Unknown 9 by Layton Green (each kindness read aloud txt) 📕

told him to create a diversion and escape the very moment he got the phone. He nodded, and Andie and Cal waited inside the incense-filled shrine, in position to keep an eye on the courtyard. Worrying about the safety of the old magician, Andie bit a nail so hard it bled.

When a muscular Chinese man dressed in jeans and a light-blue polo shirt entered the fourth courtyard, the shot of fear and adrenaline that she experienced was like a punch to the gut. It was the same man, no doubt about it. When he shielded his eyes from the sun as he stopped to scan the courtyard, Andie started. He isn’t holding the Star Phone.

Wondering if he had given it to someone else, she glanced at the magician, who was juggling four multicolored balls by the urn with the carved dragons in the center of the courtyard. Two other people—a smaller man of East Asian descent and an athletic woman who looked Slavic—entered the courtyard to confer with the muscular Chinese man, who appeared to be their leader. Dressed in casual attire, the shirts of all three were untucked, no doubt concealing weapons, and each of them carried the hard, no-nonsense bearing of a soldier.

A group of Vietnamese schoolchildren rushed into the courtyard. Andie saw the street magician start to meander toward them, causing the children to squeal in delight as he juggled the colored balls.

No, she thought in despair. Not around the children.

The Chinese man separated from his associates, finally took out the device, and stepped away from the crowd. He aimed the Star Phone right at the open-air shrine, causing Andie and Cal to shrink into the cloud of incense, pressing against a statue of Confucius.

“He can’t see us, can he?” Cal whispered.

Andie held a finger to her lips as she peered around the statue. The street magician was standing right beside the Chinese man now, still juggling the balls. Suddenly the old man whipped off his hat, and a live dove flew out of it, startling the other man.

The children clapped their hands in glee. Annoyed, the Chinese man walked away from the magician. Andie lost sight of them both for a moment, which caused her to panic, then saw the old man dashing along the perimeter of the courtyard, chasing wildly after the dove, which always seemed just out of reach. A crowd of children followed him, shrieking in delight.

Andie looked from the magician to the Chinese man, who was again studying the details of the courtyard, and still holding the Star Phone in his hand.

Her heart sank. She had been watching the entire time and had not seen the phones exchange hands. The magician had decided to call it off. She could hardly blame him.

Moments later, near the edge of the shrine, the old man finally caught the bird and released it again, urging the children to chase it. Andie wondered whether it was a real bird. How is it trained so well?

After the dove flew off, the magician stepped into the swirling incense of the shrine. As soon as he was out of sight of the courtyard, Andie intercepted him, Cal right behind her.

“It’s too dangerous,” she said, bitterly disappointed but relieved he was out of harm’s way. “I understand.”

“Very dangerous,” the old man agreed. “That is a very bad man. I can see this very clearly. Here,” he said, handing her a phone. “I won’t need this anymore.”

Andie took the phone and realized the old man was grinning. With a catch in her throat, she noticed the long button underneath, and pressed it. The screen lit up to reveal the image Zawadi had described: a tan world map in the background, with a long-legged black spider creeping across a path of lotus petals sprinkled across the back of a red dragon. There were four closed wooden doors in the corners, and a cracked door in the center, positioned between the front claws of the serpent.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she said, planting a kiss on the wily old magician’s cheek that made him blush. “But how? I didn’t see—”

“Andie!” Cal said sharply. “There’s no time!”

“Thank you,” she said again to the old man, squeezing his hand. She had debated giving him money against his wishes, but didn’t want to offend him by marring the dignity of his act. “Now disappear. Please. Don’t let them catch you. Can you promise me that?”

With a flourish, he bowed and made his way into the fifth courtyard, vanishing into the crowd.

“They know by now,” Cal said, clutching her arm. “We have to go!”

A glance into the fourth courtyard confirmed their fears. The Chinese man was standing near the urn with a furious expression on his face. He started to throw the phone on the ground, then pocketed it and began striding toward the shrine concealing Andie and Cal. At first she thought he was talking to himself, then realized he was wearing an earpiece. His associates headed in the other direction, back toward the third courtyard.

Andie and Cal raced out of the shrine and into the fifth courtyard.

“The museum,” Cal said. “It’s our only chance.”

“No! We can’t leave yet. We have to get back to the entrance.”

“That’s suicide.”

“You said yourself they’ll be watching the exits. We’ll go over the wall.”

“And then what? You think they won’t be watching the street? What if—”

“Come on!”

Without waiting for an answer, she darted to her left. A few bystanders gawked as she leaped, grasped the top of a brick wall, and pulled herself up. Cal followed. Just before Andie climbed over, she glanced back and saw their pursuer entering the courtyard.

All he has to do is turn his head to the left.

Some of the people in the courtyard were staring in her direction, and she knew the Chinese man would notice. Not daring to breathe, she tried to flatten against the wall, afraid a sudden movement would draw his attention. Then she heard a commotion. She risked turning her head