by Dean Murray
Chapter 23
James Wright
Graves Estate
Sanctuary, Utah
My mom was on her way to the airport. We'd had a short, but very heated discussion before she'd agreed to leave. I was pretty sure that if it wasn't for me she would have chosen to stay and help out Samantha even knowing that the two of them were playing a losing hand and that it was only a matter of time before Samantha couldn't protect her anymore.
Me being in the picture changed all of that though because she knew that if she refused to go, and I stayed out of the middle of Alec's plan to save Rachel as a result, I'd still more than likely pay a terrible price in the aftermath of Alec, Rachel and the others leaving.
She didn't like it, but she'd taken all of the money that Alec had given me and one of the prepaid sim cards and she'd gone. Her part in all of this was actually the safest. Even if someone happened to be watching the trackers on the vehicle she was using they still wouldn't think anything of it. The cars from the estate motor pool went back and forth to the airport a dozen times a day most days.
As long as she could avoid being seen by Kaleb and the others at the airport then she'd be fine. I'd told her to park on the north side of the airport because from there she'd be able to safely watch until Kaleb and the rest of the convoy headed back here. We were running late, but even according to Alec's original timetable she wouldn't have had to wait for very long. As it was now, there was even a decent chance that she'd pass them on the road as they were coming back to the estate.
Jasmin was nervously tapping on the steering wheel. It hadn't been particularly hard to find someone who was scheduled to leave the estate on official pack business, but we all knew that convincing Cassie to let us make the run into town to buy six gallons of ice cream that somebody had forgotten on the last shopping trip was a very slender shield.
Alec was trying to give us enough deniability that we wouldn't be killed if he failed to get Rachel out, but Jasmin, Jess and I had talked on the way back from the cave and we'd decided that if that happened we weren't going to just go back to Sanctuary and hope that Kaleb was feeling lenient. We'd make a run for it and deal with being fugitives for the rest of our lives.
In a lot of ways it simplified the plan, or rather it would have if we'd had a good way to get ahold of Alec and tell him about our consensus. Since we didn't even know where he was right now, we couldn't do that, and Jasmin wasn't the only one who was getting antsy about the fact that Alec was running late. What we needed right now was a good head start and every second that passed by while we waited for Alec was another second we weren't on the road speeding away from this place.
Jasmin's tapping had speeded up to the point where it sounded like one long roll of miniature thunder, and then Alec walked out of the house with Rachel at his side. Alec still seemed mostly to be surrounded by the odd bubble of calm that I'd noticed earlier in the cave, but Rachel was obviously holding herself together by nothing more than sheer will.
I didn't notice the long, sheet-wrapped object that Alec was carrying in his hand until he was almost to the SUV and I didn't realize it was his dad's sword until he and Rachel were climbing inside with us.
"Thank you so much, everyone. I'll never be able to repay any of you enough for what you're doing."
Rachel's voice cracked there at the end, but Jess reached up and patted her on the shoulder.
"You deserve a lot better than this, Rachel."
"Let's go."
Alec's order came out abrupt and harsh, but I was pretty sure it wasn't intentional, it was just the first signs that maybe the wall of space he'd put up to protect himself from the knowledge of what was coming had started to crack a little.
"You do realize that thing is going to do nothing but bring you trouble, right?"
Alec looked down at the sword and then shrugged. "I've already pretty much declared war against Kaleb, which means the rest of the Coun'hij will be blacklisting me as well. This isn't going to make any of that worse and it just might come in useful at some point. Besides, it's a symbol of a better time and place. It doesn't belong with Kaleb."
I looked up and my heart sank. Someone was manning the front gate. Most of the time the small guard post at the entry to the estate was empty, but I should have realized that Kaleb would have someone there to put on a good show for when Brandon arrived. If Kaleb had left orders that Rachel wasn't to leave the estate then we were sunk before we even really got started. I looked back at Alec, but he didn't seem particularly worried.
"Turn the radio on and set it to be louder back here than up front. We'll just have to hope that's enough to disguise Rachel's uneasiness."
He was putting it kindly. Rachel actually looked like she was going to throw up at any moment. I was sure it wasn't going to work, but I turned on some music and adjusted the fade as he'd requested. A second later we were to the gate and Jasmin was rolling down her window.
"Jasmin, James, everyone. Where are you all headed?"
Scott was exactly the kind of guy that you'd stick on guard duty. He was conscientious and followed orders exactly. If Kaleb had told him to stop everyone on their way out and find out what their plans were then he'd do it and never wonder why Kaleb wanted the estate turned into a prison.
"The cook needs more ice cream for dinner tonight. Cassie was supposed to go, but we all were feeling like getting off of the estate and stretching our legs a little so we volunteered to go instead."
Scott made a show of making a note on his clipboard. "Can you please roll the rest of the windows down, Jasmin? I need to log everyone in the vehicle. Sorry, but it's procedure."
