Stacks of boxes, like the old building blocks she and her brother played with as children, stood in her way. Finding a toehold on a lower box, she hoisted herself up and through a small space between boxes. Flashes of the traffic that surrounded her turned her thoughts to this huge box she was in becoming a dark coffin. A brief spout of claustrophobia motivated her to hurry. She crawled out the opposite end and found a small area to stand. The panel to open the truck was about the size of her hand and easy to find, even in the dark.
The panel manually opened the door. Arman reportedly had thrown more than one party in the trailer where they’d accidentally locked themselves in. Ari didn’t want to think about what had happened in the trailer.
Now, I wait. His stop was only a couple miles away from school, so she should only have to wait a couple more minutes.
A blue light flickered on her finger, and she unwound her ring and placed it in her ear.
“You okay?” Reed’s voice sounded a bit stressed on the other end.
“Besides being stuck in a moving tuna can, I am,” Ari replied, already missing Reed, his voice, his touch. She mentally reminded herself to focus if she wanted out of said tuna can.
“Good. Tessa and I are sitting at the shop, waiting for you.” Reed assured. “Well, it’s just me right now. Tessa ran in to grab stuff, something about a road trip and an escaped convict.”
Ari chuckled at the idea of her, an escaped convict. She had lived her life for so long as the perfect student, the perfect citizen, the perfect daughter. But she’d never had reason to rebel before. The thrill was actually a little exhilarating provided she didn’t think about the consequences for too long.
The truck slowed as if at a stop light, and Ari adjusted her footing, gripping a shelf for support. An alarm sounded outside the truck, a little way off, but close enough for Ari to freeze.
“What’s that?” Ari asked, not really expecting an answer from Reed.
“You hear that too? It’s an ambulance driving by. That means you must be close. Wait.” Movement sounded through the phone. “I see the silver truck ahead.”
Ari sagged against the wall. “Good.”
“Sort of ... but the truck’s not stopping. It’s continuing straight on the highway. He’s not turning. I’m going to kill Garrett, that—”
“Kill him after I’m out of here.”
“I’m coming. Damn.” A horn blared nearby.
“Are you actually driving?” Most cars were self-driving, but in this case, Reed would have to manually drive. She doubted he had ever driven before. No one in their neighborhood even had a car.
“Yeah, I’ve done it in a VR before.”
“I guess that’s better than nothing.” Ari tried to remain silent to let him concentrate.
A phone beeped. “It’s Tessa. I’m going to have her join in the call.”
Tessa’s loud voice joined the call. “What the hell, Reed? You steal my car the second I leave you alone with it? If you really wanted to be left alone with Ari, you could have told me. Not that I would have lent you my car though.”
“Tessa, quiet please.” Reed snapped at her. “I’m following Ari. The truck didn’t stop. It’s the same one Garrett described to us.”
“Ohhh,” Tessa said.
“I’ll come back to pick you up once I grab Ari.”
“Grabbing Ari is going to be the tricky part,” Ari said, referring to herself in third person.
“I’m actually only a few cars behind you.”
“Really?” Ari lifted the cover off the panel, readying to flip the switch. “Want me to open the back?”
“No!” Reed yelled, making Ari reach up to grab the device in her ear. Tessa swore, and Reed continued talking. “Ari, wait until you won’t get run over. Okay?”
“Okay,” Ari said, letting time pass as she waited in darkness for his word. It took longer than she thought, with only faint static to fill the line.
Tessa was the one who finally broke the silence. “Reed, what’s happening?”
The truck slowed.
“Okay. We’re close to the freeway and I’m not sure when he’s going to stop again. He’s getting ready to turn. Ari, open the door. I’m right behind you.”
She lifted the panel and flipped the switch. It hissed slowly. Ari jumped as an alarm rang loudly in the truck.
“Reed,” she yelled over the noise, but she couldn’t hear anything in response.
The back door lifted, and the truck pulled to the side of the road. Ari knelt on the floor as light seeped into the truck. In Tessa’s car, Reed followed on the shoulder of the road a few car lengths behind her. The door continued to climb up, and Ari sat down on the edge with her legs dangling below in the open.
