Hard Wired Trilogy

by DeAnna Pearce

  A dark chill itched its way up Ari’s back. Moving funds around could mean a lot of different things. Patrick didn’t freely talk about where he got his money. Some were legit, but others were shady enough that no one talked about it. Ari needed those funds, though, to find her family, so she tried to push her moral obligations aside.

  Patrick excused Tricky and the others to get to work on finding Maxim. It left Patrick, Ari, Harini, and Sketchy—whose attendance at meetings was sporadic—to discuss plans.

  “First things first,” Harini started. “I’ll help with disguises. I’ve been dying to fix Ari’s bad hair for some time.”

  Ari started to protest, but then realized Harini was right. Ari had cut her own hair and dyed it as she and Reed tried to escape VisionTech. It was a bad red dye that had since faded to a shoulder-length ugly orange if she left it down. Instead she kept her wavy locks into a tight ponytail. Her natural dark hair had grown out a few inches. Instead of complaining, she asked, “How long have you been holding that in?”

  Harini flashed a proud smile. “Since you arrived.”

  “Thanks, I guess.”

  “You’re not touching my hair,” Patrick told her.

  “You have great hair. Why would I?” Harini looked him over.

  “For a disguise?” Ari asked.

  “No one will recognize me. They are only looking for you,” Patrick replied.

  Ari tried not to trust the hope growing inside of her as they discussed plans. She didn’t want to get crushed if all this work was for nothing. But it wouldn’t be for nothing, she reminded herself. They would contact Tessa through her dad’s company and find what was really happening. Even if it was ruling out possibilities, she’d be one step closer to her family.

  It didn’t take long, less than twenty-four hours to be exact, until Harini cornered Ari with dye and sharp scissors.

  “You look lethal with those,” Ari motioned to the sleek scissors.

  Harini shrugged with a huge grin on her face. “The best people are.”

  Ari laughed as they headed into the washroom with the large sink. Harini pulled out a couple of old towels while Ari reached for the chair. As instructed, Ari leaned over and washed her hair as Harini prepared the dye.

  A message beeped on Harini’s HUB. Her hand twitched as she opened it. Ari couldn’t miss the fear in her eyes as she shut it off.

  “What is it?” Ari asked.

  “Nothing.” Harini pasted on a fake smile.

  “Didn’t seem like nothing.”

  “Nothing you need to worry about.” The tight edge to her voice was unlike Harini. After an awkward pause, Harini turned to grab the dye. When she turned back around, her normal cheerful face returned. “Promise. It was nothing. Let’s just get to back to a decent hair color.” Harini stepped by the tub and motioned to Ari.

  As Ari leaned over the tub, Ari poured the dye over her head, then rubbed it in. “The first part is just a shampoo dye. I’ll add in the highlights after. Easy as pie, actually way easier than making pie.”

  They wrapped it up in a towel then Harini sat Ari down to cut it. She picked out the knots in Ari’s now blue black hair. It already looked so much better that Ari wished she would have asked about this sooner. Harini began snipping away at her hair with ease.

  “Thanks,” Ari said as black hair fell to the floor. “I mean, I know it had to be done for this mission, but I appreciate it.”

  “Wait until it’s styled. You’ll love it.” Harini flashed her a smile and went back to work.

  It reminded Ari of when her own mother would cut her hair. An ache of longing burned in her chest. “Do you ever miss your family?”

  The scissors paused for a moment. “Yeah. Yeah, I do. But I didn’t have many options. Like the rest of us.”

  “At least you found Patrick.”

  “I’m never quite sure if that was a good thing or not.” A sharpness unlike Harini entered her voice.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Nothing.” Harini forced a tight smile. “Just old drama. Nothing worth bringing up again.”

  It didn’t seem like nothing, but Ari wasn’t going to pry. Harini had lived here for a long time. Long enough that people grew on your nerves. Ari had experienced enough at home with her brother that she knew everything with the team couldn’t always be perfect.

