Stephanie pulls herself off Liam's stoop and lightly skips down his two steps. She swings her hips as she walks over to us but she looks shaken. She's wearing a thin black cotton dress so she keeps her arms around her torso to shield herself from the cold as the breeze blows. I pull Liam backwards a couple of steps and she stops and puts her hands on her hips, "Jesus, I'm not here to hurt you."

Peering around Liam's shoulder I reply, "Then why are you here?"

She folds her arms back in front of her and I notice her light hair is much longer than the last time I saw her. It sits almost to her curvy waist.

"We gotta talk."

"About what? How did you even know where I live?" Liam snaps back and we are still a good fifteen feet away from her. The security light from the main house is still shining on us and I realize we are being too loud for how late it is.

"Colin's an open book remember? I got the info from him." She answers smugly, "Look I'm not here to start drama or trouble I just really need to talk to you about Topher, Liam."

Liam looks at me and now I'm wondering what she knows about Topher. Besides what she told us over the summer.

"What are you talking about? Why do you want to talk about him?" Liam asks.

She glances around the backyard, noticing how many dark corners surround us and then pleads, "Can we go inside, please? I don't know who could be around." I look to Liam again and we are both curious as to why she's here. She sounds nervous but she's a manipulator. She could be faking her nervousness to let our guard down and then pounce.

"Liam, please?" She asks and she keeps glancing around the yard. Liam lets out a loud exhale while rolling his eyes and takes the key from his jacket pocket. I follow behind him but I don't look at Stephanie as I pass her. We follow him up the steps and I feel her behind me as we wait for him to unlock the door. He flips the first light switch on which illuminates his neat living area. He walks into the kitchen and switches on all the lights in there as well. Stephanie takes in the space and notices the only main place to sit is his bed, but if she has any brain cells, she'll know to put her ass anywhere else. Liam notices the awkward seating arrangement and quickly pulls a stool out from his coat closet. Stephanie grabs it from him and as Liam and I plant ourselves at the end of the bed, Stephanie sits on the stool across from us. She twists her hands and Liam and I watch her fidget.

"So what is it you want to talk about?" Liam asks as he folds his arms across his chest.

Her eyes dart to me and then back to Liam, "Which one of you told Topher about me?"

Liam's head snaps back in surprise and I shake my head before saying, "What are you talking about?"

"Ryan came to me and told me Topher found him again. He wanted to know if Ryan knew about me and where to find me. I know you were looking for him this past summer Liam, and now all of a sudden you two move to town and in less than a week, Topher is looking for me. I don't see it as a coincidence." She sees me flit my eyes to Liam and quickly crosses her arms again. "You may be better at closing your mind off Ellie, but I bet if I wait long enough, I can get back in there. So why don't you save me the trouble and you the torture and just come out with it. Tell me what you two know," she snaps and her head bobs up and down with her words. I don't know what Liam wants her to know so I remain silent. She's rapidly tapping her heel against the stool and her arms remained crossed. Her eyes dart between me and Liam and her thin pink lips are pressed into a thin line. She's not budging until she gets answers and quite frankly I don't want to deal with her any longer than I have to. Liam gives me an apologetic look before breaking the silence, "Stephanie, Topher is my dad." I shoot Liam a bewildered look but he just shrugs his shoulders. I know he's only telling her so she won't stalk and torture me until she gets her answers.

Stephanie shakes her head, "How is that possible? I thought your dad was like, gone. In like Chicago or something? How the hell is Topher your dad?" Liam runs his hands through his hair then back down his face before saying, "Turns out he's not building a paranormal army. He was looking for me and my mom and he was already fully aware of my mind-reading capabilities. That's why he was aggressively seeking us out. He was hoping one of his leads would lead to me." Stephanie's arms drop to her sides and her mouth is slightly open. She's unable to quickly process any of this.

"But I still don't get it. Topher finally finds you but then quickly finds Ryan to ask about me? What's the connection?" My eyebrows furrow in confusion and for the first time since I've met her, she's right. Why would Topher care about Stephanie if he already found Liam?

"I honestly don't know. Turns out my dad works for the C.I.A. and is here on some sort of assignment," Liam replies.

"What does your dad do for the C.I.A?" She asks and I realize neither of us knows that answer either. He hasn't told us specifically what he does. Just that he's extended whatever his assignment is longer than initially planned.

"He hasn't disclosed that information to us," I answer and she shakes her head again.

"Okay, but what does this have to do with me? Why was my name brought up in the first place?" She asks, clearly annoyed and she waves her hands around as she talks.

"I think it's my fault," Liam replies and I instantly know he's going to lie to protect me, "My dad asked if I had met anyone with similar talents while I was growing up and moving around. I mentioned a few people not thinking about it." Stephanie spots his lie immediately and she finally stops taping her foot.

