Autumn in the Dark Meadows (The Autumn Series)

by Kirby Howell

  “Good. That will make this easier. I’ve seen the second floor.” Grey stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me.

  “What? We can’t.” I said, pulling back from him.

  “This is the only way.”

  “She’ll see us.”

  “Not necessarily. I’ll put us just inside the door. She’ll think we’ve just come in.”

  “What if she’s looking at the door when we appear?” I asked.

  “Then she’ll know.”

  I stared at him. This was a big risk he was taking. Since Grey met me, he’d broken a lot of The University’s rules, but this was tantamount to showing Sam what he was.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked.

  “We need to find out what she knows. It could be important. Ready?” he asked.

  I reluctantly nodded. The soft, scratchy sweater tickled my face as I leaned my head against his chest. I remembered to close my eyes this time and said a silent prayer for Sam to be looking away when we arrived in her room.

  I felt a slight change in air pressure, and the coolness of the shadowed alley dissolved into a stuffy, sour smell. I opened my eyes and recognized a large hotel suite inside the Palmetto.

  I quickly scanned the main living space. It was unoccupied. Relief washed over me. Grey lifted a finger to his lips, then pointed behind us at the door to the hallway. If we spoke too loudly, the guards outside would hear us.

  We quietly walked farther into the living area and peeked inside the bedroom. The door had been left open. I saw the overstuffed king-sized bed inside, but no Sam. I looked back at Grey, confused. He walked over to the open bathroom door, but a second later his gaze found mine, and he shook his head. She wasn’t in there either.

  A soft sigh made me turn back to the bedroom. I crept in a little farther, and when I got closer to the bed, the top of a messy head of blonde hair came into view. It was Sam. She sat on the floor, in the small space between the bed and the wall, her knees drawn up and her head cradled on them.

  “Sam?” I said softly.

  Her head jerked up, and she scampered back against the wall in fright.

  “I didn’t mean to frighten you.” I walked around the bed to her. “We need to talk.”

  She wiped tears from her eyes and stood up. She saw Grey standing in the doorway.

  “They’re going to kill me.” Her voice was pitched high with panic. “Maybe you could talk to them? Get them to give me life in prison or something?”

  “There are no more prisons, Sam,” Grey said.

  “Do you think I deserve it? To die, I mean?”

  “I don’t know what you deserve,” he said honestly.

  “Sam, it isn’t too late to redeem yourself. You can still do the right thing,” I said in my most convincing voice.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You can tell us what you know about The Front. Who the other Frontmen are in Hoover, and here in Las Vegas. What kind of plans Karl has.”

  Sam looked unsure and began twisting her hands.

  “Surely, you realized by now that Karl is using you,” Grey said gently. “You owe him nothing. He sent you out here to do these things to us, because he didn’t want to risk his own life. He was perfectly fine with the possibility we might catch you. Don’t you see?”

  She hung her head again. “But he loves me.”

  “He doesn’t,” Grey said. “Real love doesn’t work that way. If he genuinely cared for you, he wouldn’t put you in harm’s way.”

  Sam began sobbing again. I tried to quiet her, hoping the guards outside wouldn’t hear.

  “Sam, what is he up to? Who else has he sent?” I pressed.

  She took a moment and finally held her head up, chin high this time. “I’ll only tell you if you promise to save me.”

  “It’s not up to us, Sam,” I said in desperation. “If you agree to give up information about Karl and the other Frontmen here, it might change their minds—”

  “Then I won’t tell you,” she interrupted, turning away.

  “What if we could help you escape?” Grey asked.

  I stared at him in disbelief.

  “We can’t promise to get you to LA, or even out of Vegas, but we might be able to get you out of this room.”

  Sam turned around, suspicious.

  “You’d have to give us your word you’d cause us no more harm,” Grey said.

  “How do I know you’ll keep your word if I tell you?” She sniffed.

  “This will require a bit of trust on both parts,” he said. “We’ll have to trust that what you tell us is true, and you’ll have to trust we’ll help you escape.”

