by Lisa McMann
Maria caught up. “Why did you stop chasing them?” she yelled. Her face was filled with panic.
“Sorry—Kelly stopped me, and now I don’t know which way they turned,” Charlie said. “But hang on—we’ll find them.” She looked around, then dashed to the back of Maria’s house. The other girls followed.
By the time Maria and Kelly reached the backyard, Charlie was already climbing.
Kelly stared. She put a hand over her mouth. And she stared some more. “You’re the . . . the . . . house fire . . . mystery . . . person. . . .” She looked at Maria for confirmation. “Is she?”
“The mysterious youth?” Maria said in a nasal voice, quoting the reporter. She glanced guiltily at Charlie up on the rooftop, but knew Kelly had figured it out. “Yeah, I suppose.” She pulled the backpacks off her shoulders and stashed them by the back door.
“Whoa. And the other day with Mac . . .” Kelly narrowed her eyes at Maria, searching for confirmation.
Maria clamped her mouth shut. She put up her hand to shield her eyes from the sun and watched Charlie.
Kelly expression turned accusatory as other instances came to her. “And when she kicked that ball at my face,” she said. “I knew something was strange about her. Does she just have some sort of freak strength? Or is something else happening?” Then her eyes flared. “Wait—is this the secret Mac was about to tell?” She grabbed Maria’s arm. “What’s going on?” she demanded.
Maria stared coldly at her, then turned her gaze to her arm where Kelly gripped it.
Kelly’s eyes widened, and she quickly let go. “Sorry,” she mumbled.
Maria put a hand on her hip. “Whatever you think you know,” she warned, her tone harsh, “you’d better not breathe a word of it to anybody. My best friend is in big trouble,” she said, her voice cracking, “and I can’t deal with your game of twenty questions right now. Are we clear?”
Kelly nodded numbly. “Sorry,” she repeated.
On the rooftop, Charlie stayed low to keep hidden and squinted in the hazy sunlight, scanning the neighborhoods. With so few trees it only took a minute to spot the oversize van heading into the older section of town where she, Mac, and Maria had walked the other day. It traveled several blocks to a dead-end street, at the end of which the road turned to dirt and the land opened up. The van continued without slowing, clouds of dust rising up behind it in spite of the rain earlier in the day. Quickly Charlie counted how many blocks the vehicle had gone and looked for landmarks. When she felt confident of the location, she hurried back down to the ground.
“I found them,” she said. “They’re not that far away.”
“Menos mal,” breathed Maria, relieved. “Let’s go.” She followed Charlie as she rounded the corner of the house and headed for the street.
“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Kelly asked tentatively, going after them.
Charlie picked up the pace. “I’m sure you shouldn’t, Kelly. You should actually just go home. But Maria and I should, yes, because we know what’s happening.”
Kelly scowled and didn’t obey.
“We know what’s going on?” Maria said quietly, trying to keep Kelly from hearing.
“I’m pretty sure.” Charlie kept her voice low too. “They don’t want Mac. They want the bracelet. And somehow they figured out we’re working together. I don’t think they’re going to hurt him. They’re after me.”
“I hope you’re right,” said Maria. “I mean, I don’t want them to be after you either, but at least you have a better chance of fighting them.”
Charlie nodded. She glanced over her shoulder at Kelly and grew instantly annoyed. “You’re not coming with us!” She looked at Maria. “How do we lose her?”
Maria shrugged helplessly. “I already warned her once to keep her mouth shut, so maybe she’s okay.”
“Not with me.” Charlie started jogging faster, and Maria matched the pace.
Kelly’s face only grew more determined. “Sorry, Charlotte,” she called out in her too-sweet voice. “But if you want me to keep your secret, I’m coming with you.”
Charlie muttered under her breath and decided to ignore the girl.
“How’s your knee?” Maria asked.