Her heart raced as she watched the dark road beneath her. Other cars flew past, some honking in warning. The alarm still blasted overhead, and the wind whipped her hair wildly around her face. Before the truck could come to a complete stop or common sense could catch up with her, she jumped.
She lost her footing in the jump and tumbled in a somersault along the rough gravel. She would have bruises to show for that tomorrow. By the time she got up, Reed was at her side, helping her up and rushing her to the car.
After a couple steps, Ari managed to steady herself. “I got it.”
With a worried look, Reed let go and went to his side of the car. Before she even shut the door, Reed spun out into traffic. Cars honked, blaring their annoyance as he cut across traffic headed in the opposite direction.
“What in the world?” Ari gripped the edge of her seat.
“Sorry. You didn’t see the size of the guy getting out of the truck.” Reed’s knuckles whitened as his eyes focused ahead. “Turn on the computer. I want to find the side streets in case that guy decides to follow us.”
“Why would he do that? I don’t think he even knew I was in there.”
“Maybe not. But that might be Garrett’s cruel idea of a joke to let that guy drive you to who-knows-where.”
Ari didn’t have a response as she wasn’t quite ready to believe Garrett did that to her. “Let’s find Tessa.” Ari turned on the car’s navigational system.
“And here I thought you’d forgotten about me.” Tessa’s voice amplified through the car.
Ari and Reed glanced at each other. A slightly guilty look crossed his face, mirroring how Ari felt.
She reached for his free hand and squeezed. “How could we ever forget about you, Tessa?”
“You better not.” The sound of Tessa’s voice, even if annoyed, made Ari smile.
With the help of the computer in Tessa’s car, which Ari drooled over, they found themselves back at the mini-mart. Tessa’s purple hair stood out amongst the older customers. Bags filled her hands, while she sported a large pair of obnoxious yellow sun glasses.
Tessa crawled into the back of the car. “Have the car drive for a bit while I go through my bags.” Tessa’s bags were filled with a wide array of clothes and food spilling out of them.
“I thought we were on the run,” Ari said, turning back to face Tessa. “Who knew it was a vacation.”
“Poor, Ari. You’ve probably never had a real vacation,” Tessa said the words with a sarcastic edge Ari didn’t like, but somehow expected from her. “I would feel bad for you if I hadn’t seen your contract.” Tessa stuck her tongue out, sporting an electronic ball studded in the middle of it.
“When did you get a that?”
Tessa shrugged her shoulders. “I got bored waiting for you. I did buy some stuff for you guys.” She threw a bag of beef jerky to Reed.
He mumbled his thanks as he dug into the jerky. Darkness had fallen, and they hadn’t eaten since their meeting with Dave which seemed like days ago.
Tessa popped a bottle and passed it up to Ari. “Here’s some caffeine. We have a long drive.”
“Thanks,” Ari said, realizing how much Tessa had done for her. It would be hard to say goodbye.
“No problem.”
“No, really,” Ari continued, playing with the lid on her drink. “I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without you. You’ve helped with the agent, the car—”
“I love you too, now shut up. You’re more exciting to hang out with than anyone else in school, even if you do suck at gaming.”
“I don’t suck.” Ari protested, bringing up the ongoing debate.
“Hey, the fact that I hang out with you regardless says a lot.”
“Thanks ... I guess.”
“Wake up Izzy so we can listen to some tunes.”
“Izzy?”
“My in-car computer,” Tessa replied. “Or you can lose to me again. I have my game loaded on Izzy too.”
“Bring it.”
The trip flew by with gaming and never-ending cans of caffeine while Izzy drove. They joked, laughed, and slayed fictional monsters. While Ari enjoyed her friends, part of her knew it was the last time they would be together. It was hard to imagine leaving those two.
“Izzy,” Tessa spoke to her computer, “I need a pit stop.”
“Searching for the closest restrooms,” Izzy replied in an English accent.
