have something to do with Gertrude leaving?” Constance mused softly.

Kellan nodded. “That’s what I’m guessing. Arizona and I talked about that possibility before Gertrude left yesterday. When I talked to her earlier today, she seemed kind of distant... it was hard.”

“So, she’s back to how she was a year ago?” Rupert was stunned. He had really missed his daughter but, at the same time, he had grown to love his
new
Arizona. How could she just
disappear
? But she had disappeared in more ways than one.

“Well, whichever Arizona we are now dealing with, we need to find her,” Inez interrupted, refocusing them on the task at hand. “How long ago did she disappear?”

“It’s been less than an hour,” Kellan said.

“And Olivia has confirmed that Raj has her?” Constance asked.

Rupert nodded, still unable to take it all in.

Constance pursed her lips. “We’ve not been able to find out who’s involved yet. We are working on it. David, can you track her? Do you feel her at all?”

Rupert had been amazed at David’s ability to
feel
Arizona, even to track her. That had come in very useful when Potomal’s group–the subversive Sigma-W-Pi–had taken Arizona. David had managed to track her so they could rescue her. It was hard to believe that it had been just a few days ago, and it was now happening all over again. “David?”

David shook his head. “It’s too confused... busy in here. I’ll need to try to connect with her somewhere calm. If you don’t need me for anything else right now, I’ll step outside and meditate.”

“Yes, go. David make sure to get her passport
s
before you go.” Constance held David’s gaze meaningfully.

David blinked in silent affirmation before he left.

 
Constance turned to Rupert. “What does Raj want?”

“The blueprints,” Rupert replied.

“Did she send them to him?”

“I assume so.” He shrugged and looked down at his watch. “She should have been here by now.” He got out his phone again and speed-dialed her as the doorbell rang. There was no reply, so he went to answer the door instead.

“Mr. Darley?” a grave-looking policeman inquired.

“Yes?”

“There’s been an accident. Please come with us.”

I
ran and ran, each step sinking into the warm soft sand. It was like running on fine powder that had been sieved through a colander. The beach seemed to be never-ending, miles of soft sand stretched in front of me as far as I could see. I had no real plan as I ran along the shoreline, the warm breeze whipping across my face. I had no idea how long I would have to run before I came across someone who could help me. Someone with a cell phone would be perfect. I kept going until I crashed into something hard and fell backward, landing butt-first in the sand. What the heck was that? I was sure there hadn’t been anything in front of me. Yet, I had crashed into something… an invisible wall? I shook my head. I looked up and found myself staring into the piercing blue eyes of a smirking boy about my age.

“Hi, Arizona. Where are you going?”

He knew my name. How? “Um… hello,” I said cautiously. “Who are you?”

His eyes narrowed, and his smile turned into a frown. “Arizona?”

“Yes, that’s my name. Who are you?”

“Surely you remember me?”

I shook my head. I was fairly sure I had never seen him before.

“I’m Stan, Luna’s brother. We met in Paris.”

“Stan? Luna?” I shook my head again and raised my shoulders. “I don’t remember meeting you in Paris. When?”

“Arizona, come on!”

“Really. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m Stanford.” He sighed heavily and flailed his arms. “Potomal’s son!”

“Pota… what?”

“Poto–
mal
!”

“Look, I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. Do you have a cell phone?”

“Yes,” he replied, glaring at me.

“Well, can I borrow it?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m here to make sure you stay here. I’m not here to help you.”

“I’m confused.” I shrugged.

“I’m helping out Raj.”

“Why?”

“Dad and Simla asked me to.”

“Simla?”

“Raj’s daughter–”

“Yeah, I know who she is,” I snapped, frustrated. “And I know who Raj is. I just have no idea who you are or why I am here. How did I get here?”

“I brought you over.”

“You did? How?”

“I am Sigma-W-Pi, remember?”

I shook my head. Was there something wrong with me, or had everyone else lost their minds? I could feel a lump in my throat.

His eyes narrowed again, and he ran his fingers through his brown hair. “Arizona, what’s going on? Are you for real? You don’t remember me at all?”

“No.”

“Do you know Spencer Darley?” he asked.

I shook my head again. “Is she related to me?” I figured it was reasonable to assume since she was a Darley, too. “Who is she?”

“Not she…
he
. Spencer Darley is your grandfather, the leader of the Sigma-Ws.”

“No, never heard of him or Sigma-whatevers. You must be mistaken,” I said firmly.

“Nope, no mistake. Spencer is Rupert’s father, Amadea’s husband.”

I was flabbergasted. “You’re kidding, right? How come Rupert or Gramadea haven’t mentioned him? And how do you know all this? Who the heck are
you
?”

“Stan.”

Whatever. I’d had enough. I got up and started running along the water again. Stan ran along beside me.

“Go away!” I yelled.

He didn’t say a word, just kept running beside me.

After we’d been running for a while, I stopped. I was desperate for something to drink.

Stan held out a bottle of water. “Here, drink some.”

“How do I know that’s not poison?”

“Poison?” he repeated, his brows nearly touching. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not here to hurt you. In fact, I don’t want to be here at all. Just drink, will you? Last thing I want is for you to pass out or whatever.”

I grabbed the plastic bottle and unscrewed the cap as I slumped down to sit on the sand. I closed my eyes and gulped down the tepid water. What I really needed was ice-cold water, but this was better than nothing. I drank half the bottle and handed the rest back.

“Thanks.” Stan flopped down beside me. “It’s way too hot for running.”

“Why are you here helping Raj?” I asked, as he lay back, shielding his eyes with the back of his arm. He was oddly dressed for a day at the beach with his dark dress trousers–rolled up to reveal his bare feet–and white shirt. He had to be dying in those clothes. I guessed he was a bit older than me, but not by much. “Well?”

He rolled over onto his side and supported his chin on the palm of his hand, glaring at me. “Arizona, you really don’t remember me?”

“No. I’ve already said that.”

“Have you been in an accident? Are there other things you can’t remember?”

“No. I haven’t been dropped on my head, if that’s what you mean! I don’t know who you are, that’s all. Now tell me why you’re helping Dr. Sen. And what’s with him, anyway?”

“You know Simla, right?” he asked, his face tight.

“Yes. How do
you
know her?”

“My dad–Potomal–recruited her for a project. I got to know her while she was training for it.”

“So?”

“So, Dad wants me to do this for her, some kind of payback. I don’t know the details and don’t really care.” he grumped.

“What do you owe her? What project? Simla’s just a student at my school.”

Stan picked up a handful of sand and threw it toward the water. He got up and waded into it; I followed. The water was warm and clear. I had never seen such clear water before. I could see my toes right through it.

Stan turned and looked me up and down slowly. “Arizona, you’ve obviously suffered from some kind of memory loss. I don’t even know where to begin to explain this if you can’t even remember who I am.”