by Lynn Rush
“But I’m not. I left. I orchestrated the biggest act of disobedience ever.” Nate gazed at Melanie.
“I didn’t understand that, either.”
“She’s gone,” Tim said as he stood. “How the hell—I don’t get it.”
“Look. Sun’s almost up. We need to get out of here. Georgia, I’m sorry to ask this of you, but I need you to incinerate Melanie’s body.” Nate stepped forward. “Can you do that if I speed it out of here then come for you?”
“Yeah. I can do that. Then we’re going to get Lois.”
“She’s an hour north of here,” Tim said. “At least in normal weather.”
“If we got a hit, then so did The Center,” I added.
“More than likely.” Nate nodded. “That’s why we need to hurry, we need to be the first to get to her.”
“Where is she?”
“Homeless Shelter.”
Chapter 10
“You know what I just figured out?” Tim said from the back seat of the Jeep.
I looked back at him and Georgia. The open laptop in Tim’s lap spilled its illumination over his sunken features.
“What?” I asked.
Nate stared forward, driving, eyebrows furrowed. The snow had let up some, but the roads were still covered by nearly three feet. I wasn’t sure how the Jeep was making it through.
“God, I can’t believe I missed this before.” He shook his head. “You know the names in the book from your mom?”
“Yeah?” Georgia said.
“Each one we’ve found was dead. Well, besides Bev and the few Andrey confirmed were with Bev. And they died in car crashes. Suicides. Work accidents. Hell, even cancer got one. All but that cancer one are typical ways an organization like The Center would eliminate people, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, Lois has popped up on the radar near a few of these names. Look.” He pointed to his screen where he’d inputted the names listed in the book. We’d been trying to find them so we could get more information on how to expose or end these people. “You think she’s looking for them, too? To try and help?”
“How? How does she know about all of this? How to hide?”
“She’s obviously more than what you’ve ever known her to be, but I’m more worried about Melanie, to tell you the truth,” I said. “If all those records you hacked into were falsified, Tim, then someone knows about us.”
“I’ve been thinking about that, and I have a theory,” Nate said.
He’d been so quiet since we’d left but I’d written it up to concentrating on driving in the storm. Should have known his oversized brain was working to figure everything out.
“She saw us down at the pool, but we didn’t run into her until much later?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s plenty of time to report it, and for The Center to falsify her records, knowing we’d check them. They could have advised her to do exactly as she did, you guys. She, obviously, wasn’t a low-level Agent like we’d thought. She’d gotten information from us. Gotten our defenses down thinking she was of minimal threat.”
“That’s the only explanation that seems realistic,” I said, more hopeful than convinced. “We’d been Agent free since we died. No activity around Scott, Jasmine, or Zach. Nothing on the airwaves that Jasmine and Jess had found per Martin. Right?”
“It’s something to consider. Regardless, everyone knows we’re alive. All of us,” Tim said. “And I’m thinking Nate, Mandy, and Georgia are top three on the most wanted.”
“Which means they’re going to hit us with everything they have.”
“Including Bev’s team,” Georgia chimed in to the conversation. “Don’t forget about Auntie Bev.”
“They’re separate from The Center, but we have to assume they’ll catch wind.” Nate said. “Remember, some of those Agents didn’t even know about Andrey.”
“The Center was more focused on the book, which is when Melanie went nuts. Bev’s team was more focused on getting me and Georgia in for dissection.” I reached over and gripped Nate’s shoulder. “But now that they know their Josiah is alive and well, I think that changes things.”
What cracked my heart the most was that Nate was found out because of me. Before I’d moved into his apartment complex with Georgia, he’d been living many years without detection. Hell, he, Tim, and Martin had set up a little Do-Gooders club, using their powers for helping the college kids. Keeping people safe.
Then I had to come in and wreck things. Like I did with Zach’s life. Look where that got me. Now Nate’s hidden life, as he knew it, was over. The guilt weighed on my heart like a two-ton truck.
