Faded Flare

by L. B. Carter

  The Bus didn’t so much as flinch. He was quite aware of most things going on even if he appeared narrow-minded.

  Both guys jolted back, on the other hand, and Sirena gave a startled inhale.

  “Who are you?” exclaimed the guy whose shoes Henley had inspected.

  Henley was increasingly convinced they weren’t after her.

  She decided to address the more important thing, dropping out of their line of sight again to administer to Jen. Henley’s swimming head would have sent her to the ground in any case if she remained standing.

  Jen was sprawled on her back at Buster’s feet, which seemed much more substantial than the other guy’s—a second, heavy and unmoving barrier between Jen and the guys, keeping the hurt girl pinned, bracketed by Buster and the wreck. The Bus was perhaps more sturdy than the car, which was obviously malleable against a tree. He did seem like an ancient massive conifer, rooted to his spot. He was prickly as well.

  “She okay?” the more serious guy asked from the tree-line, pulling Henley from her reflections on a Buster analogy.

  Jen’s chest was rising and falling, her eyes shut. Blood tracks trailed down her lips and chin. Her limbs all appeared straight and correctly angled.

  “Broken nose?” the guy asked, having come up the bank to check when Henley didn’t answer. “Airbags pack a punch.”

  “Stay back,” Buster snarled. He wasn’t as easily brought round.

  The tree metaphor really was quite fitting, Henley applauded herself.

  “Hey, man, relax. I’m medically trained. I can check for serious injuries.”

  “Let him,” Sirena pleaded. “These guys know what they’re doing.”

  Henley looked up, barely able to see Buster’s glasses glance down at her crouched at Jen’s head. “I never took much biology. Jen would be my go-to.” Henley shrugged, leaving it up to him as the world continued to wobble, the gasoline smell snared in her nose.

  They were in a difficult and dangerous position. Sirena’s guys hadn’t done anything yet, and her crew were handicapped with one of their group incapacitated and another in the guys’ hands. However, that didn’t mean the two wouldn’t attack the crew once they had all of them within range.

  “Either way, we need to move away from the vehicle. The gas line has been ruptured,” Henley informed them with urgency.

  “Shit,” the guy said, eyeing the car like it was actually a hissing snake. “Let me check her before you move her.”

  “Little late for that.” The younger guy pointed out the obvious.

  “Move her further,” the tall guy said with pursed lips. They were a little like Henley and Buster with their banter.

  Buster hadn’t moved, eyes fixed, watching Henley. Finally, he took one big step to the side without looking away. “If you do anything—”

  “We won’t,” the more distal guy said as the tall one swooped in to inspect Jen.

  The one crouching next to Henley had cropped dark hair, and his green eyes assessed Henley’s companion with an intensity that reminded her of Buster or, perhaps, herself when working on a particularly antagonistic piece of tech.

  “Not broken,” he reported then glanced up at the other guy. “Kinda looks like when Rena—”

  “Yeah, yeah.” The other guy scowled. He had similar colored hair though his was longer and messy. His eyes were blue like the Atlantic that morning. He reached up to touch his small up-turned nose self-consciously while Sirena blushed next to him. He shot her a scowl that dissolved into a grin.

  They were comfortable together. Sirena hadn’t been lying.

  “From where do you know each other?” Henley asked the guy running his hands over Jen’s unconscious body. He did it so professionally and seriously, Henley didn’t bristle in the slightest.

  “Rena? We lived in the same tiny-ass podunk town for a little while.”

  “Until Jen kidnapped me back,” Sirena added, darkly.

  The guy next to Henley, who had been pulling up Jen’s eye lids and staring into each pupil, sat back on his haunches and threw over his shoulder, “We were kidnapping you when she interrupted, you’ll remember. You were leaving that place one way or another. And I seem to recall it wasn’t full of fond memories for you either.”

  Sirena looked away, lips pinched together.

  “Are you done?” Buster interrupted, startling Henley.

  She had been too focused on analyzing the trio who’d discovered them tending to Jen.

