The Child Thief 3: Thin Lines

by Bella Forrest

  Surely the adoptive parents knew that. It was a standing philosophy of the CRAS, and part of the Burchard Regime’s main platform. There was no way for the rich to have missed it, or to be misconstruing the truth.

  Was there?

  Jace jerked the scooter to one side, and I looked up from my musings to see that Ant had turned into a driveway and stopped. Jace followed quickly, and within thirty seconds we were all sitting on our scooters, staring up at the house we’d been sent to by Nathan’s directions.

  It looked like every other house on this block. Probably like every other house in the entire development.

  The Burchard Regime had taken control of all construction when it came to power, and they liked consistency. Which meant all of the poor areas—all the tenements and factories—were built out of old-fashioned red brick, with small windows and unimpressive doors. If we were lucky, the poor areas got some variety from the stone the regime used sometimes to build, and even, occasionally, whitewash.

  The rich areas, on the other hand, got all the color and size. And all the grass. But all the houses in specific areas were painted the same colors and built in the same style. I didn’t know why, and I’d never bothered trying to figure it out. The government did things the way it did them, and we’d been taught for so long not to ask any questions that eventually it became habit.

  Still, it surprised me to know that one of Nathan’s contacts was in this sort of area. Who was she, and how had she come to be in contact with Nathan, a man who was fighting the very government that made it possible for her (if she did indeed live in this house) to have the life she did?

  I gazed up at the building, noting the taupe walls and red shutters, with the adobe-colored roof and enormous front door, and shook my head.

  If she had enough money to afford a place like this, surely it meant she also had a way to get us out of the city and into safety.

  “We can’t just leave these scooters parked in the driveway!” I hissed. “If the Authority is here and they’re looking for them, this will lead them right to her door!”

  We grabbed the scooters and pushed them quickly toward the detached garage. The builders had for some reason left a space between the house and the garage, and it was exactly the right size for four scooters.

  I shoved ours in first, and the others followed, and after a moment we had them at least somewhat responsibly hidden.

  “Shall we?” I asked quietly. I glanced up at Jace and lifted an eyebrow. “Is there some sort of etiquette for this? Should we wait here or something?”

  He reached out, grabbed my hand, and tugged me toward him. “If you think I’m walking in there by myself, you’re crazy,” he muttered. “Let’s go.”

  We filed nervously up to the door, climbing the three steps it took to get there, and then stood, staring at it for nearly a minute.

  “Well, this is going to get us nowhere,” Jackie finally snapped.

  She took two steps forward and rapped sharply on the door. When there was no answer, she rang the doorbell. Three times.

  A second later, a female voice that I could only describe as harried called through the door. “Who is it? Who’s there?!”

  Jace and I shared a nervous glance, and then he cleared his throat.

  “Um… My name is Jace Huxley, and… Nathan sent me.”

  There was a crash on the other side of the door, and then it flew open, emitting a blast of cold air and the smell of something burning.

  25

  A woman’s hand appeared through the door and grasped around frantically. She yanked Jace into the house, then gestured for the rest of us to follow, and leaned out the door and glanced frantically around before slamming it shut again and moving to push an armoire in front of it.

  Jace, after watching for a moment in confusion, quickly moved to help her.

  Once that was done, she turned to us, and I actually got to see what she looked like. That was when I realized that she was beautiful. She had ivory skin, with deep raven hair, though there was a white strip running back from her right temple, as if she had a scar there and the hair had turned white in response. Her eyes were large and deer-like, and though she looked delicate and overly feminine, something told me that this wasn’t a woman you messed with.

  She also looked to be much older than the rest of us. In her forties, at least.

  That was all I had time to observe of her. A second later she darted past us and grabbed something from a cupboard she’d thrown open under the stairs. She whirled back around holding the item up, and I was surprised to see that it was a scanner like the ones the enforcers used.

  Something with which to verify our identities.

  “Fingers,” she snapped. “One at a time.”

  Jace went first, staring at the woman—who I assumed was Corona—like she was some sort of hallucination, and when the scanner beeped the woman glanced at the screen.

  “Jace Huxley. Right, you’re on the approved list.” She gestured for him to move to the side and beckoned urgently for the next person.

  I stepped forward, my heart in my mouth, and held out my finger. She slipped the scanner over it, pressed the button, and nodded at the beep.

  “Robin Sylvone, you’re clear.”

  This unexpected scene repeated itself again and again as she scanned the twins, then Nelson and Jackie, and finally Kory, and then she frowned at Jace.

  “You’re supposed to have a lot more people with you than just this. Where’s everyone else? I was told to expect at least twenty of you.”

  Her voice was tense and commanding, and for a moment I felt as if we were in trouble for not having brought as many people as she’d expected. Jace, however, responded to her as if he’d known her for years.

  “We split up,” he said quickly. “And we don’t have time to get to the others right now. The Authority—”

  “Don’t care,” she said, whirling and starting up the stairs. “If you don’t have the others with you, it means they’re not my problem. Not right now, at least. Follow me. There are things I need to tell you before I go.”

