“I don’t know,” Roxy said, coming to stand beside her.
The concerned expression of the news anchor spoke volumes.
“… we’re still gathering information from the scene, so it’s unclear exactly what happened.”
“But clearly something has,” noted the anchor’s male counterpart.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Roxy muttered.
“It’s now 5:15,” the female anchor continued. “And if you’re just now joining us, we’re continuing to monitor the situation in Little Rock, Arkansas, where there are reports of some kind of disturbance outside the mobile home that local media are reporting is the home of William Chance.”
A photo of William, taken from a distance during Tom’s funeral, then flashed across the scene alongside a live feed of a trailer lit up like a Christmas tree by the lights of the news crews. “Chance is, of course, the grandson of the late Senator Tom Roseworth. As a boy, Chance went missing fifteen years ago and was discovered by his grandmother under what government officials now describe as questionable circumstances.”
“There’s no question that they’re assholes,” Roxy added.
The male anchor jumped in. “We want to remind you that none of what is coming from that location in rural Arkansas has been confirmed by local police. This is all from the journalists stationed on the road in front of the trailer, who reported hearing what they thought were gunshots far behind in the field. The Associated Press is now reporting that police have yet to respond, as Chance has never been reported as a missing person. In fact, there have been no sightings of Chance himself this morning. The only confirmation that he was ever in the home was from video from an entertainment website that shows him inside the trailer last evening—”
“Of all the nights to have my phone turned over!” Lynn said.
“You were exhausted last night. It’s my fault. I kept you up too late with questions, and you got all worked up and insisted on vacuuming the guest room for me even though there’s not a speck of dirt—”
Her cell phone rang, causing them both to jump. “It’s Anne,” Lynn said. She pressed the speaker icon.
“Mom? Are you watching?” It was clear her oldest daughter was on Bluetooth.
“I just saw it. Are you in the car?”
“Me and Chris are headed to Arkansas right now. Brian is driving over to Greg’s to pick him up, and then they’re coming too.”
“It’s best that you stay behind, Lynn,” Chris chimed in. “And Roxy too, once she finds out.”
“Too late, she already knows,” Roxy practically shouted.
“She spent the night,” Lynn explained, motioning for Roxy that she didn’t have to yell.
“Screw that, Chris. We’re on our way as soon as we throw on some clothes,” Roxy said, heading for the door.
“No,” Anne’s husband ordered. “It already looks like a circus there. If you two show up, we’ll have no chance of slipping by to try and get to him. Plus, neither of you should be driving in the dark.”
“We’re old, not blind,” Roxy said.
“Mom, can you stay by the TV? The reports on the radio are sporadic and the live streams on the apps are hit and miss,” Anne said. “I need you to call me as soon as anything new comes on. Can you do that, Mom?”
“I will.”
“Lynn, if you have heard anything from William recently, this is the time to come clean,” Chris said.
“You know I would have told you, Chris, if I had.”
“Mom?” Anne’s voice broke into a higher pitch. “Do you think he’s alright? Why would he be there? In Arkansas, of all places? All this time, he’s been that close and never told us. And why are the reporters there saying they heard gunshots?”
“I don’t know. But y’all just be safe. I know you’re all going to speed, especially Brian and Greg, but it doesn’t do this family any good if there’s an accident on the way to try and find him. You need to call Stella. Tell her what’s going on. I promise to stay right here and keep watching. I will call the second there’s an update.”
“Don’t think about getting in the car, Roxy,” Chris yelled before hanging up.
“He knows I’m just a faster driver than he is.” Roxy waved her hand as Lynn ended the call. “I’ll go make the coffee.”
She paused, looking out the window towards the trees lost in the dark. “Is there a reason this is all happening at the same time? Do you think they’re still out there? The ladybugs?”
“We will see at daybreak. I need to call Don and Barbara. They need to know. William needs to know. I may be forced to remain in front of this TV, but I’ll be damned if I’ll sit here and do nothing.”
* * *
“What the hell just happened?”
With the girl clinging to his neck so fiercely it was starting to hurt, William strained to look back.
“Seriously, what the hell?” the driver of the Porsche yelled again. “One minute I’m twiddling my thumbs waiting for you to come back, and the next thing I know you’re running out with a freakin’ parade behind you and people start dying—”
“Can you just keep driving?” William said, prying the girl off. She let go but immediately sat directly beside him.
Here it comes. He knew his fair skin was already a flushed red. His chest was constricting, his fingertips tingling.
When the attack comes on, recognize it for what it is, observe it like you’re watching it happen to someone else, his therapist advised. That detachment will help you stay calm and realize whatever’s happened isn’t that bad—
Oh, it’s bad, doc. There’s a dead federal agent back there, killed by people who stepped out of the fields and blew out my tires. And it sure as hell looked like when that little girl stared at them, they started to die.
“And who were those people with the guns? I mean—wait. Wait a second. Wait a damn second! They were wearing suits! Black suits! Crap on a stick, that was my proof! Why the hell didn’t I get out my phone?” the driver said, thumping the steering wheel.