“It’s pretty good now,” said Charlie, trying not to wince. She pointed ahead. “They went this way four more blocks, turned left at an orange two-story Santa Fe–style house, and then right down a dead-end road and kept going over the dirt.” She glanced around to see if anything suspicious was going on and caught sight of Kelly’s blond crown half a block behind them. “She’s still back there,” she muttered, a sinking feeling in her stomach. “She could wreck everything. You’ve got to keep her from messing this up—she trusts you.”
Maria was so out of breath she couldn’t make the effort to look or speak, but she nodded.
Soon they turned, and turned again, and Charlie spotted a dead-end sign. They were on the right street, at least. She scanned the horizon and saw a haze of dust settling some distance in front of them. “This way,” she said.
They continued on a gravel road with some scrubby bushes alongside it and ditches that still held a bit of murky water from the morning rain. The road led past a decrepit barn to an abandoned outbuilding and horse stable. A rusty old gate with a shiny new lock on it blocked the road, but it was easy enough for the kids to climb over. They advanced near the stables and crouched behind a large dead bush that was days away from becoming a tumbleweed.
“There’s the van by that building,” Maria said when she’d caught her breath. “We need to be careful—we don’t want them to see us.”
They moved stealthily, bush by bush, until Kelly had caught up with them, and then together all three dashed to the side of the outbuilding. Charlie held a finger to Kelly’s face. “Don’t mess this up,” she warned.
“I won’t,” Kelly whispered, her expression solemn.
“Don’t even speak.”
Kelly’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t reply.
“The windows are blacked out,” Charlie said softly. “Do you hear anything?”
“Just some voices,” Maria said, her ear pressed against a crack in the flimsy siding near the ground. “But I can’t hear what they’re saying.”
“Do you hear Mac?” Kelly asked softly.
“No.” Maria said.
“He’s probably gagged,” Charlie whispered. “Or he’s just smart enough not to talk.” She eyed Kelly.
Kelly frowned, but she stopped talking.
They heard some commotion inside, and then the sound of a door slamming and a vehicle starting. Quickly they ran around to the back of the building and watched the van drive away. It stopped at the gate. One of the strange figures got out to unlock it. She swung it open. It was Miko. So this is where they went, thought Charlie. She wondered if Miko and Cyke and the claw woman were heading back out to look for them.
“Why are they all dressed like that?” whispered Kelly.
Maria turned sharply and silenced her with a look.
After the vehicle pulled through, Miko locked the gate and got back in the van. They drove off with a cloud of dust.
When they were out of sight, Charlie signaled the others to follow her.
“Do you think they have Mac with them in the truck?” Maria asked anxiously.
“I don’t know, but we’re going to find out,” Charlie said. She retied her sweatshirt around her waist and knotted it, then checked her shoelaces. “Stay behind me.”
They crept around the building. When Charlie reached the heavy, solid door, she stood up and signaled for Maria and Kelly to stay back. She touched the handle, her heart tripping wildly. There was no way to know what would happen when she opened the door. The outbuilding could be filled with those strange goggle-eyed fighters. But it didn’t matter—they had to find Mac.
Charlie took a deep breath, the bracelet warming on her arm, and threw open the door, giving the dark building a small pathway of sunlight. She jumped i
nside and squinted. It was almost impossible to see anything.
Without warning, Charlie began chirping uncontrollably. From the darkness two wavy, silvery shapes appeared in the distance, rapidly growing larger. Charlie put her fists in front of her, wishing she’d paid more attention in her self-defense classes. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and the chirping stopped, and she saw that the shapes were two people wearing goggles coming toward her—the same beefy man and woman who had carried Mac to the van. One of them lumbered along slower than the other. Charlie spied a third person quickly climbing up a pole and hopping onto the rafters above her head.
This was definitely trouble.
CHAPTER 41
A Startling Discovery
With a wild yell, Charlie waved her fists and darted between the beefy ones to throw them off guard. Then she hopped onto the shorter one’s back and started pummeling her in the head with her fists and kicking her in the stomach with her heels until the woman dropped to her knees and rolled, knocking Charlie off.
Charlie scooted out of the way before the woman could squash her.
