by Jody Klaire
She groaned at the arrogant tone in her voice. Renee was crazy when in love but Frei, she’d been intolerable.
She blinked away the thoughts. What was this a shrink session?
She hauled herself closer to the door and pulled herself up to kneel in front of the lock. She pulled her picks from inside her waistband—the usual hiding place—and inserted them.
Fahrer was in the driver’s seat–as always–as Huber waited for her in the back. She couldn’t look at Fahrer. She didn’t want to think about how much he’d disappointed her. Her vision of a man being strong had been shattered. Maybe that was more the problem than his rebuttal. Fahrer didn’t care enough to push away the rules. She wasn’t important enough to him.
She sat next to Huber in the back. It was the same seat Megan usually sat in but Frei was holding up the gem so Huber could drool over it.
One attempt, one shiny gem.
“You got away cleanly?” Huber asked, his scope to his eye as he examined the chunk of rock.
“Easy. Their alarm system is older than me.” Her tone was for Fahrer. She wanted him to know she didn’t care. She didn’t need him. She wanted him to hurt like he’d hurt her.
“And the jackknife?” Huber looked at her, a smile in his greedy eyes as Fahrer drove them away.
“For slow people.” She saw Fahrer’s brow flinch at her words. He’d been hurt on it. He’d been quick enough to dodge it spearing through his head. A nasty trap but for people who were tall. At her height, or lack of it, it wasn’t a problem. But why tell him that?
“This little gem just ensured your request is granted.” Huber smiled at her then eyed Fahrer. “The doctor will see to your wounds when we arrive back.”
Fahrer frowned. “Excuse me, Mr. Huber?”
“She just guaranteed that shoulder will be as good as new.” He chuckled, his eyebrow raised at the frown. “Megan won’t be happy. I think she had plans for you.”
Frei tried to mask her smile. That made it even more sweeter.
“When you return to Caprock, you will continue as you were.” Huber’s tone was cold as if she hadn’t got him the gem. “Jäger has once again turned down my request for you to be moved into a more suitable role . . . which is exactly what I want.”
“It is?” She was still in Wood, the most pathetic group. She was short. They had issues with it. It didn’t matter that she could sneak around without a problem, steal food and drink from staff and skill captains, steal from the principal.
More and more she’d felt the need to do things like that. Not because she wanted to eat it or drink it herself. No, it was for the risk, to show that she was better than they thought. She fed the kids who were being starved for punishment. None of the staff could figure it out. They’d disciplined the whole of the silver group, the ones training to be locksmiths, because of it but they still had no answer.
Who would look at her? What could the weedy short kid do? What could a girl do?
“If you remain overlooked, I don’t have to pay extortionate fees and you don’t have that brute trying to fail you,” Huber grunted.
He meant Jäger. Brute wasn’t the word she’d use. Creepy, slimy, nasty, a bully maybe. Jäger had been watching her a lot. He kept talking about her hair. He’d done the same with Suz and now her sister. Creep.
“I think I may have found a name for you,” Huber said.
She stared at him. A name for her? She wasn’t that important. Her sister didn’t have a name and she was beautiful.
“You are a locksmith after all.”
“I am?” She felt a glow of pride. It was special to be a locksmith. The kids in the silver group didn’t realize that the staff were looking out for a potential in the field. It seemed locksmiths were more valuable than any other slave. Why, she didn’t really understand. There were kids who would make as much, if not more money, for their owners with legitimate skills.
“Yes,” Huber said, patting her knee. “So I think it only fitting that I call you Locks.”
Chapter 25
RENEE WAS QUIET during dinner. So was Iris. I half-wondered what they must have thought as Aunt Bess and I caught up on everything that had happened since I’d been a peanut. Turned out that she was ten years older than my mother and she’d not wanted to stick around to learn how to run the watermill. She’d wanted freedom and she’d followed her paintbrush all over. I’d loved hearing her talk about her trips to Europe too.
A real federal agent came and collected Iris after dinner. She knew him and, by the look in her eyes, didn’t mind his stubbled chin. I got the feeling that they knew each other too well for a married woman. That’s if she was married to Joey. Considering her loyalty to my dad, I was half-tempted to warn the Fed to hide his wallet.
