Part 59 (2/2)
Joey paused. ”This is it. We follow this path up and there's a back door we can access that leads right into the kitchen. If Tom's in there, we can get his attention and he'll bring Sheila to us.”
Annja nodded. ”Okay. Let's do it.”
Jenny followed Joey up the slope and Annja came next. As she scampered up the slope, she glanced left and then right but their approach was well concealed. She smiled. Joey would never have used a trail that would potentially expose them to observers. That would betray everything his grandfather had taught him over the years.
They scurried up to the back door and then paused. Jenny was out of breath but Annja felt fine. Joey looked at them. ”Give me a second to get in there and check things out.”
”How are you going to do that without Tom seeing you?” Jenny asked.
Joey smirked. ”Jenny, no one sees me if I don't want them to. Tom won't notice me until I'm ready.”
”Are you sure?”
”Of course.” Joey nodded at Annja and then eased himself through the screened back door. It opened without a sound and Joey vanished inside.
Jenny glanced at Annja. ”What do you think?”
Annja shrugged. ”He'll do fine.”
”Not that, about you? Are you really okay now? You don't have to be brave in front of me. Just tell me the truth.”
Annja smiled. Despite their differences and the confusion of this entire trip, Jenny was still a friend. ”I'm actually feeling great. Wherever I was, it really gave me some of my strength back.”
Jenny slumped against her. ”Thank G.o.d for that. The way things are going, we're going to need it.”
”I'm going to need it,” Annja said. ”If things go bad, you take care of Joey and let me handle the bad guys, okay?”
”You won't get an argument from me on that one,” Jenny said with a grin. ”I don't know the first thing about fighting, anyway.”
”Unfortunately, I do,” Annja said. ”Sometimes I wish I didn't, but there you go.”
Jenny watched the back door. ”What's taking him so long?”
Annja looked up. ”He's probably just checking things out, is all. Give him another minute and then we'll take a closer look.”
”I don't like it. What if David was in there and grabbed him? They could be waiting for us right now. Or they could be coming around the back here.”
”Calm down. There's no way Joey would give us up.”
”Unless he happened to be one of them.” Jenny frowned. ”I mean, we have to consider it, right?”
”No,” Annja said. ”We don't. Joey's not with anyone but himself. And maybe the forest.”
The screen door slid open and Joey's face appeared. He came down the steps and squatted next to them. ”Tom's in the kitchen, but just as I was going to say something to him, someone came in. I waited but didn't get a chance.”
Annja frowned. ”So what now?”
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