Justin covered the mouthpiece for a moment. “It's some guy,” he whispered to Aaron. “He knows it's me.”
Aaron nodded anxiously.
Justin uncovered the receiver. “Who is this?” he asked.
“My name is Colonel William Green,” the man answered politely. Justin noticed that he had a commanding voice. “I'm sure you are wondering how I knew you were back?”
“It had crossed my mind,” Justin said. He actually hadn't wondered that yet. But he did now. “So how did you know?”
“Take a look up at the corner of the ceiling, to the left of the arch leading to the hallway,” the colonel said. Justin could hear the smile in the man's voice.
He looked up and saw a small black box hanging right in the corner. If he hadn't known where to look, he doubted that he would have even noticed it.
“It's a camera,” the colonel continued. “We installed them throughout the apartment, just in case. Someone has been monitoring your home for weeks now.”
“Where's my mother?” Justin asked, trying not to sound anxious.
“Ah, straight to the point. I like that.” The colonel hesitated a moment. Then he said “Your mother went to visit her doctor a few days ago. Her guards accompanied her. While she was in the office, some of my men...procured her. It took her guards far too long to notice that she was missing.” He sighed dramatically. “Very poor job on their part, I must say.”
Justin swallowed a lump in his throat. “So you are holding her prisoner?”
“Now, now, Justin. Don't make it sound so dramatic. She is quite well and very comfortable, I assure you. She has her medication and is fine.”
Aaron was watching Justin. He had suddenly grown pale and his eyes were wide but he didn't say anything.
“And Wilson?”
The colonel waited a moment before he answered. “I am afraid that your friend was badly wounded when he tried to defend you and your mother. We gave him the best medical attention we could but I'm afraid his heart gave out. You have my condolences, Justin.”
He found that his legs couldn't support him suddenly and Justin sat down on a kitchen chair with a thump. He just stared straight ahead. Wilson dead? How could that be? Justin suddenly realized that Wilson was the closest thing to a father that he had ever had. And now he was gone, just like that.
Aaron sat down on a chair beside him. “Justin,” he whispered. “What is it?”
Justin looked at his friend. “Wilson's dead,” he said flatly.
Aaron's mouth dropped open. “Oh no!” he gasped.
Taking a deep breath, Justin spoke into the receiver. “So what do you want?”
“Isn't it obvious, Justin. We want you. And your friend, of course. I'm betting he's also a member of your little fraternity. And in exchange, your mother goes free. We'll see her safely back home and she will never set eyes on us again.”
“Why should I believe you?” Justin asked harshly. “You killed Wilson.”
“We had no wish to harm your friend, Justin. If you had come quietly that day, none of this would have happened. All I can tell you is that we have no interest in your mother. For what it's worth, you have my word that we will honor this agreement and that she will go free.”
Justin was thinking furiously. He didn't believe this colonel. Not one word. But he had a feeling that they did have his mother. How could he get her back safely?
“I have to think about this,” he told the colonel.
“By all means, Justin. My men are in the lobby. You have nowhere to run. So take your time. When you want to talk, just wave at one of the cameras and I'll call back.” He waited and then said “I hope you make the wise choice, Justin. For your sake and your mother's.” The line went dead.
Justin stared at the receiver in his hand for a moment then hung it up. He sat back and looked at Aaron. His friend stared back with a helpless expression on his face.
“What can we do, Justin?” he asked.
Justin looked around, then glanced up at the camera. A sudden surge of rage made his stomach burn and he jumped up and pulled his chair over until it was in the corner under the camera. He climbed up, easily pulled the camera off the wall, dropped it on the floor and jumped down on top of it. The little device shattered with a mild crunching noise.
Aaron watched all of this silently. But when Justin smashed the camera, he stood up with a jerk. “Justin, are you nuts? Why did you do that?”
Justin held up his hand. “Wait for it,” he said quietly. Seconds later, the phone rang. “Thought so,” he muttered and picked it up.
