No Refuge

by Richard Bard

  “I’ve got four months left.”

  I took her hand and did my best to soothe her with my mind. My brain did lots of strange things. Like when I saw a math problem, even the super complicated stuff, it simply spat out the answer. I understood the steps needed to solve it, but I didn’t have to go through those steps. Like right now, I knew I had to find a way to help Ellie find her sister, and I wasn’t surprised when a part of my mind auto-calculated how doing that would help me get closer to solving my own problems. Bogota, Colombia, was two-thirds of the way to the Brazilian jungles. But the truth is, even if helping her took me in the opposite direction, I’d do it anyway.

  It’s what Dad would’ve done.

  The door swung open. Simon and Strawberry scurried inside, each carrying a tray of food. They closed the door behind them.

  “Jeeze!” Simon said, stopping short and staring at the card. “It sure didn’t take you long to spill your guts about our secret.” He grinned. “But that’s cool.”

  Ellie placed the card on the nightstand.

  “We decided to turn dinner into a picnic,” Strawberry said. She set her tray in the middle of the bed and climbed back to her spot.

  There was fried chicken, corn on the cob, and french fries. It looked delicious, and the smell made my mouth water. When Simon set his tray down—with a cold soda, a basket of warm rolls, and a plate of chocolate chip cookies—I couldn’t resist. I grabbed a roll and took a big bite. “What, no Jell-O in this hospital?” I said between chews. “That’s a first.”

  Simon snickered. “Yeah, there’s Jell-O if you want it, and just about anything else, too. They treat us very well.” He grabbed a chicken leg and chomped down.

  “Hey,” Ellie said, sweeping a napkin in front of him just in time to catch a few fried crumbs. “That’s my bedspread you’re eating over.”

  Simon nodded rapidly, his brow pinched as if to say he was sorry, but he kept eating. The rest of us dove in, too, and it was one of the best meals I’d had in quite a while. The conversation was lighthearted, and the others’ warm interaction gave me a peek at what they had been like before they got sick.

  When we finished, I helped Simon bus the trays onto the dresser. He made a point of leaving the plate of cookies on the bed, and when we returned to our spots, his eyes lingered on them. I couldn’t stop glancing at the four of hearts on the nightstand, and at Ellie. Except for a yellowish tinge in the whites of her eyes, she seemed strong and healthy. Without her sister’s help…

  My brain had been on autopilot—as my dad would say—while we ate. I’d spun through options for a way to find Jazz. It wouldn’t be easy, but what did that matter? The point was, I could do it. I studied my new friends. Each of them could play a role, and when I asked myself whether I’d be willing to step up if I was in their shoes, I knew I would’ve been the first to volunteer. My brother and sister and I had all learned a valuable lesson from our dad—nothing was impossible where love and family were concerned. The key was to never give up. And as I embraced Ellie, Strawberry, and Simon in my mind, and felt the strong bond the three had created in such a short time together, I suspected they’d jump at the chance to help if I asked.

  First I needed to earn their trust, so I told them my story. All of it.

  An hour later the cookies were gone, the soda cans empty, and I’d brought them up to date on the strange adventure that was my life. There was only one thing left to reveal.

  I took Ellie’s card and placed it on the bed in front of her. Then I looked at Strawberry and Simon. They stared back for only a moment before reaching into their pockets and pulling out cards. Simon laid down the eight of diamonds, and for the first time his grin vanished. Strawberry placed her card down with the gentleness of a mother tucking in her newborn. It was the four of clubs.

  I reached into the nightstand drawer, grabbed the deck of cards, and stripped off the rubber band. The others stilled as I fanned through the cards.

  “Does it matter what suit?” I asked without looking up.

  Ellie’s voice quivered. “Anything but spades.”

  “Spades means you’re past due,” Simon said.

  I kept one card, dropped the rest of the deck back into the drawer, and placed the six of hearts on the bed.

  Strawberry gasped.

