Kingdom Keepers the Return Book 3

by Ridley Pearson

  “Phew,” Willa said.

  “Good call.”

  “Thanks! I think I was about to have a heart attack.”

  They heard the guard’s car rumble to a start and motor off.

  “Think how surprised he’ll be when we trigger the alarm on our way out!” Philby sounded excited by the prospect.

  They repositioned themselves in the middle of the shop floor, waiting for the signal to leave.

  “Show me,” Philby said.

  Willa produced the card. “It’s Hollingsworth’s phone numbers and addresses.” Together, they studied it by the light of a window.

  “Incredible,” Philby said. “Excellent work!”

  “Looks like his company is something called Renatus,” she said. “It’s in Fullerton. There’s an address, phone number, everything.” Willa looked toward the door. “It’s been long enough. Let’s get out of here.”

  “No!” Philby said.

  Boom! Boom-boom! A pattern of three knocks echoed in the air: all clear.

  “There! You see? We can go now!”

  “The first files we were looking at? They were deliveries. Orders. Hollingsworth wouldn’t have a card unless he was a customer!”

  “O…kay?”

  “What if there’s a file under his company name?” Philby asked. “You go outside and collect the others. Be ready to move. I’m going to check the files.”

  “No way! I’m not doing that! It will trip the alarm again, and besides, I’m not going anywhere without you. So, go! Hurry.”

  Philby did the strangest thing, then: he kissed Willa on the cheek. Before she had time to react, he took off, running upstairs. He probably thought she was going to be mad he’d done that, but she wasn’t. She’d even liked it, just a little. Willa was glad it was dark, so he couldn’t see her blush. If she resented the kiss, it wasn’t for the kiss itself, but for the distraction it caused. She could hardly think, much less focus.

  She moved closer to the window, tucked away the contact card, and peered outside, fearing the car might return. It was dark out on the street; her friends were out there but she couldn’t see anyone. A calico cat slunk past, skittish and afraid. That pretty much defined her as well: jittery, concerned, hyper, nauseated.

  Philby came bounding down the stairs and nearly tripped near the bottom step. His face and eyes were alive with that ginger, boyish glee he occasionally allowed to show. At times of such excitement, his former British accent seeped through, as it did now, while waving some onionskin paperwork at her.

  “Three shipments, the most recent scheduled for delivery tomorrow!”

  “To Renatus?”

  “The order is written up for Renatus, but it’s not being delivered to Fullerton. It’s heading to Eighty North Harbor Boulevard, Anaheim. Same as the other two deliveries.”

  “Here in Anaheim?”

  “It’s got to be just ten, fifteen blocks away.”

  “What are we waiting for?” she gasped.

  “Ladies first!” Philby said, mimicking a sweeping, gallant gesture toward the door.

  But Willa turned him around, pointing to the back. “I’d rather not take chances.”

  * * *

  The group walked in silence, heading for North Harbor Boulevard. Amanda said something about getting the lock onto the bay door in time; Willa laughed about jumping around between mannequins, while acknowledging that it hadn’t seemed funny at the time; Philby applauded Willa’s mental toughness in pursuing the Rolodex while “under fire”; Finn listened; Maybeck chided and mocked where appropriate.

  Seven blocks later, when headlights shone onto the side of a building, the teens scattered without any kind of signal.

  The car that drove past—slowly, deliberately—was a police car. It couldn’t be coincidence. The security company had reported a break-in.

  Five minutes later, the Keepers scattered for a second time. This time the car belonged to the Holmes Electric Protective Company, the driver familiar to Amanda, Philby, and Willa.

  When they’d regrouped, Finn took charge. “We pair up and take different streets. We meet at the shipping address in no more than ten minutes. Stay out of sight.”

  The pairs blended into the shadows and disappeared, coming together again, eight minutes later, at 80 North Harbor Boulevard.

  Finn double-checked to make sure they had the correct address. “We should have known, I guess,” he said. “In some weird way, we should have expected this.”

