Out of spite and to prove to the baby I wasn’t going to take it seriously, I grabbed the arm of the carrier as carelessly as I could without getting reprimanded by our teacher. Without even looking, I stuffed a handful of clothes into one of the diaper bags, and marched back to my seat.
“Congratulations on becoming a mother!” Patrick’s whole face brightened like an estrogen-charged woman at a baby shower.
“Shut up,” I spat as I slammed the heavy carrier down along with the bag and flung myself into my seat. “Gregory is so dead.”
“All right, new parents. Go ahead and get the baby out of the carrier so you can get used to holding it. These baby simulators are the same weight as a normal baby.”
I sighed as I struggled to unstrap the baby from the tangle of seat belts, clasps, and buckles. “Can’t we just leave it in this thing?”
“Here, let me.” Patrick bent over to the carrier and pushed two buttons. Instantly, the baby was free in his arms.
I gawked at him. “Do you have a child you’re not telling me about?”
He shrugged as he held the baby out to me, supporting the doll with his thumbs under the armpits. “I paid attention to her demonstration.”
“Uh-uh.” I shoved my hand in the baby’s face. “You hold it.”
“Hey, she called your name, not mine.”
I crossed my arms. “I seem to recall you saying we were going to help each other whenever the other one got the baby.”
“Yeah...” He eyed me warily. “But I’m getting the impression you won’t be holding up your end of the bargain.”
I stared at him blankly until he surrendered, raising the fingers of his hands like white flags.
“Okay. Just kidding. I’ll help.” He returned his attention to Mrs. Bauder who was demonstrating the proper way to support a baby. He tried to mimic her hold like an awkward, new father, and I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing.
“I mean, Gregory wanted this to be realistic for us anyway,” he said as he attempted a rock that was a tad too aggressive for an infant. “So I may as well play the dad part. Hey, maybe Kyra and Lexi can help babysit.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You do realize we’ll all be busy and that none of us will have time for this ridiculous thing, right?”
Reality must’ve set in at last because he stopped rocking, scrunched up his face, and silently set the doll on my desk. Mrs. Bauder was finishing up last-minute instructions. The same ones she’d given us last week.
“Just remember, these babies are expensive, so treat them well and be careful.”
* * * *
The plastic doll Patrick had unoriginally named Angel stared at me from her carrier as I doodled on my finished science worksheet. Within the course of a few hours, I’d already had to feed her twice, change her three times—two of those diapers back to back because she apparently couldn’t pee and poop at the same time like a normal human being, and rock her once. And that didn’t count what self-proclaimed Aunt Kyra and Aunt Lexi did for her during lunch.
A light rapping on the door made my heart leap in my chest. Instinctually, I unzipped my bag to put away my things as the aid handed Mr. Keller a slip of paper. I’d been waiting to be checked out by Gregory all day. Each time a note had been delivered, I’d gotten my hopes up, only to have them crushed. Surly, this time would be different.
“Brendon,” Mr. Keller announced. “They need you in the counselor’s office.”
I slumped back in my seat and grudgingly unzipped my bag to retrieve the pencil I’d stowed away. Though I was done with the assignment, I figured I might as well do something to keep my frenzied mind off the fact that I was actually doing nothing. Or even more importantly, to keep from thinking about the fact that shadows were plotting my demise. Twirling my pencil would have to do.
As my plain Jane number two pencil spun around my thumb over and over, the droning chatter around me filled the anxious space in my mind. Until another rap on the door made me lose focus and drop the pencil. I scrambled to pick it up as Mr. Keller sighed heavily.
“Really?” He walked to the door and grabbed the note. “Iris, you’re checking out.”
No sooner did Mr. Keller say my name than I threw the pencil in my bag and stood up. I slung the bag over my shoulder and started down the aisle until I realized I was missing something. The baby and diaper bag. I sighed, circled back, and picked them both up.
Once in the front of the room, I threw my assignment on his desk in exchange for the note and dashed to the door. On my way I sensed Josh’s eyes following me. I glanced over to see if I was right or just paranoid.