  After a couple of minutes of cutting away, old happy Harini returned. “Enough about the past. I’m almost done with your cut and then we need to talk makeup.”

  “Makeup?”

  “Well a little more than just makeup. We have gel pads and other cosmetics to change the shape of your face to mess with the cameras.”

  “You think that’s necessary?”

  Harini pulled down a piece of hair that framed Ari’s face. “Yes, it’s necessary, but also sort of fun.”

  Once her hair was finished, the blue black locks fell to her chin in waves. Slight dark blue highlights framed her face. It was closer to Ari’s original color but still took some getting used to.

  “If you think this is a change, wait until I work on your face.” Harini’s smile edged on evil.

  The days flew by with preparing for the trek. They procured several fake identities. Sketchy and Sue helped create fake fingerprints. Sketchy made them old school, as he called it. A printer drew the fingerprints onto light silicon material, and Sue then used a paintbrush to finish applying the final chemicals.

  Before Sketchy packed them up, he held them up to the light. “Smooth as ice.”

  “Like ice?” Ari asked.

  “Yep. Smooth to the touch, but the fine details are etched in. Almost undetectable.”

  “And you’re sure they’ll work?” Ari knew the security they had in her country, and she had never even tried to leave it on her own. It could only be more intense at a border.

  “Promise.” He put them in an envelope and handed them to her.

  “You also promise that coffee cures any sickness too.” Ari took the light envelope.

  “And it does.” He placed a hand on his heart. “At least how I make it.” Then he winked and Ari wondered just what he placed in his coffee.

  Sue walked back in, toweling off her hands. “Don’t worry. The others have used them before.”

  Ari thanked them both, then went back to packing.

  Friday, Ari woke before her alarm and hurried to get ready. She met Harini and Patrick in the garage loading their gear. Harini helped load her pack and stood with the two of them, next to the vehicle.

  “Have everything?” Harini asked.

  “You should know,” Ari said. “You helped me pack.”

  “Yes. Yes, you do.” She looked more nervous than Ari. “I’d take your hair out of your ponytail. It’ll help cover yourself.”

  “Okay.” Ari ran a hand through her hair. She did have on the heavy padded makeup Harini showed her how to use, and an extra pair of colored contacts that turned her eyes from brown to more of a green. It didn’t change her look too much, but enough to get through security. She thought it would be enough for Harini.

  Ari reminded herself that Harini might have just as much at stake. All their lives were here with Patrick. Ari resolved to make this work, not just for her, but for all of them. “We’ll be okay.” She hugged Harini. “We’ll be back, promise.”

  “I know.” Harini pulled back, then turned to Patrick. “Be safe.”

  “We will. Take care of everyone while I’m gone. Don’t let Tricky work everyone into the ground.”

  She gave a small laugh. “I’ll try.”

  They climbed into the old Jeep. With a small wave to Harini, Patrick tried to turn over the ignition. Only a small click sounded. He swore and tried a couple more times. “Grab your gear,” he said, pulling out the key.

  “What’s wrong?” Harini asked, still in the garage.

  “Probably the starter. Can you tell Joe and Sketchy for me? We’ll take the motorcycle.” He reached for his bag and began securing it on the m
etal rack in back.

  “Okay. Be safe.” Harini gave him one more look, a look full of emotion that he didn’t even see.

  Ari wondered if there was something that she was missing between Harini and Patrick.

  “You coming?” He turned to Ari.

  “Yeah.” It amazed Ari that not only did they have a Jeep, even if it didn’t work, but several motorcycles and off-terrain vehicles. She knew Patrick was prepared. When she first got a tour of this place, he reassured her they were safe. He had a couple of safe houses with supplies, multiple ways to leave, and backups with their backups. The locations for the safe houses could only be triggered through certain means as well. She’d heard all this, but seeing it was different.

  The seat extended for two people and Ari climbed on back, trying to give as much room as possible, but the length of the seat meant they were still touching. A light blush warmed her face and was glad she was behind him. Being so close to him shouldn’t feel so comfortable.

