Page 108 of Breaking the Dark

“Yup,” says Lark, scrolling down further. “Looks like it.” She glances up at Jessica. “Who is Sly, then? Really?”

“He’s just…” Jessica and Luke exchange a look. “He’s just a dude I know. A kid. A good kid.”

“So why was he lying about his identity?”

“He was helping me.”

“Helping you what?”

“Helping me find out what happened to you guys in the UK.”

“Right.” She nods distractedly, seemingly satisfied with this response. “Anyway, there’s nothing in his browsing history about Airbnbs. So”—she switches screens—“let’s take a look at his online banking.”

“How are you going to get into that?”

“I told you. We’re twins.”

She tries two or three passwords before she finds the one that works.

She moves out of the way so that Jessica can view the screen fully.

“There,” Jessica says. “He bought something from a bodega on Amsterdam Avenue, just under half an hour ago. Let’s see where that is.” She switches tabs and searches the area on Maps.

“There,” she says again, pointing at the screen. “There it is.”

And then: “Hold on. Can you just zoom it out a little? And over to the left.”

Jessica waits as Lark follows her instruction, and then points and says, “Look! That’s Old Broadway. Just there. He’s right near the Upside Down. Can you do a search for Airbnbs in that area?”

“Sure. Give me a second.” She brings up the Airbnb website and types in the area and scrolls down the results. There are six in the vicinity. When she types in the day’s date, three of them show as being booked up.

Lark clicks on the pages of each of the three booked-out properties. “Recognize any of these?” Jessica asks Luke.

He peers at the screen, then moves into Lark’s seat so that he can examine the photos himself. “Yeah,” he says, “I know where this place is. It’s just by the church on Convent. And this one, yeah, this one looks like it’s in one of the apartment blocks on West 129th. And this one is a street up from there, I think.”

“Would you recognize them if we went there on foot?”

Luke shrugs. “Yeah. I bet.”

“Right. Let’s go.”

Lark grabs her arm. “Can I come with you?”

Jessica looks at Amber.

“No, Lark,” says Amber. “It’s not safe. We need to stay here and wait for Fox in case he’s coming back.”

“But I can help,” Lark says. “You know what we’re like. How we can sense each other. I can help find him….”

“No. You’re staying here.”

“But, Mom. He’s more likely to talk if I’m there. Less likely to run. I can persuade him to come home. Please. Just let me try.”

Amber sighs. “Fine,” she says. “But stick with Jessica and Luke and do everything they tell you. Okay?”

Lark nods. “Okay.”

Three months ago