“Justin, what do you think you are doing?” It was the colonel.
“We have a decision to make and I want some privacy while we make it,” he told the man firmly.
There was a moment of silence. “I see,” the colonel said. “Very well, Justin. You may have your privacy. But please do not destroy any of the other cameras, or my men will be sent up immediately.” He hung up.
Justin put the receiver back on to the telephone. “That buys us a little bit of time,” he told Aaron.
“Time? Time for what?” Aaron looked puzzled. “They have us, Just. Whether they come in now or in a few minutes, we're toast.”
Justin smiled slightly. “Maybe not.” He looked around the kitchen but couldn't see any other devices in the corners. Still, he lowered his voice as he looked at Aaron. “When my Mom wanted to leave me a private message, those times that she had to go out and I was at school, she would hide it from Mrs. Petropoulos.”
“Hide it?” Aaron sounded puzzled. “Why hide it?”
“Because,” Justin said with a little laugh, “while she may be a nice lady, Mrs. P. is very nosy.”
“So where would she hide it?”
“In the one place that old fashioned Mrs. Petropoulos would never look.” He walked across the room to the counter. “The microwave,” he said and opened the door of the appliance. He reached inside, lifted the glass plate on the bottom and pulled out a slip of paper.
Aaron gasped. “How did you know?”
“Mom told me herself. Remember when we talked to our parents in the Ocular room?”
“Yeah, of course. But I don't remember your mother mentioning a note.”
Justin sat down again and looked at Aaron. “She didn't. Well, not openly. She said she might write the old-fashioned way.” Justin smiled at Aaron. “And then she winked. That's what she used to call the notes; an old-fashioned way of writing. She never liked using email.” He opened the slip of paper. Then he frowned.
“What is it, Just?” Aaron asked anxiously.
“All it says is 'library basement'.” Justin sat back and thought a moment. Then he swore. “It figures,” he said. “Sometimes I'm really thick.” He looked up at Aaron who was just watching him with a puzzled expression.
“I don't know if I told you, but the day I was attacked, I was followed home from the library.”
Aaron just shrugged. “Yeah, so?”
“So, while I was in there, the librarian disappeared and these three guys that I found out later were with the government showed up. The rest of the place was empty.” Justin was thinking furiously. “I'm guessing that they're holed up in the library itself. That's how they could control it so that I was the only one in there that day.”
“I think that's a bit of a stretch, Justin.” Aaron said skeptically.
“Yeah, maybe.” Justin held up the note. “So how do you explain this?”
Aaron took the note and read it. He shook his head. “I can't explain it. Okay, so what if you're right? What should we do?”
Justin stood up and began pacing. “We have to get her out,” he said. “And if she is in there, maybe Wilson is too.” He began to get excited at the idea of finding not just his Mom but his friend as well. Aaron still looked unconvinced. Justin stopped pacing and stared at his friend.
“What?” he asked. He felt irritated at Aaron's attitude.
“Nothing. But how are we supposed to get anyone out of t
here. There have to be guards, alarms, more cameras.” He sat back and sighed loudly. “Not to mention the fact that we have to find a way out of here first.”
“Actually, that's the easy part,” Justin said.
“What? Are you nuts, Just? That colonel guy said his men are in the lobby. If we do anything, they'll rush up here and grab us.”
Justin nodded. “I'm counting on that,” he said with a small grin.
“Oh great,” Aaron said in exasperation. He looked at the ceiling. “He's counting on it. Okay, magic man, how do we get out?”
Justin rested his hands on the table and leaned toward Aaron. He lowered his voice even more. “I'm guessing there's a camera in the hall, just over the front door. If we go out there and smash it, the guys downstairs will run up. Now, at the end of the hall is a big window that overlooks an alley.” He raised an eyebrow as he watched Aaron. “With me so far?”
Aaron swallowed loudly. “Yes. And I have a feeling I know where this is going.”
