Don't Let Go (4 page)

Daisy’s waist was so tiny, Teo could touch his fingers together when he wrapped his hands around it. He never stopped marveling at that. The skin there was amazing, too, so warm and soft. . . .

They were on the side of the building, a hundred feet from the door; close enough to keep an eye on things.

Not that they’d been doing much of that. It had felt so nice, lying out on the grass, basking in the sun. For a minute, Teo had actually felt normal: He was just another kid, making out with his girl.
Nothing to see here, folks.

Then Daisy had straddled him, bending low to brush kisses along his jawline. Followed by butterfly kisses that tickled his cheek, and tongue flicks against his earlobe. When she breathlessly murmured that Pike’s men only ever showed up at night, so keeping watch was kind of silly and pointless, he was inclined to agree. After all, they could still see the door from here. And the side of the building was probably safer anyhow, since it kept them out of sight.

Of course, after shifting to the new position, they hadn’t done a stellar job of keeping a lookout; Teo would be the first to admit that. But he also couldn’t have cared less. He was backed against the wall, drowning in her kisses. Daisy had to stand on tiptoe to reach his mouth, and God, the things she could do with her tongue. They were both breathing hard. Teo drew her closer until their bodies were pressed together, not an inch of space between them. . . .

“What are you doing?”

Teo jerked back so fast his head hit the wall, making him wince. Noa was standing a few feet away with her hands on her hips, looking as pissed as he’d ever seen her.

“Um, nothing. Sorry, we just figured it was better to—”

“We’re making out,” Daisy interrupted, a challenge in her voice. “Is that okay with you?”

“Not really,” Noa snapped. “Since two of Pike’s guys just grabbed Peter.”

“What?” Daisy gasped. They exchanged a shocked look. Teo was immediately consumed by a wave of guilt, combined with frustration.
How the hell did they find us so fast?
They’d arrived less than a half hour ago.

“You were supposed to keep watch,” Noa said angrily.

“Sorry,” Daisy said in a small voice. “We weren’t thinking.”

“Yeah, obviously.” Noa was rubbing her eyes, like she could barely stand the sight of them. She was still wearing her backpack; Teo scrambled to get his pack on, then handed Daisy hers.

“All right,” Noa said, sounding resigned. “I only saw two of them, but they’re probably armed. And I’m guessing there are more on the way, so we have to act fast.”

“So what do we do?” Daisy asked impatiently.

A long beat while Noa examined them. Then she said, “Go back to the car.”

“What?” Daisy protested. “No way. We can help.”

“You can help by pulling around back. Graduation is on the other side of campus. Get the car as close to the stage as possible, but make sure we can get away fast. Okay?”

They exchanged a look. Teo wanted to argue that they could do more than shuttle a car from point A to point B, but Noa didn’t look like she was in the mood for debate.

“All right,” he said. “But then what?”

“Keep the engine running,” Noa said. “Because we won’t have much time.”

The men gripped him by the elbows as they marched him out of the building. Peter clutched the straps of his backpack as he scanned the area frantically: no sign of Daisy, Noa, or Teo.
Where the hell are they?

He was kicking himself for letting his guard down. But then, the way these guys kept finding them was starting to seem almost magical. Peter couldn’t figure it out; he’d been hacking into the server drives offline, there were no virtual tracks to follow. And the SUV was clean, he’d checked it himself.

It was getting harder to ignore the possibility that there might be a traitor in their midst. According to Noa, Pike had tried that before; in Santa Cruz, her entire unit had been lost when a girl named Taylor had betrayed them.

But after all they’d been through together, he couldn’t imagine any of them doing something so terrible. There had to be another explanation.

Peter tripped and nearly fell. The guy on his right roughly jerked him back up. “Easy!” he muttered. “No need to be a douche.”

“Watch your mouth,” the guy said in a low voice. “You’re not the one I have to bring back alive.”

The other was nodding his head and saying, “Uh-huh. Uh-huh.” Without breaking stride, he told his buddy, “They’re ten minutes out.”

“Good,” the guy on the right grunted. “We’ll stash him, then go back for the girl.”

“Better find her this time. I want that bonus.”