  “Oh, Alex,” Ellie said, clasping my hands.

  Simon shook his head. “Dude. Welcome to The Card Club.”

  ***

  Of course, Strawberry and Simon were both aware of what had happened to Jazz. When I tried to lead the conversation in that direction, Simon was the first to interrupt me, in an apparent effort to avoid hurting Ellie’s feelings by discussing the hopeless situation.

  “So, did you bring the headset with you?” he asked. “The Spider?”

  “Yeah, but I need to ask about—”

  “Can we see it?” Strawberry asked, jumping in to help Simon change the subject.

  “You don’t understand,” I said. “It’s impor—”

  “I’ll get it,” Simon said. He jumped off the bed and headed toward my pack by the dresser.

  “Hey, we can find Jazz!” I said, my voice louder than I’d intended.

  Simon stopped, and Strawberry looked at me like I was crazy.

  Ellie sighed. “I told you, Alex. Even the federal police said it was hopeless.”

  “You mean the same cops who lied about the plates on the van? Maybe they can’t—or won’t—find her, but we can.”

  “When you say we, you mean us four?” Strawberry asked.

  “Sure. It will be an adventure.”

  “Four kids?” Simon said, walking back over.

  “Kids?” I asked, holding up my six of hearts. “This is more than just a playing card. It’s a talisman, a badge that says I’m at the last stage of my life, so get out of my way because I can do anything I want and nobody’s going to stop me.” I pointed at the anime boy on Simon’s T-shirt. “He’s the same as you, and he’s no kid, right? He’s a warrior. So am I. And so are each of you. And together we can do anything we set our minds to.”

  Simon sat back on the bed. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  Ellie studied me. “And if we find her, then what?”

  “Call the cops, right?” asked Simon.

  “Nope. They can’t be trusted,” I said. Ellie nodded.

  Strawberry asked, “So then who do we call?”

  “Nobody. We’re going to rescue her ourselves.”

  Strawberry’s eyes grew big as saucers. “In Bogota, Colombia?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Whoa,” Simon said, his eyes bugging out behind his glasses.

  Nobody spoke. The three of them exchanged glances, and then stared at me. Ellie broke the silence.

  “Do you have a plan to make all this happen?” Ellie asked.

  “Yep. And the sooner I can get my hands on a computer and an internet connection, the sooner we can work out the details. One way or another, we’ll be leaving tomorrow.”

  Heavy footsteps sounded out in the hall. They stopped not too far away and a pleasant voice said, “Five minutes to lights out.” There was a faint reply, and the footsteps resumed.

  “It’s Belle,” Simon said, whisking his playing card off the bed and standing up.

  “Quick,” Ellie said. “In the bathroom.”

  I grabbed my pack, slid into the room, and closed the door. A moment later, I heard the hallway door creak open.

  “Not a big surprise,” Belle said, “finding you all in here together.”

  I heard her step into the room.

  “From the looks of these trays, your appetites sure aren’t suffering. How are you feeling, Ellie?”

  “Oh, much better, Miss Belle. Thanks for letting them bring me dinner.”

  “Of course, dear. Now it’s time to get some rest. You two, scoot on out of here and get to bed.”

  More footsteps and the door closing.

  “It’s clea
r,” Ellie said.

  When I stepped back into the room, Ellie was staring at her card.

  “A talisman, huh?” she said. “What if we’re caught?”

  I shrugged. “Then think of that as a Get Out of Jail Free card.”

  Chapter 10

  I SETTLED MYSELF in front of the monitor, waiting as the computer powered up.

  The Spider neuro headset felt good. Its eight legs draped down my scalp and forehead like they were part of me. The wireless device was a brain-to-computer interface that allowed me to control the system with nothing but my thoughts. Now that’s what I call hands-free.

  The headsets had been distributed to some of the top gamers around the world. It turned out the users hadn’t been chosen because of their gaming experience, but because of their connections to some of the most secure networks on the planet. As Uncle Marshall had explained it, there wasn’t a cyber expert around who didn’t love video games, and it was those same “geeks” who got recruited by top government agencies and businesses to help secure their networks.