  They’d arrived at the front entrance of a building that towered above them. Abandoned. Deserted—or so it looked from the outside. Finn knew differently. Some of the other Keepers did, too, including both Fairlies, who would live there sixty years in the future.

  It was an old, dilapidated, all-too-familiar hotel.

  JOE GARLINGTON’S DHI flickered occasionally, either the result of a weak signal or the projection limitations inherent in Version 1.6. He faced Mickey, Mulan, and Kristoff across a table inside Club 33 in New Orleans Square.

  Young Nick Perkins sat next to Joe. The empty dining room’s rich wood furnishings, tile, and leaded glass windows lent it an old-world feel. The linen-covered tabletops held plates, silverware, and glass goblets.

  Joe had listened to a recap of the events in the Tower of Terror the night before. “It doesn’t explain why Mattie stayed behind,” he said.

  “She must have been captured for a second time,” Mickey said. “Poor thing.”

  “She chose to stay,” Nick said. “She told us to leave her.”

  Joe frowned and shook his head.

  Mulan said, “It was so cold. She must not have been thinking clearly.”

  “Ezekiel?” Joe addressed Mickey, his voice pleading. “Was Ezekiel with you?”

  Mickey shook his head, deeply troubled. “He wanted a view of the group climbing the building. That’s all I know.”

  A lot of head shaking followed. Nick raised his hand timidly, like an elementary school student. “I shouldn’t have let her stay.”

  Joe waved him off. “You did as she asked.”

  “Another raid?” said Mulan. “We know where we are going now. That makes us stronger.”

  Joe studied the others, including Nick. “If the Fairlies have taken Ezekiel hostage, we can’t go barging in there.”

  “Our numbers are many,” said Mickey, “our powers great.”

  “So are theirs,” Joe reminded him. “The Fairlies must have abducted Zeke for a reason, part of a bigger plan. They need him for something. And—hear me out—if they’ve been keeping an eye on Zeke, they may know about him and Mattie. And she won’t know that.”

  “Meaning she’s in even more trouble than we thought,” said Nick.

  “She’s a woman,” said Mulan. “Have any of you considered the obvious?”

  “There’s nothing obvious about Minnie,” said Mickey. “She’s always surprising me!”

  “Exactly!” said Mulan. “Precisely my point! Mattie stayed behind on purpose! She has a plan of her own. We should be asking ourselves what that plan is, and then determine how we can help her.”

  “If only we could cross her over again we could talk to her,” Joe said. “The question is, with Zeke captured, is her plan any good?”

  Nick said what everyone was thinking. “Or did she just mess everything up?”

  DAYLIGHT. MATTIE’S WINDOWLESS room didn’t tell her the sun was up. The scent of coffee and sound of footsteps coming through the door did. She was human again. In the same lifeless room, with the same lousy smell and lighting. She tried the door. It wasn’t the same! It was unlocked!

  “Good morning,” Humphrey said. He appeared to have been waiting for her. Mattie used the washroom and returned. He had a cup of tea ready and steaming.

  “Gloves, please,” he said, indicating a pair of white cotton gloves on the table. Mattie slipped them on, then added three sugars and some cream to her tea. The small kitchenette smelled like coffee and breakfast cereal.

  “Wher
e is everyone?” she asked.

  “Out. Working.”

  “On?”

  “Cast Members have to work.”

  “True enough.”

  “That was a big decision you made last night,” he said.

  “I thought the quickest way to get rid of them was to pretend I was going with them. It worked.”

  “Why’d you choose to stay? It’s not like we’ve been treating you so great.”

  “You have to ask? I lived in the Barracks longer than most of you.”

  “You escaped the Barracks.”

  “You know what it feels like in there! Turns out running away isn’t so great. It’s been hard for me out here alone,” she lied. “Finding you all—or I guess technically you found me!—scared me at first. I do not want to go back there.”

  “And him?” Humphrey pointed through the kitchenette’s windows, which looked onto the hallway, indicating the closed door across the way.

  “I was going to ask you,” Mattie answered nonchalantly. “Amery’s brother, right?”