Everywhere I went I left a wake of destruction. I slid my eyelids shut hoping the tears wouldn’t spill over. This nightmare would never be over, would it?
A jolt in the truck yanked me back into the moment.
“Sorry. Difficult to see the curbs sometimes.” Nate turned the wheel gently. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I fell asleep?” I asked as I sat up. The crick in my neck answered me before Nate had to say anything. I slid my fingers around my neck and squeezed out the tension. How could I have fallen asleep like that? “Where are we?”
“Burgess, Minnesota.”
I glanced behind me and saw Tim and Georgia leaning head to head, sleeping. His arm draped over her shoulders, and she tucked up against him, arm around his waist, she held on to him like a life preserver.
Guess everyone was tired.
“You okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine. You?”
“Not even a little.” I pushed myself up more.
For the first time in over three days, I saw a hint of sunshine. Rays of light trickled through the remaining snowflakes that the wind wrestled up.
“So, she showed up at the Burgess Mission of Hope homeless shelter last night.”
“We close?”
“Yep, just down the street.”
“God, I hope we find her this time.” I scrubbed my hands down my face. Man, I had dragon breath, felt like crap, and my body was heavy and tired from the awkward position I’d taken a nap in.
“Me too. The Center thinks she has the book, it seems.”
“What I don’t get is, surely, they have to know that destroying the book doesn’t make everything they did go away.” I shook my head. “I’m not the brightest lightbulb out there, but I’m not completely stupid.”
“Think of it like this. The book, written by your mother, has handwriting samples that can be confirmed as hers. Then you and Georgia and all that you guys can do. It, too, confirms the book and DVDs claims. Then you have me, Tim, and Martin.” Nate glanced around, then steered the Jeep to the right. “We’re all evidence. Now, so is Lois. They need all of us gone. Silenced somehow.”
“And we’re not going to the police or FBI because we’d have to expose ourselves.”
“We’d be freak shows. Science would win out and want to study us. We’d never be free. Sure, we wouldn’t be hunted by Agents—although I highly doubt even if the FBI shut them down it would stop—but other people. Doctors, media, curious people.”
“I get that. But wouldn’t doctors, media, and curious people be the lesser of two evils?”
“I don’t think the evil work that The Center and Bev’s gang is doing will ever completely stop. But if we’re celebrities, it would be that much more difficult to hide.”
“Nate, I was wondering something.” I glanced at him, my heart suddenly thumping with anxiety.
“What?”
“You were far up in the organization. Know many people, where locations are.”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t we go in and blow the places up? Like me, Jasmine, and Georgia did in California?”
“It’s an option, Mandy.” He looked at me, probably longer than he should have considering he was driving. “But I know, from you telling me, how difficult it was for you to destroy that one building in California and the people in
it. Would you be able to do that many times over? Bigger buildings? Filled with people. Maybe even people like you. Children, too?”
My stomach shifted. “But if we don’t, how will we ever be free?”
Nate drew in a deep breath. His knuckles blanched as he gripped the steering wheel. “I’m not sure we’ll ever be free. No matter what we do.”
Chapter 11
I pulled the heavy, wooden door of the bar-slash-restaurant open and was met with a wave of greasy fries smell. My stomach rumbled. I was so sick of hotel food after being cooped up in that, I would kill to sink my teeth into a juicy burger.
But first, I had to look for Lois. When we found out she wasn’t at the shelter, we’d fanned out to search the seven structures in this tiny, one stoplight town. It reminded me of Trifle, actually, only it was smaller if that was even possible.
Georgia took the diner next door and Tim and Nate covered the café, other bar, and a gas station. It was only ten in the morning, so the bar portion of the establishment lay dormant off to my right. I stepped in to be sure, though.
Booths lined the wall to my right, but they were empty. Several round tables littered the floor throughout the small space, and then the main attraction, the tall, oak bar, shone beneath the canned lights above it. Kind of like an altar.
