“We set her up in her own apartment next door to Kendall Collin’s place,” Bender said. “I need someone Kendall trusts to be the one spying on her.”
Levi motioned to his brother, who sat at the table, vapo stick hanging from his lips. “I sent Omar to spy on her.”
“She’s got a bird,” Omar said. “It sits in her window and sings.”
“Omar won’t get the answers we need,” Rewl said. “My sources tell me Kendall doesn’t trust men.”
“Go to Kendall’s place and bring back Shay,” Levi said to Omar.
Omar nodded and stood, exhaling a cloud of black vapor. “On my way.”
“There’s no need.” The soft voice drew Levi’s gaze to the door. A woman stood there, wearing a glimmering silver tank top, black half-gloves, tight black pants, and silver shoes with spiky heels. Her hair hung to her waist, long and straight like a horse’s mane and streaked with strands of silver.
Who in all the lands was this? And how had she gotten in?
“Shay!” Jemma set her hand over her heart.
“Walls,” Omar said, his eyes round.
Shaylinn? Really? Levi squinted at her as she thumped across the room, unsteady on those ridiculous shoes. Her eyes were green and she’d changed her hair. And he could hardly even look at what she was wearing, but, yes, her face was there. Little Shaylinn, looking far too grown up.
“Red cleaned her up nicely, don’t you think?” Rewl smirked, his eyes locked onto Shaylinn’s body in a way that made Levi want to throw him out into the storm drain.
“Red did this?” Omar said, still staring at Shaylinn.
Shaylinn stopped before Bender and tossed three messages onto his lap. “Kendall didn’t deliver them. Chord asked her to, but she was too scared. She was keeping them in her freezer. When I asked about Chord, she gave me the letters. Will you leave her alone now?”
“Of course.” Bender shuffled through the stack. “This was it?”
“Yes. I hope they were worth it. You scared me and Kendall practically to death.”
“Oh, they were worth it, femme.” Bender smiled up at Levi. “I told you this one has talent. We could use her to — ”
Levi grabbed the front of Bender’s shirt and pulled him to the edge of the sofa. “You talk to my people again behind my back and … we’re done. You get me?”
The click of a gun cocking stiffened Levi’s spine.
“No!” Jemma yelled.
Rewl had pulled a handgun — what looked like a real one, not a stunner — and had aimed it at Levi. “Let him go.”
Levi shoved Bender back against the sofa cushions and glared at Rewl, wondering if the kid could shoot. “Omar, show Bender and Rewl to the door, will you? It’s time for dinner.”
“You know what? I’m ready to go, anyway.” Bender stood and walked toward the door. “Thanks, Miss Shaylinn.”
Shaylinn glared at Bender, and Jemma wrapped her in a hug.
Omar got up and followed Bender, staring at Shaylinn until he nearly walked into one of the tables. Rewl kept his gun pointed at Levi as he waited for his boss.
Levi pretended he wasn’t looking and sat on the couch, but he watched out of the corner of his eye until they were gone. Then he tore into Shaylinn. “What were you thinking?”
Shaylinn folded her arms. “He threatened to kill Kendall if I didn’t help him.”
“I don’t care who he threatened or — ”
“She’s my friend, Levi,” Shaylinn said. “I knew he was tricking me.” She glanced at the door as Omar returned and locked it. “Bender and Red both tricked me. But I didn’t see any other way. And you should know something about Bender. He — ”
Levi jumped up from the couch and clapped his hand over Shaylinn’s mouth. “Not here,” he whispered. Their gazes locked, and Levi raised his eyebrows until Shaylinn nodded. He released her and turned to face the table. “Omar, we’re going out. Shaylinn, go change. You’re coming with us but not dressed like that. Is there a SimTag in those gloves?”
Her face paled. “Yes. But Bender said it wouldn’t show up underground.”
“Probably a ghoulie tag,” Omar said.
Levi sighed. Bender said a lot of things. “Give me the gloves.” He walked over to Shaylinn and waited for her to take them off. “Naomi? Tap Jordan, please. Tell him we’ve got Shaylinn and to meet us at Café Eat.”
“What about dinner?” Jemma asked.