  Gaining entry into their subconscious minds by luring them to test one of the coolest games ever released had been simple, and with the subliminal mind-probing program hidden within the game, the developer had been able to piece together every single top-secret password around the world. Of course, the maniac behind it all hadn’t counted on the fact that Uncle Marshall had loaned his headset to a kid with a rewired brain that flew past firewalls without even knowing it.

  It was hard to explain how it all worked. My brain simply went on autopilot. It was kind of like riding a bike. You’re not consciously thinking about balancing, peddling, or steering. You’re just doing it. Your senses catalog your surroundings—the sights, sounds, smells, and touch of everything around you, sorting the millions of bits of ever-changing data, formulating as it sends the commands to your body that allow you to adjust your movements as necessary. It all happens in the blink of an eye, without you ever thinking about it.

  It was the same way for me as I’d played the first-person shooter game using the headset, my brain diving into the network of connections between me, the other players, and the host servers that were collecting all the passwords.

  My brain had stored it all.

  It worked the same way when I connected to the internet with the Spider. As soon as the computer was powered up, I opened a web browser and dove in. A Google search for me meant simply thinking about it. My mind flashed through one post and site after another, absorbing everything, drilling down so fast that images blurred on the screen.

  “Wow,” Simon said, shaking his head. He and Strawberry stood behind me at a high-walled cubicle in the computer and game room. The room was three times the size of a bedroom. One end, where a couple of boys were playing, was dedicated to video games, with cushy chairs, sofas, and two big screen TVs. The side where I was sitting was divided into several private computer cubicles. Ours was the only one occupied.

  “I guess we don’t need this,” Simon added, placing the tablet he’d brought with him on the desk.

  “Sure we will,” I said, interrupting my mental commands on the desktop. I powered up the tablet, checked a few things, set it back down, and returned to the desktop.

  I flashed past a few articles about Ellie’s abduction without stopping. She was sitting beside me, and the posts contained graphic descriptions of her parents’ murder. I did stop on a satellite view of the downtown Bogota area between the restaurant and the hotel where she’d stayed. She gasped when she recognized it as the place where it all happened.

  “This is where we start,” I said, zooming in. “We’ll stay at the same hotel. Check in tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?” Strawberry asked. “How can we get everything done by then?”

  Earlier this morning I’d explained everything we needed to do. It was a long list. Getting four unaccompanied minors out of the country would be tricky, to say the least. But the Spider gave us access to the world, including the darknet Uncle Marshall had talked about. It was where the underworld surfed to avoid detection by authorities, and I’d overheard him mention there wasn’t anything a person couldn’t buy there. “From drugs to thugs and everything in between,” he’d said. It was also where somebody had started a dead-or-alive reward pool for the capture of my parents and their friends, and a part of me was tempted to trash the site that hosted it. I couldn’t do that, though, at least not yet, because I was afraid of creating a trail that could lead the wrong people to me. There’d be time later to take care of that. And a bunch of other things.

  I flashed a stream of commands through the headset, and the computer screen flipped through pages faster than a fanning deck of cards. “There. I just made reservations for tomorrow. Two rooms. Two queen beds in each. Nonsmoking.”

  “You just made them?” Strawberry asked.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “How’d you pay for it?” Simon asked.

  “I gave him my dad’s ATM card,” Ellie said.

  The card was among the things the federal police had given her before whisking her out of the country. It gave me what I needed to hack into his account and transfer his savings into a new account. It wasn’t a ton of money, but I hoped it would be enough for everything we’d need. If not, I’d have to use the Spider to find other ways to get money, and then I could add theft to the list of things I’d done wrong.

  Killing last week, stealing this week. What next?

  “Give me a minute,” I said as I moved on to my next task.

