“Let’s go.” Cash took my hand and pulled me faster and faster through the exhibits. Our hearts raced, but it was more of a thrill than a fear. Cash grinned wide as we weaved through, apologizing to people we passed, and laughing when Pixie would bump into them. We got out of the warehouse and cut left underneath an overpass, and then bolted full sprint down the main street toward the boardwalk.
We slowed to a stop just outside the arcade, breathing heavily. I felt that delicious rush of excitement from the chase slowing. My eyes met Cash’s again and we shared another laugh. Then, his eyes widened. When I looked behind me, Pixie was still coming.
Cash held out his hand for mine. We laughed and broke into a run again, flying through the arcade and down the uneven boards to the sandy beach, and hid beneath the pier. We pressed our backs to the damp wood and the water pushed inward, pooling around our feet and getting higher, until it reached mid thigh. I almost squealed at the cold, but Cash squeezed me tightly, and we kept each other quiet.
We could see her through the boards, passing overhead. We didn’t move a muscle or make a sound. I don’t think Cash even took a breath until she was gone. Once her footsteps faded and her emotions were cut off from me, I nodded to Cash. He stepped out from the pier and took another look. His expression was stone as he scanned the pier. When he looked back at me, that infectious grin spread across his face again, and he said, “that was fun.”
I broke a smile and let out the breath I’d been holding. “That’s one way to look at it.” I pulled my feet from the three inches of sand they were buried in and sloshed out from under the pier.
Cash looked down at my pants, and then at his, and started laughing again. “Let’s go. We should probably meet up with Dozer and Charlie and let them know what happened,” he said, pulling his shoes off.
Cash and I walked barefoot down the beach, making our way to Dozer’s construction site.
Chapter Eight
“How can you be sure she was following you?” Dozer asked. He unscrewed the cap of his water bottle and took a long swig. I didn’t feel the same urgency or worry coming from him as I was feeling from Charlie. She nervously picked at her chicken salad, but couldn't consume a single bite.
“She chased us across downtown. We had to almost drown ourselves to shake her,” Cash said, almost defensively. I guessed he sensed Dozer’s skepticism, too.
“Maybe she thought you were stealing those weird little glass sea turtles you’re so obsessed with.” Dozer laughed and took a big bite of the pastrami sandwich Charlie had brought him.
My cell phone buzzed. I took it out of my pocket, relieved it hadn’t gotten wet under the pier. I hit ignore. I couldn’t talk to Jason right then.
“Seriously, she was on top of us. It wasn’t normal. She’s got to be with ACT,” Cash reaffirmed his point, but Dozer wasn’t hearing it.
My phone buzzed again. Ignored.
“Maybe she’s just a weird singer stalker. You’ve had those before. Remember? That girl with the curly red hair followed you around for days.”
Cash thought about it, and I felt the idea sinking in.
“It felt weird to me, too,” I said, looking down at my phone again, buzzing away. His persistence gave me the feeling that something was wrong.
“I have to take this,” I said quickly, and stepped away.
“Jason? What’s wrong?” I asked, hushed.
“I need to see you.” His voice was heavy, grainy and slurred like he was sick.
“No,” I said flatly.
“Damn it, Liv, I’m sorry! Stop punishing me!”
“Jason, did you just come from an injection?” I walked further away from the others and repeated, “Are you still letting Stone give you those Genesis injections?”
“Yeah, because we’re helping people. It helps people.” Jason’s voice had a sharp edge. “Why can’t you just listen to me?”
“I am listening.”
“You’re listening to me, but you don’t hear anything. Nothing gets through.”
“Jason, you’re sick, and you’re not acting like yourself. Get some sleep and try again tomorrow.”
Before I hung up I heard him say, “I need to see you, Liv."
I returned to the group and set my phone aside, so it wouldn’t get wet in my pockets.
“Guys, I don’t want to leave,” Charlie pouted.