“Eat without us, Buttercup. We’ll be awhile.”
Levi, Omar, and Shaylinn all put on pairs of gloves that held ghoulie tags, which were SimTags Zane made that reflected numbers on their cheeks and hands but were off-grid. And just in case, Levi tossed the lace gloves Bender had given Shay into a dumpster.
When they arrived at the café, Jordan and Zane were already eating at a table in the back corner. Levi, Omar, and Shaylinn joined them, and within seconds, the waitress appeared.
“Where were you?” Jordan asked Shaylinn. “And what happened to your hair?”
“In a minute,” Levi said, nodding at the waitress. “First, let us order.”
Jordan fell back in his chair and shoved a handful of fries into his mouth, while Levi and Omar ordered burgers and fries and Shaylinn ordered a salad.
“Back in three or it’s free,” the waitress said, walking away.
“Jordan, you can talk with Shaylinn later about what she did,” Levi said, knowing Jordan would want to discipline his sister. “Right now, we need to address how it happened and what she found out. Bender came into the bunker when he knew Shaylinn was alone, and he tricked her into helping him spy on Kendall Collin.”
“That cud-chewing maggot.” Jordan glared at Shaylinn. “How’d he trick you?”
Shaylinn cowered a little under her brother’s glare. “He said he thought Kendall had Chord’s messages and that he was going to have Rewl kill her in case she was working with Otley. I knew he was talking down to me, but I didn’t see any other way to save her. So I volunteered to see what she knew.”
“He tried to scare you,” Zane said. “Fear is one of Bender’s favorite methods.”
“And the rest of the story?” Levi said, eager to know himself. “Tell us what you found.”
Shaylinn glanced at Zane. “Are you sure?”
“I trust Zane.” There was really around 1 percent doubt in Levi’s mind as to Zane’s loyalties, but he had to trust someone in this place, and Zane had yet to let him down. “We’re here to ask his advice on all this. Tell us what happened.”
“Kendall and I couldn’t figure out why Bender wanted the messages. So we decided to open them.” Shaylinn reached into her back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “There were actually four messages. Three of them were rebel recruitment cards. But the other one was a letter from Chord. We put the recruitment messages into new envelopes, and I gave them to Bender. But not this one.” She held up the paper.
Zane frowned at Shaylinn. “He didn’t suspect?”
“He didn’t seem to,” Levi said. “But he did act like there was something missing.”
“And what does the message say?” Zane asked. “The fourth one.”
Shaylinn unfolded the piece of paper, but the waitress arrived then with their food.
She set it all on the table and asked, “Can I get you anything else?”
“Just some privacy, please,” Levi said. “Thanks.”
“Right, well, thanks for visiting Café Eat. Find pleasure tonight.”
Levi watched her walk away, and only when he was sure she was out of earshot did he say, “Go ahead, Shaylinn.”
Shaylinn handed the message to Levi. “It basically says Bender is working with Otley.”
“What!” Jordan slapped his hands on the table and stood. Levi and Omar’s sodas sloshed over the side of their cups.
“Jordan.” Shaylinn grabbed a napkin and mopped up the spilled soda.
“I’m not surprised,” Omar said. “Bender is a maggot.”
The mere
idea sent fire through Levi’s chest. But people were staring. Levi raised his eyebrows at Jordan. “Have a seat, Jordan.”
Jordan plopped back to his chair and folded his arms.
Shocked and confused, Levi read the message, then passed it to Zane.
“Is it bad, brother?” Omar asked.
“Yeah.” But why would Bender partner with Otley? A month ago he’d wanted Levi to shoot Otley. Was this a recent move? Or had Bender been talking with Otley even back during Lonn’s days? Maybe that was how Lonn had gotten caught, which painted a terrible theory of the botched Lonn rescue in his mind. Well, if Bender had killed Chord and turned on Lonn, he wouldn’t hesitate to betray Levi’s people. They had to move. Now.
Zane sighed and passed the letter to Omar, but Jordan snatched it away before Omar managed to touch it.
“Hey!” Omar said.
This conversation might be too scary for Shaylinn. “Omar, you and Shaylinn go sit at the counter, will you?”