  I stared at her for a moment, then looked at Jackie, and noticed the smoke coming out of the kitchen. That explained the burning smell, then.

  One quick prod from Jace sent me flying up the stairs after the woman we’d come to find.

  She had already disappeared down the hall on the first floor of the palatial house, and after a moment of looking at each other in confusion, we all darted after her.

  I had always thought my parents’ house was large, but this one put their dwelling to shame. The stairs were of pure white concrete, bordered by an iron railing, and a red rug ran right down the middle of them, from top to bottom. When we reached the first floor we found a long hallway covered in artwork, and though I’d never been an artist myself, or even someone who really appreciated art much, I could tell that this stuff was expensive. Maybe even original.

  The woman I assumed to be Corona hadn’t even paused to look at it, though, and by the time we got to the top of the stairs she was just darting into a room on the right, about halfway down the hall.

  We ran in that direction without bothering to discuss it, each of us thinking, I assumed, that whatever had her worried and rushing around—leaving something to burn in her kitchen—was something we probably needed to worry about as well. If this woman was truly associated with Nathan, it meant she was on the same side as us, and her worries were therefore ours.

  When we arrived in the room we found an enormous four-poster bed, and on the other side a wall full of windows. The view beyond was breathtaking, showing a landscape of stretching green fields dotted with picturesque groups of trees.

  But the scene inside the room was anything but peaceful. It looked as if Corona had pulled out every piece of clothing she owned, as well as all the jewelry, and had stacks and stacks of books and papers on the bed as well. She was shoving it all into suitcases, not bothering with things like folding or saving space, and as
we watched, she walked intently back to her closet, grabbed another armload of books, and then returned to the closest suitcase.

  “Um… Corona?” Jace asked. “Are you Corona?”

  “I am,” she said, huffing. “And you’re Jace. And I’m glad you finally showed up. I’ve been told to wait for you, but I couldn’t have waited much longer.”

  He frowned. “Um… are you going somewhere?” he asked, looking around.

  I looked around as well, utterly confused. Whoever this woman was, she was in a hurry to get out of here, and she didn’t look like she was going to be waiting much longer. What would have happened if we hadn’t shown up on time? Was Jace positive that this was the right version of his plan B?

  “I’m getting out,” she said abruptly. “I’ve stayed too long, and though I would do anything for Nathan, this is asking too much. He’s asked me to stay too long.”

  She paused and looked closely at Jace, then seemed to come to the conclusion that he deserved more than she was giving him.

  She walked over, put her hands on his shoulders, and shook him slightly.

  “If you work with Nathan, then you know. You’re only safe until you’re not, and you’ve got to constantly be watching for that moment when things change. Two nights ago, I got a phone call from one of my contacts. It seems the Authority has a file on me, and they’ve been asking around. Asking dangerous questions. My cover story is good, but it’s not going to hold up if they decide to get aggressive. I was told by an inside source…” She paused, as if she was going to say more than that, but then charged on ahead. “That they were going to be coming for me today. Asking for my papers.”

  Her lips turned up into something that would have been a smile if it weren’t so grim.

  “It doesn’t take a genius to know that once they start asking for your papers, you’re in trouble. There’s only one reason to want to see those, and it’s not good.”

  “Why would the Authority be bothering you, though?” I asked, wondering who exactly she was, and why she was so important to Nathan.

  She cast a glance in my direction, but evidently didn’t see anything she liked, because she whirled around and went back to the bed to continue her packing.

  “It’s because of my husband,” she said vaguely. “A long time ago he did something that the government didn’t like. Then he… disappeared. Haven’t seen him since, but the government’s never stopped asking questions about him. I think it’s because they want my money.”

  She gestured around the house to finish out the statement, but I narrowed my eyes. That wasn’t the truth. It was a story. A well-rehearsed story, and one that came out smoothly, probably because she’d told it so often. But it was a story, nonetheless.

  She and Nathan had probably come up with it as the perfect excuse for her to have so much money but not be involved in anything illegal herself.

  Code name Corona, indeed.

  “So about that plan B…” I said, looking directly at Jace and willing him to understand what I was asking.

  We didn’t have time to be standing around talking about Corona’s troubles with the Authority. We were here for one reason and one reason only: to secure our own escape.

  Jace nodded. “I’m sorry to hear about your troubles, Corona, but Nathan had your name and address down for me to find if I was ever in danger or isolated, and… well, now’s that time,” he finished softly. “Our friends are disappearing. Our contacts are gone. Nathan isn’t responding to my calls, and neither is the rest of our team. We finished a mission and were isolated from Nathan, and now we’re out in the cold. We need help.”

  She turned to Jace, her eyes narrowed.

  “And you think any of that is news to me? I’ve had a trace on you right from the start—right from when Nathan told me you’d be coming to me if there was trouble. This is the right place,” she said. “I hadn’t expected to meet under these circumstances, however. After all, I’ve been hiding in plain sight for years. I don’t know what’s changed to bring my existence to Authority notice, but it’s distinctly unexpected.”