But it, too, was quiet.
I caught my reflection in the mirrors behind the bar, and the light illuminated the blue streak in my hair like a neon sign. Maybe I should start wearing hats. I never liked them, but that streak screamed, “Hi, I’m Mandy. Please shoot me with a dart.”
I turned around and went back to the entrance area, then straight through to the diner side. Unlike the bar, this place was bustling. Chatter and silverware clanking wafted through the air along with the smell of bacon and pastries. My mouth watered again.
“Hi. May I help you?”
A tall, skinny girl stared down at me.
“No thanks. I’m looking for someone. Mind if I walk through?”
“Sure, hon. Just holler if you need anything.” She whirled around and went back to the register. People hemmed in the long bar-like counter, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on red leather-topped stools, eating their food like there wasn’t a care in the world.
They had no idea I was there to find a lost person, hopefully before Agents started showing up, shooting darts everywhere. A twinge of anger and jealousy ripped through my stomach. Or was that a hunger pang?
I moved forward, passing filled booth after filled booth on my left. The tables to my right were full. Ahead were the restrooms and to the right, on the wall, were a row of pay phones. Yep, that’s how tiny this town was.
I hadn’t seen payphones in years, but it turns out someone still used them, because sure enough a person leaned forward, their upper body disappearing behind a thin, brown divider.
Black combat boots with jeans tucked into them was about all I could see. Dribbles of melting snow lay around the shoes. The backside was kind of big, and I saw the beginnings of a red shirt, but a down vest swallowed that up. Lois was much bigger and frumpier than that, so I turned around to scan the restaurant a second time.
Shit. We’ve missed her again, haven’t we?
Georgia strolled through the front area. Our eyes met immediately, and she shook her head. I huffed and mouthed the word, “Sorry.”
Her shoulders slouched, and she backed out of the entrance. I hurried forward, waving goodbye to the waitress who’d greeted me. “Thanks. We’ll be right back for dinner. Four of us, please.”
She nodded.
I burst through the heavy doors and found Georgia sitting on the bench off to the right. “Hey, girl.”
“Hey.”
I slumped into the seat with her. The cold radiated through my jeans. Despite the sun’s rays finally taking command of the snowy day, it was still freezing. White plumes of air formed in front of my face as I exhaled the frustration that’d been building in my chest.
“Doesn’t mean she’s gone-gone,” I said. “There’s still more of the town we can look through.”
“Yeah, like all the other times.” Georgia shook her head. “This is getting really old. I’m about ready to tell Tim to whisk me off to some deserted freaking island and live there. No nothing. Eat berries and live off the land and not have one other person around.”
“Even me?”
“You and Nate would be welcome. But that’s it.”
“Sounds pretty good.”
“Yeah, well…” I glanced up and down the sidewalk, looking for the guys. “Let me pile on a little more while we wait for Nate and Tim.”
“Oh great.”
“I know. Sucky timing, but you should know.” I told her about my conversation with Nate while her and Tim had been sleeping and about Jasmine and Scott getting married.
“I can’t believe you’re telling me about Jasmine and Scott just now, Mandy. That’s freaking great. Just great.” Georgia stood and started pacing away from me. “First it’s Nate keeping secrets, now you.”
“No. It’s just that we kind of got distracted with Melanie showing up, busting out of there, you incinerating her body.” I put my hands up in surrender, ready to get up and chase her down. “Then, we fell asleep right away in the car. Look, I’m sorry. Okay?”
“I know. Still sucks.” She whirled around. “And I’m starving, tired, and plain sick of—”
She stopped, focus lasered over my shoulder. That scared the ever-loving crap out of me, and I jumped to my feet and whirled around.
There stood Lois.
Chapter 12
“Mom?” Georgia shook her head. “Er—Lois?”