“You don’t want me to hear something?” Omar scowled and gestured at the letter in Jordan’s hands. “I don’t even get to read it?”
“Not you, brother.” Levi nodded to Shaylinn, who was picking at her salad.
“Fine,” Omar said. “Let’s go, Shay.” He whisked her plate out from under her hands and carried it to the counter.
“Hey!” Shaylinn said, getting up to follow him.
Once they were both seated at the counter, Levi asked Zane, “Is Shaylinn safe? What she did with Kendall … defying Bender like that. What if he knows? What if he put one of those MiniComms in Kendall’s apartment or put one on Shaylinn somehow? I mean, look at that hair. There could be anything in that mess.”
“I don’t think he’d put an ear on her,” Zane said. “But he’s been watching Kendall since Chord was killed. Rewl and I followed her a few times.”
“You think Bender had Chord killed?” Levi asked.
“He must have. My guess is Rewl did it.”
Rewl. Maybe that kid could shoot. “Who’s Ruston Neil?”
“How much rebel history do you know?” Zane asked. “Have you heard of the FFF?”
“I’ve seen graffiti in the storm drains,” Levi said.
“The FFF was the first resistance movement in the Safe Lands. Where the Black Army is mostly made up of disgruntled Safe Landers, the FFF is the real underground made up of Naturals. Been around almost since the beginning. Stands for Freedom for Families.”
“Wait. Families? Here?” Levi asked.
“This place didn’t just start out the way it is now, peer,” Zane said. “Things happened. Over time. And in the beginning, there were people who didn’t like what was happening. Anyway … Ruston Neil is the current leader of the FFF. Ruston and Lonn were friends, worked together on a lot of things.”
“So Chord figured Ruston needed to know about Bender and Otley,” Levi said.
“We all needed to know,” Jordan said. “We need to take down that maggot.”
Zane shook his head. “Don’t do anything yet — at least not to Bender.”
Levi couldn’t just sit around and wait to be arrested or killed by Otley. “What if I went to Dayle up in the Department of Public Tasks?”
“Dayle would just go to Ruston too,” Zane said.
“Does Bender know Ruston?” It seemed like all these rebels knew each other.
“Yes, but he doesn’t know where he lives. Ruston keeps off the grid as much as possible. He’s only got a few guys who run for him. Bender can’t find him. No one can.”
“Can you?” Levi asked.
Zane smiled and ate one of Levi’s fries. “I can find anyone.”
“That’s what we want,” Levi said. “We have to leave the bunker. I can’t keep my people vulnerable to Bender. Plus I’m sick of him telling me what to do.”
“I’ve got a place,” Zane said. “No one knows about it. Not even Rewl or Bender knows. It will be a tight squeeze. But you could bring your women there. At least until I can talk to Ruston about someplace bigger.”
“Oh, no,” Jordan said. “I’m not getting separated from my wife again.”
Levi didn’t like the idea of dividing their flock either. “Can we all go there?”
“Yeah, sorry,” Zane said. “I meant all of you. You’ll fit.” But he didn’t look so sure. “We’d have to move you at night or really early in the morning, go through the storm drains, at least until we’re on the outskirts of the city.”
“Our leaving would tip off Bender that we don’t trust him, though,” Levi said.
“It won’t be a problem if he can’t find us,” Jordan said.
“What about Omar?” Zane asked. “You want him to stay on grid and task?”
“No,” Levi said at the same time as Jordan said, “Yes.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Levi said.
“If Omar goes into hiding, Otley will know,” Jordan said. “Bender said the enforcers were still watching him.”
Right. “But Bender said, Jordan. He could have been lying.”
“What if he wasn’t?”
“What if Omar runs into Bender?” Levi said. “What if he asks Omar about me or where all our people went to?”
“Omar tells him you got the women out one night, and that they’re back in Glenrock,” Jordan said.
Levi didn’t like that plan. “It puts Omar in a vulnerable place.”
“Look, I’m going to take this letter to Ruston and get the new place ready,” Zane said. “I’ll tap you with the plan. Until then, play like you know nothing about Bender and Otley.”
“Who?” Levi said.