He was definitely looking at me, and his forehead was creased into a million lines. My rush to leave must’ve seemed odd, if not suspicious.
My hand was on the door handle, but I stopped to smile at him. I threw up a hand as a quick goodbye and mouthed the words, “Going out of town,” which wasn’t entirely false. He seemed satisfied, so I ducked out the door and raced to the office as fast as possible without getting stopped by a faculty member or being accused of causing shaken baby syndrome.
When I reached the office, I took a peek at the note. I hadn’t bothered to read it yet. The note was a simple check-out form that was taped to a small sealed envelope. I opened it and easily deciphered the brief contents as Gregory’s handwriting.
MEET AT KYRA’S HOUSE. HER PARENTS KNOW WE’RE COMING.
The driveway was filled with cars. Most I recognized; some I didn't. I rang the doorbell and Kyra’s mother greeted me.
“Iris, so good to see you.” She ushered me into their lovely home and directed me to the living room, though her directions weren't necessary. I could have just followed the noise of what honestly sounded like a family reunion.
“Hey guys.” I took a seat on the couch beside Patrick. Kyra’s mom winked at me and then disappeared around the corner. I’d been over a few times since becoming a light-warrior, but it was still strange that she knew who we were.
I scanned the room to see what kind of assorted gang would be with us on this particular shadow hunt. Gregory, Kyra, Patrick, Kyra’s dad, Zane, and Robert, my mom’s boyfriend. More than usual. Gregory must’ve felt that greater numbers equated to less chance of me dying.
Robert stood up halfway off his chair and leaned over to shake my hand. “Hi, Iris. Good to see you.” He beamed at me as he sat back down. “Gregory called on me to help. I can’t tell you how glad I am he did. It’s been ages.”
I simply smiled in return. Seeing him outside my house where we couldn’t exactly discuss light warrior things was going to take some getting used to.
“Don’t let that fool you, though.” Zane shot up from his slouched position on the love seat and pointed eagerly at Robert. “This guy was the man in his day. I’m talking the best light warrior in the Midwest, easy. I’m sure he’s still got fight in him.”
Robert waved away his compliment, but I had a feeling this was one time Zane wasn’t exaggerating.
“Okay, so what’s the plan?” I asked. The building anticipation and excitement in the room was palpable.
“Well, first I think—” Gregory paused as muffled sounds from the entryway stole our attention and Lexi walked in. Naturally, all eyes shifted to her.
“Come on in, Lexi. Join us.” Gregory gestured to the vacant seat beside Zane.
Lexi smiled uncomfortably and shuffled to her designated spot, sitting down as close to the edge of the love seat as possible.
Zane didn’t seem to notice her shy aversion of him. He leaned toward her, completely invading her personal space, and stretched out his hand. “Hey, Lexi, nice to meet you. I’m Zane.”
“Hi.” She shook his hand awkwardly as her questioning eyes darted to me.
“He’s an angel like Gregory,” I answered her unspoken question.
“Oh,” Lexi withdrew her hand. Her eyes narrowed dubiously as she scrutinized Zane, then Gregory, and then Zane again. “Uh, nice to meet you.”
Z
ane laughed. “Not all angels are blessed with Gregory’s looks and charm. But I’ve got him beat on energy and spunk.” He grinned and punched her arm as if they were teammates sharing a personal joke in a locker room.
Gregory eyed Zane like a father reprimanding his young child who’d just burped in front of company. I chuckled as I lowered my head into the palm of my hand.
“Okay...” Gregory cleared his throat. “First, let me give you the basics. A U-Haul truck trafficking drugs is headed north on I65. They’ll be passing by Lafayette around seven. There’s just one driver, a young man in his mid-twenties who’s just recently been wrangled into the drug scene. Our objective is to get him to pull over, make sure we’ve got the right vehicle, give the license plate number to the police, and stall until they can get there.”
“So how do we plan to pull this off?” Robert inched forward in his seat, grinning. “I’m assuming you’ve got some elaborate plan as always since there are so many of us here.”
“Well, the main reason you all are here is so we don’t spread ourselves too thin. Could we do this with fewer people? Sure. But it’s better protection for Iris this way.”
