“They thought about it and realized they made a mistake. Besides, the Feds stepped in and took over.”
“But they’ll—”
“They’ll be looking for the revivor, like they should be. You’re off the hook. Forget about it.”
The whole thing was weird, but I had to admit, it was a huge weight off my chest.
“You going to let me in?” she asked.
“Um, sure.”
I moved out of her way and she walked in, looking around my place. She didn’t look like she thought much of what she saw, but she didn’t say anything.
“How do you know where I live?” I asked. She shrugged.
“I know a lot about you.”
“Have you been following me?”
“A little.”
She said it like it wasn’t a big deal. Who was she? She stared up at me with her blue eyes that kind of reminded me of Nico’s, and I felt a little dizzy for a second.
The phone rang, and my heart jumped. Maybe it was him.
“Never mind that,” the woman said. “He’ll leave a message. I want to talk to you first.”
I got that dizzy feeling again. The phone rang a few more times; then the machine picked up.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Ai sent me,” she said.
“Who?”
“Ai. I work for her.”
She talked to me like we knew each other, like we were old friends. She was like some robot friend in a box that got mailed to my doorstep. It was weird, but I didn’t feel funny about letting her in. Something told me I could trust her.
“No offense …”
“Penny.”
“No offense, Penny, but what do you want?”
“Ai wants to meet with you, and your friend Nico too.”
“Who’s Ai?” She pronounced it like the letter I.
“You’ll recognize her when you see her,” she said. “You’ve seen her before, sort of. She’s seen you too.”
“Who is she?”
“The most important person you’ll ever meet,” she said.
“Why does she want to meet with me?”
“You’re important too.”
“Yeah, right.”
There was another knock at the door, and I saw I’d left it just hanging open, which I never did. Karen was standing there in the doorway, looking from Penny to me.
“Oh, sorry,” she said. “Am I interrupting?”
“No,” I said. I started fumbling for how I was going to introduce the weird girl who’d just showed up and who I didn’t even know, but she introduced herself.
“I’m Penny,” she said, holding out her hand with a smile. Karen smiled back and shook it.
“Karen.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, Karen.”
“You too.”
She looked at both of us for a second.
“Are you two related?”
“No,” I said. “No, no. She’s …from work.”
“Oh, you work at the FBI?” Karen asked.
“No.”
I saw Karen’s smile kind of go down a notch, and she looked confused.
“Actually, I’m with the Lesbian Recruitment Corps,” Penny said. “We’re—”
“Okay, that’s it,” I said, cutting her off. I went to usher Karen out so I could get rid of the weirdo, but before I could, Penny’s eyes changed. Her pupils opened all the way, and Karen’s face relaxed. The confused look that was starting to get mad went away, and she looked totally at ease.
“It doesn’t matter what we say,” Penny said to me over her shoulder. She thought it was funny.
“I’m a new friend of Zoe’s,” she said to Karen. “I don’t work at the FBI, but she met me through work. That’s all you need to know. I’ll be a very good influence on her, and I’m no threat at all to your friendship.”
“Oh,” Karen said.
“I’m pretty too. And funny.”
“Come on,” I said. “Stop it.”
“Well, those things are true,” she said, but I thought that might be debatable.
“Let her go.”
It wasn’t like I’d never done it to her myself, but I wasn’t comfortable watching someone else do it to her. Penny didn’t argue; she just nodded.
“Forget everything else we said after we met,” she told Karen. “It’s not important.”
“Okay.”
Her eyes went back to normal, and Karen snapped out of it.
“Give us a second,” I said to Penny. I led Karen back to the front door.
“Sorry,” I said. “She won’t be long.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “I just wanted to tell you I was sorry about before. You’re right about Ted. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry I canceled our lunch date.”
She looked over my shoulder, then back at me.
“She’s really pretty. She’s funny too,” she said. I nodded weakly.
“You’re not mad?”
“About what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Because of her?” she said, smiling. “No. We should all go do something together.”
I tried to think of an excuse of why we shouldn’t do that, but nothing came into my head.
“Dancing,” Karen said.
“I don’t know about dancing, Karen.”
“Too much? Well, something. I’ll get out of your hair for now.”
She lowered her voice and leaned closer.
“Tell me all about her later.”
“I will. So you’re not mad? About her or Ted or anything?”
She hugged me. Karen liked to hug, and I wouldn’t admit it, but I kind of liked being hugged by her too.
“Yes, I was mad. Friends get mad at each other sometimes,” she said in my ear. “I love you.”
She pulled away and waved, then slipped out. I stared at the door. I don’t know what made her say that last part. I don’t think anyone had said that to me since I was little.
“Sorry about that,” Penny said. She actually looked kind of apologetic.
“Just …tell me what you want.”
“I would like to officially invite you and your friend Nico to meet with Ai at Suehiro 9,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“A restaurant.”
“Why a restaurant?”
“I don’t know. It’s public. It’s exclusive. They have good security. Plus I think she wants to impress you.”
