The next morning as I pack up my bags, there's another knock on the door. I open it to find a tray sitting on the floor with a plate of muffins, tea, a rose, and a note that reads: I'm rooting for you. A quick glance down the hallway and I spy a man wearing the hotel staff uniform briskly exiting the hall into the elevator.
I bend down and pick up the tray.
"How sweet," I mumble as I head back into my room. The card isn't signed but I'm guessing it's from Jake. A smile plays over my lips, and I wonder if I made the wrong choice last night to send him away.
The hotel phone rings. I pick it up to hear Sun on the other line. "Where are you?" she asks sharply. "We need to get out of here now."
"Sure," I say. Wow, she's in a bad mood. "I was just on my way."
There isn't time to drink my tea, but I take the rose and a muffin and tuck them into my travel purse, which I slip under my shirt for safekeeping. Then I grab my suitcase and I step out into the hall, patting my pants pocket to make sure Dad's watch is still there. When I enter the lobby to meet the others on our team, Danny's and Sun's heated voices catch my attention.
"You said it would be just one location," Danny says.
Uh, oh. Danny doesn't want to take us to the Philippines. Last night after talking to Jake, I called up Sun and told her our theory. She agreed to try to convince Danny to take us there next. But it's not looking good. I look over to Tony and Javier sitting on one of the padded benches along the wall. Tony shakes his head and crunches up his face as if to say not to get involved.
Sun stares down at her nails and then looks back up at Danny, flipping her hair back. "The Philippines is our last stop. I promise."
"What were you all doing last night?" Danny side-glances to look at me and then at Tony and Javier sitting in the lobby, pretending they aren't hearing a word of the fight.
"We had to review some footage," Sun says vaguely.
"You promised no more lies." Danny crosses his arms, eyebrows lifting. "But I saw them with that man."
"Hush, will you!" Sun whispers harshly, glancing about the lobby.
There's something about her look that sends a spark of fear up my spine. Now it's my turn to search the area, but nothing out of the ordinary catches my attention. There's a couple eating breakfast in the dining room, a man reading the newspaper in one of the chairs, and then the hotel staff.
"Let's go," Sun blurts out harshly to the guys and me, interrupting my fears.
"Good idea." I hurry after her, rolling my suitcase along. I'm not sure what it is, but there's something about this place that's getting to me. Or perhaps I'm just letting Sun fluster me. The thing is, she's usually the calm, relaxed one so to see her out of sorts is unnerving.
"Have you guys seen Jake?" I search the area for him.
"Haven't seen him since last night," Javier says.
The taxi van pulls up and the others start loading their suitcases inside. Still no Jake. I rush back into the lobby and finally spot him, leaning on the counter of the concierge's desk.
"Jake!" I yell. "Are you coming?"
His hair is completely disheveled, and he's still wearing the same clothes as last night. As I hurry over to him, he rubs his forehead, a wild look in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" I say. When he won't look at me. I grab his sleeve. "What happened?"
"My room," he says distractedly. "This morning I got a call from the concierge saying I had a message from my dad, but when I came down, they told me no one from their desk had called."
"We can assure you no calls were made from our desk," the concierge interrupts sharply, clearly offended over Jake's accusation. "But I am calling the police for you. We will get to the bottom of this, sir. You can rest assured this is unacceptable for our hotel."
"What's unacceptable?" My voice is now a high pitch.
"When I returned to my room." Jakes takes in a long, shuddery breath and shakes his head as if saying it will finally make what he's about to say come true. "It was all gone. Everything except the clothes on my back and phone. Even my computer."
"That's terrible." I release his arm in shock.
"Here's your passport and wallet, sir," the receptionist says. "We will be reimbursing you for your room due to the incident."
Jake takes his possessions and pockets his wallet. "Guess it pays to put valuables in the hotel safe. We should go."
"But your computer. Don't you want to file a police report?"
"It's a huge loss, but not worth the time to stick around." Then he leans in closer to me, whispering into my ear, "Someone knows what we're doing. We're probably being watched right this minute. We need to get out of here."
Numbly, I nod. Is that why Sun is so upset? I clutch the rose tighter as we head for the exit. From the corner of my eye, I eye the man reading the newspaper. Is there something odd about his position or am I just paranoid? Suddenly, I feel like I'm in the Dreamscape and I need to pay attention to anomalies. They're clues for us to change directions or to interject in the dream to get a different outcome.
And though this isn't the Dreamscape, there's that nagging feeling in the back corner of my mind. I glance over my shoulder. The man has lowered his paper and is rising to his feet, eyes intent on me. My heart catches in my throat and I whip my head to face forward. I try to be nonchalant as I step outside, but I know it's too late. The newspaperman knows I'm aware of him.
"That man back there," I whisper.
Jake glances over his shoulder and nods. "Yep, he's got to be one of them watching us." He's about to enter the taxi van but pauses.
"What's the matter?" Danny asks, obviously eager to get moving. "Where's your suitcase?"
"Where were you, man?" Tony asks. "We were worried about you."
"Will you two hurry and get in the car?" Sun twists her sunglasses in her hands. "I've got a bad feeling about this place."
"I'm with you on that," Jake says as the two of us climb in, joining the others.
Our van's backseat is lined with a beaded interior with charms hanging from every place that something could be hung from—the handholds, the bars holding up the headrests, the mirror, and sun visors. The driver greets us and then starts the engine, rolling out to the traffic of the busy street.
"Did you order this taxi?" Jake asks Danny.
"Sure did," Danny says. "We can't get one this size last minute."
"Then we need to get out of this taxi ASAP." Jake taps the driver on the shoulder. "Let us out. Now!"
"You okay, man?" Tony asks.
"Everyone out!" The moment the driver slows down, Jake flings open the door and jumps into the busy road even before the van comes to a complete stop.
"What is wrong with you?" I yell at him.
I scramble out of the van, marching over to where he's unloading the other's luggage from the back and tossing it onto the sidewalk. The rest of us stand off to the side, gaping at him in shock.
"Call me paranoid," Jake says, huffing. "But I would feel better in another taxi. We passed a taxi stand a little ways back."
Our driver throws his hands in frustration at us and begs us to reconsider. Meanwhile, we each grab our luggage and trail after Jake down the street to where a line of taxis wait.
"I can't believe you made me jump out of a perfectly good taxi," Sun mutters while Danny complains the whole way about why he even took us here and how we're ruining his new shoes.
After sweating in the intense heat and breathing in the fumes from the highway, we arrive at the taxi station. Since the cars are too small for us all to fit inside, we realize we're going to need to split up into two cars.
"Everyone loads up in pairs into one of these," Jake says. "Meet up at the airport."
Javier and Tony hesitate and begin questioning Jake, but Sun cuts them off.
"Everyone just shut up and listen to Jake," she says. "The truth is he might be onto something. Back at the hotel one of the men was taking my picture. I have a feeling it's not because he thinks I'm a movie star."
Danny and Sun slip into the first taxi and Javier and Tony join them. They pull away and I'm about to get into the second taxi with Jake when a driver calls out of his window. I realize it's the driver from the taxi van we just left. He has parked at the end of the line of taxis.
"Hello, miss!" The driver waves to me. "Please, you cannot leave. I was told I must drive you to the airport."
Guilt tugs at me. This man's life can't be easy. The least I can do is pay the guy for a missed job. I open my purse, pay him, and hurry back to the van.
"Aria!" Jake yells. "It's too dangerous."
And that's when the bomb explodes.