“Tasking mostly. The experience has been both fascinating and discouraging.”
“I hear you, brother. This place is like that. Look, I want you to take a walk tomorrow morning at nine. There’s a place where you and Jem and Mother would have spent a lot of time. A big place. Behind that place is a cactus. Wait for a ride out front.”
“Can you confirm that, Jackrabbit? A cactus? Over.”
“Affirmative. Don’t worry, you won’t get pricked. Well, yes, you will, actually.”
A cactus? Levi’s riddles were never that difficult to solve. Mason tapped his forehead. A place he and Jemma and their mother would have spent a lot of time? The hospital, of course. Ah yes. There was a restaurant behind the hospital called the Green Cactus Grill. “Understood, Jackrabbit,” Mason said. “I’ll visit the cactus at nine tomorrow morning.”
“Mad good. Oh, and Eagle Eyes? Stay calm. It’ll only hurt for a moment.”
Hurt? Mason hoped he wasn’t going to get stunned. “Copy that, Jackrabbit. Over and out.”
CHAPTER
29
Levi parked his truck at the Department of Public Tasks and went into the garage to get more bags. He’d been looking over his shoulder since he left the Larkspur, anxious about seeing Jordan and Mason. When were Bender’s people going to show?
Levi had talked to Jemma for hours on the two-way radio the past two nights. Being able to hear her voice on a regular basis made things seem almost normal. He opened the cupboard that held the trash bags and pulled one out.
“Hey, Levi!” Dayle called from his office. “Come on in here a minute, will you?”
Levi wrapped a half-dozen trash bags around his arm to keep them from slipping all over the place and walked into Dayle’s office, which was a closet-like room at the end of the garage.
Dayle waved him around to his side of the desk. Once Levi was standing beside Dayle’s chair, Dayle tapped his finger against his computer screen. It showed a picture of the empty garage. Dayle hit a key—on an antique keyboard Levi hadn’t noticed before. The screen blinked but kept the same image … until Levi saw himself leave Dayle’s office and walk out the garage doors and into the light of day.
Whoa! “How’d you do that?”
“Bender thought it best if we do your meeting here. All my guys are out on jobs, so we’ve got at least two hours.”
A chill ran up Levi’s arms. “You work for Bender?”
“For Bender … with Bender … Bender tasks for me. There’s really no boss now that Lonn is in the RC. We all just keep doing our part.”
He looked Dayle over. Could this be a trap? “You’re not wearing gloves.”
“I still have my SimTag in place. Not all of us can live underground.”
“How do I know you’re telling me the truth? You could be an enforcer.”
Dayle folded his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair, displaying his brightly colored arm tattoos. “Why don’t you go ask him?” He nodded at the open doorway.
Levi peeked out. A black car had pulled into the garage. Levi ran out of Dayle’s office just as Bender climbed out of the driver’s seat and smoothed out his jacket. He was dressed like some fancy businessman, but the scar over his eye made him look like an Old mobster. What did Levi know? Maybe Bender was a new kind of mobster.
“You got Jordan and Mason with you?” Levi asked, looking toward the car.
“They’re coming in a different vehicle.”
“So what’s the plan?” Why had Bender come out of hiding for Levi’s meeting?
“That’s what I need to decide, outsider. And it all depends on you.”
The sniper thing. “I can’t kill anyone,” Levi said. “At least not premeditated.”
Bender sighed and leaned against the back of the car. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Levi didn’t like the guy’s tone. He also didn’t trust Bender not to call off bringing Jordan and Mason to see him. “But I’ve been thinking,” Levi said. “I can cut the power to the Highlands. Then you and your people can swoop in to rescue Lonn while the cameras are off.”
Bender looked skeptical. “And how are you going to cut the power?”
“With my rifle. Shoot out the transformers.”
“You can do that?”
“Yep. That’s my diversion plan for when I get the Glenrock women out of the harem. But I’m not particular on when I do it, so long as it’s soon. I could time it with Lonn’s liberation ceremony.”
Bender pushed off the back of the car and walked toward Levi. “Take Zane with you when you enact your plan, and you’ve got a deal.”
