Project Integrate Series Boxed Set

by Campbell, Jamie

  “The Department prefer to do things more… covertly. It couldn’t have been them. Oh God, Lochie, what if they have my parents?” I whimpered as the thought struck me. Everybody I loved could be at the mercy of the men in suits and there was nothing I could do about it.

  “Calm down, we’ll figure this out.”

  “Where are we going to go?”

  “Lucky for you, I know the perfect place.” He managed a grin before turning yet another corner.

  CHAPTER 17

  “This is your big plan?” I asked skeptically.

  “Shh, keep quiet and move quickly,” Lochie warned. “I don’t want to have to explain to my mom why I’m handcuffed to you.”

  I did as told and followed Lochie through his house. It was all quiet, his family not awake yet. At least the early hour was working to our advantage. We had left the car a block away and walked the remainder of the distance. We were both starting to get beyond exhausted.

  We made it to his bedroom and he closed the door. When he spoke next, it was still just a whisper. “We need to get these handcuffs off. Any idea what will do it?”

  Considering my parents owned several pairs, I should have known the answer to his question. The trouble was, I hadn’t studied the damn things. I never thought I would actually be wearing handcuffs myself.

  “Do you have a saw or something?” I suggested. The metal was strong, but it surely couldn’t be impenetrable. He pulled me over to his desk, riffling through it. If he had a saw in there, I might start to believe he was James Bond in training.

  “Ah, here,” he finally exclaimed as he pulled something out. Sadly, it wasn’t a saw but wire cutters. They would do nicely. “Put your arm on the desk.”

  I followed directions and watched carefully as he did the same. The handcuffs were now lying on the desk, easily accessible. The wire cutters wouldn’t free us of the handcuffs, but they would free us from each other as he snipped at the chain holding us together.

  Lochie had to cut several times at the chain but we finally become unstuck. We both wore one of the cuffs as a bracelet but it was a relief being able to move freely, independent of him. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Why do you have wire cutters in your desk drawer?” My curiosity got the best of me.

  “I make model airplanes, if you must know. They are held together with glue and wires.” He pointed upwards at a shelf over his bed. Sure enough, there were several completed model airplanes sitting proudly on the shelf. “Why don’t you have a shower while I get some food and find something to get these cuffs off for good?”

  “But Lola…”

  “We can’t get Lola like this. If we go back now, there is no chance we’ll get anywhere near her. Shower, now, go. I’ll find you some clothes.”

  He pushed me toward the bathroom attached to his room. There was a door on the other side, presumably leading to another bedroom. His brother’s, perhaps? I locked the door just in case anyone decided to walk in, thinking it was Lochie in the bathroom.

  By the time I got out of the shower, Lochie had come through on his promise. He had a plain white t-shirt laid out, along with some blue shorts. They looked like a female’s clothes, I didn’t want to imagine where he got them from. I would have to recycle my underwear.

  I dressed quickly, brushing my hair with the single comb I found in the bathroom. I looked terrible, the dark circles underneath my eyes barely distinguishable from the bruises forming on my jaw. It was going to take a while for everything to heal. But I was sure it was nothing compared to what Lola was going through.

  Lochie returned juggling a hacksaw and a box of cereal. The milk and bowls were underneath his arms. I hurried over to help, freeing his hands.

  “Thanks for the clothes.”

  “I have food too.” He settled everything onto the coffee table and we both took a seat on the lounge. While he worked the hacksaw over his cuff, I had some cereal. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I started eating. The cereal was an absolutely perfect choice.

  The cuff clinked onto the table, freeing his hand. He held up the blade, questioning me if I was ready for the same thing. I held out my hand and he got to work. I tried not to look, the sharp blade was extremely close to my skin. One slip and he would take out a large chunk of my arm. When it clunked onto the table alongside his, I sighed with relief.

  Lochie took a shower and changed while I ate. It gave me some time to think and plan. I needed to work out my next move so I could get to it. I couldn’t let Lola stay with those men and who knew where my parents were? It was difficult not getting drowned by the thought of everything. I needed to stay strong. When Lochie was dressed and eating, my plan was decided.

  “So what are we going to do?” He asked, looking over the bowl at me expectantly.

  “There is no we. I am going to find some help,” I replied. Lochie had already helped me enough and had the bruises to prove it. I winced every time he grimaced because his lip hurt.

  “I’m not letting you do this alone.”

  “Good thing I’m not asking for your permission then.” I stood, making my intention to leave clear. I just needed a car and then I would be on my way. Perhaps if I snuck back home, the men might be gone so I could take my own?

  He quickly put the bowl on the table and grabbed my arm, stopping me mid-stride. “Amery, let me help you. I know you’re perfectly capable of doing this on your own, but you don’t have to. I want to help.”

  “Why are you being so nice to me? We hate each other, remember?”

  “I never said I hated you.”

  “I think it was implied.” He removed his hand and took it back. He focused on his cereal again, apparently I had hurt his ego. I tried to repair the damage. “Look, Lochie, I’m sorry. It’s just… I’ve already hurt so many people, I can’t bear to get anyone else involved. If you help me, I can’t guarantee your safety and that kills me.”