  “Yeah. She’ll be okay, I think. Bruising most likely. We should get her somewhere more comfortable though.” The squatting guy glanced up at Buster, waiting for approval.

  “Back to the motel?” Henley suggested.

  He swung his green eyes on her. “I’m not sure—”

  “We can’t go back,” Buster told her.

  The guy pushed to a stand, facing Buster with Jen between them. “While I agree—the mess someone left behind will be suspicious at this point—”

  “Hey!” the guy next to Sirena defended.

  “—I am curious if your reasoning is the same. You seem a little shady there, man. Out of all of us.”

  Buster didn’t move. Trees needed stronger weapons to bring them down than words and raised brows.

  Henley also stood. “We can each explain who we are and our stories once we get Jen situated. Where should we go if not back to the hotel?”

  “We have to be at a certain location in—” Buster checked his watch. “—sixteen hours. We need to drive.”

  “Well, we’re not getting far in this,” Henley gestured at the car that would never make it back to its owners now. Crime number twelve if she’d counted correctly: destruction of personal property. Well, she’d already accomplished that with the phone—

  “How did you find us?” Henley stepped up to the tall guy, getting right in his face so she could watch for pupil dilation. “Tell the truth, and tell it fast.”

  His brows had gone even higher as he looked down his chest at her. “Or what?” He smiled and winked. “Feisty.”

  “She can punch,” Buster warned on Henley’s behalf like an announcer riling up a crowd about an unbeatable wrestler.

  Twelve misdeeds practically made her a hardened criminal. She squinted, waiting to see if he’d be wise.

  “Ah.” The guy nodded. “Then I see why you bonded with this one, eh, Rena.”

  “Answer the question,” Henley ground out through her teeth, her nerves and synapses all firing in fear and anxiety.

  “Her punches are strong,” Buster warned, almost mastering camaraderie.

  Green eyes settled on hers. “Easy. The necklace.”

  “What?” The reaction came from Sirena. The answer had been too unexpected for Henley to formulate a response.

  The guy looked up over Henley’s head and across the car roof. “Your necklace. It has an emergency tracker. It was only activated a few hours ago. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have had to be in that bitch-ass town at all. No offense, Rena.”

  “Can anyone—Will anyone else track it?” Henley changed her interjection to be more direct. They could make fun of her all they wanted for her endless inquiry—later. It was imperative they get an answer now.

  The guy shrugged. “Just Father.” He sounded unconcerned.

  But Buster, being the only one allowed to know everything, had to check. “Will he follow? Do we need to worry about him?”

  The guy on the other side of the car gave a noncommittal noise.

  Henley redirected her attention to him. “What?”

  “Maybe.”

  “To which question?” Henley growled. If these guys didn’t stop it with the vagaries… Her fist folded though she knew violence was not the answer… assuming they were right to trust Sirena’s passive nature in these guys’ presence.

  “Both. When we don’t check in, he might send back-up to extract us; they’ll be working under the assumption you took us.”

  That was enough motivation for her. Henley didn’t rea
lly like being stationary for so long with BTI on their tails anyway; they were moving at a much slower pace than anything BTI would send after them. “Then we go.” Henley announced, standing tall and making eye contact with each of them. “Now.”

  Green eyes grinned. “I like her.”

  “Who are you?”

  Henley jumped. Tension had sharpened Buster’s tone. Probably he didn’t like her making decisions for them.

  “I’m Nor,” the shorter one said, turning to smile, blue eyes locking on Ace’s before flicking back to Sirena like she was a magnet. “Norton Fr—”

  “Stanley,” the tall one overrode, giving the guy who was clearly the beta in their partnership a look as he strode over to the other side of the car, leaving them in a stand-off. “I’m Reed Stanley. And you are?” He focused on the Bus, discerning quickly that she wasn’t the threat.

  Henley kept her fist ready. Being unassuming might be an advantage for them if they needed it. Henley recognized the names, though. Non-profit. They wanted Sirena eliminated, Jen had revealed. So why was she trusting them? They had even just outright stated they had tried to kidnap her.

