Ryan Quinn and the Rebel's Escape

by Ron McGee

  “Who is Myat Kaw?” he asked.

  “With any luck,” Tasha said, picking up the fake Kathleen Connors passport, “Myat Kaw is the person that’s going to lead me to your father.”

  CHAPTER

  12

  NEW YORK,

  USA

  Wait!” Ryan had to hurry along the sidewalk to keep up with Tasha’s quick pace. “What about my mom? We have to find her.”

  “Where would you even start looking?” Tasha carried the map and printouts in a file under her arm. She had spent fewer than ten minutes booking flights and making calls before leaving the study, with Ryan right on her heels. “Your mother could be anywhere. The best chance we have of getting her back is finding your father.”

  “Then I’ll go with you.”

  “No way. I can’t help them if I have to babysit you.” Tasha lifted her leg over the seat of a slick, black Kawasaki motorcycle parked at the curb. Grabbing her helmet from behind, she gave Ryan a sympathetic look. “Go stay with your friend there for a few days. And don’t come back to the house—it’s not safe anymore. I’ll be in touch.”

  Before he could argue, she hit the ignition switch with her right thumb and the motorcycle roared to life.

  “But how do I get in touch with you?” Ryan asked over the noise.

  “You don’t. Just keep out of sight until this is over.”

  “Tasha—” Ryan started, but she was already racing down the street and into the night.

  Ryan was sick of people disappearing on him, and Tasha was nuts if she thought he was just gonna sit tight and do nothing. He sprinted back to the brownstone, fueled by anger and frustration. He had to find some way to help his parents.

  By the time he got back downstairs to the study, Danny was already typing at a furious pace on Ryan’s father’s computer. “Andakar’s main embassy is in Washington, DC, but I’m accessing New York property records. If the embassy owns a place in the city, that might be where they took your mom.”

  “Good,” Ryan said, moving past him to the secret room.

  “So your parents are, like, insanely awesome.”

  “My parents are liars.” Ryan jerked open drawers, searching through the remaining files.

  Danny spun around in the desk chair. “They would have told you, eventually.”

  “They should have told me a long time ago.”

  “Look at all that’s happened. It’s dangerous. They were just trying to protect you.”

  “Well, that didn’t work out so well, did it?” Ryan couldn’t help the anger he felt and, in a way, he actually needed it. Fear would stop him cold, but anger kept him moving.

  Ryan found a folder filled with credit cards, all made out to the identities on the various passports. He flipped through them, finding that one of the credit cards was made out to Thomas O’Hara, the name on his own fake passport.

  Ryan’s cell phone vibrated in his pocket and he snatched it out, praying it was his mother. But when he read “Blocked” on the Caller ID screen, an ominous feeling gripped him.

  “Hello?”

  “Ryan! Don’t listen—”

  “Mom?!” Her cries tore right to his heart. He wanted to leap through the phone somehow and save her. But all he could do was helplessly hold the phone in his clenched hands. “Mom, I’ll find you!”

  “I want to speak to John Quinn. Now—or you will never see your mother again.” Ryan recognized Aung Win’s voice and tried to calm down.

  “He’s not here. I don’t know where he is.”

  “Then your mother dies. I want Myat Kaw!”

  “Don’t hurt her. I swear I don’t know this Myat Kaw or where my dad is or anything.”

  There was a moment of silence, and Ryan feared Aung Win had hung up. “Fine. Tell John Quinn I will trade your mother for Myat Kaw.”

  “Aren’t you listening—I don’t know where he is!”

  “I’m sure you have some way to contact him. Tell John Quinn he has five days. If I do not have Myat Kaw by Saturday, your mother dies. And if I even suspect you’ve spoken to the police or anyone else about this, I will kill her immediately. Five days.”

  “How am I supposed to find—”

  But the call was already disconnected.

  “Oh my god,” Danny muttered. “We have to tell the cops.”

  “He said he’ll kill her. And he’s a total psycho—he’ll do it.”