  “Did I say I expected to be safe? I know what I’m getting into here.”

  “No, you don’t, not really.” I completely expected him to demand answers, wanting me to tell him everything about the whole situation. So when he next spoke, it took me by surprise.

  “I know you are in trouble and that’s all I need to know. So you may as well quit your protesting and tell me your plan. Where are we going next?” We stared at each other for a long time as I tried to assess his sincerity. He sounded like he was legitimate but I had been tricked before so many times.

  Finally, I sighed, giving in. “I need to go visit my handler at the Department.”

  “Okay, where’s that?”

  “Over in Oakville.”

  “I’ll bring snacks then.” He stood up, grabbing his keys. “Do you think my car will still be at the beach?”

  “Did you lock it?” Lochie nodded. “Well it should still be there then.”

  We took the car we stole down to the beach. Thankfully, Lochie’s car was exactly where we left it. We ditched the hotwired vehicle and headed off to Oakville. Hopefully Rob would be able to provide the help I needed.

  I know the note said not to tell anyone, but it went beyond trying to sort everything out myself. I couldn’t risk Lola’s life because I was too afraid to ask for help. It was time to bring in the big guns.

  We drove largely in silence, the traffic sparse on the country road. The Department wasn’t signposted anywhere so I had to keep giving Lochie directions. The building was out of the way, you wouldn’t normally just stumble across it while out driving. Which was exactly why the Department built it there.

  The entire time, the reason for being in the situation was the white elephant in the car. I wanted to tell Lochie but I didn’t at the same time. Lola had taken the news well but it didn’t mean Lochie would. Rob had warned me for seventeen years that people wouldn’t take the news welcomingly. It was the entire reason for the project in the first place.

  We wound through the roads, Lochie taking each corner care
fully. He was as focused on obeying all the speed limits as he was on getting us there safely.

  “What are these people playing at?” He suddenly asked. I looked around, giving up on trying to work out what he was talking about.

  “What people?”

  “The car behind us.” I looked around and spotted the vehicle. It was a white sedan. “It’s been following us for half an hour now and they keep pushing me to go faster. They could just overtake if they’re in that much of a hurry.”

  I had been in the project long enough to know what a non-descript car looked like. It was one that faded into the background, one you wouldn’t notice unless you were really looking for it. And it was my experience that people only drove them when they were up to something no good.

  “I don’t think they want you to go faster,” I replied, getting that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach again. “I think they want you to pull over.”

  “Pull over? What?” He stole a glance at me to check whether I was being serious. I was dead serious.

  “They’re following us, they’re part of the organization.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive. I’ve seen the driver before, hanging around the school. It’s definitely them,” I replied, my mind racing. I needed a new plan and quickly.

  “You know this road better than I do, what’s up ahead?” Lochie asked, trying to suppress the panic himself.

  I closed my eyes, trying to picture it. I’d been there at least once a year for my entire life, I should know the answer. I traced our route in my mind. “There is a T-intersection a little way further down. From there, a few dead end roads break off. The main road continues on to the Department and then ends there.”

  “Is your seatbelt done up?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “Good, you might want to hold on,” he warned. I didn’t dare question what he was planning on doing. Not when his brows were knitted together as he concentrated.

  We kept going at the same speed, my eyes flicking to the side mirror to see the car following us every few seconds. They would come closer to Lochie’s car and then drop back again, playing a game of cat and mouse.

  “Hang on,” Lochie warned loudly. I gripped the seat as we swung around the T-intersection – at full speed. The wheels squealed and smoke burned from behind us. I turned around to see the sedan swinging around the corner too.

  Lochie floored it, the speedometer needle shooting up. The car behind sped up too. They started to close the gap. “Lochie, they’re catching up.”

  “Where does this road lead?”

  “I don’t know, I’ve never been down here before.”

  The engine whined from the effort, judging by the way Lochie normally drove, it had probably never been this fast before.

  “Lochie, what are we going to do?” I desperately asked. I needed to hear an answer because I certainly didn’t have one myself.

  “Just hold on.” His eyes kept moving to the rearview mirror as sweat started to bead on his brow. He didn’t slow down for a curve in the road and we skidded around it. I was flung against the door, learning my lesson about not holding on like he told me to.

  We barreled down the road, not seeing anyone else besides the white car behind us. We reached another intersection, this one a cross. Lochie swung around to the right at the last minute. He barely slowed down before he was stomping on the accelerator again.

  The white sedan wasn’t as lucky as we were, they took the corner too fast and crashed into the fence surrounding the open field. They continued to follow us, but their tire had suffered some damage.

  “I think we’re losing them,” Lochie said, not slowing down any just in case he was mistaken. “Keep holding on, I might be wrong.”

  We continued on for another twenty-five minutes before Lochie felt safe enough to slow down. They hadn’t caught up with us and we had gone around so many corners that I completely lost my bearings.

  “So what’s Plan B?” Lochie asked, slowing down slightly to a more comfortable pace. “Do we double back around and continue on to the Department?”

