by E. C. Myers
She turned the screen toward Max. He instantly recognized the abandoned store, even without the sign in the background.
“The Hidden Word,” Max said.
“Where that picture in your dossier was taken,” Risse said.
Max nodded numbly.
“Everyone in that auditorium saw the same thing I did. We saw him kill himself. I certainly know I didn’t do it,” Max said.
“People are susceptible to suggestion. It happened quickly. It was shocking and graphic. It would be understandable for anyone to doubt what they saw,” Penny said.
“We need that video,” Max said.
Penny smiled. “Ah. And that’s the good news. Fawkes Rising released the full video this morning.”
She switched to a new tab and a familiar blog opened. Full Cort Press.
“Courtney?” Max said.
She had embedded the video from Fawkes Rising, with a warning about its graphic subject matter. In the post, she shared her own experience from the debate and the actions taken by the FBI afterward.
“How did Fawkes get this?” Max asked. “The guy who runs it always seemed like nothing but a conspiracy nut to me.”
“He offered a three thousand dollar reward for anyone who could get him a copy. He claims someone at your school leaked it. That nut did you a big favor: Now that Dramatis Personai has an unedited copy, no one will be able to remove it from the internet.”
Max grabbed the mouse and pressed the Play button, but Penny instantly closed the tab using the keyboard.
“Hey!” he said.
“I already downloaded a copy.” Penny patted the necklace chain where it rested against her collarbone. “We should go.”
Max nodded. She cleared the browser and covered her tracks on the computer.
They headed out as a group. Max felt high-strung, worried about the bogus murder charge that made him more of a target than ever, but excited that they finally had the video—and Evan’s files. He felt like they were getting close to knowing what was going on, or at least everything Evan had known.
“Hey, guys?” Risse said. “Does that look suspicious to you?” She pointed to the ground level, three floors down.
There were five men in polo shirts, jeans, and windbreakers riding up to Level Two, looking around and scrutinizing the people riding past them on the down escalator. Each guy wore a badge around his neck. A sixth man in a T-shirt and cargo pants stood by the down escalator on the other side, where he also had a clear view of the elevator bank.
“Uh-oh,” Penny said.
Max sneaked a peek over the railing and saw more agents on the way. One was stationed at every landing and by the elevators.
“Let’s go,” Penny said.
“Where?” Risse asked.
Max turned around to face the electronics store they had just left. He recalled the map of the mall he’d glimpsed on the way in. They were at the northeast corner of the third floor. The down escalator was on the opposite end of the floor. They would be noticed immediately if they went for it.
“How did they find us?” Risse asked.
“Maybe they picked up on the network activity? Can’t be too many people in the area who are using Tor to mask their IP address or download massive files over a mall’s ISP,” Max said. “Or someone recognized me.”
“It doesn’t matter how they found us. They did, and they’re going to catch us soon if we don’t get moving,” Penny said.
“The problem is we don’t know how many agents they brought. If that’s all there are, we may have a chance. Follow me,” Max led them toward Macy’s. “Macy’s takes up two levels with their own set of stairs between them.”
“Good thinking. That’ll get us down to Level Two, but then what?” Penny said.
“We’ll figure it out when we get there.” Max pulled up his hood.
Penny snuck another quick glance over the railing as they moved away from it, trying to hurry without looking like it.
“They just left another guy on Level Two. The rest of them are moving for the up escalator.”
Because of the mall layout, they would have to get from one end of the floor to the other to continue going up.
Max ducked into Macy’s, with Penny and Risse behind him.
“Try to hide behind crowds,” he murmured.
As they hurried toward the stairs, Penny stripped off her colorful parka and draped it on a rack of returns. She pulled off her knit hat too, letting her blond hair spill down to her shoulders. She pulled it back and knotted a loose ponytail as she power-walked.
Risse placed her purple parka around a mannequin’s shoulders.
Max scoped out the stairs first to make sure there were no agents waiting for them. A woman in a red vest, a Macy’s security guard, eyed them suspiciously as they rushed past and clattered down the stairs. Max held up a hand as they neared the bottom. He tiptoed down the rest of the way and peered around the corner.
“The coast is clear,” he said.
From here, he could see the elevators directly across from them on the other side of the floor. To get to them, they would have to run all the way around, dodging shoppers and under the scrutiny of the agents above them.
The agent on Level Two was to their right, guarding the down escalator.
Max could see their play clearly, as if he were applying a strategy on the soccer field. He put down the shopping bag with his old clothes.
“So, I figure they have two guys on Level Three above us moving in on the electronics store, looking for whomever was using the computer. They probably don’t even know they’re after me, and they shouldn’t know anything about you two. But if I start running, they’ll follow,” he said.
“You want to be a decoy? They actually want you,” Penny said.
Just like they would with the player with the ball, the opposing team would converge on him, trying to chase him down or head him off before he could reach his goal.
“I can outrun them,” Max said.
