Free I Hope You Find Me by Trish Marie Dawson Page B

on the door when another
bang made him jump.
    He glanced at me before asking, “Who’s
there?”
    We heard voices talking before a man
answered, “Hey!” He said with some excitement in his voice, “We’re
looking for Riley, Connor and…Zoey?” There was more hushed talking
behind the door.
    Connor moved aside and let me look through
the peep-hole. I didn’t recognize the man, and it looked like a
young woman was standing beside him. I heard a click behind me and
the entryway light washed over us. I blinked at Connor and he
looked just as confused as I felt. Then I remembered the notes I’d
left, I had led these people here. I didn’t know if I should feel
excited or panicked.
    “ They’ve been to the depot, ” I
whispered to him.
    “Look, we don’t mean any harm we’re just
excited to find you. We saw the message on the window at the bus
station. We’ve been searching this place for a while. We heard your
dog barking, started knocking on doors till we found you.” He
paused before asking, “Can we come in?”
    Connor had stepped away from the door
slightly and was nervously rubbing the back of his neck with one
hand. I walked up to him and asked quietly, “What do you think? I
put the messages out there to help people find me. I guess I wasn’t
thinking about strangers finding us, but they look harmless
enough.”
    “You can tell that through the peep-hole, can
you?” He seemed irritated.
    “They know we have a dog,” I reasoned, “They
don’t have to stay with us, but we could at least see who they
are.”
    When he didn’t answer, I told him, “It’s up
to you.”
    He nodded and went back to the door, “If you
have any weapons leave them on the floor.” I pulled Zoey back with
me and squatted down so I could put my arm around her and hold onto
her collar.
    Connor unlatched the security bar and pulled
the door open. The man had backed away from the door and peered
into the dimly lit suite tentatively.
    Connor stuck his hand out. “I’m Connor.”
    The man took his hand and a smile broke out
on his face, he pumped Connor’s hand up and down and called over
his shoulder, “You coming?”
    When Connor stepped aside to let the man in,
he nodded at me and the growling dog and said, “My name’s Matt.” He
gestured behind him, “This is Mariah.”
    Mariah slipped inside carefully, her eyes
darting around the room. She was obviously on edge. Zoey issued a
loud bark, making both of the newcomers jump.
    “Zoey, shush,” I told her. I didn’t want to
let go of her just yet.
    “So if Zoey is the dog, then you must be
Riley,” Matt said to me.
    “Yes, I’m glad you found us.”
    Connor broke the awkward silence that
followed by flipping on the kitchen light and pointing to the bar
stools that rested beneath the counter top. “Have a seat, are you
thirsty?” He asked them.
    “Do you have anything warm?” Matt asked.
Mariah hesitated to sit down. She was still eyeing the dog wearily
from the entryway.
    I let go of Zoey and she rushed the
newcomers, wagging her tail so vigorously her back legs threatened
to lift off the ground. She sniffed at Mariah who seemed to relax
when she realized the dog wasn’t going to eat her, feet first.
Next, she checked out Matt as Connor turned the coffee maker on. He
popped an individual serving of coffee into the machine and watched
it brew directly into the mug.
    Mariah was about my height, maybe an inch
shorter, with shoulder length, curly brown hair and big brown doe
eyes. Matt was tall and stocky, also with brown hair and intense,
dark eyes.
    “This is a nice place.” Matt said. “Is it
running off a generator?” He aimed the question at Connor, who was
placing the mug in front of him on the counter.
    “Yeah.” Connor began fixing another cup of
coffee for Mariah. “I was staying here actually when everything…you
know. Riley here is a local.” Connor nodded at me. He seemed much
more cautious with these two than he was meeting me on the pier.