The taller, slower attacker picked Charlie up, but she pelted him with a dozen hard blows to his forearms and smashed her head into his nose as if she were heading a soccer ball. That worked! He began lowing in pain like a sick cow and dropped her.
The first attacker staggered to her feet, calling out “Prowl, assist!” to the climber overhead. Charlie rolled out of reach, then jumped up between the man and woman and slammed their heads together as hard as she could. They slumped to the ground.
Before Charlie could look up to see where Prowl was, she heard a deep meow from above that sounded a lot like Big Kitty. Prowl dropped like a rock onto Charlie’s back and dug his claws in—feeling eerily familiar from her fight earlier in the day, only this soldier was much heavier. Charlie’s knees buckled and she hit the floor, the wind knocked out of her. Prowl rolled Charlie onto her back and punched her in the face.
Charlie saw stars.
“No!” screamed Maria from the doorway. “You get off of her!” She ran inside and started punching and kicking the man. He grabbed Maria and lifted her up in the air. Maria struggled to connect her fists with Prowl’s face, but Prowl held her just out of reach and prepared to launch her at the wall.
Charlie heaved herself to her feet and lunged at Prowl, drilling her head into the man’s stomach and not stopping. He dropped Maria and stumbled backward, with Charlie pushing faster and faster until she lifted him off his feet and slammed him into the wall. His head ricocheted against the cinder blocks like a crash-test dummy. The man made a breathless hissing sound, then sank to the concrete.
Charlie whipped her head around looking for more of the brutes, but they were all out cold. There was no one else. Well, no one else but Mac, who was gagged and tied to a pole in the center of the warehouse.
Maria got up and ran to him. “Are you okay, buddy?”
He nodded emphatically and grunted.
From the doorway, Kelly stared.
Charlie ignored her and hobbled over to Mac and Maria, gingerly touching the swelling bruise by her eye. “Let’s get Mac untied while the thugs are still down for the count.” She looked at the door and reluctantly waved Kelly inside—they could use her help. “Come on, hurry up. Let’s move.” A fleeting thought flashed through Charlie’s brain: it was fun ordering Kelly around.
Maria pulled the gag out of Mac’s mouth.
“Whew,” said Mac, smacking his parched lips together. “Thanks.”
“I’ll get the ropes,” said Charlie. “Kelly, go make sure those thugs on the floor over there aren’t waking up. Maria, how about you have a look around outside and watch for the van?”
The two girls dispersed.
Charlie took hold of the rope around Mac’s ankles with both hands and pulled with all her strength. The rope strands snapped, and soon Mac’s legs were free.
“Good move,” Mac said, stretching his legs. “I can’t believe you found me. I was worried.”
“I told you we would.” She smiled.
“How did Kelly end up involved in this anyway?”
“Long boring story.” Charlie moved around to the pole behind Mac, where his wrists were tied. “Okay, here we go.” This time she dug her finger into the knot and pried the ropes loose. Once they let go she flung them at Kelly, who was near the slow, lumbering man Charlie had knocked out. “Tie that one up!” she ordered, and turned back to Mac. “Tell me what happened.”
Mac brought his hands in front of him and rolled his wrists gingerly. “I was chilling in Maria’s room as usual. Her mom and abuela ran to the grocery store, and her stepdad and brothers were at tee ball, I think, so I was the only one in the house,” Mac said, rubbing his wrists. “I was waiting for you guys to show up, just reviewing the footage of your abilities. Then these three burst in, looking and talking like soldiers straight out of Call of Duty. They saw what I was watching, stole my phone, and grabbed me. They got my iPad too.”
“Keep talking. Let’s have a look around.” She held out a hand to pull him up.
He took it gratefully and stood. “They were using some communication system built into their suits, and they were all like, yes sir, no sir, target this, device that, ten-four soldier, out—that kind of stuff.”
“So they’re actual soldiers? They don’t look like it with those weird uniforms. And why would they cover their faces?”
“No idea.”
“Well, at least it makes them easy to spot in a crowd.”
“Yeah.”
