chapter sixteen

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

"Agent Traey has not reported in."

—a text to Reese Garrick, Redlian, Second Palace


"I'm not telling her, you tell her."

Wylan pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can't believe you're going to make me do it."

"You're the one who went on a rampage earlier," Thad said. "You have some making up to do."

"To her, not to you. You just want me to dig myself deeper into a hole."

"She's not evil," Thad pointed out. "Our little flower is friendly."

Wylan rolled his eyes. "She's the princess, not—"

"What are you two talking about?" Iris appeared on the last step of the stairs, her bag around her shoulders, and frowned at the two of them in the living room.

Wylan shot a glare at Thad and checked his watch again. They had seven minutes until they had to leave. It would take them twenty-four minutes to get to the airport, and they needed enough time to go through check in and security.

"Tell her, Wy," Thad adjusted the strap of his own bag.

Wylan grunted at his partner. He held a dark beanie out to Iris. "As cool as the purple hair is, it's also very distinctive."

Iris took the hat, frowned down at it, and then put it on her head, tucking her pass of purple curls underneath it.

Wylan's lungs felt as if they'd expanded. She immediately knew.

"I don't have any dye," she said.

Thad's mouth had dropped open.

When Iris nonchalantly tucked her hair away, Wylan had to beat down the urge to laugh right in his partner's face. "It would take too long, anyway. Once we land, we can work on it. Until then, I'll need you to keep it under the hat as much as possible."

She nodded. Then, "When this is all over, I'm going a deep purple, just out of spite."

The corner of Wylan's mouth tilted up. "As you should."

Thad blinked a few times, then shook his head. "My little flower, you're always surprising me."

Wylan caught the end of Iris' own eye roll. Instead of saying anything, she looked at Wylan. "What's our game plan?"

"We're loading up in the car in the garage," Wylan said. "I'll drive, and you and Thad will be in the back seat. I'm going to have you lie down for the trip over."

She raised an eyebrow.

"It's best that the least amount of Aces see you as possible," Thad explained. "So that means you get to kick back and nap on the way over."

Iris nodded. "Alright."

"Kit has tickets for us already and has snuck us into priority boarding."

"And do we have... a story or something?"

Thad beamed, "Little flower, I always have a story. Today we're three college friends off to vacation at the Twin Isles."

"Who are we staying with?"

"My rich cousin," Thad supplied easily.

Iris raised a brow. "What's your Focus?"

"Business and Economics. Wylan here is a Math Focus, and you, my dear, are an Art Focus."

Iris grinned. "Classic." She glanced at Wylan. "You like math?"

"Not even a little," Wylan said. "But the university we're studying at doesn't have an Industrial Design Focus."

"Which university?" Iris asked.

Amusement threaded through him. "University of Redlian."

Iris followed them as they made their way into the garage. "I'm surprised neither of you are a music major."

"Neither of us can sing," Thad said as he opened the back door for her.

"Me either," Iris said. "Music's just not in my blood."

Interesting. As he got into the driver's seat, Wylan resisted the urge to tell her that her mother, Queen Terra, had, at one time, been one of the kingdom's top pianists.

He could even recall her having daily piano lessons with his mother. Could she really not remember that?

As Iris and Thad settled into the back, Wylan dialed Kit. "We're ready."

"Fantastic. You're clear out back and down the street. No abnormal activity."

"Understood," Wylan said, clicked the garage door opener on the visor above him, and started up the car. "Keep an eye out."

"Always do," Kit said.

~

Mountain Ridge's airport was on the north side of town, past all the shops and heavily populated areas. With the mountains being so close, the airport had been built further north to accommodate the plane traffic.

From her spot down low, Iris enjoyed watching the sun set behind the white-capped mountains in the far distance. It was beautiful the way the sky mixed with purples and pinks and oranges along the horizon.

Iris poked Thad's outer thigh with her toe. She had her legs bent, knees pointed to the ceiling. "Thad, do you have a phone?"

Thad looked at her, then to where her focus was. "For you? Of course."

He handed over a sleek looking smart phone. Iris swiped the corner to bring up the camera, then took as best a picture as she could at this angle.