  I couldn’t answer that question yet, not when I was still trying to work out something else. “How did they find us all the way out here? We’re miles from anywhere and on a country road. It couldn’t have been by chance.”

  “They could have followed us from the beach,” he suggested. They could have done, but I suspected their means were a little more hi-tech. The beach had been completely deserted, I knew because I checked before we left. I didn’t want the situation that we just found ourselves in to eventuate.

  “I think they’re tracking me,” I stated, not wanting to admit it. Yet it was the only thing I could think of. They always seemed to know where I was. At first, I thought perhaps they were tracking my cell phone but I lost that somewhere between the beach and the prison cell. That only left one thing they could track – my implant.

  All the members of the project had implants, it was no secret. The little microchip was put into our backs when we were babies and had been there ever since. The Department made them mandatory, ensuring we could all be tracked whenever they needed to – providing the right paperwork was filed. Aliens didn’t have freedom of movement, we weren’t covered by the constitution.

  “How are they tracking you?” Lochie demanded urgently. “Tell me how, Amery.”

  “I have a microchip. I need to get it out.”

  “A microchip? How the hell do you have a microchip?” He looked at me incredulously. Now wasn’t the time to get into the long story. I ignored the question, we had bigger issues to deal with, like how I was going to get the chip out.

  “Do you have a knife or something in the car?” I looked around, trying to find the usual random stuff everyone kept in their vehicles. Why did Lochie’s have to be so damn clean? I had a nail set in my handbag that would probably do the trick but God only knew where my handbag was.

  “There’s a fishing knife in the trunk. What are you going to do with a knife?”

  “Get the microchip out,” I replied, like it totally should have been obvious. A fishing knife would probably be sharp enough to break my skin and get to the chip.

  “You’re not getting it out with a fishing knife,” Lochie protested, his eyes wide with the horror. “There’s probably a million germs on the blade. I only use it occasionally when I take Jordan fishing. I can’t remember the last time I actually cleaned it. You’ll get an infection.”

  I didn’t know why he was so riled up about it, it wasn’t like I really wanted to start stabbing around in my skin with a fishing knife. I wasn’t crazy. “Pull over, it’ll have to do. We need to get this thing out. Like, now.”

  “I’m not letting you do it.”

  “Now Lochie! Pull over!” I yelled at him, wishing he understood the urgency of the situation. It wasn’t a time to worry about germs and getting things right. Now was the time for action.

  With a grunt, Lochie slowed down and pulled the car to a standstill by the side of the road. He parked underneath a large tree, trying to get some cover from anyone that might pass by. I got out straight away before he could think about changing his mind.

  He popped the trunk and got the small fishing tackle box out. The knife was little but I didn’t need a large blade. The microchip was only small, barely able to be felt unless you knew what you were searching for. I took the knife and held it up, it had a sharp, pointy end. “This should do it.” I handed him the knife.

  “Why are you giving it to me? I’m not doing it. If you want to fish around, you can do it yourself.”

  “The chip is in my shoulder, I can’t reach it. Will you stop being such a baby about this? I’m not cutting into you,” I pointed out. He wasn’t going to be feeling the pain, I was. I didn’t know why he was being such a scaredy cat about the whole thing.

  He waved the knife about. “I’m not cutting you.”

  “So you want me to be found by the people who are trying to kill me
instead?”

  “You don’t know they’re using the chip.”

  “There is no other way they could be doing it. Please, Lochie, will you just get this over and done with?” I begged him. I wasn’t looking forward to the pain, I just wanted it finished with. Having to beg and plead for it was only prolonging the inevitable.

  We stared each other down before he finally sighed. “Turn around and show me where the damn thing is.”

  I turned around and realized I would have to take my top off for him to get to the microchip. At least the place was isolated, I would only have to be half naked in front of one person. But why did it have to be Lochie? He would probably just look for things to tease me about.

  I slid the t-shirt over my head and held it up against my bra. I would have shown more skin in my bikini but it felt so awkward standing there. At least the pain would distract me from my exposure soon enough.

  “It should be right here.” I twisted my arm back and felt around until I found the oblong shape under my skin. “If you press down, you’ll be able to feel it.”

  Lochie’s warm hands replaced my own. They burned on my skin, making my heart beat faster than I wanted it to. I didn’t want Lochie to be having that affect on me. I should be indifferent to his touch, not enjoying it. The thought of the knife in his other hand helped calm me down slightly.

  “Is that it?” He asked, his finger pressing right on the chip.

  “That’s it.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “I don’t want to do it, I need to do it. Just make it quick.” I gritted my teeth, waiting for the sharp stabbing pain to begin.

  “Maybe you should sit on the ground,” Lochie suggested. “I don’t want you passing out or anything. Not before you get an infection from the knife and then die of gangrene. Wouldn’t want that.”

  At least he couldn’t see me rolling my eyes. Still, it was a good idea. I sat on the ground and pulled my knees to my chest, holding them so I had the best chance of staying still once it began.

  “Last chance.”

  “Just do it, Lochie. Seriously.” I was starting to get cranky now. There was a fine line between being concerned and being overprotective. He was wavering more than he realized.