“Fine by me.”
Bender clapped his hands and laughed. “Lonn is coming home!”
Levi sat on the hood of a DPT truck, alone in the garage, and watched a black torpedo car pull inside. Dayle and Bender were in Dayle’s office, talking business Levi hadn’t been invited to hear. Fine with him. With Dayle’s pre-recorded footage being fed into the system, the enforcer’s surveillance cameras could see nothing of what was really transpiring at the Department of Public Tasks today.
Once the garage door had shut all the way, the driver got out. It was Rewl. He was wearing his Highlands Public Tasks jumpsuit. He smirked Levi’s way and opened the back door.
“—sagging piece of cow liver!”
The sound of Jordan’s voice made Levi chuckle. Zane got out of the passenger’s seat, and together he and Rewl dragged Jordan out.
Rewl then helped Mason out of the car as well. The sight of Jordan and Mason with sacks over their heads amused Levi almost as much as the contrast in their behavior. Mason wore a bluish-green outfit that looked like Old pajamas, and stood like a statue just where Rewl had left him. Jordan wore a black and red uniform from the Grand Lodge. They’d taped his wrists together. He knocked his elbow into Rewl’s gut and tried to pull away. Rewl pushed him, and Jordan stumbled to a stop in the middle of the garage.
“Pulling a knife on me? You maggot-kissing, beetle! Cutting me?”
“He’s wrapped tighter than a cabaret corset,” Rewl said. “I’m done.” He walked into Dayle’s office and, apparently, was allowed inside.
Zane came to stand beside the front of the truck. He handed Levi two sets of gloves: a black pair like Levi’s and a brown pair. “Brown for the medic. But he’s going to have to do something else when he tasks. Wrap his hand in a bandage or something. He can’t wear these in the SC.”
Levi set the gloves on the hood and jumped down. “Jordan!” He walked up to Jordan and patted his back. “I’m going to take this sack off.”
“Levi! Argh!” Jordan kneed Levi’s thigh and tried to head butt him.
Levi just laughed and backed out of the way. “I’ll leave it on if you don’t play nice.”
Jordan fell onto his knees, his head sagging down to his chest. “Come on, Levi! Some guy put a bag on my head and cut up my hand. What would you do?”
“He cut out your SimTag so the enforcers can’t know where you are. Sorry they didn’t explain first.” Levi took Mason’s pillowcase off first. “How are you feeling, brother?”
“Fine.” Mason narrowed his eyes. “But you look terrible. You never had anyone fix your nose?”
Levi shrugged and grinned. “Haven’t had time.”
“Levi!” Jordan’s tone oozed with frustration.
“All right.” Levi darted behind Jordan, pulled off his pillowcase, and snapped it at Jordan’s back.
Jordan twisted around still on his knees. “How come Mason isn’t taped up?”
“Because Mason isn’t an angry mule. Calm down. We don’t have much time.”
Jordan hopped to his feet, hands still taped behind his back. He sucked in a deep breath that made his shoulders look huge, then blew it out in a growl. “I’m calm.”
“Zane, can you cut his bindings?” Levi asked.
“If you’re sure. If he lashes out, it’s on you.” Zane pulled a knife from his pocket and walked slowly toward Jordan, cre
eping as if approaching a bear. “Easy now, shell boy, I’m not going to hurt you.”
Jordan shot Zane a dirty look. “Shut up, maggot.”
Zane straightened, then cut through the tape on Jordan’s wrists.
Jordan jumped on Levi, tucked Levi’s head under his arm and squeezed. Levi tried to pull back, but Jordan had him. Of all the immature …
“You want to go back to rehab, brother? Lose your visits with Naomi? Time to be serious. Let go!”
Jordan obeyed, and his voice became mopey. “Those rat-eating maggots make me talk to her through a window. I can’t even touch my own wife.”
“At least you’re both still living,” Mason said. “And healthy.”
Levi straightened his jumpsuit and brushed a hand through his hair. “We’re going to get her out, Jordan. We’re going to free the women on July first, during Lonn’s liberation.”