Mac and Charlie walked past several large pieces of lab equipment and reached the end of the warehouse, where a huge table was set up. It was covered with computers and monitors and several boxes standing open with items inside waiting to be unpacked. Playing on the screens were the videos that Mac had taken of Charlie.
“Whoa, check it out,” said Mac. “You look pretty tough on a big screen.”
“That’s pretty freaky,” Charlie said. These soldiers were really going through a lot to find her. And it was more than a little unsettling. She looked around. “I don’t see your iPad or phone, do you?”
Mac shook his head. “Try calling me.”
Charlie dialed Mac’s number, and they listened for his ring tone, but heard nothing. “They must have taken it with them.”
But Mac had turned his attention elsewhere. He pointed to another screen. “Look, Charlie. That computer is doing some sort of recognition search on your face.”
Charlie looked, and the color drained from her cheeks. “Oh no. Don’t touch the computers,” she said. “I don’t want to leave them any fingerprints or whatever.”
Mac watched the footage for a minute. “Who are these people anyway?”
“I don’t know. But I don’t think they’re the ones who sent me the bracelet.”
“They could be the enemies of the ones who did send it.”
That comment would have made Charlie laugh a day or two ago. But not now. “You might be right,” she said. “Whoever they are, they want this bracelet in a big way.” She peered into one of the boxes, and then her foot bumped something underneath the table. She crouched and saw a heavy-duty safe. “Hmm,” she said, grasping the top corners and trying to pull it out, but found it was stuck to the floor. She sat back and eyed the combination lock. “Maybe your iPad and phone are inside here.”
“Maybe, but how are we supposed to open it? We don’t know the combination.”
Charlie gave Mac a patronizing smile. “We don’t really need a combination, do we?”
“Oh,” said Mac. “Ha. No, I guess not. I’ll stand back.”
Charlie bent down, gripped the handle of the safe, gritted her teeth, and, with all her strength, yanked on it. Both she and the door went skidding backward across the floor. “Ouch,” she said wearily, and lay there for a moment. “This is getting old.”
“Are you okay?” Mac asked, uncertain as to whether he should go check out the safe or
help her.
Charlie waved him off and slowly got to her feet, bringing the door with her and chucking it under the table as Mac rummaged around in the safe.
Hearing the commotion, Kelly stood on her tiptoes near the woman, peering at Mac and Charlie to see what they were doing. At the same time Maria came back inside and hustled over. “I scoured the area. No sign of anyone,” she reported.
“Thanks,” said Charlie. “Can you keep an eye out?”
“Sure.” She started back but then stopped and watched Mac pull out a small case. Carefully he opened it and looked at the contents.
“Is your stuff in there?” asked Charlie. She bent down next to him.
Kelly, seeing the three gathered without her, left her post and joined them.
“No,” Mac said, disappointed. “But check this out.” He picked up an item from the case and held it up to the dim light.
“What is it?” asked Kelly.
Charlie frowned at her. She was like a mosquito.
“It’s a bracelet,” said Mac. “A little different from Charlie’s, but it’s got the same logo stamped on it. There’s more.” He handed the box to Maria so she could see.
“Whoa.” Maria’s eyes grew wide. “Do you think these losers made them?” she asked, pointing at the unconscious soldiers. “Is that why they’re trying to get Charlie’s?”
“Making one of these would require some serious brains,” said Mac. “These grunts are just protecting them, I’ll bet. Ten bucks says they work for the person who created them.”
“That’s why they want this one,” said Charlie thoughtfully. “But I still can’t figure out who sent it to me in the first place.”
Kelly was quiet all this time and totally confused until her eyes alighted on Charlie’s arm. “Oh, so it’s your bracelet . . . ?” she murmured.
Charlie didn’t hear her, but Kelly’s face began to clear. And then her eyes narrowed, and a determined look replaced the confusion. She took the case from Maria and scanned the two devices that remained inside, choosing the sleeker, more streamlined one.
Maria snatched the box back from Kelly and picked up the remaining thicker, clunkier device.