  We’d already come up with fake names and birthdays, and a fake email account for me. I used those as I flipped through new screens and started to make flight reservations on Aero Mexico. But I got hung up when the system asked for passport information. That would have to wait until I received a reply from the person I’d contacted through the darknet. I’d had to do a lot of digging to find five suppliers in the Los Angeles area who offered fake travel documents. I settled on a woman who had no arrest records and was located near the Los Angeles International Airport. The entire search had taken less than a minute. But as fast as my brain was able to acquire the information and put in my rush order for four sets of docs, I couldn’t do anything to speed up a reply.

  “I can’t complete the flight reservations until we get the passports, but at least I’ve confirmed there are plenty of seats on tonight’s flight.” I sent a few commands and heard the hum of the machine nearby.

  “What time does it leave?” Ellie asked.

  “And arrive?” Strawberry added.

  “It’s a nonstop red-eye flight. I already sent the flight reservation and hotel details to the printer.”

  “I’ll get ’em,” Simon said.

  “Don’t bother,” a voice said from another cubicle. Deondre rounded the corner, waving sheets of paper. “I’m way ahead of you.”

  Chapter 11

  MY STOMACH SANK. Deondre could ruin everything, and we wouldn’t be able to stop him. He may have been only fourteen, but because of his height and strong build, he looked like he was old enough to join the army. Add to that the fact his scowl could peel an onion, and it was hard not to be intimidated.

  Simon’s face went white. It seemed he wanted to say something, but his lips were pressed so tightly together no words came out.

  “How do you even know she’s still alive?” Deondre said.

  “She’s alive,” Ellie said, slapping the desktop. “I’d know if she wasn’t.”

  “Yeah, right,” Deondre said.

  “Wait a minute,” Strawberry said. “How do you even know about her?”

  Deondre sneered. “You think you’re all so clever with your silly little clique and secret meetings. Did you really think nobody was ever listening?” He glared at me. “Or did you really think nobody would notice a half pint sneaking on the bus?”

  “N-never mind him,” Simon said. He placed himself between me and Deondre. I could tell it scared him to make such a bold move.

 
Deondre rolled his eyes.

  Ellie stood up so fast her chair nearly toppled over. “Why do you have to be so mean? What did we ever do to you anyway?” She moved past Simon to confront the bigger boy, her fists clenched. “What happened to make you so angry? Who are you really so mad at?”

  A hint of a wince interrupted Deondre’s expression. Then his scowl deepened. “You’re right I’m mad.” He ripped the printouts in half and tossed the pieces in the air. “Mad at God for making me sick, my dad for leaving before I was born, my mom for dying from an overdose, every foster parent since, and for all of you always trying to make the best of everything.” His chest heaved, and he frowned as if wondering where the words had come from. For the briefest of moments, I glimpsed the boy hiding within.

  Ellie’s jaw went slack.

  Deondre blinked several times. His face twitched. He glanced down at the torn documents, then at me. He seemed to focus on my headset. Finally he said, “Don’t leave this room until I get back.” His voice was stern, but I sensed an eagerness that didn’t match his anger. He spun around and left the room.

  “We’re outta here,” Simon said, turning toward the door.

  “Wait,” I said.

  “Why? So he can come back with Belle and ruin everything?”

  Strawberry started to follow Simon. “He’s already ruined everything.”

  Ellie looked thoughtful.

  “Don’t go,” I said, louder.

  Simon and Strawberry stopped.

  “We have to wait,” I said, still feeling the pain that had poured out of Deondre.

  “But what if Belle comes back?” Simon said. “If she sees you…”

  I knew that was a risk, but something told me Deondre hadn’t left to get Belle. Call it a gut feeling or intuition. Whatever it was, I’d learned long ago not to ignore it. “Just trust me, okay?”

  “Alex is right,” Ellie said. She returned to her chair. “Let’s see what happens. Besides, even if Belle keeps us from going, she can’t stop me from trying to find my sister.” She looked at me with hopeful eyes. “You’ll still help me with that, right?”