“Really?” Zane said. “How you going to do that?”
“I’m going to kill the power in the city. You’re coming with me, Zane.”
Zane grinned and the rings on his bottom lip spread apart. “Sounds like a stimming adventure.”
“But what about Kendall?” Mason said. “She’s scheduled to deliver on Monday.”
This Kendall girl wasn’t Levi’s concern. “Nothing I can do about that. So here’s how it’s going to work: Zane and I will take the storm drains to shoot out the transformer. Mason, when the power goes out, I need you to get the women. Bender’s people will get you a van or something. You’ll drive them to the back of the Bradbury, which is between the Gamble House and that BabyKakes bakery. Take a walk over there to check it out so you know what you’re doing. Get some cupcakes. They’re good.”
“What do I do?” Jordan asked.
“You’re going to meet Mason and lead the women through the storm drains to some underground bunker that Bender’s setting up. That way Mason can take back the van and keep his cover.”
“If we’re escaping, why do I need a cover?” Mason asked.
“We have no way to get the kids yet. So you need to stay where you are. Look like a proper Safe Lands national.”
“If our women escape, they’ll know I had something to do with it.”
“They’ll suspect you did—that’s why you need an alibi. Think you can get one? Maybe the doctor? Jemma says she likes you.”
“A girl likes Mason?” Jordan cackled.
Mason’s face paled. He looked like he might puke. “I’ll think of something.”
“Good. Call me on the radio. They monitor the Wyndos,” Levi said. “My only concern is that once the women are free, they might put the children in the RC.”
“Not the RC, but they’ll be guarding them for sure,” Mason said. “Still, I don’t see another option. We won’t know the results of Shaylinn’s procedure for a few more days, but we can’t risk waiting for—”
“What procedure?” Jordan asked. “What happened to my sister?”
Mason shook his head. “If we don’t do this now, it’ll be too late for the other women.”
“Too late is not an option,” Levi said.
“I’m still not sure how we’ll get out,” Jemma said over the radio. “Even without the power, there will still be enforcers in the hallways.”
“You have to think of a way,” Levi told her. He was lying on his bed in the Larkspur, staring at the ceiling. It was late Saturday night. Levi had spent the early evening with Jordan, Zane, and Rewl, slogging through storm drains between the Highlands and the Midlands, so that Jordan could learn how to get the women to Bender’s underground bunker.
“I’ll try. You know, ‘It’s all very well to read about sorrows and imagine yourself living through them heroically, but it’s not so nice when you really come to have them, is it?’ “
“No, Jem, it’s not.”
Levi’s Wyndo started to sing a techno beat. He sat up and grabbed it from his bedside table. Red’s picture covered the screen. He tapped it. “Hello?”
“I’m out in front of the Larkspur,” Red said, as if she was stuck inside the glass. “Bender needs you. Come on out.”
Levi checked the time on his mirror clock—1:34 a.m. “Now?”
“Yes, now. And wear something normal, shell.” She disconnected.
Static fuzzed on the radio. “Levi? Are you there?”
He pressed the talk button. “Yeah, but I’ve got to go, Buttercup. Bender needs me.”
“Be careful. ‘All my heart is yours, it belongs to you.’ “
He smiled. “I’ll take good care of your heart. I promise.”
Levi put on his Old jeans and one of the fresh white tank tops from his backpack. He doubted that was what Red had meant by normal, but it was normal for him. It was a little chilly when he got outside, and he wished he had his leather jacket.
He found Red sitting on the hood of a black car in the parking lot. She was wearing what looked like a black towel, lacy fingerless gloves that likely held her SimTag, and clunky shoes with heels as long as Levi’s hand.
“Aren’t you cold?” he asked.
“Aren’t you?” She slid off the hood and opened the driver’s door. “Get in.”
Levi climbed into the passenger seat. “So where are we going?”
Red started the car and drove out of the lot. “A club called the Savoy. Our mission tonight is to be seen together. One of my contacts, Nash, who tasks on the ColorCast gets jealous. Bender needs a few more details about Lonn’s liberation and thinks I can get them from Nash.”