  She turned and strode quickly to the large desk sitting against the far wall of the room. There she bent and jotted something down on a piece of paper, then turned and walked back to Jace, getting there far more quickly than her casual stride should have carried her. She handed it to him and gave him a grim smile.

  “If you know the protocol, then you know I can’t take you until I’m sure it’s safe. I have to travel ahead of you. But you are my responsibility now. You and your friends.” She looked around at all of us, and behind her eyes I could see a compassionate and extremely intelligent being.

  This was a woman, I realized, who acted as Nathan’s second-in-command. A woman who could match him, I suspected, and maybe even best him in some regards. I seriously wanted to get to know her better—she could have answers to so many of our questions.

  I put it on my list of things to do. Right after we got the hell out of town.

  “And what does that mean?” I asked. “You’ll have to excuse me, I don’t know the protocol. I’m more concerned with the reality of the situation.”

  Corona favored me with the ghost of a smile, and then nodded once. “We have a place of refuge planned out for myself and anyone I’m going to bring with me,” she said, turning and beginning to pack again. “But I can’t take anyone there until I’ve been there myself, to make sure that it hasn’t been compromised. If I’m there alone, it will be easier for me to escape any traps. If I have a number of people…”

  “The more people, the better chance of getting caught,” I murmured, understanding. We’d been operating on the same basis, so I knew what she meant. But even so… “How long will we have to wait?” I asked bluntly. “How long will you take? We've just been hiding out in the forest, barely scraping by.”

  “Tomorrow,” she replied, then turned to Jace and motioned to the paper in his hands. “That address. Tomorrow at ten a.m. sharp. I’ll be there, and I’ll have traveling papers for you. If I’m not, it means you’re truly on your own.”

  She paused suddenly, as if she was thinking—or listening to a voice that the rest of us couldn’t hear—and then nodded and started moving again.

  “I have to go,” she announced. “I’m sorry I can’t help you right now, but you understand the reasoning. If you can stay safe for the night, I’ll get you to safety tomorrow. You cannot stay here; that much I know.” She stopped abruptly and turned back toward Jace, her face deadly serious. “There’s transportation for you in the basement, and it will get you out of here more quickly than those things you came in on. I’m afraid I can’t offer you anything more than that, except for the promise of tomorrow, and the warning that no one’s address is truly safe. No city is safe. And no one else will be coming for you. Not yet. Don’t go into any houses, because you won’t know whether you can trust the people. Avoid all people, even those you think might be your friends. Go back to the forest where you’ve been hiding. It is your safest option for the moment. I will see you tomorrow. But don’t be late, Jace Huxley. If you’re late, there will be nothing I can do for you.”

  Then, without any warning, she grabbed the two suitcases and the bag she’d packed, somehow hefted them up on her back, and strolled quickly out of the room, leaving the rest of us staring after her in shock.

  26

  We must have stood there for at least thirty seconds, staring at the door in surprise, none of us knowing exactly what to do with the information Corona had thrown at us. We didn’t move again until we heard rushing steps on the ground floor, and the slam of the door. Less than a minute later, an engine roared to life in the driveway, and tires squealed as a vehicle raced out of the gate.

  I turned to the window, my mouth still hanging open, and watched an expensive car speed down the street, away from the house.

  “Well, driving like that, in that sort of car, is going to get her attention she doesn’t want,” I said quietly.

&nbs
p; Then I turned back to my friends and particularly Jace.

  “What the hell was that? Did she actually just tell us that we need to wait another night before she can get us out of here?”

  He nodded firmly, and began making his way around the room, searching for something. “It certainly wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but she’s right. Our plans have always been pretty specific when it came to Nathan’s inner crew. I was given my plan B—the person who would get me to safety if it ever came to that—but Nathan also told me that there was a specific protocol for the situation. Wherever our refuge is, it’s well hidden, but that doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to be safe.” He found what he was looking for and shoved a chair away from the wall, exposing an outlet, then jerked a charger out of his pocket and plugged it in.

  “Robin, how much charge do you have left on your phone?” he asked, looking up at me.

  I glanced at my phone, surprised that he was thinking of that at a time like this. “Um, like five percent,” I murmured.

  That would be a problem if we were trying to get in touch with anyone else, I realized. Including, and possibly most importantly, Gabby. If we’d just been sentenced to another night in the forest, which Corona seemed to have said was safer than anyplace else right now, we were going to want to know what was going on in the world around us, so we could avoid it.

  I strode quickly toward him and handed him my phone, and Jace pulled another charger from his pocket—he must have raided the stash I’d brought with me to the cave—and plugged my phone in.

  “Everyone else, take turns,” he said, looking quickly at the rest of the group. “If we’re spending another night in that forest, I want to be doing some research, and that’s not going to work if we’re all out of battery.”

  The others surged forward, each of them holding out their phone, and Jace grabbed Jackie’s and plugged it in.