Renee was still quiet as she placed food and drink that Aunt Bess had fixed us in the trunk. Not for the first time, I wondered what was going on in her head.
“Lilia said somethin’ you didn’t like?” I was guessing but my mother had provoked the scowl Renee had on her face.
“Yes.”
I took a long breath. “You want to share or am I just along for the ride?”
Renee shook her head. “I don’t want to share, no.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Lilia checked through the data from the breadcrumb you found.”
I reached into my pocket and held the lock in my hand at the mention of Frei.
Damp walls, Jessie rasping for breath. “Take your inhaler.”
“It’s not me, Miss Locks.” Jessie blurred around the edges. Cold sweat covering every inch. Achy, cold. Deep raw pain. Got to keep with it. Got to keep her safe.
“Aeron?” Renee touched my arm. I could hear my own breaths—sharp and labored.
“She’s . . . somethin’ ain’t right.” I swallowed, trying hard to fight through the symptoms and get more from her surroundings. “It’s like she’s drunk.”
“She drinks too much,” Renee mumbled, her voice almost a whimper.
“No, it’s more than that. Her eyes keep flickering.” I shook my head. “I can’t get a fix on where she is. Just . . . flickers of places.”
Renee bit her lip. “Sounds like a toxin . . . Has she been bitten?”
“I don’t know.” Jessie wouldn’t know what to do. I sighed. I couldn’t ignore that. “Nan?”
Renee jumped as a breeze hit us. I could see by Renee’s double take that Nan must be beside me.
“Fancy ride you got there, Blondie.” Her voice held a great deal of warmth and affection. I smiled. It felt good to know how much she thought of Renee.
“Nan, I gotta ask you to do somethin’ and I know you ain’t allowed to mess with things.” I held up my hand so she didn’t go arguing. “I know you can’t say where she is but this is just a simple message to help somebody.”
Nan clicked her tongue. “I can do messages.”
“Frei is sick but there’s a young kid with her called Jessie.” I turned to look at where I could feel she was standing. “Jessie is real clever and if she knows what’s wrong with Frei, she can keep her comfortable till we can get to her.”
Nan’s energy fizzled about like she was thinking on it. “Problem is, Shorty, the girl may be clever but more brains sometimes means less brains, if you get my meaning?”
“I resent that.” Renee put her hands on her hips. “I have plenty of common sense.”
I couldn’t see what Nan did but Renee waved it off. “Hydration might help flush it through the system. It won’t really help if it’s a toxin or a poison.”
I bit my lip. “It’s slow, whatever it is. It’s stopping me finding her.”
“Then water ain’t gonna do a lot of good for her. Not like medicine can.” Nan sighed. “I’ll get on it. There anythin’ ’bout this girl that will help her know she ain’t crazy?”
I smiled. “Yeah, tell her Samson sent you.”
Nan’s energy rumbled like she was chuckling hard.
Renee’s face relaxed. “We found Bess.”
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Nan muttered under her breath. I couldn’t hear what exactly. “Tell her to do somethin’ useful and help you.”
Renee shook her head. “We can’t take her with us, Nan. I’m sorry but she’s not an agent.”
Nan swooshed to my other side. “An’ that stopped you with Shorty?”
Renee turned as Aunt Bess headed out of her cottage, a pack on her back and a smile on her face. “Lilia tells me I gotta take care of our girls.”
Renee looked at me. I didn’t know what to say. Like I had any influence over anybody.
“Watch that guy with the hammer an’ you’ll be just fine.”
Nan’s presence faded. Aunt Bess stowed her pack in the trunk and Renee looked at me for some kind of explanation. “Don’t have one iota, you’re the boss.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Right well, we need a direction to head in.”
“Louisville.” Aunt Bess tapped the top of the car. “Lilia just said she had a freaky turn.”
Renee got in the car. “I’m going to do something you’re not used to me doing.”
“Which is?” I asked, getting in and belting up. The car rocked as Aunt Bess did the same.