Zane smirked and stood. “I’ll tap you. Oh, here.” He removed a Wyndo from his pocket. “This is for Mason. Remind him that messages automatically delete once they’re read. I’ll start on the ones for the femmes when I can get the parts.”
“Thanks, Zane,” Levi said.
“Part of my pleasure.” Zane limped out of the café.
“I don’t like this, Levi,” Jordan said. “I want out of here yesterday.”
“Me too. Hopefully Mason will have a plan come Saturday. Once I get him this Wyndo and we can talk without having to send paper messages, things will move faster.” At least he hoped it would. He had no idea what was taking Mason so long up there.
“Mad good.” Jordan slapped the table. “Then talk to Omar about staying away from Shaylinn, will you?”
“Since when?” Levi turned on his chair. Omar and Shay were sitting at the counter. They were both laughing, using plastic forks to smash Omar’s french fries into mush. It was the first time in a long time that he’d seen his little brother acting his age. “What’s he doing wrong?”
“Nothing yet,” Jordan mumbled. “But he will.”
Levi wished Jordan would let up on Omar a bit. But saying so would only start a fight. “Shaylinn isn’t stupid. You’re going to have to trust her at some point.”
“Like you trusted Omar? Look where that got all of us.”
Levi gritted his teeth through that insult. “Omar and Shaylinn are different people.”
“Not as different as you’d like to think. They’re both youngest kids, family misfits, insecure, and looking for meaning in the world. Omar thinks he’s found it. And I don’t want him showing his version of ‘meaning’ to my sister.”
“He knows right from wrong,” Levi said. “He might be trying to justify his actions now, but he’ll grow out of it.”
“Until he does, keep him away from her.”
Levi didn’t think Omar would dare touch Shaylinn, but he didn’t really know Omar that well. Probably never would. “He’s going to die slowly before our eyes.”
“It’s what he deserves,” Jordan said, as if Omar’s impending death was no big deal.
Levi couldn’t let that comment slide. “You forgave him. Don’t act like you didn’t.”
“I know. But … I loved my father. I loved yours. And every time I look at his face, I …”
“
They would have forgiven him,” Levi said.
Jordan stared at Levi, his eyebrows high. “Elder Eli would have. Our fathers? I don’t think so.”
Levi checked himself. He had the tendency to glorify his father’s memory, but Jordan was right: Levi’s father would never have let Omar live this down. “But you agree forgiveness is right?”
“Not when I see him living like an animal and loving every minute of it. He was repentant before. And I could tell he was sorry then. But lately … he’s been acting like a maggot again.”
“I don’t think he’s loving it,” Levi said. “I think he’s miserable.”
Levi climbed into bed and snuggled against Jemma’s back, pulling her close. It was selfish to wake her, but he wanted to talk. The elder of Glenrock was responsible for much. No one helped him with the pressure like Jemma. He played with her hair and tickled the back of her neck until she stirred.
She moaned in a deep breath and turned in his arms. Her eyes fluttered open and met his. “Hello, my Westley,” she mumbled.
He smiled. “Did you sleep well?”
She blinked sleepy eyes. “Until you woke me up.”
He pulled her on top of him for a long kiss. When he released her, he combed his fingers into her hair. “Bender is working with Otley. We’re all moving in a few days.”
Her eyes widened, and she pushed off him and sat up. “You’re certain?”
He nodded, feeling slightly guilty for ruining her night. “You know, I never really trusted Bender. There had always been something off about the man.”
“What are you going to do?” Jemma asked. “When are we moving? And where?”
“Zane has a place. We’ll probably go tomorrow night or the next.”
“And you’re sure you can trust Zane?”
“Yes, Buttercup. I’m sure.” He was 99 percent sure, anyway.
Tears flooded her eyes. “I want to go home.”
“I know. Me too. I need to talk to Mason. We need to get the children out before more get hurt.” Or infected or impregnated or brainwashed.
Jemma ran her finger over the wrinkles on his forehead, then down to the scab on his nose. “I hope nothing bad has happened to any of the kids.”
He caught her hand and pulled her down beside him, cradling her in one arm. “They’re tough kids, Jem. They’re smart.”
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