  He turned his head to speak to her. “Ready?” With a short nod from Ari, he pulled onto the dirt path, forcing Ari to hold on tight.

  It was hard to speak over the wind rushing in her ears, so she didn’t try. Holding on, she watched the landscape speed by. Sometimes, they slowed to maneuver over rocky hills. The path wasn’t clear cut, but the electronic map attached to the steering wheel kept Patrick on course.

  He pulled off to the side of the road and clicked off the engine. “I thought we could get a drink and stretch for a moment. Our flight isn’t for a few hours. We have time.”

  Ari climbed over, her muscles stiff from sitting for so long. Unpacking water bottles, she handed one to Patrick. An uncomfortable silence settled between them. Ari couldn’t help but wonder his motivation in doing all of this. After her history, she couldn’t help but doubt.

  “What’s wrong?” He opened his water.

  Ari shook her head, but before she could speak, he cut her off. “Please don’t say ‘nothing’.”

  She laughed. “Okay. I just…” She struggled to put it into words that wouldn’t offend him. “Not that I’m not appreciative, but I wondered why you are doing this for me.” There was so much about him she didn’t know, like how he came by all this money.

  “Is this about Tricky?”

  “No. Just me with a history of trust issues.” She traced the edge of her water bottled.

  “I know we don’t talk a lot about each other’s past.”

  “It’s not safe.”

  He set down his water and turned to her. “I’m not going to reveal others’ secrets but let me tell you how much work it was to acquire them on the team.”

  “Really? I though Tricky and Blur just showed up one day.”

  He chuckled. “That’s how they like to tell it. But it took hours to convince them it was safe. Then thousands of cryptos to make sure their past remained in the past. Don’t let the others intimidate you. They all had quite a ride ending up here.”

  “What about you?” As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized just how personal the request was. He did already know everything there was about her though.

  “Me, huh?” He smiled, which took her off guard, like her question meant more than she intended.

  “I didn’t mean to pry. It’s just I don’t know much about you, and you know everything about me.”

  “Not everything. I have no clue what your favorite ice cream is.”

  “This isn’t about me.” She took a drink. “It’s cookie dough, by the way.”

  “Good to know.” He nodded his approval, then paused if weighing his words. “Alright. What do you want to know?”

  “Do you have any siblings, parents?”

  “No siblings. Yes, I have both parents. They figured about my ability at a young age and hid it as well as they could. My background was in security and information systems. I knew I had to learn as much as possible to protect myself. As soon as I was of age, I left. I connected with others, Harini was the first one I met. The others have joined in the last three years.”

  “Do you ever see your parents?” Ari couldn’t imagine never seeing her family again.

  “We stay in touch. They have their lives and I have mine. But they know I’m safe, and that’s more than they could give me at home.” A soberness drew his face down.

  “That must have been hard.”

  He rubbed a hand over his face and shed any trace of emotion. “It is what it is. Your path hasn’t been a walk in the park.”

  “No one had it easy.”

  “It’s easier together.” His gaze traveled to her sandwich. “You going to finish that? We probably should head out.”

  Taking another bite, she smiled at him.

  Soon they packed up and continued into the small town of Sonuvik. On the edge of town, they dumped the bike in a storage locker and continued the rest of the way on foot. They got into town just as the sun began setting.

  Daylight didn’t last long this far north. It was a drastic change from her hometown and even the island. Sonuvik was a quaint village that appeared to care more for character and history than tech. Upon closer inspection, they just hid it better. Instead of a tacky electronic sign, this lounge had a wood carved sign—an almost antique look in this modern era. People crowded the streets as they drew closer to the airport.

  Like the rest of this town, the airport mixed time periods with real beauty. The building looked like some type of cottage out of a fairy tale with white paint, wood shingle roof, and flowers everywhere. As they entered the airport, the floral décor continued, bringing a sweet scent to the air.