I willed my heartbeat not to speed up as the windows came down and Scott looked back at Jessica, Alec and Rachel. Scott's eyes stayed on Rachel for an extra second and I knew we were in trouble. There wasn't any way to know for sure if he'd been specifically instructed regarding Rachel or if he'd just noticed how nervous she was, but he could obviously tell that something was up.
"How long did you say you were going to be gone?"
I heard Alec shift forward in his seat. "We're only going to be gone for a few minutes, Scott. We'll be back before you even know it."
It was the most egregious lie I'd ever heard, and I knew for a fact that Alec wasn't a very good liar, but everything pointed towards the idea that Alec had just told Scott the absolute truth. Alec's heart didn't speed up in the slightest, he wasn't sweating, his voice didn't even change.
Scott was a great guard, but he was a terrible actor. I could see him relax as he realized that he didn't have some kind of prison break on his hands. Any question as to whether or not he'd been told to keep Rachel at the estate was answered as he reached for his radio.
"I can understand getting a little stir crazy. I just need to make a quick radio call and then you can all be on your way."
Scott stepped back into the guard shack, which had been soundproofed well enough that I couldn't hear what he was saying, but I could see that he was nodding a lot and seemed pretty emphatic about whatever he was telling Kaleb.
It was the longest two minutes of my life, but then he came out with a smile.
"You're just going to town then? No need to go further than that for your errands?"
I looked back at Alec, which probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but he was the dominant, so it wasn't entirely unusual. Alec's smile was the most natural thing I'd ever seen cross his face.
"You don't have anything to worry about, Scott. Given the way that Rachel is feeling, we might not even make it to town before we have to come back home."
Scott nodded. It was obvious that he knew at least something bad was in store for Rachel because he gave her a bracing smile and then waved us on through.
Jasmin rolled the windows back up as she waited for the gate to finish opening. As soon as we were moving and there was no way that Scott could overhear us, I turned back to Alec.
"How did you manage to pull off a lie like that?"
Alec shook his head. "I didn't lie. As soon as we pull onto the main road so that we're not visible from the house I want you to slow down and then Rachel and I are going to jump out and go back to the house. Everything I told Scott was true, I just didn't tell him that we'd be leaving again as soon as we got back home."
Alec had just blown my mind. I couldn't even begin to imagine how hard it had been for him to think on his feet so well that he'd been able to outsmart Scott like that, but it was all worthless if it meant that he had to go back to the estate.
"Alec, don't go back there. We can't circle back around and get you, we're already pretty much out of time. Kaleb could come driving back from the airport any minute. You pulled the wool over their eyes, and I know that you meant it when you were back there, but now is no time to be deviating from the plan."
Some of the calm seemed to be back, or maybe it hadn't ever really left and I'd just mistaken his earlier briskness for something that it wasn't.
"We're still on plan, James. The plan was never for Rachel and me to go more than a few yards down the road with you guys. I'm sorry to put you three in this position, but you're the bait. Go to town and shop for the ice cream just like you said you would. If someone comes out to get you tell them that we went back to the estate. It's the truth, and it's all that you know. Either way, regardless of whether Vincent shows up looking for Rachel or not, you need to be back on the road headed north no later than an hour from now. If Rachel and I survive we'll give you a call and I'll tell you how to get out of the state without Kaleb being able to track you down."
"And if you guys don't make it out?"
"Then you should head to a big city. Stop somewhere along the way and steal some plates to throw the cops off, but either way you don't want to drive for very long before you bail out and find some other mode of transportation."
My throat was tight. Somehow I'd never expected for this to affect me like this. Alec and I had been through a lot, and I was fonder of Rachel than I'd ever realized. It was hard to say goodbye.
Jasmin was completely focused on the road, but she was blinking more than normal, and Jess looked like she was about ready to break into tears. Alec grabbed my arm and then patted Jasmin on the shoulder before turning back and giving Jess a smile.
"I'm sorry that we didn't have more time to say our goodbyes properly, you guys, but I really do appreciate everything. Not just you all being willing to do this for Rachel and me, but everything you've done over the years."
"It's mutual, man."
I hadn't imagined it this time, Alec's cool had cracked just the slightest bit, but I could see him gathering it back around him like a blanket and then Jasmin was slowing down and Alec threw the door of the SUV open. Before I could say anything else he grabbed his father's sword and threw himself out of the car. He hit the ground with more force and less control than usual because of the sword and for a second I worried that he'd seriously hurt himself.
A second later Alec came up bloody but not seriously injured and sprinted alongside of the SUV for the couple of seconds it took for Rachel to make her way over to the open door and jump. It wasn't the most graceful exit from a vehicle that I'd ever seen, but she was only human and it did the trick. She got just enough hang time for Alec to grab her out of the air before she hit the ground.
They were both off balance and they hit the ground again and went tumbling, but I saw the two of them get up and dust themselves off as we drove off towards town.
