A minute later he took his foot off the accelerator and we started to slow down. I looked over at him.
“What happens when we turn around? They’ll be back there waiting for us,” I pointed out, as if he didn’t think that far ahead.
“I guess we’ll just have to drive to Asia,” he said. I opened my mouth to argue but instead my voice caught halfway up my throat.
We were sinking. Water slapped the side of my door and splashed against the windows. Panic flooded through my chest and squeezed my lungs until I couldn’t breathe.
Justin gently caught my head between both of his hands.
“Maddie, look at me. This is supposed to happen. Just breathe.”
Breathe, I thought, yes, breathe while I still can, before I drown.
“We’re fine,” he said. His face was only inches from mine and his eyes were sincere. “I know what I’m doing.”
“We’re sinking,” I said. My breath came out in gasps. “We’re sinking and I can’t swim.”
“You don’t need to swim, this car works underwater.”
The boy in the back seat cheered again and clapped his hands. Justin let go of my face and I watched with disbelief as the moon and the stars disappeared and we were enveloped inside a pitch-black ocean current. Everything was quiet. I waited for the car to explode, for the windows to leak, for the oxygen to run out. But nothing happened. Justin leaned forward and turned off the headlights. The engine made a knocking sound and he told me it was adjusting to the water.
“The engine,” I whispered, “works underwater?”
We continued to sink slowly into darkness so black I couldn’t see an inch in front of me. I listened to the water bubbling and gurgling around us as if we were floating in the stomach of a giant. I could hear Justin’s breath, and the boy shift in the back seat. A faint siren passed overhead and a slow ripple lightly rocked the car back and forth.
Once the cops passed over us, Justin revved the engine. He snapped on the headlights and the interior lights turned on, casting an orange glow around us. I could only make out the shadow of Justin’s eyes. I looked out at the water caught in the headlights, but couldn’t see anything other than floating debris flying past us like snowflakes. I gulped and kept my eyes straight ahead.
“This is partly why I wanted you to come tonight. We don’t do the ocean escapes nearly enough.”
I wasn’t sure if I should thank Justin or slap him.
The boy in the back seat leaned forward. “How long have cars been able to do this?” he asked.
“They still haven’t perfected it,” Justin said. “Not for very deep dives anyway.”
I pressed my palm against the cold window.
“Is it safe?” I asked, and closed my eyes to prepare for the answer.
“More or less,” Justin said.
“That’s reassuring,” I said.
“You can’t go too deep, that’s the only thing. The last car I did this with leaked.” We moved through the water smoothly and gained speed. Justin sat back easily in his seat like he did this every day. I was sitting ramrod straight, my hands squeezing both of my knees.
“Are you still scared?” he asked with surprise in his voice.
“Scared?” I mocked. “Of being in a possibly not airtight vehicle in the middle of the Pacific and I can’t swim?”
“I think it’s awesome,” the boy in the back seat chimed in.
“There’s a blow-up raft in the trunk in case something happens,” Justin said. I looked over at him and rolled my eyes. “Although,” he continued, “we’re deep enough now that if anything happened the car would implode from the pressure. So, we’d die instantly. If that makes you feel any better.”
“Tons,” I said.
“Do you ever see sharks out here?” the boy asked.
Justin shook his head. “They’re practically extinct,” he said.
I looked out into the dark abyss, debris still floating past us like confetti.
The tone of his voice dropped. “There hasn’t been a shark sighting on the coast in almost ten years.”
We were all silent as we watched the ocean water drift past us. I remembered seeing documentaries and pictures of what the oceans used to look like, swarming with colorful reef and fairy tale—looking creatures. A few small fish darted in front of us, their eyes curious and bright like glowing stars, reflected in the ray of the headlights. When the ocean floor came into view, it was littered with rocks and sand. There was hardly any vegetation growing; it looked as sandy and naked as a desert.
The wheels of the car met the sandy bottom and our windows slowly rose above the water level. I inhaled a deep breath of relief.
Justin broke the silence.
“I’m going to drop you off down the street, Mark. My friends will take care of you from there.”
He looked at the boy over his shoulder and grinned. “By the way,” he said. “Welcome to the real world.”
Chapter Eleven
We pulled in to the driveway next to a small, one-story home. I recognized Riley walking across the front lawn toward our car. He stood next to a young girl I didn’t know.
We all got out of the car and Riley shook Mark’s hand. I stood up and stretched my arms skyward to try to release the tension in my shoulders. Justin threw his car keys to Riley and he grinned at the young girl.
“Emily,” he said to her, “I owe you one.” Emily’s frown turned into a smile from his attention.
“It’s okay,” she said. I walked over to join them.
“What do you mean ‘you owe her one’?” I asked.
Justin’s grin widened. “This interception was hers, she’s on call tonight. But she let me have it.”
I looked back at the car and considered the past two hours of my life. I felt my mouth tighten.
“You mean, you didn’t have to do this? You just felt like it?” I asked with a glare.
Justin nodded. “I haven’t done a water escape in years. Besides, I like to keep up the practice.”