Renee slammed the car into gear. “Forget protocol.”
I held on as she sped down the track to the road. The light slid up from the dash once more.
“How long will it take us to get there?” I didn’t really know much about geography.
“Three and a bit hours,” Aunt Bess said, whooping as we screeched onto the highway. “That’s if you obey the limit.”
“And now,” I asked, feeling the lock bounce in my pocket. My stomach bounced with it.
Renee narrowed her eyes. “About two.”
That was some increase in speed. “What about cops?”
“If the light doesn’t warn them off, when they radio through the plate someone will.” Renee bit her lip. “It just means that if Abby gets wind of it, she’ll know something isn’t right.”
“Who’s Abby?” Aunt Bess looked like she was on a fairground. Her grin wrinkled up her eyes.
“She’s somebody Renee knew a long time ago,” I said, hoping that was vague enough not to make Renee angry. “She’s the head of the IA.”
I could imagine my mother trying to explain why we were hurtling toward Louisville.
“There a river in the city?” I asked, hoping to pull Renee’s thoughts from Fleming. We couldn’t worry about what anyone would think. Frei needed us and that was all that mattered.
“Ohio River,” Aunt Bess called back as Renee hit the sirens to alert the traffic up ahead.
“I don’t know why she went to Kentucky,” Renee muttered to herself.
“She likes chicken?”
Aunt Bess bellowed out a laugh and squeezed my shoulder. “That’s a good one.”
Renee shot me an unimpressed look. “I hope she’s not in Baltimore.”
“She doesn’t like cakes?” I asked with a grin. “Yasmin always bribed the guards so she could watch that cake show.”
“Or oysters, they do some nice oysters,” Aunt Bess added. “I had some real nice crab cakes there once, and cookies. They do good cookies too.”
Renee shook her head. Exasperation shot from her aura. “Huber is in Baltimore.”
“Frei wouldn’t be going nowhere near him would she?” I thought Huber had been onside back in Caprock. “He wouldn’t hurt her?”
“I don’t know. He might need her services, voluntarily or not.” Renee shook her head. “She wouldn’t go near him but maybe Jessie did.”
A real unpleasant thought entered my head. Jessie had been head over hind in love with a creep called Kevin, a fellow student of hers in Caprock. A student that was now under Huber’s beady gaze. She was about as heroic and crazy enough to try and help him.
“Huber wouldn’t hurt Jessie either, right?” Huber had wanted to keep Frei for her talents but he’d come through when she’d needed him.
“If Jessie finds him, which we both know she can . . .” Renee kept her eyes on the road. I glanced behind at Aunt Bess who stared out the window. She was trying not to eavesdrop but that was kinda hard.
Jessie was a genius. It had been a struggle to keep that from the prying eyes of the folks who’d have wanted to “acquire” her.
“If Huber realizes she’s got something special . . .” I sighed. “What better way to replace Frei than with a mini-version.” I glanced at Renee. “We need to fly or something.”
She smiled at me. “That would be even more fun explaining.”
“I ain’t been in a plane for years.” Aunt Bess gave a thumbs up.
“Can’t we just say you were doing some training exercises with me . . . and my aunt.” That hadn’t sounded as convincing as I’d thought.
Renee’s eyes met mine for a second before she glued her focus to the road. “If we need to, I will, but for now we stick to the roads.”
“Then step on it, Black,” I mumbled. “Frankenfrei ain’t gonna spring herself.”
For that I got a burst of speed and I clung onto the handles. Aunt Bess whooped once more and my focus was drawn back to the lock in my pocket. I had more chance of finding her if I touched it. Maybe if I kept trying I could get a glimmer of something, anything, that would tell us where she was.
It was as good a shot as any.
Chapter 26
JESSIE FOUND MISS Locks next to the door. She fought off a shiver and looked down at the makeshift bucket she’d concocted out of her hood. The dribbles of water from the roof above weren’t filling it up fast enough to keep Miss Locks’s temperature down. Jessie had torn her sleeve to use as a rag but it was looking too grimy. She couldn’t figure out if it was Miss Locks’s injuries that were making her so sick or something else. She did know that she needed to get them out of there . . . somehow.
