Outcasts

by Jill Williamson

  “They won’t get a scratch,” Omar said.

  Mason hoped it was true.

  CHAPTER

  32

  Omar was glad to have the loaded gun on his hip, even if it had betrayed him once tonight. He wouldn’t have felt safe going up against Otley and those dual-action pistols with only a stunner. He needed the same heat Otley would be packing, that overgrown boar.

  Nash drove the DPT truck down a winding road filled with massive homes, headed for Champion House. The three of them sat side by side in the cab — a tight squeeze, with Omar in the middle.

  The suits gave them an advantage. Tonight he was the Invisible Owl, embarking on his most daring mission yet. The suits were hot, though, and Omar was glad he’d removed the hood for the drive, but every time he looked down and his body came into view, glowing blue, he jumped. He completely forgot the contacts in his eyes three times in the space of five minutes. He needed sleep — and Skottie’s PV, which he couldn’t get to with the suit on.

  He burned at the idea of Shaylinn in a car trunk; sweet Shaylinn who never said a mean word to anyone, who prayed for people and wrote kind messages, who’d been forced to produce two babies, who loved him in spite of the wretched person he was …

  Who’d seen him kiss Kendall.

  He was sick. Sick with it all. The Owl was supposed to make a difference. But he needed more time to plot Operation Lynchpin. And this … complication with Shaylinn and now Kendall’s death … None of it was helping him keep his focus.

  Why was he so stupid? He could have stopped Kendall’s kiss. Stood up. Moved away. Then Shaylinn wouldn’t have gotten upset, and Omar would have had more time to think about the gun. Might have decided to leave it behind. Then Kendall would be —

  “SimTalk: tap: Zane.” Nash pulled into a driveway in front of a massive green house and killed the headlights. “Yeah, what’s going on just above, uh …” He squinted to see the house number above the door … “Fifty-three Summit Road?”

  Omar glanced out Nash’s driver’s side window. In the distance, where the road curved around a bend and up the hill, a dozen taillights glowed.

  Shay was up there. He wanted her out, and he wanted Rewl and Otley and Renzor to pay. Maybe it would all end tonight with three bullets from Omar’s gun. Bang, bang, bang. And they lived happily ever after.

  The crack of the gun flashed in his memory. Kendall falling. Nothing happy about that.

  “Let me put you on speaker,” Nash said, tapping his Wyndo watch, which looked identical to Omar’s. The time was 5:06 a.m. “Go ahead, Zane.”

  “Enforcer troops have been deployed to Champion House.” Zane’s voice came out tinny through the watch speaker. “You’ve got a collection of eight enforcer vehicles up there. Chatter tells me they’re not going in until six.”

  “Why wait?” Omar asked.

  “No idea,” Zane said. “The way I see it, you can either wait until they move in, then follow. Or you can sneak past them now.”

  “Can we do that?” Mason asked.

  “With those suits you should be able to walk right up the middle of the road, but if there are enforcers on foot, I wouldn’t risk it. Walk in the ditch or something. And you might avoid walking in front of headlights. Might make shadows. The real problem is the gate. It’s shut. And it has to open for you guys to get through.”

  “You can’t hack it?” Omar asked.

  “Nooo. Their security is too good. I can get in and watch, but if I so much as turn a camera a millimeter, they’ll see me and lock everything down. You’re going to have to walk up there and wait for it to open, then walk in along with the vehicles. There’s no other way.”

  “Can’t we climb over?” Omar asked. “Are the fences electrified?”

  “Not that I know of,” Zane said, “but they’re ten feet high and topped with some nasty barbed wire. I don’t think you have time for that. And if you mess up those suits, my dad will kill us all.”

  Not to mention they’d be visible again.

  “Is there a back gate?” Mason asked. “One that’s easier to get through?”

  “It’s identical,” Zane said, “and you’d have to hike around the perimeter or drive back out Summit and go all the way around to Forest Lane to get to it.”

  “That’s too far,” Nash said.

  “No storm drains here?” Omar asked.

