Page 71 of North

“A friend?” Farren asks, light and breezy.

The woman nods. “Yes. I know it’s weird, but I really need to get in touch with him. Do you think you could give me his phone number or maybe his address?”

“You know we can’t do that,” I say kindly, and she nods in agreement. It was a desperate attempt and I cantell she didn’t expect it to work. “But I can call him and ask him if it’s okay. Would that be okay?”

She blows out a sigh of relief. “Yes, actually. That would be great.”

I pull out my phone and flip through my contacts, locating Penn’s number. I’ve never used it before, not even for a casual text, but I have all the players and some other important Titans staff in my contacts.

He answers after a few rings, his voice wary. “Hello.”

“It’s North,” I say, my eyes locking onto the woman. “We’re at Mario’s and there’s someone here looking for you who says she’s a friend.” I lift my eyebrows at her, a silent request for her name.

“Tell him it’s Mila.”

“She says her name is Mila and—”

“I don’t want to talk to her,” Penn says flatly and then the line goes dead.

I stare at the phone, stunned, my eyes darting between Farren and Atlas before pinning on the dark-haired beauty. “He said he didn’t want to talk to you.” Her face falls, tears welling in her eyes.

I feel a pang of guilt. Something about her feels important. Like she’s more than just some random person from Penn’s past.

I glance at my phone, an idea forming. “Farren, Atlas. Can I have a private word with you?”

Mila takes a step back. “I should go.”

“No, wait,” I say, motioning to the table. I set my phone down beside my beer. “Stay here. We’ll be just a minute.”

The woman looks dubious but she nods, stepping closer to the table and looking around. I walk off, Farren and Atlas following me. I move a good fifteen paces and huddle up, keeping my eyes on Mila.

“What are we doing?” Atlas whispers.

“Pretending like we’re discussing something important,” I reply, watching as Mila’s gaze falls to my phone.

“We aren’t discussing something important?” Farren asks.

“No,” I reply, cutting her a quick look with a smile. “Just giving the stranger a little bit of time.”

Farren starts to look over her shoulder but I stop her. “Don’t look. Just act casual like we’re talking about something.”

“I’m so confused,” Atlas mutters, but then says, “Did anyone see that documentary on Netflix about mushrooms?”

Farren laughs but I stare intently as Mila bends slightly over my phone. I see her lips moving, as if she’s repeating something she’s reading.

Memorizing, actually.

Then she glances up, catches me staring and flushes red. She turns and scurries off into the crowd and Iquickly lose sight of her.

“Mission accomplished,” I murmur and then take Farren’s hand. “Come on. It’s safe to go back.”

Atlas and Farren turn and see that the table is empty. “Where did she go?” Atlas wonders.

“My guess… straight to Penn’s house.”

“What?” Farren asks as we reach the table. Her eyes fall to my phone and go wide with shock. “You left Penn’s address up on the screen?”

“Oops,” I say with a sly smile.

---