“You probably do, bud. When we hear the troops coming up the stairs, we jump out the window. I'm betting I know the streets and alleys in this neighborhood better than any of these guys. Once we're on the ground, it will take them a few minutes to get back downstairs. That will give us a head start. Then we make our way to the library.”
He stood up and watched as Aaron digested the plan.
“Okay,” Aaron said finally. “That might get us out of here and to the library, but then what?”
Justin had to shrug. “One crisis at a time, Aaron. Let's just get there and see what's going on first. Then we can decide our next move.”
“You're the boss, Justin. But I hope the guys who told us about falling a long way weren't exaggerating or this is really going to hurt!”
“Yeah, I hope the same. Could I have the note?”
Aaron handed the paper to Justin, who put it in his pocket. “You ready?” he asked his friend.
Aaron shook his head. “No, but let's go anyway, before I either lose my nerve or those guys get impatient and come up ahead of schedule.”
Justin picked up a chair, nodded to Aaron and walked into the hallway. He had been right. The camera was stuck just over the front door frame. He put down the chair under the camera, stepped on to it and reached for the small device. Then he hesitated, grinned widely into the camera and flipped it the finger. He heard Aaron giggle behind him.
Justin grabbed the camera, ripped it off of the wall and threw it on the floor. Aaron quickly stepped on it and ground it into the carpet.
“Well, that should irritate the colonel,” he said to Justin, who hopped down off the chair and stood listening at the door. The phone rang just as he thought he heard the distant thumping of many feet running up the stairs. He ignored the ringing of the phone and looked over his shoulder at Aaron.
“They're coming,” he said.
“Right, let's go,” Aaron replied and they ran down the hallway to the far window. Justin opened the window, which shuddered and squealed as it rose, then he looked down to the alley below. There were a few garbage cans and some litter but otherwise the narrow lane was deserted. He looked at Aaron.
“On three?” Aaron just nodded and took a deep breath.
“Okay. One, two...” The door at the end of the hallway burst open with a loud crash. Justin had time to see several figures crowding in the hall beyond before he turned back to the window.
“Three!” he yelled and jumped over the window sill. Aaron leaped at the same time and Justin heard his friends clothes fluttering in the wind as they fell.
Both of them hit the ground at the same time. Justin rolled and then collapsed on to his back while Aaron seemed to skitter along the ground and then he smashed into the opposite wall.
Justin lay there for a moment looking up. There was no pain at all. In fact, he wasn't even winded. He was a bit dizzy though and he lay for a moment trying to let the world steady around him. Then he saw a head poke through the window above him and someone yelled.
Justin leaped to his feet and turned to see Aaron leaning against the wall, brushing the dirt off his clothes. He looked at Justin and grinned.
“Well, that was different,” he said with a chuckle.
Justin returned the grin then said, “We have to run, Aaron. Before they get back down here.”
Suddenly serious, Aaron glanced upward. “Right. Which way?”
“Follow me, bud,” Justin said and, turning to the north, began to run.
Justin zigzagged through back alleys, narrow streets and several backyards before coming to a stop about a half hour after they had escaped from the apartment. They stood bent over as they tried to catch their breath. Then Aaron looked around curiously.
They were standing in an alley, next to a large, corroded metal dumpster that reeked of garbage and rotting food.
“Whew! Where are we?” Aaron asked as he waved his hand in front of his face.
Justin pointed toward a large white building that rose over it's neighbors a half block away.
“That's the library,” he said. “If we cross the street here and follow the alley, we'll come out in the rear. From there, I have no idea what we're going to do.”
Aaron looked at the building then back at his friend. “Playing it by ear? Okay, I guess that's all we can do, isn't it?” Justin nodded and Aaron glanced around the corner. “The coast is clear. Let's go.”
This time Aaron led and Justin followed, but as they walked, they looked around constantly.
“You have any idea how your Mom found out about them hiding in the library?” Aaron asked as they walked.
