I had to say goodbye to Jamilla Hughes again, and each time it was a little harder. We’d been through so much together in such a short time. I made her promise to be extremely careful, even paranoid, for the next few days. She promised. Finally I got on another plane out of San Francisco International.
The mysterious phone calls had stopped, but that was scary and unsettling too. I didn’t know where Kyle was, or what he was doing.  Was he still watching me? Had he somehow followed me back to Washington? I shouldn’t be having thoughts like that, but I was, and I couldn’t stop them from coming.
Did he have binoculars focused on me as I walked up the sidewalk to myAuntTia’s house in Chapel Gate, Maryland, about fifteen miles from Baltimore? How could he know I was here? Why, because that’s what he did for a living. Could he get past Sampson and me? I didn’t think so. But how could I know with complete certainty.  The kids were enjoying their short vacation with AuntTia. She had always spoiled them, just as she had spoiled me as a kid. ‘Same old, same old’ she liked to say when she served you a piece of hot pie in the middle of the afternoon, or gave you an unexpected present.  Nana was more understanding than I thought she would be. I thi............