“Can you outrun bullets?” Penny asked.
“They won’t fire in a public place. There’s too much risk of hitting a bystander. Besides, they’ll be surprised. They’re probably expecting some computer nerd who’s going to panic at the sight of government agents.”
“They’re trained professionals,” Penny said.
“I’ve avoided guys like them before, and right now I’m highly motivated. And I have a plan.”
“Let’s hear it,” Penny said.
“It looks like there’s someone posted at the bottom of each of the down escalators, with about one hundred feet between them and the elevators. You two are going to walk out of the store and turn right then quickly make your way around the floor to the elevators opposite us. Those’ll take you past the down escalator and the agent waiting there, but he shouldn’t pay any attention to you. You get in the elevator and head down to the garage level, while I head for the up escalator.”
“I tried running down an up escalator once. It didn’t go well,” Penny said.
“Slapstick city,” Risse said.
“I’m fast,” Max said.
“Anyway, they’ll see you,” Penny said.
“That’s what I want. We don’t have time to argue. You have to get yourself and Risse out of here, and this is how we do that. If you have another suggestion, I’m all for it.”
Penny scowled. “Fine. We’ll try it your way.”
“Thanks. Don’t worry, it’ll work. I’ll see you at the car in the parking lot.”
“What if we don’t?” Penny asked.
“If you make it and I don’t, release Evan’s files to the public. If you’re about to be captured, ditch or destroy the USB drive.”
Penny nodded.
Risse nodded at the elevators. “The one on the left is moving up from the gr
ound floor now. I’ve been timing them. We should be able to catch it on the way down if we go now.” The elevator shaft and doors were glass, showing the occupants peering down as they ascended.
“Go,” Max said.
“Good luck,” Risse said.
Penny and Risse headed out of the store and turned right. Max gave them a head start and watched them proceed along the floor while pretending to window shop.
Max tightened the straps of his backpack. Then he took off like a shot.
He flew across the floor, weaving between shoppers and pumping his arms hard, hands spread flat. He moved so fast he felt like his feet barely touched the floor.
The tiles were much more slippery than he expected: When he rounded the corner he slid and nearly fell. But he caught his balance and kept going toward the escalator. The moment he hit its first metal step, he heard the agents call out the alarm.
Despite his guarantees to Penny, he wasn’t at all sure they wouldn’t fire at him. But on the escalator, he was pressed in close to other people and it would be difficult for them to get a bead on him with Max moving in the opposite direction of the flow.
He hurtled down the stairs two at a time and again stumbled. He grabbed on to the rubber railing and steadied himself before moving double-time, shoving his way past startled, then angry, shoppers.
“Sorry! Sorry, excuse me,” Max said as he squeezed past a large man on his left.
“Dumbass!”
“You’re going the wrong way!”
“You little shit.”
“Stop him!” The agent on Level Two was pointing down at Max from the railing. Max grinned when the man rushed past Penny and Risse to head for the escalator. Then the agent turned around and ran after the girls.
“Crap,” Max huffed. But he couldn’t worry about them, because the agents heading up to Level Three were turning around and trying to make their way down their own rising escalator.
Max felt like he was barely moving, but the bottom of the escalator was gradually getting closer.
A man in a gray pea coat grabbed at Max’s arm. Max felt himself being pulled backwards and up.
“Hold on there, kid,” the man said.
Max stomped on the man’s foot and yanked his arm free. He jabbed his elbow in the man’s back, forcing him to pitch forward with a grunt of pain.
“Nothing personal,” Max said.
Max continued down, taking long strides, hyperaware of how precarious his position was. But he kept his knees high and his eyes on his goal.
He leaped down the last five steps, landed hard, slipped, and tumbled to his hands and knees painfully. A man about to climb on the escalator backpedaled out of the way and a woman with a stroller veered to the side.
Max rested there for a moment, trying to catch his breath. His right knee throbbed from his fall. Then he looked up and saw an agent running straight for him, gun drawn.
Max stood and glanced up at the elevators. Penny and Risse were riding down in an elevator with the agent from their floor. They didn’t appear to be under arrest—he was ignoring them and watching Max intently. Max spun around and saw two more agents heading down an escalator, almost at the ground floor.
Max ran for the exit to the parking lot. As he passed a pillar, he darted into the bathroom entrance behind it, almost colliding with another teenage boy on his way out.
Max passed the three urinals and took a stall near the far wall. He locked the door and climbed onto the toilet seat.
He pulled off his hoodie and quickly reversed it so it was white with a black lining. He hung it on the door and grabbed handfuls of flimsy toilet paper to mop the sweat from his face and neck.
He pulled off his glasses and eye patch and slipped them into his back pocket. He dipped a hand into what he hoped was clean toilet water then slicked his hair back. Finally, he pulled on the white hoodie.
Max sauntered out of the men’s room and turned to his right, walking slowly toward the exit and trying to control his breathing.
