However, Tae had been keeping an eye on traffic, and he saw an escape route opening before them as the cars ahead of them suddenly pulled away. Without warning, Tae kicked his door open with such force that it slammed into the man, knocking him backwards into the car next to them. At the same moment, Tae yelled at the taxi driver, “Go! As fast as you can, get us out of here! That man has a gun!” He pulled his door shut as the taxi sped forward. As soon as he could, the driver turned a corner and headed for a less populated part of Chicago.
Tae turned towards Anna. She was visibly scared.
“Tae, why would a guy with a gun be after me? What could I possibly have that they would want so badly? I just turned eighteen today. I’m barely an adult. I’m not some world class artist or architect. This makes no sense.”
“Hmm.” Tae thought deeply for a few moments, his brow furrowed in concentration, a blank expression disguising his thoughts. Then he ventured, “The question is what does your dad do for a living?”
“What?”
“Well, if it’s not you, then it stands to reason that it’s one of your parents whose expertise they’d be after. Is it possible that the sketchbook you’re holding isn’t yours but your father’s?”
“I…I don’t know what my father does in this universe.”
“Exactly. If he is not the same person he was in yesterday’s memories, then he may be the key to this whole puzzle. Can you call him again?”
“I can try. But I’m a little nervous about talking to him. I mean, my phone says he’s my father, but I don’t recognize his voice. What if he can tell I don’t know him?”
Tae set his hand down on top of hers in a gesture of comfort. Heat radiated from his palm, warming her skin. “It’ll be all right. I’m here.” He paused, a look of intense concentration on his face. A moment later, he looked sharply at her. “Hey, can I take a look at your sketchbook again?”
She handed it to him as she opened her phone to call her father.
Tae scrutinized the sketches of the Sears Tower, Navy Pier, and the Art Institute. He discovered that they all had numbers hidden in them. As he put them together, he began to decipher what he believed to be dates and possibly locations expressed through latitude and longitude. Each sketch had a series of numbers in the corners. All of the numbers were between 1 and 12 and 1 and 31. The numbers in the center of the sketches were more varied, between 0 and 180. There were always twelve numbers in the center. He also thought he could discern an E or W and an N or S hidden in the center of all the drawings. But all the numbers and letters were so skillfully camouflaged within the drawings that he hadn’t even noticed them at first glance. It had taken careful study for him to discern them.
Meanwhile, Anna had her ear to the phone when a male voice answered. Abruptly, without a greeting, he questioned her, “Do you still have the sketchbook?”
Perplexed, she answered, “Yes.”
“Meet me in front of Buckingham Fountain in twenty minutes.”
“Uh, I don’t know if I can make it there in twenty—.” She stopped speaking as she realized he had dropped the call. Her face drawn up in puzzlement, she gazed out the window of the taxi.
“What’s wrong?” Tae had noticed the odd note in her voice and the frown on her face.
“Please take us to Buckingham Fountain,” she instructed their driver. “Can we get there in twenty minutes?”
“We can try” was his curt response as he maneuvered the car through traffic in an attempt to turn around.
“Buckingham Fountain?” Tae questioned her. “What did your father say?”
“It was weird. He didn’t even greet me. He just asked if I still had the sketchbook. Then he told me to meet him at Buckingham Fountain in twenty minutes…Hey! What are you doing?”
Anna watched as Tae tore a page from the back of the sketchbook. He proceeded to write a series of numbers and letters down as he glanced at her sketches.
“Wait! What are you doing? What is that?”
“I’ll explain later,” he whispered, sending a furtive glance towards their driver.
She caught on quickly. “Ok.”
They completed their ride in silence. Tae finished jotting down the numbers and letters hidden in the sketches. He folded the paper and stuck it into his pocket. Then he took a picture of each drawing before handing the sketchbook back to her.
When they exited the taxi a few moments later, Tae turned towards her. “I think I should enter the park separate from you. I’ll go sit on a bench across the fountain from you while you meet him. I don’t know what’s going on, and I don’t want to spook him.”
Anna wiped sweaty palms on her pants. She was very nervous. “I’m scared, Tae. What if he tries to hurt me? Or kidnap me?” Panic was creeping across her face.
“I’ll just be a few feet away. I won’t let him do anything to you.”
But what if he couldn’t stop him?
“Tae, what were all those numbers you were writing down?”
“I’m not positive, but I think someone hid dates and locations in the sketches. Latitude and longitude.”
“What? Why?”
“I have no idea. Hopefully, your meeting with your father will enlighten us.”
She hoped so too. Anna watched as Tae walked away from her, entering the park before her. She followed him at a discreet distance, keeping her eyes wide open for trouble. She kept looking all around and behind her to ensure no one would sneak up on her. She made it safely to the fountain a few moments later. Tae was seated on a bench several yards away. She breathed a sigh of relief.
From behind her, a quiet, menacing voice intoned, “I see you brought a friend.”