“Yeah, probably a good idea."

At No. Eighteen Primary School

It was the first time Erica had ever been here. It was early evening, and classes had already let out for the day. There was only a doorman at the gate, and the whole school Looked empty.

The school was old and shabby, and lacked some modern amenities.

They followed the directions to the address Julianna gave her. Erica and Hyatt waited for Julianna under the eaves of the teaching building.

The gloomy sky had clouds of a gunmetal gray. It looked like it could rain at any time. Hyatt looked at Erica rubbing her hands from the cold, and said, “Hey, let me buy you a cup of hot milk tea. See if that'll warm you up."

Erica didn't turn him down. She was more than a little cold.

"Cool, thanks. I'll wait for you here."

“Okay.” Hyatt turned and walked out of the schoolyard.

When he walked past the playground, he brushed past several young men and women, but he didn't pay them any mind.

The young men looked at Hyatt as he walked toward the school gate, and thought for a while. They knew they'd seen him before, but they couldn't remember who he was.

One of the boys whispered, "He looks familiar."

"I think so, but it doesn't matter. Let's go! We'll get paid when we're done. You have the camera, right?"

“Yeah, I'm ready. Don't worry!”

Julianna wasn't there at all. Instead, several young men and women showed up.

A girl in a denim coat came up to her and asked, "Are you Erica

Leonard?" Her tone was contemptuous.

Erica glanced at her and asked, "What's going on? Do you know

Julianna?" She was sure she didn't know this girl.

"She'll be here soon. But first, we need to talk to you!" The girl tried to put her arm on Erica's shoulder as if they were good friends.

Erica sidestepped the maneuver and said with a fake smile, “I'm sorry.

We're not that close. Now we've got that out of the way, what's this all about?"

The girl sneered and said, "Follow us. This is not the place to talk.

I'll take you to the classroom where Julianna and Tessie used to take classes."

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll wait right here!" Erica had a bad feeling about this. Julianna said she wanted to talk about Tessie. Then why did she ask six people to meet her?