“We only have thirty more minutes. Can you hold it?” Reed asked.
“Yeah, but my bladder can’t.”
Izzy pulled over at a public restroom stop. Neon orange lights lit the seedy parking lot in the middle of the night. Ari could tell home wasn’t far away. She had to give Tessa credit though—Tessa didn’t balk at the graffiti-lined block, or benches that looked like a bird’s toilet.
Ari didn’t like to think of Tessa going alone, and she did need to go to the bathroom too. “I think I’ll go too.”
Getting out of the car, the smell of rain hit her. They must have missed the storm, but the puddles still littered the road and sidewalk. She had a slight pang of homesickness, of popcorn on rainy days, and her mother who she hoped to see one more time.
“Might as well.” Reed got out of the car and headed over to the men’s restroom.
Tessa grabbed the old metal door and the stench hit Ari first.
“This is a dump,” Tessa protested as they walked into the barely lit bathroom. “At least we only have to pee here.”
The girls were careful to only touch what was necessary in the bathroom. Once back out, Ari wrapped her coat a little tighter around her. The dim orange lights guided them back to the car.
Turning a corner, Ari and Tessa stopped short, almost running into a large man dressed in dark clothing
“Hey, do you girls have a minute? I lost the charge on my car.” He approached with one hand in his pocket.
“No, we don’t,” Tessa continued forward.
Knowing something was off, Ari reached for her but was too slow. The man pulled some sort of device from his pocket and struck out at Tessa. She fell instantly, twitching on the floor. Ari tried to help her friend, but the large man seized her arm, dragging her towards him. Tessa looked so helpless, alone on the damp sidewalk.
“Tessa!” Ari yelled for her friend.
The man covered Ari’s mouth with a gloved hand and yanked her in close. His dank, smoky smell encompassed Ari as she struggled to free herself. He tightened his hold to the point of pain, and Ari cried into his thick hand.
He leaned down next to her ear, his voice sharp and serious. “Sorry, honey, but you are the one we want. You can come calmly, or I can hit your friend again with a voltage that may be permanent.”
Ari’s heart pounded as she stared at her friend on the ground. Ari wanted to fight, but she wouldn’t. She couldn’t let him hurt Tessa.
“Don’t hurt her.” Ari pressed down the fury building inside of her. She might be forced to go along now, but she wouldn’t stop fighting once her friends were out of harm’s way.
“Okay, then. Let’s go.” He pushed a device into her side, presumably the same one that knocked out Tessa. His free arm wrapped around her, keeping her close as he guided her back to the parking lot.
She kept her steps heavy and slow as she searched the parking lot for Reed or any other people.
“Don’t try it,” the man warned her in quiet tones.
A gunshot exploded nearby. Ari flinched, the loud noise ringing in her ears. Thoughts of her friends unarmed and alone flashed in her mind. She strained to find them, but couldn’t see much in the dark, as her captor, apparently uninjured, tightened his grasp. He hurried his pace, pushing Ari along.
She continued, as if numb, along towards a dark van. Tessa and Reed—they couldn’t be dead. If they were hurt, all bets were off. She had to know they were safe. Doing the only thing she could think of, she bit down on her captor’s hand. He swore, but through the glove it wasn’t enough to make him loosen his hold. She kicked and scratched and fought harder than she ever had before, adrenaline pounding through her body. It couldn’t end this way.
Then a shock bit into her side, and Ari crumbled to the ground. Just like that, the fight was sucked out of her. It felt like an elephant had stepped on her chest as she struggled to suck in air. She stared at the tire of the van and wondered if she was going to die there.
The man dragged her upright. Her legs felt rubbery, unsteady. His rough hands pulled her close. “Stupid girl, guess we have to do this the hard way. Just so you know, that was only the low setting.”
“Stop.” Reed spoke from somewhere in the darkness. “I just shot your friend and I won’t hesitate to do the same to you.”
Her captor turned them both around, keeping her in front of him as a shield. “You don’t want to play with me, kid.”