  Buster didn’t reply for a moment, contemplating what the two guys had said. He seemed distrustful. “Brothers?” he demanded, curtly.

  “Us, brothers?” Reed joked, pointing from Buster to himself, intentionally misunderstanding as though to drive his callousness more pointedly in. He waved a hand before anyone could reply. “Yeah, this is the baby.” He gave Nor an unwelcome head rub then crossed his arms again and stepped closer to the car, evading his brother’s smack. “And you two—or three, including Sleeping Beauty?”

  “Not brothers.”

  Reed grinned at Buster’s smart-ass response.

  Henley watched Sirena’s open face, her unfolded shoulders. She looked the least nervous she’d been since Henley had actually met her—after she’d stopped playing ‘robot’ in the back of a truck. “I’m Henley Bi—”

  “I’m Buster,” the Bus cut her off. He didn’t look at her, his brow raising at Reed as though to say touché. To him it seemed names were vital.

  Reed laughed. “Great, now that we know everyone’s names, we can move on to the why-did-you-kidnap-Sirena part. Not that I don’t appreciate having a reason to leave that shithole up north behind.”

  “We didn’t kidnap her,” Henley said. Her level of ignorance was starting to really annoy her. In this case, actually, it was theirs. Pot and kettle.

  “Took her, coerced her, seduced her, whatever,” Reed waved an arm, the other hand dangling over the steering wheel.

  “I am not arguing semantics,” she tutted and couldn’t resist her eyes darting up to Buster with accusation for a split second that he didn’t miss, his attention finally diverting from Reed to her. They were wasting time when Jen needed help. “This time. I am telling you that we did not remove her from your ‘podunk town.’ We’ve never been there.” Henley could not know if that was true for Buster, but she could confirm that he had not been anywhere but BTI for the last few years. She figured he wouldn’t answer for himself anyway; he liked being obnoxiously enigmatic.

  “Why do you have her then?” Nor turned to look at Henley then Sirena.

  “Jen,” Sirena explained with a jerk of her thumb toward their invalid still laying at Buster’s feet.

  “Jen? As in—?” Nor’s expression was one of complete surprise.

  “Jennifer Tate?” Reed interrupted his brother with a meaningful glance. That seemed to decide something for them. They’d gotten some piece of information that was proof enough for them to pause the interrogation for the time being. “All right, we can take my jeep for now. But we’re not going to take Rena to your… location until we get everything out in the open. Including what Jennifer Tate has to say.” He swept an arm behind him.

  Henley looked back at Jen, then at the strange men in front of her. Sirena headed toward their car, trusting with her entirety. Henley had more reservations. She’d only just met Sirena for one, and trusting someone who spent more of their life in a lab than even Buster seemed dangerous; how was her intuition? Henley recalled Jen talking about the brothers in the car and how against them she’d seemed.

  Well, she was in for a surprise then, Henley thought, taking stock of the rest of their situation. If they wanted to get Jen help, and not be easy sitting targets on a roadside for BTI, they really only had one choice.

  “You get her feet, I’ll get her head,” Henley informed Buster. She gave him her most rigid look as she moved toward their fallen friend. “You know we have no other options. They don’t seem harmful—they could already have taken us out easily. At least this way, we get to be the ones to deliver Jen ourselves.” It wasn’t much by way of convincing, but she had tried to play to what she thought was most upsetting him.

  He analyzed her for a moment and, eventually, gave a brief nod, uprooting his big boots to stomp over to her.

  “If not, I give you permission to punch them,” he informed her crouching to grab Jen’s bare legs—maybe the first time he’d touched a girl.

  Chapter Six

  They left the wreck behind with remorse. Ace was foremost concerned with their new chauffeurs. However, what nagged him and had clearly upset Henley, based on the set of her mouth, had been his inability to call the fire department in case the gas line combusted and caught the forest. Ace would have done so regardless, but surprisingly, the younger of the men, Nor, had also been vocally adamant about calling the authorities, but without a phone, they pressed on, watching the plume fade into the distance and hoping a good Samaritan noticed it soon. They were lucky to avoid any explosion while they were pinned in close proximity by the two strange people, who now had all of the BTI escapees within their control.

