Michael Vey: Rise Of The Elgen Part 4

"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 fl.u.s.tered. "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 flas.h.i.+ng 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 b.u.t.tons 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."

According to the GPS our next destination was 7.3 miles from where we had picked up the cars, a distance we covered in less than fifteen minutes. The safe house was a small, ordinary-looking brick home in an ordinary suburban neighborhood. The yard was manicured enough not to warrant complaints, but simple enough not to warrant attention. The house was dark except for the front porch light.

Jack pulled into the cement driveway on the west side of the house. The drive was narrow but widened in back at the entrance of a two-car garage.

"I'll wait to pull in," Jack said. "In case we need to make a quick getaway."

"Good idea," I said, trying not to sound nervous. I realized that part of me was waiting for the worst to happen and I was ticking like crazy.

Wade pulled the black Hummer up next to us. In spite of our situation, he was grinning from ear to ear. "This baby is sweet," he said. "I never thought I'd get to ride in one of these, let alone drive one."

"I'm going to check things out," I said to Jack. "If it's a trap, just get everyone out of here."

"Warriors don't leave a man behind," Jack said.

"What are we doing?" Wade asked.

"Just keep your car running until we're sure it's safe," I said. I turned to Ian. "Can you give me a hand?"

"Sure, man. I'll give you both of them."

"It's your eyes I need."

"I'll give you both of those, too."

The two of us got out of the cars and walked to the edge of the driveway, looking cautiously at the dark house.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"It's empty," Ian said. He looked around at the neighbors. "Neighborhood looks legit. A mom helping a kid with homework, a family watching TV, a couple eating dinner."

"All right, let's go in." I rapped on the Hummer, and Jack pulled into the garage, followed by Wade. Everyone gathered in the driveway.

Taylor came up to my side. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You're ticking a lot."

"I'm nervous."

"But the house is okay?"

"It checked out with Ian."

We walked up to the back of the house, but as I reached for the storm door Ostin said, "Stop!"

I looked over at him.