“It’s fine, Charlie. We’ll wait it out. If anything else suspicious happens, we can reevaluate,” Dozer said, and then gave Cash a sharp look, annoyed that he'd gotten Charlie worked up.
I looked at Cash. He seemed to agree with it. Or at least, he didn’t argue it further. Charlie was on edge, but slightly calmed by Dozer’s insistence that nothing was wrong. We finished lunch quickly so Charlie could get back to Headset and Cash and I could get back to the Lair and change out of our wet, sandy clothes.
On the way to The Beast, I realized I’d forgotten my phone at the table.
“I’ll go grab it for you,” Cash offered sweetly, but I declined, not wanting Jason to call while it was in his possession.
“I’ll be fast. I know right where I left it. I’ll meet you at the Beast.”
As I rounded the corner to Dozer’s job site, I felt something familiar. I stepped cautiously closer to the bench, keeping the building as cover. When I realized what it was, I was floored.
Just on the other side of the wall was Pixie Cut. She was leaning against the building, obviously arguing with someone. I could feel her frustration pulsing inside her. It was whom she was arguing with that really got me. Dozer was standing in front of her. His brow was furrowed and I could feel the veins in his neck swelling uncomfortably as he yelled. His muscles were tight and his body was rigid as he towered over Pixie. His emotions were a toxic mix of irritation, fury and fear. I tried to listen to what they were saying but it was hard to make out. Her voice was small and weak. I could tell she was being admonished. Dozer’s voice was controlled, but it was hard. I’d never heard him sound that way, or felt him so powerfully before. It was like he was a different person.
“I told you, I have this handled. Go back to Gaines and tell him to leave it be. We’re not moving. So long as they keep their incompetent agents away from my charges.”
“Things are different now,” Pixie argued.
“Nothing has changed. I know what I’m doing. They’ll get what they need. It’s going to take time.” He moved his face closer to hers and a sneer curled his lips. “Back. Off.”
“Fine.” She pushed herself off the wall and shoved his shoulder as she walked away.
I watched Dozer for a minute. The jumbled mixture of emotions dissolved, leaving a single overwhelming tremor of fear in the pit of his stomach. He ran his hands through his hair and kicked the ground, roaring momentarily in frustration. I stepped out from behind the wall and stared at him. When he finally looked up, I felt sick. His eyes widened and his throat went dry.
“Liv,” he said. It wasn’t a question, or a greeting. It was so much more than that. He was caught. He couldn’t talk his way out of it. There was a sinking feeling of relief that settled inside of him. There was no need to hide anymore.
“What was that?” I asked.
Dozer moved toward me, his heart pounding. “That was me keeping ACT off our backs.” He pulled my cell phone out of his pocket and tossed it to me.
“You’re one of them.” All of a sudden, I knew where I'd seen Dozer before. I'd seen his file in Stone's office. His photo came to mind, but I couldn't recall the name. Daniel or something...
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.
I felt a sting of betrayal slice through me, but it wasn’t mine. I turned quickly to find Charlie and Cash standing behind me. Charlie turned on her heel and walked quickly back to the Beast without a word.
“Charlie, don’t.” Dozer started to follow her.
“Stay there,” Cash said, insinuating himself in front of Charlie’s path.
Dozer stopped, facing
Cash head on.
“Who is she?”
“Her name is Lyra. ACT sent her to check up on me.”
“All this time?” Cash asked. His voice was spiked with hurt.
“Yes.” Dozer deflated slightly, backing down from Cash. “I’m working with ACT.
“What exactly are you doing for them?”
“I’m monitoring you and keeping them apprised of anything they need to know.”
“What do they need to know, Dozer?” Cash pressed, anger rising with each passing second.
“Nothing.” Dozer's tone was flat, his words clipped.
“Right.” Cash’s eyes narrowed. He turned and took my hand, pulling me back to the van. Dozer didn’t follow. I didn’t look back at him, but I felt that mix of fear and anger swell inside him again.
