That had never occurred to me and I was glad Falcon was with me. He was obviously much more savvy than I was.
“I guess we should get going,” I said, anxious to get off the street.
“Yeah.” He began walking, and I kept pace.
“Do you really remember which way to go?”
“About the only good thing I inherited from dear old dad was his photographic memory.” He grinned. “So yeah. I do.”
“Nice.”
We walked in silence for a while, staying to the shadows wherever possible. The longer we walked, the more I began to believe that Falcon would actually stay with me. “Are you going to help me? You know, to get what your father wants?”
He glanced at me. “I haven’t decided yet.”
That answer was unexpected, and the consequences of being completely on my own rattled me. I wasn’t sure I could do this by myself. “What does that mean?”
Falcon was quiet for a moment. “I guess it means I don’t want to do anything to help my father, but I also don’t want to do anything that will hurt you.”
“I don’t want to help him either, but he has Amy.” I wondered what she was doing right at that moment and hoped she was comfortable—warm and safe.
He chuckled. “I think Hummingbird can take care of herself.”
“Maybe. Unless your father decides he wants to punish me.” A shiver of dread brushed over my skin at the thought. I didn’t want to think about Amy and what Hart might do to her. “Was your father always so mean?”
Falcon’s jaw tightened. “Ever since he left my mother. Before that I guess I didn’t really notice. I mean, he was gone so much working, maybe he was just as bad but I didn’t see him enough to realize it.”
I loved my parents—my whole family—more than anything, and found it hard to understand how Falcon’s father could be the way he was.
Cars passed us occasionally, but when we heard them approach, we hid in the shadows until they were gone. Falcon took us through quiet neighborhoods as much as possible.
“You know this guy whose house we’re going to,” Falcon said as we passed beneath a street lamp. “Do you think he’ll trust you?”
A gust of wind blasted my face and my hood slid off of my head. I grabbed the fabric and pulled it around my cheeks, hiding my face, then thought about Nick’s reluctance to tell me any more than I’d needed to know. I doubted he would tell me anything, but to succeed I had to get something—some kind of inside information. Falcon was in this with me, so I decided to be honest with him. “He’s not exactly the trusting type.”
“Sounds like it might not be quite as simple as my father thought it would be.”
I shook my head. “No.”
“I guess you didn’t give him any hint of that.” He turned to me with a smile. “Am I right?”
I laughed. “Yes. I wasn’t exactly in a position to tell him no anyway, so why give him doubts?”
“That was probably a good idea.”
“Hey,” a man’s voice shouted from behind us. “Hey, stop.”
Startled, we looked behind us. A bright flash broke through the darkness.
“What are you doing?” Falcon asked as he approached the man.
The man grinned. “Nothing you need to worry about.” Then he turned and ran towards a row of houses.
Alarm pulsed through me. “Do you think he recognized me?”
“I think he took our picture, so he’ll know it’s you soon enough.”
Silently cursing the bad timing of my hood coming off at the exact moment we’d walked underneath a street lamp, my heart thumped in my chest. And when I remembered the reward that Hart had announced for information leading to my capture, I knew I had more than Enforcers to worry about. “We need to get out of here.”
“Yeah,” Falcon said, his voice tense. “I agree.”
Not wanting to call attention to ourselves, we increased our pace without breaking into a run.
“Does your photographic memory recall any good hiding places from that map?” I tried to laugh, but it sounded brittle and forced.
“Not really. We just need to get to Nick’s house.” The intensity in Falcon’s voice had increased, which sent my panic up a notch.
Eager to get as far away from the man who’d taken our picture as possible, we turned at the next corner. A moment later the wail of sirens broke the silence.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“Which way are they coming?” I asked.
“I can’t tell.”
“Where should we go?” Desperate for instructions about what to do, I pulled on Falcon’s arm.
His gaze darted in all directions. “There,” he whispered urgently, pointing to three teenaged boys playing basketball in a nearby driveway.
“What? I don’t want to go over there. They’ll recognize me for sure.”
“Maybe, maybe not. But if we act like we’re with them, the Enforcers might not notice us.”
The scream of the sirens grew louder. “Okay.”
Falcon headed toward the boys, but I trailed behind, trying to prevent them from having a clear view of my face.
“Need another player?” Falcon called out as he reached the base of the driveway.
The boys looked at him, then glanced at me. “Sure,” one of them said. “Two on two.”
Falcon turned to me. “Why don’t you sit on the porch?”
The driveway was well lit, but the porch wasn’t quite as bright. “Okay.”
“Name’s Falcon,” Falcon said, drawing the boys’ attention to him as I scurried past them and to the front porch. I pulled my hood tighter around my face as I sat in one of the chairs, then stared at my lap, terrified to look in the boys’ direction.
The sound of the Enforcers’ siren was loud, but it sounded like it was one street over—the same street where the man had taken our picture. The basketball thumped against the concrete driveway, then I heard a swish as someone made a basket.
“Oh,” one of the boys called out. “Two points.”
Laughter followed, a sharp contrast to the jackhammer beating of my heart. Tuning out the sounds coming from the driveway, I concentrated on the siren, and when I heard it rounding the corner, I dashed to the far end of the porch and stepped to the side of the house, pressing myself against the wall, hoping the shadows would make me invisible.