  “Okay. Get me out of here, and I’ll tell you what I know.”

  Grey thought for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. We have a deal. But I’m going to blindfold you while we take you out.”

  “What?!” Sam burst out loudly.

  “Shh!” I said. “They’ll hear.” I pointed toward the doorway.

  “Please don’t blindfold me,” she begged.

  “It’s for our protection,” Grey said. “You’ve proven yourself untrustworthy. There is no benefit for us to show you the secret way out. We can’t trust you wouldn’t come back and lead Frontmen in through it.”

  She thought for a minute then said, “Okay, fine. But we need to go now.”

  Grey agreed and went to the bed, where he pulled the case from one of the pillows.

  “Put this over your head.” He handed Sam the pillowcase, and she obeyed. Grey immediately picked her up.

  “Whoa! What are you doing?!” she exclaimed through the pillowcase.

  “So you won’t know which direction we take you,” he said. “If you want our help, it has to be this way.”

  I looked at Grey, perplexed.

  He motioned with his head to come toward him. I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my head against his solid back, and we were gone.

  I opened my eyes inside a very different hotel room. It smelled like decay, and I looked around wearily. I hoped he hadn’t taken us to the Big Apple.

  “This way,” he called back to me, not bothering to keep his voice down anymore. I looked back to him as he disappeared through the door. I chased after him down a long, partially sunlit hallway.

  I followed him through the corridors of what I finally realized was the Ogopogo Casino. I kept my eyes on his back as we made our way through the hallways, unwilling to look into any of the dark corners. Much to my dismay, he doubled back several times and jogged down corridors, up and down stairs, anything to confuse Sam’s sense of direction, I realized.

  Finally, Grey stopped and motioned for me to hold on to him again. I did and quickly closed my eyes before feeling the slight tug of wind and sand through my hair. I opened my eyes, and we were standing just outside a small church. I saw the tip of the Mesosphere far off in the distance. The parking lot we stood in was crowded with cars and waist-high weeds. My eyes were drawn to the car windows, but they lacked their characteristic fog. They were empty. The back of my neck prickled, and I turned slightly to look over my shoulder at the dark church behind us. The windows were boarded on the outside, and front door was shut tight.

  Grey sat Sam down and took off the pillowcase. She took a deep gulp of fresh air, then spun to look around her, astonished.

  “Where are we?”

  “You’ll figure it out,” said Grey. “Tell us what you know.”

  I tore my eyes away from the silent church and focused on Sam, but she didn’t answer. She looked around, her eyebrows pinched together, trying to find a landmark to help her get her bearings.

  “Sam!” I said loudly, and her head snapped back to me. “We held up our end of the bargain. We got you out. If there’s any decency left inside you, tell us what you know.”

  Her eyes continued to roam behind me, and then she sighed heavily and looked at me. “I’m so sorry for everything, Autumn. I didn’t think I would like you all so much. Especially you... and Ben.�
�� She stopped and swallowed. For a moment I thought she looked like she might be sick.

  “Sam. Please. Tell us what you know,” I begged.

  She fixed her eyes on me, and I noticed that over her time with us, her cheeks had lost their sharpness and her eyes appeared less sunken. How she could continue to be loyal to Karl after seeing what a good life she could have without him was beyond me.

  “Karl has a few people in Hoover,” she said. “Sorry, but I don’t actually know any of them. Except the main greeter, I recognized him. He’s one of Karl’s. He’s intentionally letting Front people in. Karl told me I’d be interviewed by him when I arrived in Hoover.

  “Josh Hamilton?” I said flatly. I looked at Grey.

  “What else?” he said.

  “Karl said I should say the phrase, ‘I’m a hard worker. Hoover needs me,’ so the guy would know Karl sent me. That’s how he knows who’s with The Front. Karl also told me to stay close to you two especially. And cause as many problems as I could.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  Sam twisted her hands and looked into the distance, as if resolving herself. “Because he wants you distracted when he comes.”

  My heart froze.

  “Karl’s coming?” Grey asked, taking a step closer to Sam. Her brow pinched with a mixture of concern and fear. She took a small step away from Grey, watching him as she spoke.