We didn’t talk on the ride home. Charlie looked out the window, eyes fixed, emotions warring inside her. She went straight up to her room when we got inside.
“What’s going on?” Glitch asked.
Headset was balanced on Glitch's shoulders, with a cape draped over his back and a lightsaber in hand.
“I have something to tell you,” Cash started. “Let Liv take Headset.”
“Come here, buddy.” I held my arms out to him and took him out onto the porch.
“What’s wrong with my sister?” Headset asked.
“She’s just feeling a little sad right now,” I set him down and straightened his cape.
“Why?”
“Grown up stuff.”
“She’s crying,” he said, starting to tear up himself.
“You can hear her?”
He nodded.
“Everybody cries, kiddo. We just have to let her be sad for a little bit and she’ll be fine again soon.”
“I’ll give her a big hug,” he said, smiling at me with hope glowing inside of him.
“I’m sure that would do the trick.” I pinched his little cheek and pulled him onto my lap. “So, what were you and Glitch playing?”
“Jedi-zombie battle.”
“I bet a Jedi could take out an army of zombies.”
“Dozer!” Headset shot up and ran away from me. I didn’t want to yank him back with my power and startle him, and I also knew that Dozer didn't come to start trouble. He'd come to talk his way out of it.
Dozer picked Headset up and held him close. “Hey, bud. Nice cape.”
“Charlie is crying,” Headset said quietly.
I felt Dozer’s heart seize like a sliver of ice pierced it. His brow furrowed, and he hugged Headset closer. “Where is she?” Dozer asked me.
“I’m here,” Charlie said, suddenly appearing at the door. She took Headset from him and backed away. Dozer stayed put, just outside.
“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. I just didn’t want anything to change,” Dozer said, opening himself up. “I’ve been working for ACT for three years. This was my first and only mission.”
“What was your mission?” Charlie asked, angrily.
“I’m supposed to monitor your group and report back if there is anything that needs to be addressed.”
“Such as?” Charlie arched a brow.
“Such as Headset’s growing power, how potent Cash's power has gotten, and a bunch of other stuff I’d decided not to tell them.”
“Do you expect us to thank you?” Charlie asked, her voice cracking. "To believe you after this?"
“No, I just want you to know that I’m not selling you out to them.”
“Then why was she following us?” I asked.
“Because we took out Glitch’s chip.” Dozer’s eyes shot to me and I felt his anger pointed at me, like I was to blame for all of it.
“I thought you said we could trick them if we stuck it to some tourist?” Glitch said, coming to the door. Cash was right behind him.
“Yeah, that was bullshit. You can’t trick them. You’d have to scramble the signal and destroy it. They knew the second it left your neck and touched the air. I had to call them and hold them off. The truth is, you’re safer here if I’m with you. If they knew I blew my cover, they wouldn’t just send a replacement. They’d take you all in and they’d find out about Headset and take him from you.”
Charlie got defensive, and I felt bile rise up in her stomach. “No one is taking him from me,” she growled.
“I would never let that happen. You know that.” Dozer’s eyes pinned on Charlie’s. His voice got quieter, pleading. “Don’t give up on me.”
“How can we trust you now?” Cash asked.
“What do you want to know? Ask me anything.” Dozer spread his arms out.
“How much do they know about us?” Cash stepped forward. He was stern, but I felt his openness to Dozer.
“They know everywhere we’ve been and all of our powers except for Headset. They think he's just got super hearing. And they found out about Liv. I couldn’t help that.”
“What do they want from us?” Glitch asked.
“They don’t want anything, so long as we keep Headset’s power a secret, and they have eyes on the inside. We can keep doing what we’ve been doing. Nothing will change.”
“You told her that Gaines would get what he needed as long as they gave you time. What does that mean?” I asked.
“They want to know about Hawthorn.”
My knees were pure gelatin at that point. How stupid was I? Did I really think ACT was going to let me just disappear? I was their property. They spent time and money making me a piece of equipment. Sure, I was faulty in their eyes, but that didn’t mean they could let me out into the world with everything I knew, everything I could do.