Peter kept quiet, listening. So they hadn’t caught Noa yet—and at least for the moment, there were only two of them. His mind raced, searching for a way out. If they passed anyone, he could scream for help, maybe gain a few precious seconds to run back to the SUV. The others might already be waiting there.

Or maybe they left you
, a voice needled.
You’re not really one of them.

Peter squared his jaw. The others wouldn’t abandon him. He had to believe that. If only he could get to the Taser in his pack; he needed a distraction.

Unfortunately, the entire campus seemed to be at graduation, wherever the hell that was. And they were nearly at the parking lot; another hundred feet and he’d be past the point of no return.

“Hey. I heard you were looking for me.”

The men stopped dead, and Peter whipped his head around. Noa was standing right behind them.

Before they could react, she unleashed a jet of pepper spray at one of them, and jammed a Taser into the other’s bicep. Peter jerked loose just in time, narrowly avoiding getting crisped by 1,200 volts.

“Come on!” Noa yelled, running back toward the computer building.

Peter bolted after her. “The parking lot is the other way!”

“The car’s already been moved. Hurry!”

Noa cut a tight corner around the administration building. As Peter followed, the pack slammed against his back, the hard drive edges digging in like drill bits. As he tightened the straps, he chanced a glance back over his shoulder; the goons were in pursuit. And they didn’t look happy. One had tears streaming down red cheeks, the other was moving shakily.

Still, they were gaining.

He followed Noa through a narrow corridor between two buildings, emerging onto a football field. Noa broke left, barely avoiding a collision with an older couple who stared after them, startled.

The field was packed with people in folding chairs, the first few rows occupied by graduates in black caps and gowns. An older man with gray hair stood at a podium, his words amplified by speakers set throughout the field.

“I’m guessing you have a plan?” Peter managed to gasp out.

“Kind of,” Noa wheezed. “Head for the stage.”

“What?”

She was already shoving her way through the sea of people surrounding the stage. Ten feet from the dais, several state troopers stood shoulder to shoulder.

Peter glanced back: The thugs were less than twenty feet away.

Noa pulled up short in front of a cop. His hand leapt to his holster, an expression of utter confusion on his face.

“Those men!” Noa said, pointing at them. “They’ve got guns! They said they were going to kill the governor!”

Pike’s men had slowed their pursuit, but it was too late. The state troopers were already reacting; one brought a radio to his lips, while others jumped onstage to usher away the governor.

Peter stood there panting, a stupid grin plastered over his face. Their pursuers hurriedly retreated, backing up directly into more cops. Protesting loudly, they were dragged away from the stage.

“Come on!” Noa said, tugging at his arm. “They might only hold them for a few minutes. We’ve got to get to the car!”

Obediently, he trotted after her. They wove through the crowd, which had grown restless and confused. Murmurs all around them as people tried to figure out what was going on. It was like trying to swim upstream; but they finally broke free, emerging on the other side of the field.

The SUV idled at the curb, with Daisy at the wheel.

Peter crawled in back and dropped his head against the seat, exhausted. Noa slammed the door as Daisy pulled away from the curb.

“Dude!” Teo exclaimed. “Good to see you.”

“Yeah, great job keeping watch,” he retorted. “Remind me to kick your ass later.”

Guilt flashed across Teo’s face. “Sorry, man. We were—”

“Their radios weren’t working,” Noa interrupted. “It wasn’t their fault.”

Daisy cast a startled glance back in the rearview mirror. Noticing it, Peter frowned. “Well, anyway, thanks for the save.”

“We should switch out cars again,” Noa said. There was a collective groan, but she insisted, “They might have seen this one.”

“Great,” Peter muttered. “I was starting to miss being a felon.”

“Which way?” Daisy asked. Through the windshield, Peter saw the on-ramps for two freeways: One led north, the other south.

“North,” Noa said decisively. “Back to Kansas. But skip the freeway. Let’s stick to the back roads.”

“Ugh,” Daisy moaned. “I hate Kansas.”

“I hate back roads,” Teo added.

Peter stared out the window, ignoring the usual banter. He didn’t care where they went next; he was just happy not to be stuffed in the back of a van, headed toward an operating table. Still, the thought of that gorgeous lab retreating in the distance was crushing.

Pike must have figured out that they were trying to use college computer labs. Maybe he’d narrowed down which region of the country they were in, and had men investigating every possibility within that perimeter.