  Humphrey didn’t answer right away. He played with the spoon in his cup of tea, watching it swirl. “He was the prize.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Did you think we were that interested in a disloyal, ungrateful former resident of the Barracks? We’ve been watching you. You must have figured that out once we decided to show ourselves. Come to find out, you’d been spending time with the traitor brother, a man who doesn’t recognize his father’s cause, his family’s cause.”

  “I was…bait? You used me?”

  “Does that bother you? You’ve helped us, Mattie. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “Bother me? As a person, yes, of course it does. I do not appreciate being used!” Her head swam. She’d led them to Zeke. Had they watched as Zeke had summoned Mickey and the others? Did his ability to round up the good characters give them something they lacked? “I don’t know why you care about Ezekiel Hollingsworth all of a sudden.”

  Though Mattie’s expression didn’t change, inside she was livid. She cursed the gloves. How she’d have loved to read Humphrey’s thoughts at that moment. Philby or Willa could have figured it out, she thought irritably. Some kids were smarter than others; some had more powers.

  A dreadful thought hit her—a kiss would be as good as wrapping her fingers around a wrist or arm. Humphrey had that drooling boy look, the kind that told a girl to look out. He was the kind to touch your cheek or brush shoulders or—heaven forbid!—kiss your knuckles, acting like he was a prince and you a princess.

  Back in the Barracks, he’d been that annoying boy who thought he was God’s gift to girls. It worked on some people—Mattie remembered that one of the Fairlies here seemed to have a crush on him—but to her, he was repulsive, arrogant, and pushy. A boy who saw himself as a leader, took the place of said leader, but never really understood how to lead.

  “Who said it was all of a sudden?” Humphrey asked. Mattie blinked, trying to remember what they’d been discussing. Ezekiel Hollingsworth.

  “I’m not saying you could possibly know why you’d been ordered to capture the man’s brother,” Mattie said slowly. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you. Who could know that?”

  “Embarrass? We’re getting him out of the way, Mattie. We’re protecting him.”

  “Of course you are,” she said in a disbelieving tone. “Not that you’d tell me the truth anyway! I mean, all I did was blow off my chance to escape.” She paused a second, trying to confuse him. “I suppose you’re the leader because of your ability, right? ’Cause this is not an easy group to convince to follow you. I remember, at the Barracks, that was something they counted on: as long as we didn’t come together behind a leader, we were no threat to them. But here you are, Humphrey, and you’re the obvious leader…along with Mary Ann.”

  Even though Mattie was playing Humphrey, she found she was nervous. She knew psychological manipulation, and yet she didn’t know how to make herself attractive to boys. It just seemed to happen sometimes. In movies, the girl could control it, could manipulate the boy, make him like her if she wanted. In real life it was a lot trickier.

  But Humphrey was blushing, so she thought her comment about him being one of the leaders had worked. “Leaders are strong,” she added. “Powerful. In command. I happen to like that, for what it’s worth.”

  He clearly appreciated her comments.

  “So that would make your ability…what? Did you drop the temperature last night?” She knew it had been Mary Ann, but asked anyway. “No, I don’t think so. Your ability’s bigger than that. You can change your voice? Maybe it’s something like you can identify the last person who touched an object before you? No. Those are useful, but not quite leadership material. Invisibility? Yes, that would do nicely to establish one’s leadership. You could spy. Pry. Surprise. Is that it, Humphrey? Can you make yourself invisible?”

  “Games? Tricks? You think?”

  He was playing along. What next? Mattie wondered. How to draw him in, so he’d confess his ability? To know one’s strengths meant you also knew his weaknesses.

  “You know what I think I’d find out if I read you, Humphrey?”

  “No, but I think you’re going to tell me.”

  “I think I’d find out you want to kiss me.” She let the sound of it bounce around the room. She’d never said such a thing to a boy before, but these were special circumstances.

  In truth, the thought repulsed her. Humphrey was far from ugly, but hardly her type. If she could have put Finn and Philby into the same boy, that was the boy she’d want to flirt with.