  “What choice do we have? Your dad’s missing, that motorcycle girl took off—we have to do something.”

  Ryan didn’t know what to do. Maybe Danny was right. Calling the police made the most sense. But what if his mom died because he did what Aung Win told him not to, and it was all his fault?

  “Tasha said the best way to help Mom was to find Dad …” Abruptly, he stopped, a thought popping into his head. In three long strides he was at the worktable, picking up the fake passport with his picture.

  “O’Hara …” he mumbled, wheels spinning. Ryan had an idea—a crazy idea, but it might be his only chance to save his mom.

  CHAPTER

  13

  NEW YORK,

  USA

  Flight two-eight-one, China Star service to Taiwan, is now boarding. All passengers please report to gate five.”

  Ryan dodged in and out of the crowd at JFK Airport. He was cutting it close after getting caught in the long security line. If he missed this flight, he knew he might never make it to Andakar. He gripped the plane ticket and the fake passport tightly, his backpack bumping as he ran.

  Without Danny’s help, he never would have made it this far. Danny had been able to track back through the history on his father’s computer and find information on the plane ticket that Tasha had purchased. Using the credit card with the Thomas O’Hara name, Ryan had booked a seat for himself on the same flight out.

  Ryan finally made it to the boarding area for gate five, scanning the line of impatient passengers. There! Near the front, he saw a woman with brilliant red hair. Ryan pushed his way through the passengers, hurrying to reach her before she handed over her ticket and disappeared into the plane.

  “Hey, cuz, wait up!” Ryan called.

  The redhead swiveled around and Tasha stared at him in disbelief. To her credit, she never broke character, but Ryan could see the daggers in her eyes.

  “Hey … cuz,” Tasha said, as the agent taking tickets glanced between them.

  Ryan handed his ticket to the agent. “I thought you were gonna wait to get in line until I got back from the bathroom?”

  Tasha looked ready to throttle him but played along. “No. I think you completely misunderstood what I told you.”

  “Oh, I understood,” Ryan said. “But when a guy’s gotta go, he’s gotta go.”

  The gate agent handed Ryan’s ticket back. “You’re not seated together. Maybe you can ask one of the other passengers to change with you.”

  “We’ll do that. Thanks.” Ryan and Tasha moved into the gangway leading to the plane.

  The moment they were out of earshot, Tasha whispered fiercely, “You can’t come with me.”

  “They’re my family.”

  “You’ll only slow me down,” she hissed.

  “I can help.”

  “How? You’re just a kid!” They were nearing the plane, and Tasha knew she was running out of options.

  “I don’t know how—yet,” Ryan admitted. “But you’re crazy if you think I’m sitting around here and doing nothing.” Ryan stepped across the threshold and onto the plane. “I’m going to Andakar.”

  PART TWO

  INTO THE LION’S DEN

  CHAPTER

  14

  OPEN SKIES,

  ANDAKAR

  Ryan executed a Hindu Shuffle and a One-Handed Triple Cut, then worked on his Double Lifts for a while. He always kept a deck of cards with him to practice these sleight-of-hand skills, the most important element in most magic tricks. Though he’d been practicing for years, his growing hands were finally big enough for him to manipula
te the cards more easily. He didn’t even have to concentrate on the movements anymore, making it almost like a form of meditation. The cards helped him think, which was about all he’d been doing for the last twenty hours as he and Tasha flew halfway around the world.

  How could he not have known his mom and dad were living this secret life? It didn’t seem possible. Through all the different towns and countries, the one constant he could always rely on was his parents. They were his rock.

  But now he was questioning everything.

  Was this stupid Emergency Rescue Committee the reason he had been forced to move all the time? Was it why he never had a regular life or got to stay in one place long enough to make real friends? Why were all those people whose names he saw in the ERC files more important to his parents than their own family? Because obviously, being part of this underground group was dangerous. Ryan’s dad was missing and his mom had been kidnapped—it didn’t get more dangerous than that!