Breathe in, breathe out. Long, deliberate breaths. Block out everything. It will pass. Focus on what you can control—
“Man, I needed that video! If I hadn’t hauled ass from Atlanta, I would have totally missed it!”
Missed it. We wouldn’t miss that turn if I were driving—
“Turn left!”
The Porsche swung hard, barely avoiding another row of cotton to head down the intersecting road. “Dude!”
“Pull over and let me drive,” William said.
“A bit more heads up next time, OK? Man, I’m going to be kicking myself for a long time that I didn’t get that video. Of course, I also didn’t want a bullet in my butt either. So what’s the story? Have they been after you for a while now? Is that why you’ve been on the run?”
“Pull over right there. I know these roads. I need to drive.”
“Buddy, this is a 2019 Porsche 911 Turbo. I’m not happy that it probably has a few dings on it—”
William leaned forward and pointed. “If you don’t pull over right now, I’m going to puke all over your back seat.”
“Jesus, fine! OK! Hold it in, Linda Blair.”
Taking a long deep breath as the Porsche came to a sudden stop, William looked down at the girl. “Are you OK?”
She just turned to him, her eyes wide. Is she in shock? Did I just see you do what I thought you did?
“We’ll get you someplace safe,” William said, opening the door. The girl made a small whining sound and clamored after him. “You’ve gotta sit back here. Put on your seatbelt.”
He stepped out as the driver hustled around the hood, pointing to the back seat. “We’ve got to ditch that kid and get to the airport pronto. I called the Cessna on the way here. I can get us out of here fast.”
William began to slide in the driver’s seat when he looked over the field, seeing the helicopter hovering over the section where the Jeep was stranded. He jumped in, his foot on the brake, throwing the gear i
nto drive.
“Whoa, dude! Gotta wait till I’m in the car! You can adjust the seat, OK, looks like you’ve got that handled. I guess you think they’re still coming for you?”
The car tore down the road, William glancing in the rearview mirror.
“I’m guessing by your expression that even you don’t know exactly who they are, right? I knew it, I knew it, I knew that’s why you’ve been hiding. Am I right? It’s all real. It is all real! And I saw it! Why did I not get out my phone? Me, the king of phones, and I didn’t even think to whip it out—”
“Were you joking that you have a plane at the airport?”
I can lose you there. Leave the girl outside in a crowd.
“No joke. You know I’m good for it.”
William looked in the rearview mirror again, catching a glimpse of Lily’s worried face. “How would I know that?”
“Well, at least there’s one person in America who doesn’t know who I am, no thanks to the photographers at LAX. Quincy Martin, Mr. Chance. Hey, what we saw back there is just another example of what the government can do, am I right? If they can pull off Roswell, they can cover this up easy. So what the hell happened? Why did they shoot that lady? I saw them dragging those bodies. Damn! Hiding your shot-up Jeep will be harder though, especially if the newsies get video of it—”
The man spoke like a machine gun, becoming more animated by the second. Mom and Dad will hear about the Jeep. They’ll panic. So will Nanna. I have to find a way to tell them that I’m not hurt.
He swallowed the bile in his throat, thinking of the dead woman. She could have a family too—
“We’ve got to ditch that kid, whoever she is. Once we get to the airport, she’s out. I told my board I came here to make a business deal, but there’s a whole lot more I’ve been wanting to talk to you about. We shouldn’t be too far, right?” Quincy held up his phone to look at the map on the screen. “Yeah, yeah. Left here—whoa, son. Can’t off-road in a Porsche. Ok, then we take this to that crappy frontage road. Then interstate, then airport—”
“Call 911,” William ordered.
“Listen, think about that—”
“A woman was shot and killed back there, and we saw them drag her body into the fields. Call the police.”
“Hey. Don’t you get it? We need to get out of here. They will cover this up. They’ll come up with some kind of story that you shot up your own Jeep, and given my personal history, they’ll drag me into it, and how we staged it all for publicity. We’ll be discredited, just like your grandma was.…”
William’s temples pounded. If my family is waiting outside the trailer, I can’t risk them being anywhere near this. So follow me all you want, you bastards. I’ll drop off this girl and this crackpot somewhere safe, and you can chase me to the ends of the earth. But stay away from my family.
He looked over his shoulder and, as if right on cue, saw a helicopter in the distance do a complete 180 and head in their direction. As it flew over the center of the field, another quickly rose from the cotton to hover and turn towards them as well.
“Don’t sweat that,” Quincy said. “It’s not like this is an LA car chase. I doubt those TV helicopters are broadcasting this live.”
William looked back and forth from the road to the black helicopters, vacant of any of the bright call letters he’d seen on media vehicles his entire life.
“I don’t think those are from television.”
“Aw, man, you’re right!” Quincy whipped out his phone, shifting his weight to extend his arm over Lily to the back window. “I’ve paid more money than I care to admit to try to prove they exist. And it’s happening right now! Smile boys!”
“Use the phone to call police, not to record video!”
“Screw that man. I came to make a deal. I never expected to get to see proof of the freakin’ Men in Black! But there they are! It’s still so dark everyone on the ground will think they’re just cops.”
They aren’t cops. Cops don’t kill federal agents. Cops don’t drag bodies into fields.
