Bailen continued. “The Ghost life is dangerous. Shit’s going to happen. But now’s as good a time as any to have her join.”
“Yes, it’s dangerous, and we don’t need shit to happen with her there. Which is exactly why you shouldn’t be going. We can’t afford to lose you, either.” Jake said it like he might lose the argument.
“I need to look for very specific components. It’s not like I can write you a grocery list. Besides, I’m trained for this.”
“And Kaya’s not.”
Peyton stepped next to her brother, but her attention remained on Jake. “Trained or not, as much as it kills me to say this, Bailen’s right. It’s Kaya’s choice. Besides, we have Jeremy and Gavin, two of our best guys. Nothing bad should happen.” She put her hand on Jake’s shoulder but quickly pulled it back.
Jake frowned with a hint pleading in in his eyes. A lame attempt to guilt me into siding with him. “Fine. It’s up to you.”
“Really?” I said, excitement bubbling inside me.
“Yes.” He grabbed my shoulders and twisted me so I had to face him. “But remember this isn’t a game. You know what’s at stake with your tracker if you get caught.”
“I want to go,” I said without hesitation. There was no way I’d let him leave me again. I wanted in on the action. It wasn’t like the Ghosts had any rules. They lived to break them. And if I was going to be one of them, I’d have to learn to live outside the law.
Jake’s intense gaze fixed on Bailen, the warning it held remained unsaid. “If she’s going, she’s riding with me.”
“That cool with you?” Bailen asked.
I nodded, afraid to say anything that might jinx the situation.
“Good. Let’s not waste any more time,” Bailen said.
Jake climbed on his silver bike and offered me a hand up. I pulled on a black helmet that, unlike the others, lacked the Ghost symbol, then gripped Jake’s waist.
The roar of the engine and the rush of wind whisked away the argument. The group rose into the night sky, headed toward the city. For someone who’d supposedly taught himself to drive a motorbike, Jake had amazing control.
The city lights glimmered in the distance as we flew over vacant farmland. Everything seemed so peaceful from far away, but the closer the city grew, the more my nerves did too. The floating highway signs and lights illuminating the edges of the skyways felt like a spotlight on what we were about to do.
As the lit-up skyrises filled the horizon and the noise of the city picked up, so did my heart beat. I had no idea how the Ghosts were going to get away with heading into the city unnoticed. Especially not with me. The authorities routinely patrolled the cities in addition to monitoring tracker activity.
But we took a lightly traveled skyway toward the outskirts of the city. Ten minutes later, we landed on a narrow, skyrise rooftop. I climbed off the bike, handed my helmet to Jake, and took in the view at the edge of the roof. The lights around the outside of the city were starting to shut off for the evening. Only a small section of downtown remained heavily lit. I loved St. Louis, but practically the whole town shut down at 10 p.m. An occasional car flew by in the distance, but it was too late for heavy traffic. No wonder the Ghosts had waited until now for a supply run.
“All right, this should be a quick in and out.” Bailen’s voice drew me back to the group. “We need processors, memory, and storage devices. If you find anything else you think will be of value, run it by me. Otherwise, grab whatever you can carry and leave. We don’t anticipate any trouble, but you all know the risks. If the authorities catch you, you’re on your own. Do the best you can to not give up any intel and hope they give you a quick end. ’Cause we’ve all heard rumors about the alternative.”
I whispered to Jake, “What’s the alternative?”
He waved his hand to shush me, turning his attention back to Bailen. If he wasn’t telling me, it was as bad as I suspected.
“Gavin, get the door.”
A tall, lanky guy with shaggy, brown hair snatched a toolkit off his bike and headed for the roof access door. After whipping out a series of screwdrivers and wrenches, Gavin opened the wall panel and hacked into the locking mechanism with a small black computer. It was amazing what he could do in a short amount of time with such primitive tech.
“Check the route,” Bailen said.