  All Ryan wanted was a normal teenager’s life. To hang with friends, hear all the ridiculous drama and gossip, maybe play baseball on a real American team. He was finally living the life he’d dreamed of. For the first time, Ryan was starting to feel like a regular kid. He should be doing homework or grabbing a slice of pizza with Danny.

  Instead, he was on a plane flying around the globe again.

  “Your father furrows his brow just like you do when he’s angry.” Tasha studied Ryan from the seat next to him.

  “I’m not angry,” he said, packing his playing cards back into their case.

  Tasha looked away again. “Whatever.”

  Ryan still didn’t know what to make of this mysterious young woman. For the entire first flight, from New York to Taiwan, she had mostly slept, barely acknowledging his presence. He had a million questions, but she pretty much blew him off, still mad that he had come along. Now, their second flight was about to end and they’d be in Andakar. Ryan wanted some answers.

  “How come I’ve never met you?” he asked. “I know most of my parents’ friends.”

  “Members of the committee have as little outside contact with each other as possible.”

  Ryan was surprised to finally get an actual response. “Did you do these rescues with my parents?”

  “Occasionally. That’s how the ERC works, a network of people around the globe, each just a stop along the way. Only a few people know who all the members are. It’s safer that way.”

  “Then how do you contact each other? Because maybe we could get other people to help us. Maybe someone knows where we can find my dad.”

  “That’s not how it works, kid.”

  “We need all the help we can get. How are we supposed to find one man in a whole country of people?”

  “I’ll find him. It’s what I do.” Tasha leaned her head back, closing her eyes as if the conversation was over.

  Before Ryan could protest, the flight attendant broke in with an announcement, which she repeated in several languages: “Ladies and gentlemen, we will be landing shortly at Panai International Airport. As we start our descent, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright positions. Welcome to Andakar.”

  Ryan turned to the window, taking in the harsh and unforgiving landscape passing beneath them. Dense forests of towering trees covered rocky hillsides. This close to the city, there was still no sign of civilization. As the plane cleared the hills, Ryan spotted a lone pagoda perched precariously halfway down a steep slope, the sun glinting off its dome. It was massive, but looked impossible to reach, isolated by the wilderness around it.

  “Wow,” Ryan said, craning his neck to get a better glimpse.

  Tasha glanced past him through the window. “Andakar is a land of contrasts. Ancient, yet wracked with modern problems. Primitive, but starkly beautiful. It’s also one of the most perilous countries in the world. There are eyes and ears everywhere, and the secret police won’t hesitate to lock you up.”

  “I thought they were trying to attract tourists. Throwing people in jail doesn’t sound like the kind of thing you put in a travel brochure.”

  “The military regime only opened up the borders because they want Western countries to invest in their economy. Tourists see only what the government wants them to see: remarkable temples, colorful parades, exotic jungles. The ruling class in Andakar gets richer every day while the people starve.”

  “And this Myat Kaw, what did he do to make them so mad?”

  “Exposed them for the liars they are. Myat Kaw’s been blogging about Andakar for over a year now, revealing secrets about the military regime. No one knows Myat Kaw’s identity, but judging from the information he’s released, it seems likely that he’s high up in the military. He has access to details that only someone on the inside would know.”

  “And my dad went there to rescue him?”

  Tasha looked unsure. “From what I read in his files, I think Quinn was planning to sneak Myat Kaw out of the country and across the border to safety.”

  “Then he must have known who Myat Kaw was. How else could he help him escape?”

  “If he did, he didn’t leave any record of it at your house. Which isn’t a surprise. Quinn has always been insistent on keeping information secret. He believes it’s safer for everyone that way.” Tasha’s frustration was clear. “Your father can be quite irritating.”

  “How do you know Dad didn’t get Myat Kaw out already? Maybe they’re just hiding somewhere until things blow over.”

  “I don’t think so,” she said. “Quinn’s never off the grid for this long. Something went wrong.”