All his life he’d heard the whispers. Had he and his grandmother been brainwashed by crazy conspiracy theorists? Or had some shadow government, in the form of men in black suits, really had him all that time?
He took another hard right to speed down Ripper Road. As they drove, William could see the media trucks still camped out around the trailer. While most remained unmoving, a single set of headlights barreled away from the horde towards them. Had one of the photographers caught on to what had happened?
“Lily,” William said. “Just hang on. I need people to know what happened to the woman who brought you here. Can you get into my backpack and get out my phone?”
“Dude, think long and hard about that one,” Quincy warned, trying to focus his phone.
William heard Lily fumble with the backpack on the floor, and a small hand squeezed past Quincy’s considerable stomach to deliver the cheap phone. William whispered a quick thanks and held it up, only to realize it was dead.
He reached back and snatched the phone out of Quincy’s hand.
“Hey, man!”
William tried to navigate the complicated screen. He’d never seen anything like it. It looked more of a tablet, with 3-D apps and several buttons on the sides.
“Careful with that, it’s a prototype,” Quincy said. “And don’t lose my video!”
“I just need to know how to make a call.”
“The icon is right there—the blinking app of the voice box. You’re gonna regret that 911 call. There’s going to be a recording of your voice that’s broadcast on every TV station and website in the world.”
Let there be a damn record of what I saw.
William dialed the three digits and immediately got a busy signal. He tried again, with the same result.
“Am I dialing this right? It’s just busy.”
“That phone has the latest hologram software that’s not even available anywhere yet. So yeah, it can make a call.”
“It’s constantly busy.”
“Are we too deep in the sticks? We’re on a frontage road. It shouldn’t be a problem. Look, it has bars. Maybe it’s a sign.…”
William dialed again and the busy sound responded. “How can that be? I can even make a call from my crap phone at my house.”
“Sorry son. Damn, that helicopter is close now! Give it back. I’m getting more video.”
William let him take it, seeing the exit ramp to the interstate quickly approaching. The rearview mirror showed headlights coming up fast behind them. The height and spacing of the lights suggested the news crew was in a van.
He pulled onto the exit, watching as the helicopter continued to trail them. There was nothing coming over a loudspeaker with commands to stop. That’s what police would be doing right now.
“Who the hell is that behind us?” Quincy asked. “They’re getting so close they’re gonna block my shot.”
“They came from the trailer.”
“Well, reporters can’t follow us where we’re going. You’re heading to the airport, right? If you can call that Tinkertoy setup an airport.”
And you’re getting shoved out of the car at the terminal, and Lily will be dropped off in the closest crowd. Then I’m gone.
“The Cessna is parked on the private strips. Don’t go to the main terminal. You know where the private planes land, right?”
No. I don’t fly in private jets. This guy is a perfect addition to this crapshow of a twenty-four hours. You’ll have to walk to your jet, if it even exists, from where I dump you off—
Wait. The reporters in that van. The news crew won’t leave a kid stranded on the road.
“I think I’ve seen a sign for a private strip near the airport,” William said. Keep thinking that’s where we’re headed. I need this car.
“OK. I know there’s a basically an AH-64 Apache on our ass, but we need a McDonald’s in the worst way to drop her off. She is not part of this deal.”
; “There is no deal,” William snapped.
“I don’t know what happened back there, but I am seriously freaked out. Drop her off and she can order a Big Mac and call her parents.”
“I don’t know…” William looked to the back seat and Lily’s frightened face. His voice quieted. “I don’t know if she even has parents.”
“I get it. You’re sensitive to kids in peril. But she scares the hell out of me. Hey, the airport is coming up. Once we get there, we’re out of here.”
“I see it,” William said, seeing the one-mile sign for the airport. But I’ll be leaving here solo.
He’d have to act fast once they got off at the exit. There would be a sudden stop at the entrance road to the airport, and if he was lucky, the helicopter would have to circle around and buy him a few seconds.
He’d walk out and wave the reporters over. Quincy would get out in frustration, and William would help Lily out of the back seat. Once they were away from the car, he could sprint back and be gone fast—
“Hey asshole, we see you! Back off!” Quincy yelled, motioning to a large gray van that had pulled up alongside them. William realized that the headlights in the rearview mirror were gone, and the van had moved into the other lane.
The window rolled down. Even in the dim light, it was clear the van was several decades old. A bald man was waving frantically, motioning them to get off the road.
“You sure can attract them,” Quincy said. “You’re like a crazy magnet.”
William rubbed his forehead as he exited the interstate. The Porsche’s engine easily allowed him to shoot past the van. So much for ditching them with surprised reporters.
“They’re freelancers, probably. Or just another nutso just wanting an autograph,” Quincy said. “Hey, the helicopter is pulling back. They know they can’t fly in this restricted airspace.”
Look for a bus stop. Get him out of this car. Then find a place for Lily. Move. Move. Who knows how long the helicopter will hold off—
“Hey, turn left. That sign points to the private airstrip. I’ll call and tell them we’re coming.”
It’s not even six in the morning. He could dump Quincy there easily.
The Dark Above Page 7