“How’d she do underwater?” Riley asked. Justin looked over at me.
“She freaked out a little at first but I think she came around,” he said.
Riley smirked. “Dude, I meant the car?” Justin creased his eyebrows and glanced back at the car. I couldn’t help but grin.
“Oh,” he said. “Not bad, a little tough to navigate, though.” I blinked at the car, still shocked I had ridden in it like a submarine.
“What happened?” Justin asked, pointing to the stain on my jeans. I looked down at the blood and felt the ache beginning to throb in my calf. I bent down and lifted up my jeans to expose a deep cut that ran up the side of my leg. The skin was swollen and still glistening with blood.
“Nice battle wound,” Riley said. “Does it hurt?”
I shook my head. “Not too bad.”
“You’re going to feel it in a couple hours,” Justin said. “Come on, let’s clean you up before we go.”
Riley drove the car into the garage while the rest of us walked inside. The house looked like it was decorated by an eighty-year-old woman with a flower fetish. All of the chairs and couches were upholstered with pastel floral designs. Paintings of flowers hung on the wall and a large rug displaying a giant sunflower was laid out at my feet.
Justin brought a first-aid kit over to the couch and told me to sit down. He squatted next to me and carefully rolled up my bloody pant leg. He eyed my calf and gave a short whistle.
“That’s impressive,” he said. I leaned over to see the dried blood, which covered a good part of my leg. Justin dabbed some disinfectant on a cotton ball. He met my eyes and rested a warm hand on my knee. “This might scar,” he said. I shrugged down at him.
“I need a few scars. It’ll toughen me up.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”
He looked more concerned than he should be; it was a cut, not a bullet wound. “It’s okay, it looks worse than it feels.”
>
“This might sting a little,” he said. I wasn’t sure what I felt more, the heat from Justin’s touch or the alcohol burning my skin. My body tensed from the sharp burn and I looked around the room to distract myself.
“This isn’t the hideaway I expected,” I noted of the atmosphere.
Justin smiled. “Yeah, most of the houses we use are donated by older people. They retire and volunteer their homes; we can’t be too picky about the decor.”
“Was her name Daisy by any chance?” I asked as I studied the daisy paintings on the wall.
Justin looked up and considered it for a moment. “I think it was Petunia.” I laughed out loud at this and Justin applied another master dose of alcohol while I was distracted. The burning shot through my entire leg and I instinctively kicked out at him. He held my leg down and I watched the muscles in his arms contract.
“Sorry,” I said, for almost kneeing him in the face.
“I should have warned you that one was coming.” He took out a small tube and inserted the tip carefully between the gash in my skin.
“Is that skin glue?” I asked. My mom had some in her bathroom drawer at home, but I had never used it. He nodded.
“It works pretty well,” he said. “It dissolves in your skin as the cut heals.”
I watched with fascination as he lightly squeezed the cut together until the skin on my leg closed up and sealed itself shut. It was like magic.
He took a syringe out of the box and uncapped it with his teeth. He glanced at me for approval.
I looked at the needle and nodded for him to continue. I could hardly feel it pierce my skin.
“What was that?”
“Maybe the greatest invention ever created. It’s like Advil, but five times as strong and it lasts for days.”
Justin wrapped some gauze around my leg expertly and taped it up. He carefully, almost tenderly, pulled my jeans down over the gauze.
“You must do this a lot,” I heard myself say. I was acutely aware of his hand still lingering on my leg. His face was only inches from mine. Our eyes held together a moment longer than necessary. He dropped his hand and stood up.
“You’re good to go,” he said, and handed me a ball of gauze. “I’d change that in the morning and try not to get it wet for a few days.”
Riley, Emily, and Mark sat at the kitchen table studying a map of Washington. Justin walked over to them. “I need to get her home. Is there an extra pair of pants in the house?”
Riley looked over at my jeans.
“Her mom might get upset if I bring her daughter home soaked in blood,” Justin pointed out. Riley told him the bedroom down the hall had clothes in the dresser.
I stood up and winced at the soreness in my leg. Justin watched me with a worried look and I assured him it was fine.
“It’ll take some time for the drugs to kick in,” he said. He walked down the hall and motioned for me to follow him. The bedroom light automatically snapped on when we walked in and he rummaged through an old dresser. He pulled out a pair of black sweatpants.
“Will these work?” he asked. I grabbed them out of his hand.
“As long as there aren’t flowers on them,” I said. I sat down on the bed and looked up at him.
“Who trained you to do all this?” I asked. He sat next to me and ran his hands through his hair. I tried to stay calm. I’d never been on a bed with a guy before, at least not with a guy I wanted to kiss so bad it felt like my heart was having some kind of a seizure in my chest.
“No one trained me. I pretty much taught myself.”
Finally, things were falling into place. Why Justin was seeking me out. What I was doing here tonight. “I get it,” I say. “You’re the one that trains.”
“Right.”
I leaned back on my hands and studied him. “And you recruit people?” I asked.
“Sometimes,” he said.