When Gavin disappeared down the stairwell, Bailen turned to the group. “Peyton, you’re with me, Kaya is with Jake.” The smirk on Jake’s lips told me he was pleased he’d gotten his way, but Bailen didn’t notice. “Jeremy, you keep watch. If anything out of the ordinary happens, radio me.” Bailen tossed an old-fashioned police radio at Jeremy. It never occurred to me that without trackers, they needed some other form of communication. I wondered how secure it was. Less monitored than trackers, I hoped.
Jeremy caught the device and headed to the edge of the roof, scanning the skies. Perched on the ledge, he was not someone I’d want to mess with. For a short guy, he had some serious muscle bulging out of his shirt. His dark skin further accentuated the muscle lines of his biceps.
Gavin reappeared in the doorway. “It’s empty the whole way down. We’re good to go.”
“Jake and Kaya head down after Gavin. Peyton and I will bring up the rear,” Bailen instructed.
I followed Jake through the doorway. The concrete stairwell was lit by moonlight from a single window. Shadows stalked us as we began our decent. I brushed against a cobweb along the wall and rolled my shoulders as shivers shot up my back. Rusted paint chips embedded in my palm as I grabbed the railing for extra support. I yanked my hand back and plucked the paint from my skin.
I’d never broken into a building before, let alone been somewhere ominous at night. The scariest place I’d ever been was a haunted house, and nothing here compared. It was much worse. At least in haunted houses, you expected stuff to jump out at you.
A musty smell clogged my nose and settled in the back of my throat. I swallowed, but it only made my throat dryer. I was starting to regret coming. No one had said anything about crypt-like stairwells.
Jake slid his hand behind him, and I stuck out my pinky. He gave it a quick squeeze and I relaxed.
Several flights down, we picked up the pace, which didn’t give me time to keep thinking of all the things lurking in the dark corners. We stopped on a landing with a large, white number sixty painted on the door.
Gavin cracked the door with a quiet creak and peered inside. After a few seconds, he pulled open the door and held it for us. I inched through the doorway, thinking the whole scene resembled a bouncer letting a group into a secret hangout.
“I did recon earlier today. They have a lot of the things we need,” Gavin said. “Memory and processors are down those two aisles in the storeroom. Storage devices are behind the counter in the shop.”
Rows of metal shelving almost reaching the ceiling housed wire, broken computer monitors, cables, and other mysterious, rectangular equipment—many things I’d never seen before. Boxes hung from overstuffed shelves, threatening to fall off the edges. Wire coiled around everything like a spiderweb.
“Good,” Bailen said. “You grab the stuff behind the counter. Peyton and I will search the far row. Jake, you and Kaya check out the second-to-last one.”
I trailed behind Jake, squeezing into the tight row, checking out the antique equipment with curiosity. “So, what are we looking for?” I asked as he rummaged through a shelf. Items scraped together like silverware across a metal pan. I shuddered and clenched my teeth.
“Memory.”
I scrunched my face.
“Stuff like this.” He held up a green, flat, rectangular object for me to see. Small, gold rectangles ran one length of the finger-sized component. Black raised boxes with silver prongs ran along the other side. The object was so foreign, it amazed me that Jake knew what it was. The knowledge he’d gained about mysterious tech in his time with the Ghosts made the time we’d spent apart feel like an eternity.
“Like this?” I asked.
Jake stared blankly at the shelves as if lost in thought. I nudged him with my elbow and tried again. “Like this?”
He jumped as if coming out of a daydream and raised his eyebrows. “Yes, but where’d you find this?” He picked up the shiny object and rotated it in the light. “Bailen, look at what Kaya found.”
Bailen rounded the corner and held out his hand. Jake dropped the square into Bailen’s palm. Bailen shifted the small square delicately in his hands. “Is this what I think it is?” he asked, scraping his fingernail across some rust flecks on the surface.
“Yep,” Jake said. “A five thousand series chip.”
“I thought they destroyed these!” Bailen resembled an excited puppy drooling over a new toy. “What made you pick it up, Kaya?”
“I don’t know. Something about it seemed important.”