“I don’t like it,” Levi said. “What if the guy jumps me? I can’t afford another X.”
“Nash won’t hit you. He’ll just buy me a drink and ask me to ditch you.”
“Then how do I get home?”
“Take a cab.”
Great. “Why didn’t Bender mention this earlier?”
“He won’t always tell you everything, shell.”
Levi wanted to tell Red to eat dirt and Bender to feed it to her. He didn’t appreciate such beckon-and-call moments. And he didn’t trust Red. But until his people were freed, what choice did he have?
Red drove them into the Highlands and parked the car. While they waited to get into the Savoy, Red fluffed her hair, took some kind of purple makeup crayon out of her cleavage, and drew the color on her lips. She handed it to Levi. “Hold this for me?”
“What’s wrong with putting it back in your …?” He motioned to her chest.
“It will fall out when we’re dancing. You’ve got baggy pockets.”
“Fine.” Levi pocketed the crayon.
When they finally got inside, it was like some kind of torture chamber. Dark, hazy, with blinding bluish-white lights flickering from the ceiling. Bodies everywhere, packed in and wiggling like they all had to pee. Deafening noise with a steady thumping rhythm and a wailing voice that needed to be put out of its misery filled the space, all masquerading as music. Madness. Give me a grassy clearing and the Glenrock women singing any day over this.
Red took Levi’s hand and dragged him through the wiggling bodies. She stopped in the center of the mob and slid her arms around his waist, tucking her hands into his back pockets. He grabbed her arms and pulled them out.
She yelled into his ear. “We have to look like we’re together.”
“We are together.” He couldn’t believe how he had to scream just to be heard.
“Like we’re pairing up.” She moved in close and ran her hands over his chest. “Like you want me.”
With Red this close, Levi’s view revealed way too much. “I’m not comfortable with—”
“There he is! Dance with me.” She pressed against Levi, rocking her body against his.
Levi reached up and grabbed his hair, anything to keep his hands off this crazy woman. He squinted at the flickering faces around him, looking for a man who might be watching them.
“You have to dance, shell!” Red pulled Levi’s arms down and around her waist.
Levi felt expose
d and embarrassed standing in this crowd with a half-naked woman rubbing up on him like a bear scratching on a tree. She was both repulsive and alluring.
Too long, they danced. Too much, Red touched him. And when she pressed up onto her toes to try and kiss him, he turned and left the dance floor to get far away. He made it all the way outside before she caught up with him.
“What was that about?” she yelled.
“I’m done. I don’t care about your mission. Call Zane to be your scratching post.”
Red’s eyes glinted, her face sallow under the lights of the Savoy sign. “I can’t. Nash knows Zane.”
“If Nash isn’t jealous by now, he never will be.”
She shot him a nasty glare. “What do you know?”
“I know I’m going to take my cab now.”
“Bender will hear about this, shell.”
Levi considered that. But Bender had understood about Jemma and had told Red to leave Levi alone. “I’ll explain the situation to Bender.” It was worth it to get away from the temptation Red’s roaming hands had awakened in him. He took a cab back to his apartment in the Midlands, but it was hours before he managed to fall asleep.
CHAPTER
30
Jemma?”
Shaylinn opened her eyes. She lay in her bed in the harem, and when she looked over to the clock it read 2:12 a.m.
“Jemma?” Kendall’s voice called out in the hall. “I think the baby is coming.”
Shaylinn sat up, slid off her bed, and searched her floor for something to wear.
“Did your water break?” Jemma asked.
“I don’t think so. How will I know?”
“You’ll know.”
Shaylinn pulled on a pair of stretchy pants under her nightgown and ran across the hall to Jemma’s room. Kendall was sitting on the edge of Jemma’s bed, her face pinched, gripping her belly with both hands.
Jemma held the radio to her mouth. “Buttercup to Jackrabbit. Come in.” She looked to Shaylinn. “Go fetch Naomi and Mia and tell them to come here.”
“But what are we going to —?”
“Shh. Go, quickly.” Jemma tried the radio again. “Jackrabbit, are you there?”
Captives Page 31