  Jen was especially vulnerable, laid out in the spacious trunk, cushioned on two duffel bags. Henley sat beside Ace appearing unconcerned about their new status. The bounce of her knee belied some reservation. The experiment, who was evidently the cause of this additional layer of difficulty, was squashed on the other side of Henley. The older of the two, Reed, was driving and ignoring any directions Ace provided. Ace ground his teeth, forced to accept a general westward bearing.

  “This car is gorgeous,” Henley whispered, interrupting Ace’s internal tension, her eyes roving over the interior with awe.

  “Yes, she is,” Reed responded with pride.

  Henley cocked her head, listening. “Is that—?”

  “Hydrogen fuel cell.” He nodded and gave the dashboard a pat above several screens. “One of a kind.”

  Henley was amazed. “How do you—?”

  “Store the fuel?” He shook his head. “Not well.”

  “It’s so—”

  “Flammable? Yeah, that was quite an explosive problem in earlier prototypes even though our scientific team thought they’d taken the right precautions.”

  This guy needed to stop finishing Henley’s sentences. Talking about fire, especially, was not tactful with her. Ace kept his hand on the door handle. He decided it was time to cut in and focus on what needed to be addressed. “How do you know Jen?”

  Nor wrenched around to provide eye contact. “We don’t. We know of Jen. I sort of know her cousin who lives in… that ‘podunk town.’” They were never going to reveal the exact location. They were too wary to give Ace peace of mind. They may not be BTI but that didn’t mean they weren’t foe.

  Sirena let out a loud sarcastic laugh. “Sort of? He means he knows her very well.”

  Nor groaned. “I already apologized. I told you, that was to get information.”

  “To help protect a friend.”

  “Which turned out to be you.” He raised a brow at Sirena.

  She looked out the window. “Well, that clearly worked out brilliantly.”

  He nodded. “Fair enough.”

  “I’d like to point out that we’re here now. Better late than never, yeah?” Reed put in.

  “I’m not exactly free, yet,
” she returned.

  “Ya know, I think I liked her more when she was silent,” Reed mused.

  Sirena closed her mouth and gave the back of his seat a kick.

  “Or not.”

  “Which brings us to our next question,” Nor cut in. “Why did Jen take Sirena, and how are you two involved?”

  “You make us sound so malicious.” Henley’s offense sounded genuine. “I’m unconvinced you aren’t culpable, if you were already in the midst of kidnapping her when Jen did, by your own admission.”

  “Kidnapping is such a harsh word.” Reed smacked his lips like there was a bad taste singeing his tongue.

  “Yet, you used it as a weapon against us.”

  “Touché, little brainiac.” Reed may have been hesitant of Ace but he was certainly warming up to Henley.

  Ace’s jaw was beginning to ache.

  “Oh!” Nor whipped back around, an expression of suddenly resolving a perplexing problem elongating his face. “Are you from BTI?” He was aghast.

  Reed’s humor vanished. “Shit.” He swerved into the gravel and stopped to turn in his seat, eyes wide.

  “Hey.” Sirena waved an arm between the two rows of seats as they faced off.

  Reluctantly, Nor’s blue eyes veered to her expectantly while Reed continued to keep his eyes on Ace, the more dangerous and volatile of the seatmates. Wise move. Ace was doing the same thing.

  “They are from BTI—they broke me out.”

  Reed swore. “Are you our contact?” he pressed. “Did you hire us to take the specimen?”

  “Contract?”

  “I have a name.”

  “Sirena,” he said, eyes intent, zipping between Henley and Ace, craving a particular answer.

  But what?

  Before Ace could ask to what they were referring, Sirena spoke up. “Mark and Jen, I think.” Then she turned to Henley. “From what I can gather maybe Jen first recruited these guys’ company to break me out of BTI. I ended up in—”

  “Podunk fuckin’ nowhere,” Reed interjected.

  Sirena rolled her eyes and continued. “Where Nor and Reed were sent to find me and fulfill the contract to protect me from BTI.”