“Nice find. You’ve got good instincts.” Bailen handed the chip to Jake, who shoved it in his pocket.
“Thanks,” I muttered, unable to form any additional coherent words. The praise caught me off guard. Why was it so hard to talk to him all the sudden?
“See, Jake?” Bailen nudged him with his elbow. “If we hadn’t brought Kaya, we might not have found that chip.”
A hint of a frown crossed Jake’s lips before he returned to the shelf and became engrossed in an uninteresting spool of wire. He hated to be proven wrong.
Gavin appeared at the far side of the aisle holding a small box. “Bailen, I found a dozen or so USB sticks. I haven’t seen any of these in ages.”
“What’s a…?” Before I could finish my sentence, the box started beeping, slowly at first, then in rapid succession. Expressions of horror appeared on both Jake’s and Bailen’s faces. They launched at me, knocking me to the ground. Pain shot through my knees first, followed by my elbows, which hit next.
A deafening explosion tore through the room. I struggled to move, but Jake and Bailen smothered me. With each increasing second, the pressure weighed down heavier and heavier like a trash compactor. I gasped for air as they crushed my chest between their bodies and the hard floor.
“Kaya, stop moving.” Jake’s scream sounded like he was inside a bubble. The clanging of metal made my ears ring. When the roar died down, the immense pressure eased off my back. I let out a long breath now that my chest wasn’t compressed and immediately coughed from inhaling the flying dust and debris. After a few more deep breaths, I hoped to get some fresh air, but it was nearly impossible to avoid choking.
When the dust cleared and my lungs were sufficiently filled with air, I stood up, eyeing the room in horror. Torn-apart shelves were knocked on their sides like a pile of dominos. Most of the equipment was blown apart or damaged. Rubble surrounded us. I’d never seen so much destruction. The room resembled a war zone.
Jake lay on the ground face-down next to one of the toppled shelves. I stumbled over and collapsed next to him, shaking his shoulders.
“Jake!” I yelled, but with my ears still ringing, it sounded like I was underwater. He groaned and turned his face toward me. He blinked rapidly, as if trying to focus on me, then pressed his hands to the floor. A scream escaped his lips as he tried to push up from the ground. He crumpled to the floor, clutching his abdomen.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded as he rolled onto his back and let out several short breaths. “I’ll be fine.” He inhaled deeply, sat up, and said, “See, no big deal.”
I offered him a hand, and a slight wince crossed his face as I helped yank him up. Jake pulled me into a hug.
“Are you okay?” he asked with a cough.
My heart hammered for what seemed like an eternity before I was able to answer. “Yeah, other than a few sore muscles, I think I’m fine.” Jake had a large scrape on his cheek and several more on his arms but otherwise seemed good now that he was standing again. He pushed me away at arm’s length and checked for injuries. When he was satisfied that I was unharmed, he let go.
I turned and nearly tripped over Bailen. He sat against a fallen shelf, taking ragged breaths. He seemed distant, as if thinking about another time and place. It wasn’t until I saw him cradling his arm that I noticed the large chunk of metal protruding from it.
My stomach lurched at the sight of all the blood, and my knees buckled, sending me toward the floor. Jake caught my arms and helped steady me before I hit the concrete. He grunted and coughed as he bore my weight and lifted me back onto my feet.
“Are… Are you okay?” I stumbled, trying to get the words out.
Bailen’s face was ghostly pale. “Peyton.” His voice was hoarse. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Peyton, where are you?” he screamed with a hint of terror in his voice.
Metal debris crunched and scraped. Peyton limped around the corner with dirt covering her face and several large cuts on her arms and legs. “I’m right here. Stop your holler…” She stopped as soon as she noticed his arm. She fell to her knees next to him and clutched his shoulder. “What can I do?”
He winced. “The metal has to come out, or I’m not going anywhere.”
“Whatever you need.” Peyton turned away from Bailen and shot us an expression that pleaded for help. “Jake, hold him down. This isn’t going to be pretty.”
