“I think,” he said, “we just do like before. We play our DHIs.”
“You sure?”
The woman was closing the gap between them.
“Ah,” Finn said. “You know the woman I told you about? The one at the school? The one Maybeck saw?”
“Yes.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s her.”
“So what do we do?” Charlene asked.
“Walk faster,” Finn said.
He stole another look back: the woman was still gaining on them.
“Should we run?” Charlene asked.
“Where to? We can’t lead her to the soundstage, that’s for sure.”
“Then what?”
Finn stopped and turned around.
“Earth to Finn,” Charlene said nervously. “We’re supposed to be running away, not waiting for her to catch up.”
“I know. But we’re DHIs, not kids at school. What’s the worst she can do to us? Scold us? Shout at us?”
“How about bust us? What if she’s like park Security or something? What if it’s her job to verify violations and pull passes? What if she was at the school to keep an eye on you? I cannot get caught. My parents would kill me for being here.”
“Disney would never allow her to stalk me at school. She can’t be park Security. It’s got to be something else.”
“Like an Overtaker?”
“You take off,” he instructed her. “Go around the other end of the soundstage. Find the others and hide. I’ll stall her.”
“This is no time to get all heroic there, pal.” Charlene sounded concerned. “Why don’t we just both take off?”
“Because I’m done with her following me,” Finn said. “Go on!”
Charlene hesitated at first, but then took off at a run.
Finn waited. The mystery woman caught up. They were standing face-to-face, about five yards apart.
“You’re Finn,” she said. He could tell she was marveling at the realism of the DHI. Everyone did the same thing the first time they saw him or the others. He could feel her wanting to reach out and try to touch him.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“Amanda told me I would probably find you here.”
“That’s a lie.”
“It’s not. Do you want to call her?” she reached out and offered him a phone.
He stepped forward and waved his arm through her.
She gasped.
“I’ve heard the technology described so many times.
But…in person…it’s really quite amazing.”
“What do you want?” he repeated.
“It’s not about what I want, Finn,” she answered. “It’s about what Wayne wants.”
He wondered if somehow this was Maleficent in disguise—if he’d walked into a trap, if she’d figured out how to transform herself into things other than animals. He thought he should have listened to Charlene; he should have taken off with her. He wondered if it was too late.
“What do you know about Wayne?”
“That he’s missing,” she said. “That you and your friends are the key to finding him.”
“You think?”
“I’m his daughter. I’m Wanda. Wanda Alcott.”
“Wayne’s daughter?”
“You don’t have to sound so skeptical. Don’t I look at all familiar? Even vaguely familiar?”
“I saw you outside the school, if that’s what you mean.”
“No, it’s not. I meant, don’t I look even a little like my father? People say we do.”
“No. Not to me.”
“He said you were the natural leader, the smartest one of the group.”
Finn swallowed dryly. He remembered Wayne saying that about him—not that he believed it.
“Not the smartest. Not by a long shot,” Finn said. “That would be Phil—That would be one of my friends.”
“Philby,” she said. “He’s kind of your wired guy, isn’t he?”
He felt a chill. How did she know so much?
Charlene was gone. Out of sight. He’d bought her the time she’d needed to get away.
“Don’t do it,” Wanda Alcott said, reading his thoughts. “I can help you.”
“I don’t think so.”
“You’re concerned I’m…her. Maleficent? No. Hardly. I’m as afraid of her as you are.” She answered his stunned expression. “Oh, yes. I know all about her. All about you. My father told me everything.”
“How am I supposed to believe you’re Wayne’s daughter?”
She smiled a small smile. “You’re going to have to decide if you trust me or not.”
“Not.”
“I thought the resemblance might help.”