Her mind would capture the image well enough, but sometimes she struggled with the little pieces. Like how the shadows cast over certain areas, the wrinkles in a model's shirt, or the gentle curve of hair as it rested along a shoulder or neck. She rarely took pictures, but if she could, she did. Just to have a resource to refer to as needed.

"Can you save that for me? I've got an email you can send it to later."

"No problem, LF."

LF?

The moment it clicked, she sighed. LF. Little Flower.

She tried not to get antsy as they travelled, but the way her neck was resting along the door made it hurt. She wasn't a child anymore, and she wasn't someone who worked out. Her body often complained when she sat in the same position for too long.

Feeling very much like a kid though, she asked, "how much longer until we're there?"

It took Wylan a moment to answer. A moment that had her frowning and the hair on the back of her neck standing up. "Eight minutes."

Thad glanced at the window above Iris' head, then nonchalantly out the one in back. "You see it?" He asked Wylan.

"I do."

"Eight minutes to lose them," Thad said quietly.

Heartbeat increasing, Iris felt the car move faster under them.

"That's all the time I need," Wylan said.

The car's speakers rang once. "Yes, brother of mine?"

"I'm on highway 47. There's a gray sedan following me."

Kit tsked. "It's always a sedan."

"If you help us lose them, Kit, I'll love you forever," Thad said.

"You'd love me regardless," Kit replied with a small chuckle.

Wylan switched lanes.

"Eh, you're not wrong," Thad said. He rummaged through the bag on the floor behind the center console.

Iris started to get up on one elbow—she did not like the idea of laying down if someone was following them—but Thad put a palm on her kneecap. "Going to need you to stay down, LF."

"I don't want to be—"

"You're not in my way," Thad said.

Iris had a visceral reaction to the black handgun he pulled from the bag. Her blood turned to ice as he released the clip, looked at it, then slid it back in.

"The next camera I have access to is three miles ahead at the Quik-e Mart off of exit 35." Kit said over the speakers. "I can't get eyes on a plate or the people inside until then."

Wylan swore and switched lanes again. "How'd they find us?"

"I don't know," Kit said. "Unless someone followed you to the safe house."

"How." Wylan bit out.

"I'm a tech wizard, Wy, not an all knowing—"

"Heads up," Thad said as he glanced behind again. "The window's opening. Brace yourself."

Iris tried not to be sick. The fear bubbled like acid in her stomach. She took slow, deep breaths and put her hands over her eyes. Yesterday, her adrenaline had been pumping, and she hadn't had time to think, just act.

Now? The reality of it all settled like glass under her skin. They wanted to kill her.

"Can't we have one second?" Iris asked everyone and no one. "Just one second?"

Thad bumped her leg with his elbow. "You're in excellent hands, LF." He had one finger on the window button, his gun low and tight at his side, pointed downward.

"There are too many cars still on the highway," Wylan said.

Thad dropped lower in his seat. "Nothing to do about that. Let's try and lose them first. I'd rather not take a shot if I don't have to."

Deep breaths, Iris. Deep breaths.

Wylan switched lanes. Iris only knew because she could feel the sway of the car.

"Exit's coming up," Kit said. "Ready?"

"No," Iris said.

"Trust us, Ris," Wylan said. "And stay low."

~

The gray sedan wasn't even pretending to be just another car on the highway anymore. There were two Aces inside. That much Wylan could tell.

Wylan sped up, careful of his speed. He wasn't sure what state the exit ramp would be in. If they hit it at a certain speed, they could end up as a pretzel in a ditch. And he'd never let that be the reason the other side won.

In the backseat, Iris whimpered.

He got it. He did. Adrenaline did weird things to the system. He'd seen Aces take one situation like a champion, and another like a wimp. Not everyone was built for this.

His entire life so far had been bullets, fists, and fire. It was his reality.

But it wasn't Iris'.

"Hang on," he told the two in back as the exit came up. Of course, it was a circle ramp.

He hit the brake hard. Iris yelped. Tires screeched as he jerked the wheel into a turn.