A draft wrapped around her shoulders and made her shiver. It was so damp and cold. She coughed. The telltale tickle in her throat was a warning sign. Her inhaler wouldn’t last more than a couple of days. She’d hold it in. Try to use breathing control. Miss Locks needed her fit and healthy.
The draft wriggled up her back and she hugged herself. It was creepy inside the damp space: The grimy stone cried yucky goop from the river it held back; the ceiling dripped rain water that smelled of rust; yet, there were noises and feelings she couldn’t explain.
A scrape sounded behind her and Jessie turned ready to . . . to . . . do what? So Miss Locks had been kind and shown her how a real agent operated and Miss Samson had taught her to fight. How did you fight . . . well . . . spooks?
“I ain’t much for fightin’.”
Jessie heard the voice and searched for it. Miss Locks was sleeping. Since they’d hurt her, she’d not been able to keep awake for very long. Maybe it was just the wind.
“The wind talk to you often, kid?”
Jessie tensed. That was a voice. She knew she heard it. She rubbed her cracked lips on her top. Maybe it was dehydration?
“You sure look like you could use a drink an’ some feedin’ up. Samson didn’t go making you all fit to see you wither away.”
Samson? Miss Samson? Jessie scanned every inch of the space. Maybe it was a radio hidden somewhere or someone was overhead at the window?
“Or maybe Samson sent somebody to keep you company?”
Jessie smiled at that. Miss Samson was kinda weird. She did things that Jessie couldn’t wrap her brain around. Her best friend Miroslav had always said that maybe there were lots of things science couldn’t explain and that was a good thing. Whatever it was, it was nice to have someone to talk to.
“She’s sick and I don’t know what to do,” Jessie whispered, hoping she didn’t disturb Miss Locks.
“She been bit?”
Jessie ran her hands over Miss Locks’s legs, her body. There were burn marks, rips, but no blood. She felt for lumps and pulled up a pant leg. A bump but not a bite. Stings would leave marks too. “There’s nothing I can see.”
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“You need to keep on feeding her water.” The breeze brushed past her and Jessie shuddered. “She’s burning up alright. Samson said she’s on her way.”
“But she doesn’t know where we are.” Her voice gave away how scared and miserable she felt. She tried to hold back the tears and be brave but it was all her fault.
“Here’s the thing ’bout my Shorty.” The breeze felt like it was sitting beside her. It felt . . . reassuring. “She knew when you were up that tower an’ sent Icy here to come and get you.”
Jessie nodded, smiling at the names . . . whatever it was . . . called Miss Samson and Miss Locks.
“She knew when that mean fella nearly took a tumble from the roof, right?”
Jessie frowned. Typical of Kevin. She was so over him.
“An’ she knew how to help your friend when she fell.”
Miss Samson was the coolest. Jessie knew that. Thinking back over all she, Miss Locks, and Miss Worthington had done to help them was amazing. She wanted to be just like them.
“Well . . . here’s your chance. I’m gonna loiter a while with Tiddles here.” Jessie frowned at the sound of a cat meowing. She knew there wasn’t a cat but it felt nice to hear one. She liked cats. She’d always wanted one. “Tiddles won’t get fluff up your nose an’ I’m gonna stick around should you need somebody to talk to. You gotta do somethin’ for me though.”
Jessie nodded, not caring that she was doing so to thin air.
“I want you to drink some of that water you’re giving to Icy. If you don’t, you ain’t gonna be able to help her when you need to.”
Jessie went to protest but she knew whoever was talking to her was right. Miss Samson had drilled it into them about hydration and how important it was. She sipped at the water, clamping her eyes shut at the relief.
“Do you have a name?” she whispered as Miss Locks stirred.
“Sure, you can call me Nan.”
Jessie dribbled some water onto Miss Locks’s lips and dipped the rag in the makeshift bowl to cool her brow. “It’s nice to meet you, Nan.”
Miss Locks opened her eyes. “Did you just say Nan?”