  “They’re closed off. Have been for years. And none of us have ever had a premie lib wish to risk exploring them. Stop arguing with me. I’ve checked this. Trust me. Walking in with the cars is your only option. And there will be guards at the guardhouse, so keep an eye out for them too.”

  “We’ve got the advantage of being invisible,” Mason said. “That greatly decreases our odds of encountering danger.”

  Yes, and Zane would be looking through the cameras. And didn’t that engineer say Zane would be able to see through the contacts too? “Can you see what we see, Zane?” Omar asked.

  “Only one at a time. I’m looking through your eyes right now, peer,” Zane said. “Your eyelids keep drooping. Need a nap?”

  Desperately. And another breath of brown sugar wouldn’t hurt. “I’m fine.”

  Zane chuckled. “I’ve got no control over what I see, though. Lhogan’s running the vids. If I need to switch to Mason’s eyes, all I can do is message Lhogan and ask nicely.”

  “What about Rewl’s car?” Omar asked. “Where is it?”

  “Let me look.” Omar could barely hear the tap of fingers on glass. “His is the first car outside the gate. Go ahead and get closer. You might be able to see if he still has Shaylinn.”

  Omar sure hoped so. “All right. We’re going.”

  Omar and Mason got out and said good-bye to Nash, who promised to wait with the truck. They walked down the center of the street, headed for the hill. Their suits swished like snow pants. The rubber soles under his feet scuffed on the concrete.

  “Think we should get off the road?” Mason asked.

  “Not ‘til the corner,” Omar said. “The houses and sidewalk should end there, then we can walk in the ditch.”

  They came to the last driveway before the corner, about a stone’s throw from the nearest enforcer car. Omar had been such a fool to believe that being an enforcer would make him happy. To think he’d given up a peaceful life in Glenrock with Shay to lick Otley’s and Renzor’s boots.

  And now he’d lost everything.

  He wished he could get at his PV right now. He could really use a vape.

  He caught himself being negative again and shook it off. What would the Owl do? Something good, not mope about everything. He was going to rescue Shay and get her to Ruston’s basements. She was going to have a peaceful life, even if he couldn’t.

  Omar led Mason down into the ditch, trying to walk carefully in the fake green grass. He couldn’t hear as well with the hood on. He kept his gaze bouncing from his feet to the road, inspecting the parked cars they walked past. So far, the enforcers were just sitting inside the vehicles, two to a car, from what he could see, talking with each other as if this was merely another routine bust.

  They had to be wondering, didn’t they? What kind of bust goes down at Champion House? Whatever Otley had planned, it was going to be big news. He was surprised Luella Flynn wasn’t here with her cameraman.

  Four cars in, Omar could clearly see the front gate and the guardhouse behind it, the windows lit up in bright yellow light. And Rewl’s black sedan was parked right up against the gate with its driver’s door rolled up, open to the night air. He walked through the ditch until he stood across from the door. No one was inside. He stared at the trunk, tempted to walk over and look inside. “No Rewl in the car,” Omar whispered to Mason.

  “He’s in the one behind,” Mason said.

  Sure enough, when Omar looked through the windshield of the second car in the line of vehicles, he saw Bender in the driver’s seat and Rewl sitting beside him.

  “It’s so weird to see them like this. Whe
n I first met them, I thought they were heroes,” Omar said. “Yet here they are with Otley. Maggots, anyway.”

  “Do you think Shay’s still in the trunk?” Mason asked.

  The lights on Bender’s car were off. “I’m going to find out.”

  “They’ll hear you,” Mason hissed.

  But Omar was already halfway up the shoulder of the road. His boots backslid a few steps on the incline, but he moved faster and reached the top.

  At the edge of the road, he stayed put a moment, making sure no one had heard him. When nothing happened, he started across the road. Bender’s headlights were off, so he walked between the two cars. There was about ten feet between them. He stared through the windshield of Bender’s car to where Bender and Rewl were talking, laughing, like this was all part of some game. But their windows had to be closed, because Omar couldn’t hear their voices at all. Good.

  He squatted by the trunk, made a fist, and knocked on the back. The gloves muted the sound. “Shay?” He kept his eyes on Bender and Rewl and tried to measure his voice. Loud enough for her to hear, but soft enough so that no one else could. They hadn’t seemed to hear him, so he tried again. “If you’re in there, answer quietly. It’s me, Omar.”