When Max was a kid, he used to think that if he didn’t look at someone, then they couldn’t see him either. He’d walked around for a while like that, imagining himself cloaked in invisibility. He did that now, forcing his eyes to look at his phone, pretending to text, pretending to be invisible.
As he approached the exit, he looked up. In the glass doors’ reflection, he saw four agents standing by the pillar, watching the bathroom he had just exited. One of them was leaning against it, doubled over with his hands on his knees and panting.
Max smiled as the automatic doors parted for him. But even as he stepped outside, he steeled himself for another ambush.
No one accosted him. And he didn’t spot any other agents. Max headed for the stolen car, wondering if an agent would pop out behind other parked vehicles. If he noticed anyone suspicious, he would just keep walking and lead them away from Penny and Risse.
The girls were already in the car. Penny was behind the wheel, and Risse had her laptop on her lap. She unlocked the doors. Max glanced behind him one last time before opening the passenger door and scrambling into the back seat. He huddled in the footwell.
Risse started the car from her laptop and Penny drove slowly toward the exit.
“See? Told you we’d make it,” Max huffed. He was drenched in sweat and trembling all over. He shrugged out of his backpack and pressed himself lower.
“That was way too close. Hold on, one of their cars is circling the lot.” Ten seconds later: “Okay, we passed them. Stay down, Max,” Penny said.
“Make a left,” Risse said.
“One of the Feds actually rode in our elevator. I thought he had us for sure, but he got out on the ground floor without giving us a second glance,” Penny said.
“We got lucky,” Max said. If they hadn’t left the computer store when they did, they would have been caught in the act and pinned down. They would have been in cuffs before they even knew what was happening. “Where are we going?”
“Go straight for a while. Look for Skyline Boulevard then make a right,” Risse said.
“I want to take a look at those files. We certainly earned them,” Penny said.
“I think we should get off the road and stay low for a while. I found a spot that should be fairly secluded this time of day and is listed as a cell phone dead spot,” Risse said.
“That sounds perfect,” Max said. “It’s possible that some cameras caught me without my disguise.”
“Max!” Penny said.
“It’s not a big deal. We’ll be out of the area soon. They’ll figure out pretty soon you were in the mall today, but they don’t know where you’re going next,” Risse said.
“Especially because we don’t even know that yet,” Max said.
17
Risse’s secluded spot ended up being a sandybeach at the base of a high cliff. Sure enough, they had zero cell reception or data coverage.
“This is beautiful,” Max said. There was a warm, gentle breeze coming off the sea. He lay back on the hoodie he had spread over the cool sand and closed his eyes. He breathed in the salty air and felt like he could just rest here forever, listening to the waves wash in and out.
“My name is. . . STOP.”
Max bolted up and looked around. Penny and Risse were sitting side by side on an outcropping of rock and working on their laptops. Risse tapped a key and glanced at Max.
“You don’t need to watch this again,” Penny said.
Max got to his feet and brushed off his pants. He shook sand from his hoodie and sat down on Risse’s other side so he could see her screen too.
“Play it,” Max said.
Risse clicked back to the beginning of the video and pressed the spacebar. The picture was warped and out of proportion, stretched out on the edges from the convex lens and angled downward from the center. The top
third of the screen on the stage in the Granville High School auditorium was out of frame, but Senator Tooms and Governor Lovett were visible on either side of it. They were in shadow, due to the bright video screen between them.
“Was this taken from Courtney’s laptop?” Penny asked.
“No, she was on the other side of the auditorium, closer to the stage,” Max said. “This looks like footage playing on a screen in the school’s security office. Someone recorded a copy on their phone.”
Max sucked in a breath and let it out slowly as Evan’s grotesque white mask appeared onscreen.
“My name is STOP.”
“What’s going on?” Bennett Avery said.
“Do you really want to know?” Evan asked.
“There’s your proof that this was transmitted live!” Risse said.
“I forgot about that,” Max said.
“That’s because the clips on the news were edited,” she said.
“He answered me! Is this live?” Avery said. “What do you mean you don’t know where it’s coming from?”
Evan: “Just listen. Please listen.”
Three high-pitched tones blasted from the speakers. Max winced.
“What was that music?” Risse asked.
“It sounded like feedback from the sound system,” Max said.
Evan looked directly at the camera. “What is the silence of six, and what are you going to do about it?”
That was where the video clip online ended, where the broadcast had been cut off. No one but the people in the auditorium had seen what happened next.
Evan pulled his hood down and slowly raised his mask. “Risse, look away,” Penny said.
Risse shook her head and kept her eyes glued to the screen, jaw clenched.
This time Max saw it clearly as Evan reached off screen and picked up the gun. The video feed scrambled for a second, like a damaged video file, or a malfunctioning old school video game screen.
Penny gasped as Evan nestled the barrel of the gun in his mouth. Max balled his hands into fists.