“I told them I’d find out what I could, but that I needed time to get it out of you,” Dozer clarified.
“That’s shady, Dozer,” Glitch said, and I felt how it hurt him.
“I do what I have to keep this family safe,” Dozer said, steadily and with resolve that felt like steel.
There it was. That’s what it always came down to.
“I don’t know anything about Hawthorn,” I said shakily.
“Fine. That’s what I’ll tell them.” Dozer’s eyes met mine. We both knew I was lying, but I didn’t think he was. I felt it steady and strong inside him. He loved all of them. There was no way he’d betray them. He didn’t feel that way about me though. That rang alarms in my head. A terrifying thought sunk in. I might have to run again. Suddenly, I felt cold all over.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but you have to believe me. I've only ever wanted to keep you safe. I would never do anything to hurt you." Dozer pleaded with everything inside of him. “Please let me come home?”
Charlie was the one he was really asking. She stared at him for a long time. Eventually, she broke from his gaze and nodded, stepping back inside the Lair. Something inside of her had hardened though. Those butterflies and tickling feelings of love and admiration for Dozer were gone. She’d shoved them into a corner. There was only a solid current of protective, motherly instinct that flowed strong within her.
Glitch was more curious than upset. He was a good judge of character, for the most part, and I felt nothing but trust for Dozer when I felt him out. Cash was open to it. He didn’t shut people out. Despite being wary of Dozer, at his core, Cash was a family man who wanted to keep everyone together.
"Come inside, but we have some more questions," Cash said sternly.
"I'll tell you whatever you want to know," Dozer said as he stepped onto the porch and into the house. His eyes met mine as he passed, and there was something there. It felt like a warning; something he couldn’t articulate. It didn't matter. I'd heard the message loud and clear.
I definitely had to run again.
Chapter Nine
I packed my bag quickly and quietly, and hid it beneath my bed before I went to sleep. After I was sure everyone was asleep, I slid it out and headed down the stairs. I took one last look at the Lair before I left.
I hated that I was leaving again without telling
the people I cared about how much they'd meant to me, how much I appreciated everything they'd done for me, without so much as a goodbye. This time I wasn't leaving for myself. I was leaving for the Nomads. I was leaving so they could continue to live their lives without worrying about ACT coming for them. It was clear to me that ACT knew about me. They knew I'd been in the underbelly of Hawthorn. They knew I could give them all the answers they needed. They were never going to stop coming for me.
My chest felt tight and my limbs felt heavy as I made my way to the door. I didn't want to leave. This was the first place that had ever felt like a home to me. Hawthorn was the first place I called home, but it never felt like this. My dorm in Riverside was practically a holding cell. The few shorts weeks I’d been living with the Nomads made me realize this was how I wanted to live. This was what I'd been yearning for my whole life. I just didn't know it until I found it. It took everything inside me to walk away.
I opened the door and headed out into the night. Just as I stepped out, a tiny gasp escaped my lips and my power shot out in a rush. I dropped my bag.
A man was standing on the front porch.
"Miss Rivera," he greeted as if we'd met before. The words rolled off his tongue in a smooth Southern accent.
He was taller than average, and even beneath the suit jacket, I could tell he was muscular and lean. His jaw was chiseled and deep dimples pierced his cheeks, even when he wasn't smiling. He wore a black suit with a white button-down beneath, but he wore it all wrong. The top buttons were undone. His shirt wasn’t tucked in, leaving him looking casual, but I knew this wasn't a social call. He was from ACT.
As I took him in, I tried to feel him out. There was nothing there. It was like running my fingertips along the edge of a freezing wall, looking for a crack to show me the door to the other side, but I found none. I was thoroughly unnerved.
"Where are you headed, sweetheart?"
“What do you want?” I asked, not interested in idle chitchat. He seemed to catch onto my caution. He took his hands out of his pockets and held them out in front of himself, palms up.
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