Lois looked back into the restaurant, to Georgia, then around to her left. Nate and Tim were heading down the sidewalk in our direction. They were only a block away.
Lois locked gazes with Georgia again and opened her mouth, but then it snapped shut. She took a step back, but her knee buckled and down she went. Before she hit the ground, Nate appeared and caught her.
She flinched and pushed away from him.
Georgia stood there, mouth open. Paralyzed. Tim came in beside her and touched her shoulder. “Georgia.”
She finally blinked.
“We should get inside.” Nate guided Lois to her feet and then led us into the restaurant Georgia and I had just left.
It had been the person standing at the phone booth. Same red shirt and black down vest. Only the Lois that I knew was about fifty pounds heavier, at least. The woman standing, well almost standing, was different. No wonder I’d missed her. Sure, I hadn’t seen her face, but still. Georgia’s mom had always been roly-poly.
This woman standing before us had black, short, braided knobs of hair jutting out from beneath a black skull cap. The eyes were distinctly Lois’—bright green. High cheekbones were more pronounced now with the weight loss. Her behind was still wider than the average person’s, but Lois looked great.
“How?” She finally managed to say something.
Nate guided us to the bar side. “Lois Kelsey?”
She fixed her stare on Nate, then Tim, who still hadn’t let go of Georgia. Georgia stared at Lois, like she was torn between strangling the woman or hugging and kissing her.
Couldn’t blame Georgia, though. Thinking Lois was her mom for over eighteen years only to find out it was all a lie, then to disappear only to resurface months later, appearance considerably changed and possibly an Agent.
“Georgia,” she whispered, then lurched forward and yanked her into a hug, completely bypassing Tim. “Georgia, you’re alive.”
The woman fell into sobs.
“You’re alive.”
Georgia didn’t return the hug, just stood stiff armed within her former mother’s grasp. Total confusion flickered over her eyes, along with a hint of orange. That told me she was struggling to keep her power in check. Despite the control we’d gotten over the last handful of months, intense emotions still challenged us sometimes.
And I�
��d say finding Lois after all this time qualified as an intense emotion.
“Lois. It’s me, Amanda Smith.”
“You both died. I saw it. I read—how?”
“I know what you read and heard, but we’re not safe here. We should leave. Right now.” I stepped forward. “Agents probably got tipped off to where you were like we did.”
“I’ve gotten sloppy, I know. When I lost my Georgia, I—or thought I’d lost you—I almost didn’t care anymore. I—”
Sobs rocked through her body again, but she managed to step away. She looked at me from red-rimmed eyes, and then to Tim and Nate. “Who are these men?”
“They’re helping us. They’re the ones who staged our deaths to get away from the Agents. Come on. We need to go.”
She nodded. “I was on my way out of town, just needed to stop here to check the net.” She pulled out a smart phone. “To find out where to go next.”
“Well?” I said, stepping toward the door. “Where were you headed?” I nodded at Georgia to follow me.
“North.”
“What’s North?” Nate asked, coming by my side.
Lois eyed him with a cautious glance. “Someone who knows the head of The Center and is willing to talk.”
“Like I haven’t heard that before,” I said.
Lois nailed me with the motherly glare I’d seen before any of this had come to pass. She’d not liked me since I’d shown up in Trifle. Looks like it hadn’t changed any.
“Tim, check it out.” Nate nodded to the front.
“Are you guys back for some food already?” The waitress that helped me earlier approached, a smile splitting her face. “Oh, it’s five now? I saved you a seat.”
“Sorry. No thanks,” I said, nodding for Nate and Tim to keep moving. “Looks like we’re going to head out. Thanks.”
I nudged Georgia into Lois.
“Bye.” The waitress waved, but regarded us with narrowed eyes. I could imagine how dumb we looked, but still, we needed to hurry. Agents could—
“Shit,” Tim said. He backed us into the restaurant. “Um, actually, ma’am do you have a back way out of here?”