Jake grimaced as he knelt beside Bailen and held his shoulders in place. Peyton’s hands hovered over the metal like it was a bomb about to go off. “I’m so sorry about this.” She grabbed the metal and pulled. Bailen’s scream tore through the room. Collapsing onto Bailen’s heaving chest, Peyton embraced him, muttering, “I’m so sorry,” over and over again.
In that moment, none of their bickering mattered. Their strong sibling bond shined through. If that were Jake lying there, despite wanting to lose my lunch, I’d have ripped the metal from his arm too.
Peyton pulled off her T-shirt, revealing a black tank top. She wrapped the shirt around Bailen’s arm to stop the flow of blood. He gave her a slight nod of gratitude, and that one action told me more about him than all our encounters over the last few days combined. When it came down to it, he wasn’t just a ball of technobabble; he knew how to appreciate the things around him.
A low rumble drew my attention away from Bailen’s injury. Shelves rattled and fell along the opposite side of the room, sending more equipment crashing to the floor.
“Where’s Gavin?” I asked, staring at the spot where he had once stood. It was now covered by a mountain of concrete and various computer parts.
Jake dropped his head, but no one said a word. A knot formed in my throat, the realization flooding over me. Somewhere in the pile of ash and debris were parts of Gavin. It seemed unreal, and putting it into words would force me and the others to face the truth.
Gavin was dead.
The blast originated from the box he’d been holding. There was no way he’d lived through that explosion. I didn’t know him, but it didn’t seem right that he’d been there one minute and gone the next.
“Guys, what the hell happened down there?” called a frantic voice from Bailen’s pocket. “We have to move. The authorities are headed this way. It’s too narrow for them to land on the roof, so they’ll come in through the main floor of the shop.”
Peyton pulled the radio out of Bailen’s pocket and pressed the button on the side. “Long story. We’ll be up there soon. Get the bikes ready.” She clipped the radio to her belt. “Can you stand?”
Bailen struggled to push off the ground, making little progress. Jake grabbed his uninjured arm. As Bailen stood, a grunt escaped between his lips.
Trying to be helpful, I
opened the stairwell door so Jake could guide Bailen through it. If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought Jake was as hurt as Bailen. The pair of them hobbling together was a sorry sight.
Inside the stairwell, Jake clutched his abdomen and doubled over, leaving Bailen leaning against the wall. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Fine, just a bruised rib, I think.” He reached for Bailen’s arm and guided him up the stairs. Peyton limped past me.
Just before I pulled the door shut, sounds of breaking glass erupted behind us.
“We’ve got company,” Peyton said, removing a baton like the ones the authorities used from her belt. She wedged it through the door handle, across the frame and part of the wall. “Time to go. That’s not going to hold them for long.”
We stumbled up the stairs. I tried to comprehend everything that had just happened, but it didn’t seem real. Images of the authorities barging into our living room flooded my mind. My body shook with fear at the thought of them capturing us.
Despite my screaming joints, I offered Jake a hand with Bailen, but the stairwell wasn’t wide enough for the three of us, and Jake waved me up the stairs. I jogged up the remaining steps, eager to put plenty of space between me and the storeroom, as if that would erase the horror that had occurred there. I pushed through the rooftop access door and gulped the cool night air.
Two bikes hummed quietly. Jeremy, already wearing his helmet, worked on starting a third. When he saw me, he tossed me my helmet before returning to the bike. The others emerged through the doorway, bracing it behind them. Peyton ran for her bike, jumped on, and took off into the night sky.
“Where’s Gavin?” Jeremy asked.
“Never mind. Just head back!” Bailen yelled at Jeremy.
Jeremy climbed on his bike, revved the engine, and tore off after Peyton.
Bailen lifted his arm, still wrapped in the bloody T-shirt. “Kaya’s going to have to drive my bike.”
“What? Are you nuts?” I shouted. As much as I’d always wanted to, now wasn’t the time to learn.
Jake shook his head. “Out of the question. She has no idea what she’s doing.”
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