One glimpse at Reed, and Ari could tell something was wrong. He was leaning to one side as he kept a gun firmly trained on them.
Reed focused his cold anger at her captor. “Not playing.”
“As I see it, you’re not such a good aim with a gun, and you won’t chance shooting me if it means killing her.”
With obvious effort, Reed took two steps closer. In the low neon lights, blood trailed down Reed’s face from a cut on his brow. “You have no clue how many hours I’ve plugged.”
The man behind her relaxed his stance a bit but kept his hold tight. “She’s worth too much to stay with you, bud. That is reality.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Ari glimpsed Tessa quietly walking towards them. Her feet shaky. Ari bit her lip, praying her friend was okay.
Ari pulled against her captor’s grasp, to no avail. Thoughts flashed through her mind, but she worried any action she might take had consequences. “Careful, Reed.”
“Listen to your girlfriend.” The man pulled her back against the corner of the van, and someone swore behind them.
Without warning, a jolt of electricity raced through her body, stronger, deadlier than before. Her jaw clenched, and her arms and legs involuntarily contracted. Her face pressed into a cold, wet puddle, and she closed her eyes, wanting for it to all be over. Without giving her a chance to collect her thoughts, hands lifted her off the ground. She attempted to swat at them, pushing them back and squirming against their tight hold.
“Ari, it’s me,” Reed said in a hurried voice. “Come on. We’ve got to get out of here.”
Confusion swarmed around Ari’s already muddled brain. But it was Reed. His touch was sure and familiar. And if nothing else made sense, he always did.
Reed laid her down in the back seat of the car and sped out of the rest stop. He was talking, though most of the words flowed over Ari at first. She picked them out one at a time as if her brain was filled with alphabet soup.
“Ari, come on talk to me.”
She struggled to respond. She turned her head, but it was a slow process. Forming words appeared to be just as difficult.
“Tessa, are you sure you didn’t hit her?” His voice was heavy with worry.
“I hit him straight in the back. Hope that bastard wet himself,” Tessa said from the front seat.
“Maybe it was the water on the ground. What did you hit him with?” Reed asked.
&nb
sp; “A little toy my dad got for me when I turned twelve, an amped up stun gun.”
Ari finally put all the right consonants and vowels together “Reed.” The words came out in a whisper. She tried again, louder. “Reed, I’m fine.”
He gave her a questioning look. “If you didn’t sound like a ninety-year-old stroke victim, I might believe you. But you’re talking, so that’s better.”
Ari hummed an agreement. Glad to see the fear and anger leave Reed’s face, she laid her head against the seat and stared at him from the back. Going over her last few conscious moments, she realized just how lucky they all were to have survived. She thought about the dirt bag saying that once she left she would never see Reed again.
She didn’t want to leave Reed. She didn’t want to leave his sweet smile, his soft lips, and his fingers that were rough and often ink-stained from his drawings. She loved every part of him. Maybe it was the near-death experience, but she didn’t want to lose him. Ever.
“Come with me,” Ari told Reed. Her own words sounded stilted in her ears.
He took his eyes from the road momentarily. “I am coming with you, Ari. Don’t worry, I think maybe we should go to my house instead of yours. In case whoever that was gets your address. Your mom should be okay. She’ll be at work. They’ll probably watch her, but if we don’t make contact, she should be fine.”
Ari must have been tired, too tired to remember not to worry about all of that. She pushed herself up to a seated position. After a moment the spinning subsided. Glad to be reminded her mom was safe at work, she repeated her request. “I mean, come with me to work for VisionTech.”
His brow crumpled slightly. “What? I still haven’t graduated.”
“Forget graduation and a job you hate. I’ll make enough money to pay off our schooling. You can do whatever you want, do what you love. You could draw.” Ari had been thinking about it for some time but felt too selfish, or maybe too scared, to mention it before. But after that night she didn’t care anymore.
“What?” The surprise on his face would have made Ari shrink normally, but she couldn’t seem to be bothered when she still couldn’t feel her toes.
Hard Wired Trilogy Page 23