Everyone nodded but me. The unspoken reason for my needing protection lingered in the silence until, eventually, Gregory felt the need to elaborate. “Okay. There’s no use ignoring the elephant in the room, so let’s just get it out there and address it. There is a very good possibility that Lucas and Donovan will use tonight’s mission as an opportunity to…to try to kill Iris.” He glanced my way but only for a split-second. “Obviously, we’re not going to let that happen. In order to ensure her safety, we’re going to need everyone to stay vigilant and report anything you see that seems out of the ordinary or related to Lucas or Donovan. Keeping Iris safe is our number one priority. Way more important than simply stopping drugs from being trafficked across this state. So…” He leaned forward to regard each of us in turn. “Whatever happens, if you see or hear Iris in trouble, drop everything and go help her. Everyone agreed?”
“No complaints here,” Patrick said as he draped his arm on the back of my chair. Everyone else nodded in agreement.
“Thanks,” I said lamely and then stared at the floor. What was the appropriate thing to say to people who were willing to risk their lives for you?
“Now,” Gregory continued, “back to the details. There will be two teams. Robert and Zane, you’ll be together.”
They both seemed pleased as they regarded each other with respect.
“Robert, you’ll be driving. Just take your car. Zane, your job is to siphon the gas tank while he’s on the road—in your angel form, of course—just before a service station to make them pull over where we want them to.”
Patrick laughed out loud, and Zane punched Lexi in the shoulder again. “That’s awesome!”
“Sounds good so far.” Robert beamed as he rubbed his hands together briskly and scooted up even further in his chair. I was afraid he’d fall off.
“Patrick, Iris, Kyra, and I will ride in my car, and we’ll arrive at the gas station early. There will be an old Charger already planted there by some other light warriors I know down that way. The car will be around the corner and out of sight from the gas tanks where the U-Haul will inevitably park. Kyra and Iris will go wait in the Charger. It will have a fuse pulled, so it won’t start. You girls will have to go ask the U-Haul driver to help you start your car. Of course, he won’t be able to, but he’ll try as any macho guy would in front of some girls.”
Patrick laughed. “Well, I guess me offering to do Iris’s job for her is out of the question then, huh?”
“Uh, yeah. I’d say so. But thanks for asking.” Gregory smiled at him but the smile dropped as he glanced at Kyra and then me. “Are you girls okay with that? Because if not, we can—”
“Yes,” I cut him off, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. “We’ll be fine.”
Kyra shrugged. “Sounds easy enough.”
“Patrick,” Gregory continued, “while they’ve got the driver distracted around the corner, you'll come with me to check the U-Haul. I could do it myself, but the more people there to help Iris if needed the better. Besides, I knew you'd insist on going anyway.”
Patrick pointed to Gregory. “Right as always.”
“Once we make sure this U-Haul is the one with the drugs, we’ll call the police with the license plate number. If we can keep stalling the driver until the cops show up, that would be best. A surprise take-down at a gas station would be much better than a high-speed chase. If we can’t, though, or the driver starts to sense something fishy, Zane or I can fix the fuse in the Charger, while still invisible, of course, and get the girls out of there. If it comes to that, we would still at least be able to give the police the license plate number and tell them where the U-Haul is headed.”
“Okay, so let me clarify something,” Robert said with his arms outstretched to talk with his hands. “It seems to me you really only need one angel at any one time during this thing. Why don’t you just do the siphoning job yourself and then float on back to pick the lock?” He quickly turned to Zane. “Not that I don’t think you can siphon a gas tank or anything. Just wondering.”
Zane dipped his head toward Robert in a show of goodwill, and we all faced Gregory for an answer. Robert had a point.
“The answer’s simple, really. If I can help it, I don’t want Iris to leave my sight.” Gregory’s eyes darted my way for a second and then shifted to the floor as he cleared his throat.
His concern for me was humbling. He reminded me I needed to be grateful instead of frustrated by him and Patrick always trying to protect me. They were worried about me. And rightfully so.
Robert leaned back in his chair. “That’s a good enough explanation for me.”
