فصل 7

Chapter 7: Hummers

The phone went dead as the man hung up. I put it in my front pocket and walked quickly out of the room. Apparently Jack’s sister hadn’t made everyone go to the back, because they were all still in the lobby. The strange woman was gone.

I walked up to Jack, who was talking to his sister. “We’ve got to go,” I said. “Fast. The police are on their way.” “How do you know that?” he asked.

I looked at the others, who were now all looking at me. “I just do.” “Who was that lady?” Ostin asked. It was the first thing he’d said since we’d left the apartment.

“I’ll tell you in the car,” I said. “We’ve got to hurry.” “Why don’t we just wait for the police?” Taylor said. “They’ll help us.” “No. They’re coming to arrest us.” “Arrest us for what?” Ostin asked.

“We stole a van, Einstein,” Jack said.

“It’s worse,” I said. “Someone told them that I burned down your house.” Jack frowned. “We’ve got to get out of here.” “You stole a car?” Jack’s sister asked angrily. “You said you didn’t do anything.” “We borrowed it,” Zeus said. “And they owed us big-time.” She looked flustered. “What’s going on, Jack? Why are the police coming?” “I can’t tell you right now. Just tell them that you don’t know anything.” “I don’t,” she said.

“Good. It’s better that way.” He looked at her sadly. “We’ve gotta run. I’ll explain when I can.” “C’mon, everyone,” I said. “To the car.” * * *

When we were in the Camaro, Jack asked, “Now what?” “I have an address,” I said. I picked up the phone, but it was out of power. “I can’t believe it, it’s dead. It was perfectly fine a minute ago.” “Let me see it,” Ostin said. He took the phone from me and examined it. “You just need to hold it.” “I was.”

“Put out your hand,” he said. He handed me the phone and this time it lit up.

“You were holding it wrong. See these metallic strips on the side? They’re made of a silver alloy. The phone is designed to run off your electricity. That way it never runs out.” “And it won’t work for anyone else,” I said. I looked down at the address the man had texted me. “Thirty-eight South Malvern Avenue.” “I know that area,” Jack said. “It’s an industrial park. There are a lot of printing shops.” Jack shouted to Wade, “Follow me!” Then he backed up and screeched out of the parking lot, followed by Wade, who also tried to screech but managed only a small chirp.

After we’d driven a few blocks, Taylor asked, “What’s going on, Michael? And who was that woman?” “I don’t know who she was. But she knows who we are and who’s chasing us.” “She knew about the Elgen?” Ostin asked.

I nodded. “She gave me the phone. A man called who says he’s going to help us. He also told me that the van Wade’s driving has a tracking device. That’s how they’ve been following us. We need to ditch our cars.” “Wait a minute,” Jack said. “No one said anything about ditching my car.” “Who is this man?” Taylor asked.

“Just . . . some man.” I looked at her. “I know it sounds stupid, but I believe he’s trying to help.” “I’m not ditching my car,” Jack said.

“How do you know you can trust him?” Taylor asked.

“I don’t. But do we have a choice?” “Yes,” she said, “we do.”

I took her hand. “Here, read my mind. Listen to what he said.” She closed her eyes as I thought back on the call. When she opened her eyes she nodded. “Okay. I trust him too.” Jack was still upset. “You’re saying that some dude I’ve never met wants me to ditch my car? I’m not ditching my car.” “They want us to trade cars.”

“That’s not going to happen,” he said. “Do you know what this baby is worth?” “The Elgen are following your car. They can either capture you and the car, or just the car. It’s your call.” Jack shook his head. “This just keeps getting better.” * * *

We had driven about a half mile from the salon when two Meridian Police cars sped past us headed in the opposite direction. Their lights were flashing but there were no sirens.

“There they go,” Jack said. “Looks like your man knows something.” “Maybe he’s the one who called the police,” Ostin said.

Possible, I thought.

The address on my cell phone led us to an abandoned industrial area near an automotive wrecking yard. I was nervous and twitching. I’m pretty certain everyone was nervous, because no one was talking. I looked over at Jack. His face was tight and his eyes were darting back and forth, searching for danger. The yard was surrounded by a tall fence topped with razor wire, and the sun had nearly set, leaving the yard dark.

“I don’t like this place,” Taylor said.

“Not a lot of escape options,” Jack said slowly. “Keep your eyes peeled.” There was a loud snap of electricity from Zeus, and we all jumped. “Sorry,” he said. “Just keeping sharp.” I did my best to control my tics. “I told Ian to have Wade honk if he sees anything that looks like a trap,” I said.

We slowly drove around the corner of a weathered, aluminum-sided warehouse. There, next to a Dumpster, were two brand-new Hummers, one yellow, the other black.

Jack’s expression changed when he saw the vehicles. “That’s what they’re giving us to drive?” “Must be,” I said. “I don’t see any other cars.” “I’ve changed my mind,” he said. “I’ll trade.” We pulled up to the parked vehicles, and everyone got out of the cars.

“Are we safe?” I asked Ian.

“As far as I can tell. The only person around is a homeless guy sleeping in a Dumpster behind the building across the street.” I handed Wade a key. “You take the black Hummer. Follow us.” “Where are we going?” Wade asked.

“A safe house,” I said.

“Are you sure it’s safe?”

“I’m not sure about anything,” I said, “except that the Elgen are hunting us and we just got some new cars.” Wade nodded. “Works for me.”

“We’re trading places,” I said to Zeus, climbing into the front seat of the yellow Hummer.

“No problem,” he said. “I’ll sit next to Tara.” “Taylor,” Taylor said.

“Sorry,” Zeus said, sliding in next to her. “I keep confusing you with your evil twin.” “Well, you were with her a lot longer than you were with me.” Jack was in the driver’s seat checking out the console. I handed him the key.

“Listen to that,” he said, starting it up. “I’ve always wanted to drive one of these bad boys. My brother drove one in Iraq.” “Cool,” I said.

“It was blown up underneath him by an IED.” “Not cool,” I said.

“He survived, so it’s even more cool. Where to?” “The man said they programmed an address into the GPS system.” I looked at the device. “I have no idea how this works. Ostin?” Ostin leaned forward over the seat. He pushed a few buttons and a map appeared. “There are your coordinates,” he said. “Just follow the arrow.” “Thanks,” I said. “You good, Jack?” Jack put the Hummer in gear. “I’m good.” As we pulled back out onto the street, Jack turned to me and said, “Hope it’s not a trap.” I leaned back in my seat. “Me too,” I said softly. “Me too.”