"So clearly it was Ellie that spilled it. Liam, you are too calculated to accidentally give up names. You would never say anything that would potentially be harmful. She would though, unknowingly or not," she seethes and then glares at me like I'm toxic. She shakes her head again and whispers something I can't make out. I have nothing to say to her so I sit silently. I don't feel sorry for telling Topher about her.

"So do you know what Topher wants? Do you know why he's looking for me?" She asks me and when I don't answer she looks to Liam. He shakes his head and she throws her hands up, "Great! Some scary C.I.A guy that gives everyone the heebie-jeebies is out looking for me and the person that gave up my name has no information as to why!"

"Did Ryan say anything to my dad about you?" Liam asks Stephanie.

"Ryan doesn't have much of a choice remember? Your dad just kind of takes over people's minds," she says full of attitude. She pops up off the stool and starts pacing in front of us. I watch her bright white Keds go back and forth in front of me and a question that's been lingering in the back of my mind comes to me again.

"How do we know Topher didn't get any information about Liam from Ryan?" I ask

Liam looks to me and asks, "What do you mean?"

"Topher went straight to Ryan to find information out about Stephanie right? How do we know that in Topher's travels through Ryan's memories, he didn't stumble upon Liam's name? Seeing that Stephanie is the one that introduced the two of you."

Stephanie shakes her head at me, "No, when I talked to Ryan he specifically said that Topher only gathered information about me. He would have mentioned Liam if Topher ran across any information on him." I let out a sigh of relief and Stephanie takes notice, "Why would it matter? Ryan only told you what you already know now. That's useless to Topher."

Liam finally catches on to my line of questioning and nods his head, "It's not what Ryan told me about Topher that matters. It's what I showed Ryan that does. I showed him my invisibility talent and that's something Topher doesn't know about." Stephanie's eyes go wide and she understands why I wanted to know if Ryan gave Topher any detrimental information about Liam.

All three of us are now sitting with our arms crossed, our legs stretched out in front of us processing everything silently. Topher is now interested in Stephanie but none of us know why. We also know that Topher is unaware that Ryan and Liam have met, which needs to stay that way. Stephanie releases a loud dramatic exhale and shakes her head again lost in her own thoughts. She slaps her feet on the floor and rises off the stool again, "Well I didn't find out as much as I had hoped I would but I did shed light on a few things. How about I make a deal with you two? If either of you finds out why your dad is looking into me you'll tell me. In exchange, I'll tell you if Ryan gives out any information to Topher about Liam. Deal?" She walks over to the front door and Liam and I follow her. Liam looks to me and I shrug my shoulders, I guess it's a deal that would benefit both us.

"Fine. We'll let you know. We know how to find you." Liam answers but she pauses before slipping out the door.

"Oh and Ellie, you have a gross piece of food stuck in your front teeth. Just thought you would want to know." She quickly shuts the door and my hand flies up to cover my mouth. I glare at Liam and run into the bathroom. I flick the light on and smile broadly in the mirror. There's nothing there and I hear Liam laugh from the kitchen, "She was messing with you Ellie."

I glance back to the mirror and dramatically roll my eyes, "Bitch." I walk around the corner and see Liam with his left hip and hand resting against the kitchen counter. He cocks his head to me but he's still grinning, "I would have told you if you had something in your teeth love. So don't give me that blazing stare."

I walk over to him still annoyed, "I just hate her." He laughs and opens his arms to me. I stroll over to him and place my head on his chest while his strong arms pull me into him. He clasps his hands behind my back and we hold onto each other still thinking about what just happened.

"What do you think your dad wants with Stephanie? If he was seeking other paranormals out looking for you, why wouldn't he stop after he found you?" I ask. I feel Liam slowly shake his head while resting his chin on top of my hair.

"Maybe it has to do with whatever it is he does for the C.I.A? We've never gotten a straight answer about what it is he does for them."

"Maybe his assignment is to find one of us with a specific talent?" I ask but neither of us can know for sure. We can speculate all we want but I doubt Topher will ever tell us if he hasn't given that information up already.

"Well it's late missy, so I think it's time for you to go to bed. One of us has school tomorrow," Liam says and my shoulders slump forward. It's only my second week of school and I am already over my classes.

"Yeah don't remind me," I whine and Liam kisses the top of my head. His arms release me and I quickly grab a long shirt of his from his dresser. I walk into the bathroom and sluggishly get ready for bed. I'm tired but I already know my brain is going to keep me awake asking me a million questions I don't have answers to. There's still so much information to process and I know I'm going to dwell on it until I find the answers.

I finish brushing my teeth, double checking that I don't have any food lingering and make my way back to Liam. He's already laying in bed setting the alarm for me. He looks exhausted and it's probably from thinking too much too. I pull the covers up and snuggle in next to him.

"Good night Ellie, I love you," Liam says and then gently kisses my lips.

"I love you too," I answer as I nestle into the crook of his arm. I close my eyes and feel Liam relax around me. I hear his breathing steady and it isn't long before I am sound asleep too.