In which case, they needed a new plan. One that involved a server farm, which wasn’t something you’d find at a Route 66 drive-thru.

Peter had an idea, but Noa wasn’t going to be keen on it. He’d have to convince her somehow. Because at this point, they were running out of options.

“Let’s grab a car in Kansas, then head to Denver,” he suggested.

“Denver?” Noa made a face. “What’s in Denver?”

Peter shrugged, trying for nonchalance. “It’s supposed to be nice there. Lots of colleges. And it’s not Kansas.”

“A real city would be nice for a change,” Teo chimed in from the front seat.

“God, yes,” Daisy said. “I seriously need some clothes that didn’t come from a Wal-Mart.”

“Right? Thrift stores, baby.” Teo and Daisy exchanged a high five.

Peter raised his eyebrows at Noa, who threw up both hands and grumbled, “Fine. Denver it is.”

“Great.” Peter tilted his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. If he was right, they’d find everything they needed there.

And if he was wrong, well . . . it certainly couldn’t be any worse than what Pike had in store for them, right?

CHAPTER THREE

“T
hat’s a 2011,” Teo said.

“You’re sure?” Peter eyed the Camry. They were sitting on a bus bench next to a public parking lot in Dodge City, Kansas. They’d spent over an hour watching cars pull in and out; none had met their requirements. Until now.

“Trust me,” Teo said. “And you better hurry, she’s getting out.”

A heavy woman in her forties was struggling to extricate herself from the Camry, like a giant worm emerging from a tiny cocoon. Peter pushed off the bench and headed toward her. She was morbidly obese, three hundred pounds squeezed into a sundress. Her arms jiggled as she tugged a large black purse over one shoulder and waddled toward him.

Peter kept his face blank as he passed by.
I’m just another driver headed to his car
, he thought.
Don’t pay me any mind.

The woman’s face went stiff, though. Her lips were bright red, tinted the same shade as her hair. In spite of himself, Peter flashed back on Terri, the chipper receptionist at Pike & Dolan’s corporate headquarters who had unwittingly let him into their server room. Terri would probably steer clear of him now, too. All his clothes were the same dingy gray, the result of infrequent washes in public Laundromats. His hair was too long, and he had a three-day growth of beard. A few months ago, if he’d smiled at this woman, chances were she would have smiled back.

Instead, she scurried to the far side of the lot, giving him a wide berth.

Peter paused ten feet from her car. He held his breath as he activated the jammer in his pocket, waiting for the beep indicating that the Camry had been locked.

It never came. And the woman had been in such a hurry to get away from him, she hadn’t noticed.

“Showtime,” Teo announced, coming up beside him.

Peter glanced around to make sure they were alone in the lot, then followed Teo to the car. He tried the driver’s-side door: unlocked. The jammer had worked, blocking the signal from her key fob. He opened the door and slid inside.

“Here.” Teo handed over what looked like a small laptop. Peter switched it on and plugged the adapter into the diagnostic port under the dashboard. He hit a few keys, and the engine roared to life.

“Man,” Teo said, shaking his head. “I still can’t believe that works.”

“Me either,” Peter muttered as he slipped behind the wheel and adjusted the seat. Yet it did, at least the three times they’d tried it. A few states back—in Virginia? Or Oklahoma?—he’d stumbled across a foolproof method to hack into a car. And all it took was a hundred-dollar jamming device and the tiny laptop. The laptop had set them back nearly a grand, but it had been worth it. Originally designed for legitimate auto locksmiths, it allowed access to a car’s computerized controls once you got inside.

So instead of breaking a window, or messing around with a jimmy, all they had to do was find a Japanese car manufactured between 2007 and 2011. Then he stood a short distance away and turned on the jammer. Car owners usually clicked their key fobs while walking away: He used to do the same, back when he owned a Prius. But the jammer blocked the signal, so the car remained open. And once they got inside, all Peter had to do was plug in the laptop, and away they went.

He never stopped feeling lousy about it, though. Peter could already picture the woman’s reaction when she discovered her car had been stolen. Maybe she’d left something important in the trunk. Maybe there were kids waiting for her at home, or she was supposed to pick someone up later. And he’d just ruined her whole day.