  “Omar! Help me!” Shay’s voice bordered on hysteria. “Get me out of here.”

  Bender and Rewl’s heads both twitched in the direction of Rewl’s trunk. Omar held his breath until he saw them relax and start talking again. “Quietly, Shay. Calm down. Listen, I can’t get you out just yet. People are watching.”

  “Please, Omar. Please get me out.” She had quieted her voice, at least, but her tone sounded petrified.

  He was no good at saying the right thing. What would she have said to him? He struggled to remember one of the hundreds of Bible verses his mother had made him learn as a child. “The Lord’s your shepherd, Shay. Don’t be afraid. What can these maggots do to you?” Close enough. He wished he could just jump in the front of this car and drive it away, which he couldn’t do without taking off the suit to reach the ghoulie tag. Plus there were two dozen enforcer vehicles blocking him in. But at least he’d found her. When she didn’t answer, he asked, “Shay, did Rewl say anything about what his plans are?”

  “He said Lawten Renzor did bad things and that Bender was going to make everything right.”

  Cryptic. “Did he say why he needed you? What he planned to do with you?”

  “No. Well, he did say that he was going to keep me safe until I had the babies, then we could, um, ‘talk about painting.’ ”

  Painting? Omar pictured his easel and the picture of Shay Otley had ruined. Rewl didn’t paint. Not that Omar knew what Rewl did in his spare — “Wait. Shay, you mean trade paint? Does Rewl like you?”

  “He wanted to take me dancing once. And he said Bender is his father. And he told me that he wasn’t infected. That he’s a Natural.”

  Both had grown up in the basements, yet both had turned their back on that life. Rewl might be a Natural, but the only reason he wasn’t infected was because he was a creepy shell who probably scared the femmes away. No, that was unfair. He didn’t really know Rewl at all, except that the maggot had put Shay in a trunk. And for that, he would pay.

  “Shay, listen. I have to go.”

  “No! Don’t leave me.”

  “I won’t be far away. But I can’t get into the trunk, so I have to wait until they take you out, okay? I’ll be close by.”

  “Please don’t go.” Her voice was laced with tears again. “Omar? Omar, are you there?”

  The electric hum of a vehicle door opening split the silence. “I’ll grab it.” Rewl’s voice. Outside the car.

  Still crouched on his toes, Omar spun around. Rewl was on top of him, headed back to his car, going to cross between the two vehicles from the passenger’s side of Bender’s car to the driver’s side of his. Omar shrank as close to the bumper as possible, but Rewl slammed into him and tripped.

  Omar didn’t wait to see what happened. He scrambled around the back of the car and up the passenger’s side.

  Another door slid open. “What happened?” Bender’s voice.

  “I tripped over something. Someone was there.”

  “Where? You saw someone?”

  “No, but I — ”

  “Then get in the car,” Bender said. “Otley’s coming.”

  Otley. Rewl’s headlights were off too, so Omar crossed in front of the car and looked down the road. Headlights were approaching on the wrong side of the road, headed his way. Omar crouched in front of Rewl’s car, waiting.

  An enforcer’s Jeep stopped beside Rewl, who was still standing at the back of his car. The passenger window on the Jeep slid up onto the roof. “What are you doing out of your vehicle, little rat?” Otley said.

  “Talking to Bender.”

  “Get in and follow me.” Otley’s Jeep sped by Omar’s hiding place and pulled up to the front gate.

  Omar ran after it, then to the left side of the road to stay out of the way of Rewl’s car. He turned back and located the blue figure that was Mason in the ditch beside the guardhouse and waved his brother to follow.

  When Mason caught up, he asked, “What’s our plan?”

  “We follow them in. Shay’s still in Rewl’s trunk, so I’m going to stay with his car and try to get her out. You stick with Otley and look for your medic and Kendall’s baby. If we don’t see each other inside, once you get the medic and the kid, get out of the house. We’ll meet behind the guardhouse, inside the fence. We’ll probably have to wait for the gate to open before we can get out, but I guess we can figure that out later.”