“Now, one last thing,” said Gregory, scooting towards the coffee table. Three clunky devices with antennas lay haphazardly along with some other machinery and a laptop. “Each vehicle will have a walkie talkie to communicate with each other and with home base, which will be here with Mr. Finley and Lexi.”
Lexi looked up, wide-eyed like a student hearing her name called while she wasn’t paying attention.
“Lexi, you will help Mr. Finley with communications. You’ll also be in charge of tracking us—we’ve got tracking devices for the two vehicles we’re using.”
Gregory turned to Kyra and me. “Also, when you girls cause your distraction with the Charger, you’ll have on wire transmitters since the walkie talkie will have to stay with Patrick and me. Lexi and Mr. Finley will be able to hear what’s going on with you and the driver, and they can alert us if anything goes wrong. Any questions?”
We all shook our heads and then just sat there. Though the plan had been fully disclosed, everyone stayed silent. Maybe we were waiting for someone to call for a huddle to put everyone’s hands in the middle and yell, “Go team!”
That’s when Kyra’s ringtone shattered our tension-filled silence...and our plans.
She answered the call, and all we could do was watch and listen. The one-sided conversation we heard left us full of unanswered questions that got more serious by the second.
“Hello? What?” Kyra stood up to walk to the side away from us. She crossed her arms and paced back and forth. “Are you serious? Well, is she okay? What hospital is she at right now? What are the doctors saying? Oh, she asked for me?” Kyra’s voice softened, and she glanced back our way. Her face was wrinkled with worry. “Well, I think I can. I’ll let you know shortly. I’ll do my best, okay? Okay, bye.”
Although we were quiet as Kyra sat back down, our blatant staring made it clear we were waiting for her to explain.
She sighed heavily and cupped her hands together to rub them down her face. “Well…my old friend Sarah is in the hospital back in Indianapolis.”
“You mean Sarah Garner from school?” Patrick asked. “You guys were really close.”
Kyra nodded. “That was her dad.” She paused to collect herself for what se
emed like ages. “She was in a car wreck, and…she’s in critical condition right now and they don’t know if she’s going to make it.”
At that she broke into a quiet sob as she bent forward and put her face in her hands. Gregory, who was the closest to her, rubbed his hand over her back but said nothing.
Nobody else responded either, but the tension in the room assured me we were all thinking the same thing. Patrick was the one who voiced what must’ve been on all our minds. “Well, that’s impeccable timing.” He eyed Gregory with a knowing look. “Looks like Donovan’s already got his nasty fingerprints on our plans, and he’s not above sacrificing other people to get what he wants.”
Me, in other words. Guilt burned down my throat and sank to the pit of my stomach.
Gregory stared at the floor, suddenly looking older than the mid-thirties his human form was supposed to be. The signs of an angel’s lifetime of battles and struggles and frustrations showed on his face. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure we can rule out a coincidence.”
As Gregory rubbed his forehead, Patrick took the opportunity to speak his mind again. “Iris, we can’t do this. Or if anything, let them do this one and you and I stay here.” His pleading eyes broke my heart. I hated to put him through this, but when would the worry ever end if we kept hiding?
I filled my eyes with as much confidence and determination as I could. “Patrick, Lucas and Donovan can get to me here just as easily as somewhere else. And as far as calling the whole thing off, I already said no. This doesn’t change things. We already knew they’d probably be showing up tonight in some way. All this does is confirm that.” I turned my attention to the rest of the room. “And I don’t want to continue to be the reason Donovan targets those around me and the people they care about. I’m tired of being scared, waiting around for the bomb to drop. So let’s get on with it and kick some demon butt already!”
Everyone in the room was speechless. By the looks on their faces, their silence was for various reasons—defeat, admiration, shock… But when I reached Zane’s face, he was already on his feet, marching to me with his lanky arms outstretched. Once he reached me, he grabbed my arms and lifted me off my chair and the ground to whirl me around in a giant bear hug. He was so fast I hardly had to time to grasp what was happening until he set me back down.
Luminous Spirits (Shadow Eyes Series Book 2) Page 29