The volume of the siren increased as it came closer, but when the sound abruptly cut off, I knew the Enforcer had stopped right in front of the house. My terror was complete.
They’re here. They’ve found me. Secretary Hart won’t help me. Falcon can’t do anything to help me. I’m going to have to face Holly. I thought of Amy and blinked back tears. What will happen to her? I’m barely into my mission and already I’ve failed. Secretary Hart will be so angry. What will he do to Amy?
“Hey,” a deep male voice called out. “Have you boys seen anyone walking by?”
“What do you mean?”
I recognized Falcon’s voice, and the familiar timbre helped to anchor me.
“Someone reported seeing Morgan Campbell in the area,” the Enforcer said. “She was seen walking with a young man. Have you seen them?”
“No,” Falcon immediately said.
The other boys were silent, and I wondered what they were thinking. There was no doubt they knew Falcon had come with a girl, and I held my breath as I waited for them to rat us out.
“What about you?” the Enforcer asked.
“Me?” a boy said. “Uh, no, I don’t think so.”
“If you see them, call it in immediately. Got it?”
“Yeah, okay,” another boy said.
A moment later a car door slammed, then the Enforcer pulled away. Hiding in the shadows, I watched him slowly drive down the street. They didn’t turn us in. My relief was so overwhelming, my knees could no longer hold me up, and I slid to the grass.
“Raven?” I heard Falcon call from the porch. “Where are you?”
“Over her
e,” I whispered, but knew he couldn’t hear me. Though the Enforcer had left, the boys were still in question. Why didn’t they turn me in? Do they want to make sure it’s me first? So they can collect the reward?
“Raven?” Falcon’s voice was closer, and a moment later he stood before me. “There you are.” He reached out a hand, and I let him pull me up. “It’s okay,” he said softly. “These guys are safe.”
“How do you know?” I whispered.
He smiled. “They want to meet you.”
“What? Why?” Confused, I shook my head.
“They’ve seen all of the videos you’ve made and . . .” He laughed. “Well, you know you’ve become a celebrity, right?”
Me? A celebrity? I shrugged.
He tugged on my hand. “Come on.”
I allowed him to lead me to the porch where the three boys waited, their eyes wide as they watched me approach. They didn’t seem threatening, but I was still wary.
“Are you really . . . her?” one of them asked as he scrutinized my face.
I nodded.
“This is so awesome,” another one said.
Their genuine enthusiasm helped to calm me, and my terror began seeping away.
“What are you doing in our neighborhood?”
I looked to Falcon, and he glanced at me before speaking. “Just passing through.”
“That’s cool,” one of the boys said. “Hey, do you want to come inside? My parents won’t be back for a while.”
“Raven?” Falcon asked.
All eyes swiveled in my direction. I could use a short break, plus I figured it would give the Enforcers time to scour, then leave, the area. “Okay.”
The five of us went into the living room and one of the boys immediately closed the blinds.
It was warm in the house, and I pulled off my hood. I felt everyone’s gaze on me, and my face heated with the unwanted attention.
They had all kinds of questions, and I answered them the best I could. They told me that many of the kids at their school were beginning to agree with me that things needed to change. I was thrilled to hear that, although I wasn’t sure how much it would help me if the Enforcers were to capture me.
After an hour, Falcon stood. “We should probably get going. Thanks for your hospitality.”
I stood as well. “Yeah. Thank you.”
“Any time,” one of the boys said.
“You probably shouldn’t tell anyone we were here,” Falcon said.
“We know.”
A few minutes later Falcon and I were back on the street. We walked steadily for half an hour before either of us spoke.
“We should probably make sure our stories are straight,” Falcon said. “You know, what we tell Nick about how we know each other.”
“Yes, right. Enough truth to make it believable without divulging information that would be dangerous to us.”
“Exactly.”
We discussed our backstory, making sure we were both on the same page, then I thought about the close call we’d had earlier that evening.
“I was so scared when that Enforcer stopped at the house,” I said as I tried to push down the memory of abject fear that had swept over me.
Falcon laughed. “Yeah, when he got out of his car and came toward us, I had no idea what was going to happen. And when he asked us about seeing you and me, I got really worried.”
“I have to admit, I was surprised those guys didn’t turn us in.”
“After the Enforcer left they asked me if it was really you, and when I hesitated, that’s when they told me they’d watched all of your videos and that they wanted to meet you.”
“I wonder what it was about the videos that got their attention and made them want to be on my side.”
Falcon was quiet for a minute. “I can tell you what I noticed.”
I glanced at him. “Okay. What?”
He smiled as he stared at the ground, then he met my gaze. “It was that part at the very end of the first video. You know, where you looked at yourself in the mirror and said how sorry you were that you hadn’t been stronger.”
I remembered that part. It had touched me too.
“After what had just happened to you,” Falcon said, his voice tight. “And then you felt bad? I mean, come on. Only a hardened soldier could have withstood that torture, Raven.”
Regret flooded me. Regret that the girl he admired wasn’t even me. Regret that I could never live up to the expectations he’d built.