  “Sounds good,” Mason said.

  Mad good. They passed through the gate just as Otley spoke to the guards at the guardhouse.

  “Safe Lands Enforcers. We have a warrant to search these premises.”

  CHAPTER

  33

  The iron gate rattled as it slid open on wheels. Mason walked behind Omar, who was shadowing Rewl’s car. He didn’t know what to think of his little brother becoming a father, but Omar had certainly grown protective of Shaylinn. Mason was glad of it. Maybe it would give him some focus in life.

  The mansion was made of gray stone and was so massive that its roof looked like three mountain peaks. Bright yellow light shone out narrow windows. A grassy lawn — real grass — surrounded the building. The drive split ahead. To the left it went straight around the back of the house. To the right it circled the yard and ran back to the front gate. A fountain and a rose garden decorated the center of the circle. The smell of roses made the early morning air sweet. The sky was growing pink. Almost dawn.

  General Otley drove to the right. Rewl continued on toward the back of the house. Mason waved to Omar and ran to keep up with Otley.

  The man stopped his Jeep in front of the house and got out. Mason looked back and saw that the other vehicles had followed Otley. Bender got out of the second vehicle in line, while enforcers climbed out of the others. They all wore gun belts laden with weapons. From what Mason could figure, they each had a SimScanner, a stunner, a dual-action pistol, and some kind of stick.

  Four men in black suits met Otley at the bottom of the steps.

  “I’ll see that warrant now,” one of the men said.

  Otley pulled a piece of paper out of his inner jacket pocket and handed it over. “Signed by the Guild. It’s good.”

  The man glanced over the paper and sighed. “There is no pregnant girl here. But search if you must.” He led the way up the wide steps and rang the bell. Otley followed, Bender at his side. Mason stayed with them, keeping on the far edge of the steps so as not to touch anyone. The enforcers followed.

  The front door opened, revealing a young man dressed in a black suit. “Yes?”

  “General Otley has a warrant, Mr. Berg. His men will be conducting a search. And my men will be accompanying them.”

  “Of course. Well, come right in, General Otley. I’m the butler. The task director general was n
ot yet awake at this early hour as he is on vacation. But he’ll be with us shortly. He’s asked me to see you to the small parlor.”

  Otley grunted. “Bender, Nicol, Leech, Robb — with me. The rest of you, wait here.”

  Mason slipped into the house after Otley. The foyer was wide and square, floored and trimmed in dark wood. It had walls painted cream. Long red, navy blue, and cream-patterned rugs covered much of the floor. A dark wood staircase wrapped up the left-hand side of the foyer, carpeted in the same colorful rug. The ceilings were higher than what Mason knew to be normal. Fancy iron furniture and tables lined each wall amid vases and statues. Directly in front of Mason stood a life-size bronze-and-iron statue of a woman and three large dogs, each on its own leash. Where the railing curved at the foot of the stairs, a vase filled with fresh, long-stemmed roses stretched as tall as Mason.

  Once all the enforcers had entered the house, Mr. Berg closed the front door and crossed the foyer to an open walkway at the bottom of the stairs. “Right this way.”

  Otley stomped after the butler, his boots clumping over the shiny wood floor and thin rugs. Mason followed closely and carefully, making sure to keep his distance from everyone else. Would Ciddah be with Lawten? Or would she be somewhere else? At this hour she’d likely be sleeping. Where might the bedrooms be in such a house?

  The “small parlor” was as big as Mason’s old house had been. The walls were also cream, which made the room look bright. There were eight sofas — four cream and four red — and at least a dozen wing chairs, all arranged to face the middle of the room. Tables and lamps and mirrors and vases and pillows … the place was cluttered yet looked immaculate. A brown piano as big as a car sat in one corner of the room. A fire in a marble hearth crackled on the opposite wall. Two archways led out the back of the room, one on either side of the fireplace. To the bedrooms, perhaps?

  Otley walked up to a mirror hanging above the fireplace. He bared his teeth and picked them with his thumbnail. The men in black suits filed inside the room, followed by Bender and the three enforcers. They stood in a line behind one of the red sofas.