“Not a clue. But she told me a few times that people often underestimated or overlooked sick people. Just a guess, but I think maybe she overheard her bodyguards discussing it. It's possible that the Guardians know where the government guys are stationed.” He glanced at Aaron. “They seem to know a lot more than they've told us.”
“Yeah, I can't argue with that.”
They approached the rear of the library; both of them looking around nervously. But they saw nothing. From a position a hundred yards away, behind some parked cars, Justin scanned the building.
There was a large loading dock, with two big doors standing open. A truck had been backed into the dock and, from the sounds they could hear, was apparently being unloaded. To the right of the dock there was a smaller metal door with no window. It was closed.
“I don't see any cameras, Justin,” Aaron said quietly. “Not the tightest security for a government operation, is it?”
Justin frowned. “Yeah, it's weird. Probably just a temporary office.” He looked around once more but there was no movement. “Should we just try the door?”
Aaron shrugged. “I guess so.” He stared at the plain metal door. “Wish there was a window in it. We have no idea what's on the other side.”
“Yeah, I know,” Justin said and started walking toward the door. Aaron followed closely.
When they tried the door, it opened easily and Justin's sense of unease deepened. He peered inside and saw a hallway weakly lit by several flickering florescent bulbs. The hallway was empty and Justin could see a single door at the end of it. There were no cameras in sight.
The two boys slowly entered and closed the door quietly behind them. It was silent and their cautious footsteps echoed lightly around them as they made their way toward the far door.
After listening for several long minutes, Justin opened the door into an empty room with a closed door on each wall. There was no furniture in the room and the air smelled stale and unused. He looked at Aaron who shrugged.
“I don't know, Justin. This place looks deserted. Maybe your Mom made a mistake?”
Justin thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, it's possible. Could be she meant a different library.” He looked around the room again. “Or maybe they were here and cleared out?”
“Well, let's look around a bit more, just to be sure.” Aaron said. “But I don't think we sho
uld take too much time. Those government guys are definitely looking for us and I'd like to get out of the area as soon as we can.”
With a nod, Justin entered the room and picked the door to the left at random. The next room was filled with boxes stacked to the ceiling. The labels on the boxes listed their contents as books. The two boys spent several minutes walking from one storage room to another. There were no signs of anyone in the area.
Finally, Justin admitted defeat. “I guess Mom was mistaken,” he said, as he opened yet another door and stepped inside. “If someone was here at one time, they're long gone.”
“Oh, I wouldn't say that,” came a voice from the gloom in front of them. Lights flashed on and they boys were momentarily blinded. As Justin squinted through the glare, he saw someone sitting behind a desk at the far end of the room. “Welcome, gentlemen,” the figure said.
Chapter 21
Justin's eyes quickly adapted to the bright lights and he stared at a man whose voice identified him as Colonel Green.
The Colonel was sitting behind a large wooden desk. What Justin noticed first was the man's piercing blue eyes. What he noticed next was that the Colonel was in an electric wheel chair. A keyboard rested on his lap and he was typing rapidly while staring at the two teens. On the wall behind the man, there were about a dozen flat screens set up in rows and Justin could see images of various locations including some rooms in his apartment and the back door of the library. He looked back at the man, who smiled slightly.
“You saw us come in,” Justin said calmly.
“Of course,” the colonel answered.
“But we didn't see any cameras!” Aaron said in confusion.
The colonel chuckled. “Naturally,” he said. “The cameras you saw in Justin's apartment were crude props. Miniature cameras today can't even be seen by the naked eye. I've been watching you ever since you left the apartment.” He shook his head and sighed. “There was no need for such a dramatic exit, boys. I mean you no harm.”
“Yeah, right!” Justin scoffed. “You attacked my home, kidnapped my friend, hunted others like us and now you've taken my mother. You mean us a lot of harm, Colonel.”
The Return of the Titans Page 24