  Ryan was quiet a moment, then asked what had been in his mind the whole time. “Do you think he’s already dead?”

  “I certainly hope not.” Tasha didn’t even try to be comforting.

  Ryan looked out the window once more. Up ahead, the outskirts of the city appeared. The rugged terrain of the hills gave way to urban sprawl. Factories belching smoke were surrounded by older apartment buildings that spread out in all directions. Even from up here, the disorder and poverty were evident.

  As the plane landed, Ryan couldn’t shake the question that kept plaguing him: Why was his father willing to risk his life to save some guy he didn’t even know?

  CHAPTER

  15

  PANAI,

  ANDAKAR

  The moment he got off the plane and took his first steps into Andakar, Ryan could sense how different things were there. It was weirdly quiet, a kind of hush in the terminal where all the passengers disembarked. The airport itself had an aura of faded glamour, as if it had once been impressive but had been neglected for far too long. The smell of mold, like in the boy’s locker room at school, hung in the air.

  There were only a handful of tourists and they were generally older. Ryan and Tasha were by far the youngest people arriving.

  “Remember, we’re cousins, Thomas O’Hara and Kathleen Connors, traveling from Ireland—”

  “I got it,” Ryan shot back, annoyed. They’d been over the cover story multiple times. But being a chameleon is what Ryan had done most of his life, and he was good at it. Faking an accent, changing his body language to fit the situation—that was easy for him. Of course, he’d never traveled under an assumed identity. He took a deep breath, calming his nerves.

  Ryan followed the line of passengers toward passport control. As they entered the security area, soldiers in pale gray uniforms stood on each side of the passage, watching everyone with undisguised suspicion. The soldiers wore black tactical vests over their uniforms and carried submachine guns. But Ryan was used to tight security at a lot of the places they had traveled, so he wasn’t intimidated.

  One of the soldiers shifted his gaze to Ryan, who was caught by surprise. Ryan looked away a moment too late. The soldier’s full attention was now on him, eyeing the backpack Ryan wore slung over his shoulder. As he followed Tasha through the doorway, Ryan’s path was suddenly blocked by the soldier’s submachine gun.
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br />   The man barked at him in his native language, which Ryan now recognized as Andalese, the same language he had heard on the plane and from Aung Win back in New York. Ryan adopted what he hoped was a confused, naive expression. Reminding himself he was supposed to be Irish, he said, “Sure lookit, I’m just visiting. What’s the problem then?” A few steps ahead, Tasha stopped and turned back.

  The soldier spoke again in his language, and Ryan smiled sheepishly. “Sorry—you speak English?”

  “Parent?” the soldier asked. “Where is parent?”

  Tasha responded before Ryan could. “I’m his cousin. We’re traveling together.” Tasha’s own voice lilted with a perfect Irish accent.

  The soldier looked between them, then motioned Ryan away from the others. “This way,” he said. Tasha took a step to follow, but another soldier stopped her.

  “Not you,” the second soldier ordered. “You, there.” Ryan could see Tasha struggling with what to do, not wanting to lose Ryan, but not having any good options.

  “It’s okay, cuz,” he told her with more confidence than he felt. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Ryan walked in front of the soldier who guided him away. As they arrived at the security checkpoint, the soldier began speaking to a uniformed immigration official and pointing at Ryan.

  Ryan had been going through security checkpoints all his life. There were usually long lines and waiting always felt like forever. His parents would play games with him to help pass the time. One of his favorites was “I’ve Got a Secret.” His dad would whisper outrageous “secrets” to him, usually something that made him laugh, like the man checking passports was nicknamed Mr. Fart-a-Lot. They’d joke about it while they waited, but once it was their turn to hand over their passports, the goal of the game was to keep a straight face and never let on.

  Ryan wasn’t too good at it in the beginning, and there were plenty of officials around the world who probably thought he was a little nuts as he laughed hysterically for no apparent reason. But over the years, he got better, until he could keep a straight face no matter how hysterical the secret was.