“What’s the name of your class? Anti-establishment 101?”
“Funny,” he said. He leaned back on his hands, too, so his face was level with mine. I felt the soft blanket under my fingers and had an urge to lie all the way back on the bed. And pull him down with me.
“What does a person have to do to get in?” I asked. “Break the law?”
“A rebellious streak doesn’t hurt,” he said, and held my eyes. “And knowledge of underwater-driving vehicles is a bonus.”
I glanced down at my leg and could already feel the pain beginning to fade. “Any pointers for me?”
His eyes stayed on mine. “On what?”
“On how to outsmart a probation officer? Hypothetically.”
His lips curled up and he looked away for a moment.
“My best advice is to get to know your strengths. You can’t always count on technology to save you. You need to know what you carry in here,” he said, and he tapped his head. “And in here,” he said, and tapped his chest. “The gadgets, the cars, those things are great. But first you have to be able to think on your feet. That’s been our biggest advantage. We try to sever the connection between technology and people. Like tonight in Toledo. Turn the power off and people are too numb to react. That’s when we make our move.”
“Know my strengths,” I thought out loud.
“Yours are pretty obvious,” he continued, and I raised my eyebrows. “You’re smart, that’s your greatest advantage. And you’re also a woman, another huge advantage.”
I wrinkled my forehead. “How is being a woman going to help me get away from the cops?”
He grinned. “Guys are easy to distract,” he said. “You’re young, you’re gorgeous—that’s a huge power, if you know how to use it.”
I felt my face heat up. Gorgeous? Did he actually say that?
Justin stood up and told me we should get going and shut the door behind him. I sighed and stretched my legs out in front of me, exhausted. I took my phone out of my pocket and saw it was almost midnight.
“Crap,” I muttered out loud. I voice-messaged my mom, apologizing, and said I was on my way home. I slowly took off my shoes and jeans and studied the gauze wrapped clean and secure around my leg. My skin still prickled where Justin’s hand had touched me and I couldn’t tell if it was from the cut or from the memory of his fingers.
I was pathetic. Who gets aroused for getting first aid? He was being kind and responsible and I was being ridiculous. I pulled the soft black sweatpants over my legs and put my shoes and socks back on. I opened the door and walked down the hall to the main room to find Justin standing by the door waiting for me.
I said goodbye to Riley, Mark, and Emily and followed him into the cool night air. He unlocked the door of a blue sports car and I slid in. The medicine was taking effect and making me drowsy.
I yawned and rested my head against the back of the seat. His phone rang and he glanced down at the screen.
“I have to take this,” he said. I nodded as he pressed an earpod into his ear. While Justin talked, I was content to listen to his voice and I found myself drifting off to sleep.
The next thing I knew someone was saying my name and I opened my groggy eyes to see the front of my house, the porch light on. I yawned again and heard Justin tell somebody he’d call them back. He took out his earpod and looked over at me.
“I’m heading out of town tomorrow,” he said. “Have fun on your chatwalk this weekend,” he added with a mocking grin.
I shuddered at the memory of the virtual walk Paul asked me to take. “That might have to fall through.”
“You could fake a sprained index finger,” he offered.
“Yeah,” I said, “or a hand cramp.”
Justin grinned and his eyes reflected the porch light. I stared back into them and I knew I was gaping but I couldn’t look away. Silence stretched between us in the small space of the car and something electric charged the air.
His face turned serious. “The next time I’m in town, will you meet with my friends again? We have to talk to you about something.”
&n
bsp; I felt dazed but I couldn’t tell if it was the medicine or sitting so close to him in the confined space. Close enough to hear him breathe and smell his skin.
“You know where to find me,” I said. He finally let my eyes go. I opened the door and had to give my full concentration over to walking toward the front door. I didn’t know what was coming over me. My body tingled and my stomach was tied in knots and my head was so light it felt like I was floating, back and forth, in a dark ocean current.
Chapter Twelve
I slept in until almost noon the next day and woke up feeling like a truck had run me over. A rock song suddenly pumped through my wall speakers, the music tugging at me like hands trying to pull me out of bed. I trudged into the bathroom and took some pain reliever; the shot Justin gave me didn’t live up to its pain-free promise. I washed my face and smoothed out my messy hair with a brush. After I dressed, making sure to put on baggy pants so they wouldn’t rub against my leg, I tied my hair back in a ponytail and hobbled down the stairs for breakfast. I walked into the kitchen and jumped to see my dad’s face staring back at me, his image projected on our wall screen. For a second I thought I was seeing a ghost.
“I was wondering if you’d ever get up,” he said to me. My mom stood in the middle of the kitchen, obviously talking to him online.
“You scared me,” I breathed. I passed my mom to get to the coffee machine and poured myself a cup, pumping cream and sugar inside.
“What else is new?” she asked him as she pointed out a breakfast bar and a bowl of vitamins set out on the table for me.
I sat down and picked at the protein bar. It was stale and tasted bland, but I never considered it until Justin pointed it out to me.
“There was a power outage last night in Toledo,” my dad said with annoyance.
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