  “Not here. Hoover. They have boats and everything. And with all of Vegas’ fuel gone, you won’t be able to get there in time to help. You can’t stop him.” Sam dropped her hands to her sides and stuck her chin out defiantly. “Later tonight, Karl’s going to attack Hoover, and he’s gonna win.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Sam turned and ran from the parking lot. She disappeared in the dead traffic clogging the street. We didn’t follow her. I stared at her retreating back, dumbfounded. Karl was on his way to Hoover.

  “What are we going to do?” I asked in a hushed voice.

  “Hoover must be warned. We’ll need to get word out.”

  “But they’ll know we broke Sam out. Grey, they might think we’re with Karl because we got her out.”

  “It’s a risk I’ll have to take.”

  “You mean ‘we’,” I corrected.

  “I can easily disappear if things get bad. You can’t.”

  “Well, you would take me with you—” I began, but Grey interrupted.

  “If things went badly, it’s not likely they would keep us together.”

  I shook my head. I didn’t like what he was saying. “Grey, I won’t let you...”

  “You think you’re the only one allowed to be stubborn?”

  I began to protest, but before I could finish my sentence he wrapped me in a tight embrace.

  “I won’t let you do this alone,” I argued, my voice muffled by his sweater.

  Grey pulled away so he could look at me. The stern look in his eyes reminded me of my dad for a moment.

  “You will. You don’t have to like it, but you will do this. If we go in together and fail, that’s it. It’s over. But if I go in alone, and they don’t listen, you’re our backup plan. Find Ben, Shad and Daniel. They’ll believe you. They can help you get to the ham radio to get word to Hoover. And, Autumn, under no circumstances are you to ride to Hoover. Not alone, and not in a small group. There wouldn’t be enough of you to do any good.”

  I was irritated he was able to read my mind so thoroughly.

  “Promise me you won’t do anything rash if this doesn’t go well,” he said, looking me squarely in the eyes.

  I didn’t answer immediately. I didn’t want to lie to him, and I wasn’t sure I could sit here in Las Vegas and do nothing while my new home and friends were attacked just thirty miles away. He startled me by grabbing my shoulders, and I gasped as he shook me.

  “Autumn, please promise me.”

  I glared up at him and saw his hard stare turn frantic. His eyes glistened with fear. He was terrified, an emotion I’d never seen on his face before. I parted my lips to agree, but no words came out. Instead I just nodded, agreeing to his plan.

  His hand drew up into my hair and gripped my neck firmly, and he leaned down and kissed me. It would have been impossible not to respond. As I kissed him back, I realized this might be the last time we had together if our plan didn’t work. I clutched him, panic rising inside me.

  After a moment, his lips parted from mine, and he stared into my face, bending slightly so he was eye to eye with me.

  “It will all be okay,” he said. “Whatever happens.”

  A tremble started in my chin, and I set my jaw against it and nodded.

  Moments later we were back at the Palmetto, dashing toward the cafeteria. We found Daniel by his blazing red hair, sitting with Franklin and Josh at the far edge of the room.

  “Stay here, and stay out of sight,” Grey whispered. “If this doesn’t go well, run to find Ben or Shad. Don’t come after me, you’ll just incriminate yourself.”

  He squeezed my hand and was gone before I could say anything. I stayed hidden near the stairs and watched. He was halfway across the room when Ben appeared beside Daniel, looking out of breath. Grey stopped suddenly.

  “She’s gone!” Ben exclaimed. “Sam’s gone! I took her some food, but her room was empty!”

  Franklin stood, overturning his chair with a clang that echoed through the suddenly quiet room. Everyone paused in conversation, forks halfway to their mouths and their eyes wide. “Where are the guards?”

  “They’re at the door. Said they haven’t left. And the windows in the room don’t open. There’s no other way out.”

  “She’s either in there, hiding, or the guards lied and let her out,” Daniel said skeptically.

  “Those are my men. I trust them,” Franklin said. “She’s got to be in there.”