  Humphrey looked…embarrassed! Mattie decided to strike fast as a snake. “For someone, anyone, to lead this group, he or she would have to have an ability that went way beyond impressing the others. We were all impressed at the Barracks.”

  He leaned forward. “So if I tell you, I get to kiss you?”

  She had him. “On the cheek.”

  “On the lips.”

  “But just a peck. A quick kiss. Nothing mushy. Agreed?”

  “Agreed.”

  “Let’s hear it. But if I don’t believe you, the deal’s off.” Mattie already regretted it. In the old days, she knew, girls used to sell kisses at county fairs. She’d seen it in movies. And sure, she’d watched the High School Musical movies, with all their mushy kisses. But she wasn’t about to do it. Not with Humphrey, that was for sure!

  “I enhance other people’s powers,” he said, boldly and proudly.

  “What? Seriously?” She’d never heard of such an ability.

  “If your power is hearing things at long distances and I focus on you or touch you, that distance just got a mile longer.”

  “No way.”

  “Way!”

  He was so blinded by her offer of a kiss that he didn’t understand what he’d walked into. If this was true, his ability meant that when they kissed, his ability would magnify the depth of her reading. Likewise, she thought, her reaching. What thought could she push into his mind that would help the Keepers and Joe long term?

  And then, she had it, right there in the forefront of her mind. On the tip of her silent tongue. A thought to bury deeply, so that it might bubble up days later and he’d take it for his own.

  A girl walked past the kitchenette. “Show me on Shelby,” Mattie said.

  “You don’t believe me.”

  “I don’t believe you,” she said, toying with him.

  “It’s complicated with Shelby. Hang on.” He summoned the girl, a brunette with a bowl-cut bob, large brown eyes, and puffy lips. Her chin was broken out, her ears a bright red as the two talked. After a moment, Shelby nodded.

  Humphrey ran down the hall excitedly and returned with a pair of binoculars. “Okay!” he called. “Come on!”

  He led them to the end of the hall and out onto a side balcony overlooking the park.

  Mattie’s heart leaped. They were high up, at least five floors. The park sprawled out at t
heir feet. Off in the distance, Mattie could see Disneyland, the Grand Californian. Buena Vista Street cut a line from the entrance to the Carthay, separating them from Soarin’ over the World. The Hyperion stood to her right, the edge of Hollywood Pictures Backlot directly below. Tower of Terror, Mattie realized. In Humphrey’s excitement to show off, he’d given away their location.

  “Pick a person,” Shelby instructed Mattie.

  “Anyone?”

  “Anyone.”

  Humphrey giggled, unable to contain himself. He sounded about seven years old.

  “Okay. The girl in the gray yoga pants. Light blue top. V-neck. She’s—”

  “Reading the ice cream menu. Got it!” Shelby declared, studying the girl carefully, then closing her eyes. “Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar,” she said. “That’s the last item she read, the one she considered for the longest time.”

  Humphrey passed Mattie the binoculars. The girl in the gray pants ordered something. A moment later the Cast Member at the stand handed her a Mickey Premium.

  “Lucky guess,” Mattie said. “Everyone loves those.” She’d never heard of a Fairlie being able to see through another person’s eyes.

  “You, of all people, should know better,” Humphrey said. “Okay. Ready for the eight-cylinder version?”

  “The what?” Mattie asked.

  “Never mind!”

  “Pick another,” Shelby offered, clearly offended by Mattie’s doubt. “Someone just looking around, not at anything too close.”

  “Okay. The guy with the dreads. Wide shoulders.” Mattie offered the binoculars back to Humphrey, but he motioned for her to keep them.

  Shelby did the same study-and-squint routine. “He’s looking up the street. There’s an Asian girl wearing a Nike volleyball jersey. Number twenty-seven.”

  Mattie searched for the volleyball player through the glasses. “Impressive.”

  “Check this out.” Humphrey placed his hand on Shelby’s shoulder. “Same guy.”