“Raven?” he asked, his voice soft.
At least that name is mine. DM was never Raven. “Yeah?”
“Are you okay?”
“Stop right there,” a deep voice growled in the dark.
Chapter Thirty-Five
I froze, my gaze shooting to the man who stood ten feet away. He wore a pair of jeans and a leather jacket—not the typical Enforcer uniform.
“Who are you?” he asked. “What are you doing here?”
It was then that I recognized where we were. Nick’s house stood right in front of us. “I need to talk to Nick,” I said
When the man shone a flashlight on my face, practically blinding me, I threw my right arm up to block the glare.
“I know who you are,” the man said, then the beam of his flashlight swung to Falcon’s face. “I don’t know you.”
“Can I talk to Nick?” I asked.
He turned partially away from us and murmured into a small device, then after a brief pause he turned back to us. “You can go to the door,” he said to me, then he flicked his flashlight beam over Falcon. “You wait here.”
I looked at Falcon.
“It’s fine, Raven. Just come back for me.”
When I gazed at his face, warmth swept over me. If Nick wouldn’t let Falcon come inside, then I wouldn’t stay either. I nodded. “Yes.” Then I turned and walked to the front door. Before I had a chance to knock, the door swung inward and I came face to face with Josh Mills, the Enforcer who’d encouraged Nick to turn Amy over to Holly.
“Where’s Nick?” I asked, forcing my expression to remain neutral.
“I need to check you for a wire before you can see him.”
“A wire?”
He scowled. “Yeah. To make sure you’re not transmitting to our enemies.”
I held back a tremor. If he knew my reason for coming, he’d happily hand me over to Holly himself. I tried to act insulted at the very idea. “After what they did to me, you really think I’d help them?” My voice dripped with contempt. “Are you stupid or just crazy?” I sounded so sincere, I almost convinced myself.
He stared at me. “Stand still.”
I did as he commanded, and he took a device out of his pocket and slowly swept it over my front and back. A green light blinked repeatedly, then he put the device back in his pocket.
“You’re clear.” He opened the door wider and let me pass.
“Of course I am,” I spat at him. “Where’s Nick?”
“In his office. He’s waiting for you.”
I ignored Mills and walked towards Nick’s office, glad I knew my way around. As I walked down the hall, I missed Amy intensely. If only she were with me, then Hart wouldn’t have anything to hold over me.
“I have to admit, Morgan,” Nick said from behind his desk when I crossed the threshold into his office, “I wasn’t certain I’d see you again.” A smile curved his mouth as he came around the desk. “But I’m so glad you made it back.”
He pulled me into a hug, and I was surprised at how secure I felt in his embrace. Then I remembered that I was there to betray him and shame and guilt flooded me. “It’s good to see you too,” I managed to murmur.
He released me and looked me up and down. “You look like you survived okay on your own.” His smile grew. “I’m proud of you. I’m sure it wasn’t easy.” He glanced behind me and his smile faded. “Where’s Amy?” His gaze met mine. “Is she okay?”
Here’s where the lying begins, and already I’m finding it hard
to do. Hart’s suggested excuse filled my mind and I forced myself to utter the words. “She’s . . . uh . . . I mean . . . I found a safe place for her to stay while I came back to help you fight.”
“Ahh. I see.” He went back to his desk chair. “Not a bad idea. Keep her out of danger.” He smiled.
I only wished she really was out of danger.
“We could have sent her back to your family in the safe house though.”
“I know.”
“My men said you have someone else with you. A boy.” Nick’s eyes narrowed. “Who is he? Why did you bring him here?” His jaw clenched. “You must realize how unhappy I am that you would bring a stranger here, to my home. To show him where I live.”
Oh, Nick. The head of the Enforcers knows where you live. It’s not a secret. “He helped me. If it wasn’t for him, I would’ve been captured.”
“What’s his name? Where did you meet him?”
I recalled the story Falcon and I had discussed on our walk to Nick’s. “His name is Falcon. Amy and I met him on Saturday night, after we talked with the reporter.” I gazed at Nick. “Did you see the interview I did with her?”
His stern expression vanished. “Yes. I was impressed. You did a wonderful job, Morgan.”
I’d gotten so used to being called Raven over the last few days that hearing my real name mentioned felt somehow foreign. Regardless, Nick’s praise meant a lot to me. “Thanks.”
“Tell me more about this Falcon. How did you meet him?”
“After the interview, Amy and I were basically wandering the streets, not sure where to go, when Falcon came upon us. He recognized me and offered to help us.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I wondered the same thing and I was skeptical, but he told me how much he hates the Enforcers, and since Amy and I had no other options, we decided to trust him.” I told Nick how Falcon had taken us to an abandoned building where we’d spent the night—I didn’t mention how his friends had been there. Then how he’d convinced us to hide in his room. “He lives with his brother, who’s hardly around, so it felt safe there.”
Nick nodded, his expression showing how intently he was listening to my story—probably looking for any holes or flaws that would make Falcon’s intentions collapse under scrutiny. “Why not just stay there? Why come back here at all?”
The Other Morgan (Parallel Series, Book 5) Page 18