  “But she’s not!” Ben protested. “There are only so many places to hide in a hotel room. I looked everywhere.”

  I glanced around the room. People were now standing, their meals forgotten, anger twisting their faces. The bad feeling in my stomach turned sour.

  Josh remained silent in his seat, watching with a slightly bemused expression in his dark eyes. He was probably trying to figure out how Sam managed to escape. I wondered if he knew Karl was coming. I wondered if that’s why he’d come with us, to be away from any potential fighting. But he himself hadn’t managed to escape harm during the stampede. I suddenly realized Sam told the truth about not meaning to cause the stampede. If she had, Josh certainly wouldn’t have been outside then.

  “I don’t see any other possible explanation,” Daniel said.

  “Enough! I’m going up there myself.” Franklin’s voice boomed across the room as he tossed his overturned chair out of the way. He stopped short, finding Grey blocking his path.

  “She’s not there, because I let her out.” Grey spoke plainly.

  I held my breath and watched. Franklin’s face relaxed into a completely blank stare, and I thought it might be okay until I saw his hand curl into a fist and begin to shake at his side.

  “Why?” Franklin asked, his voice dangerously low and trembling.

  “She had information we needed,” Grey answered. His voice was calm and steady. “We made a deal. Her escape and banishment for information about The Front.”

  I saw Josh take a step back, wide eyes searching for an exit. I skirted the edge of the crowd toward him and tucked myself into a shadowed doorway. There was no way I was going to let him go, too.

  “And you believed her?” breathed Franklin. “Now she’s gone.” He looked at the ground, fists still shaking, as if he were desperately trying to control himself. When he looked back up at Grey, his eyes were blazing, and his lips were curled back over his teeth. “You had no right! I’m the one in charge here!”

  “Yes, you’re completely right, and I apologize for superseding you. With your daughter’s death so recent, I felt you might make a rash decision in dealing with Sam. So I took matters in
to my own hands.”

  Franklin took a step toward Grey. Grey was a few inches taller, causing Franklin to have to stand up as high as he could to stand nose to nose with him. “I could have you killed for this.”

  I paused in my pursuit of Josh and turned to stare with everyone else. Grey stood calmly in Franklin’s hostile glare.

  “You could have me killed. Or you could listen to what I found out.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Josh broke in. “Whatever she told you was nothing but lies. She’d have traded anything for her life.”

  Grey leveled a meaningful gaze at Josh. “Sam told me someone in Hoover was purposefully letting in Frontmen to help weaken us internally for another attack, and they’re coming to Hoover tonight.”

  Josh laughed in one casual exhale. “The Front was decimated by Hoover last year. They couldn’t be ready for a full-on assault again so soon.”

  “They can be, and they are. Tonight. You would know this Josh, being a Frontman.”

  Josh’s face turned stony. “That’s ridiculous. You can’t just go around pointing fingers at people! Haven’t we been through enough without you starting a witch-hunt?” He turned to Franklin, “I’ll take responsibility for Grey and lock him up before he does any further damage.”

  “This is absurd!” Daniel broke his way into the conversation and into the circle that formed around the trio. “If Grey says he believes what Sam says, we should at least investigate the possibility that he’s right.”

  I stepped out of the shadows but paused when I locked eyes with Grey, who glared at me to stay back. I held my lips together to stay silent. It was hard to be quiet when everything inside urged me to run to Grey’s aid. I reminded myself I’d be of more use to him if I remained free.

  “Sam said The Front is going to attack Hoover tonight?” Daniel asked.

  Grey nodded. “Hoover needs to be warned immediately.”

  Franklin spoke up. “It doesn’t make sense that The Front is ready to wage all out war after what they went through the last time they tried to attack Hoover. You’re a stupid kid for believing a word of what that traitor said, and even more stupid for letting her bargain for her escape.”

  “Grey saved my life and others I hold dear more times than I can remember,” Daniel said, his cheeks reddening to match his hair. “And not just as a doctor. Grey isn’t a ‘kid.’ He’s proven himself time and again. We should listen to him!”