The car hit a large bump in the pavement and came down hard. Wylan swore, barely avoiding the pothole hiding behind it.

As they hit the turn further, Thad said, "Weapon. Duck."

Wylan did just that, sitting as low as he could in his seat.

The dim bang of the gun behind them had each of them bracing themselves.

"We've got to get rid of them," Thad said. "If they hit a tire, we're done for."

"I know." Wylan corrected the steering wheel. "I'm off the ramp. Intersection ahead. Kit?"

"You're just coming into the camera's line of sight now. I can keep the light green until you get through."

"Side streets?" Wylan asked his sister. His gaze darted around, trying to catch everything at once.

He didn't like this area. They still had five minutes to the airport, and this area was nothing but houses and the intermittent gas station. He needed to get closer to the airport. To the hotels and businesses and parking lots he could cut through.

"Hang on," Kit blew out air through her lips loud enough that he heard it over the line. That told him enough—unlike other situations, this one was tricky for Kit. Not many cameras and technology to access in residential neighborhoods.

"Two blocks up there's a big intersection. Cut right, then left, then right. It'll take you through to the airport."

"I need to shake them first," Wylan reminded her.

"Shake them then," Kit said, "I'll get you where you need to go."

Dusk had arrived, and with it, traffic. He weaved in and out of cars for two blocks, then cut a hard right.

In the back, Thad grunted. "You good, LF?"

"Yes," she said back. "Just hit my head on the door."

Safely, Wylan, his dad's voice told him in his head, they're people, not objects.

There was a loud chink as a bullet hit the back of the car.

"Garrick!" Thad barked.

Wylan swerved to avoid a parked car. Hit a hard left. Then another right. And another right. He couldn't be predictive. Had to lose the tail. Sometimes to lose a tail, one needed to first get lost themselves.

He did. Cutting through streets and back roads.

He glanced out the back window, watching as the other car got further and further behind.

"Don't go right. Dead end," Kit advised him. "Turn left, now—there's a roundabout ahead."

Wylan hit left.

Then Kit said, "There's a street on your right, three blocks ahead. If you take it, it'll put you back on a road leading to the highway."

"Hold on," Wylan told Thad and Iris.

He had just enough space between them. The sun was setting, darkness swallowing the town. This would be his opportunity.

He spotted the sign at the last second, one block from the correct turn. Wylan jerked the wheel and floored it.

"This is a one way!" Iris yelled from the back seat.

"Head down!" Wylan barked back.

Cars lined the street, all facing the same direction. Further down, another car headed this way. The right way. Wylan's gaze darted around.

There.

He turned the wheel as far as it would go. Threw it into reverse. Then forward again, sliding into a spot along a driveway.

He flipped the car off. Turned off the headlights, and hit the interior lights above the center console. "Down!"

He glanced back to make sure Iris followed suit, but Thad had a hand on her shoulder, keeping her low. Wylan only kept his head up, ready for a quick getaway.

Keeping a finger on the ignition, he held his breath as the sedan following them turned the corner. The other car heading down the street honked their horn.

The gray sedan following them turned into a driveway. Waited for the car to pass. Wylan's entire body stalled, except for his eyes.

A heartbeat.

Two.

The sedan reversed and went back the way it came.

He exhaled slowly, the sound loud in the silent car.

"We good?" Thad asked.

"Give it another minute," Wylan said. Just in case.

One long, aching minute later, he sat up in his seat and started the car.

"You okay?" He asked over his shoulder.

In the back seat, Iris righted herself and dropped her head against the headrest. "I think so. Can we not do that again?"

As the car restarted, his cell phone automatically connected to the speakers again. "Kit?"

"Yes, dear brother of mine?"

"We lost them," he said, "but I don't trust them to take another lap around or have another way to track us. What's the fastest way to the airport from here?"

"You want to take the side streets?"

"I don't trust they're not watching the highway somehow."

"Side streets it is," Kit chirped.

"Kit?" Iris leaned forward between the front seats.

"Yes?"

"Can we take a nice, scenic back road to the airport?"

Kit's laugh danced over the line. "I'll do what I can." 

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net