  The back portion of the building consisted of a large window to the planes outside. Huge, dark silver planes sat among the gorgeous gardens in the back. Ari stopped in place, as a large plane just lifted vertically in the sky before shooting across the horizon. She watched in awe, anticipation crawling up her spine.

  When she finally pulled her attention away from the planes, she realized Patrick continued towards the ticket counter. He turned, waiting for her. As she closed the gap between them, he reached for her hand.

  “Sorry. I got distracted.” A tingle traveled up her arm at his touch and she stared at his hand, on the verge of saying something. But his soft touch interrupted her train of thought.

  “We need to be careful. A couple traveling together will blend in better. Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about Reed, but we need people to assume we’re together.” He motioned to his hand.

  “You’re right.” She continued next to him, telling herself she overreacted.

  As they checked in, a shiver had her zipping up jacket. She didn’t welcome the uncomfortable feeling of getting trapped with strangers in a big metal can. She ignored her nervous fear. Getting on the plane here would be easy compared to getting off back in her home country. A country that wanted her trapped behind bars and doing their bidding. Yes, she told her nerves, this was just the start.

  Chapter 6

  As the plane took off, an exhilaration gripped her. Watching the plane tear through the clouds felt surreal. She spent the first hour just staring through the window.

  Twenty hours and three planes later, she sipped on a carbonated beverage to fight off the nausea coiling in her stomach as they entered her home country of the Americas. Flying was shorter than driving but left a bigger electronic trail. Evidently a direct two-hour flight would be too dangerous. Ari finally learned the meaning of the word jet-lagged.

  “Last flight.” Patrick patted her leg in reassurance.

  She moaned. “Thank God.”

  “You could be on a boat again, and it’d take even longer.”

  “True.” Ari hated to complain since this whole trip was for her. Even the cost of this trip wasn’t anything she could ever imagine. Joe oversaw the team’s finance. He said everything he did was technically legal. Ari assumed his version of legal and the law’s version may differ. As a warper, he could listen in on a lot of conversations and back room deal
s. Joe didn’t believe insider trading was an issue, since the laws varied greatly from country to country.

  Since Ari benefited from his endeavors, she didn’t complain. Given the cost for their abilities, she didn’t blame him either. Money was never an issue for Patrick’s team, the only challenge was where to hide it, and not to get too much to draw attention to themselves.

  Fatigue hung heavy on Ari’s shoulders and she vaguely remembered Patrick taking her drink. As the plane landed, the noise of the other passengers startled Ari awake. With a jolt, she sat up. She had fallen asleep on Patrick’s shoulders. Heat flooded her cheeks as she rubbed the sleep from her face.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled into her lap.

  “Don’t be. I fell asleep too.” He placed a hand on her forearm and waited for her to look at him.

  Her arm tingled at his touch as warm emotions rushed her. She slowly met his eyes, trying to mask how much his touch affected her. Looking into his gaze made it all the more difficult.

  “You can’t be embarrassed or guilty every time we touch, especially in this leg of our journey.”

  “You’re right. Sorry.” She started to gather her bags, wishing a gigantic hole would swallow her. Her experience with guys was limited and she didn’t need to be like some schoolgirl every time someone touched her. For some reason when Patrick touched her it was different, like it meant something.

  “No need to apologize. I just want us to be comfortable with each other. Think of it like a VR. We’re playing a role to blend in. Just like with VisionTech, except this job is for you.” He smiled, his hand still on her arm. People exited the plane around them.

  “I can do it.” Ari just needed to push away her stray thoughts and concentrate on the job. Anyone would react to holding hands, it didn’t mean anything.

  “I know you can. Come on, sweetie.” He emphasized the nickname with a quick squeeze of her hand, then stood with their bags. “We don’t want to be late.”

  Standing, she patted his shoulder remembering his words. This was a role and she needed to play it well. Exiting the plane, she remained at his side and made small talk about the flight and their vacation plans. Nothing concrete, but enough for anyone nearby to take them for a young couple traveling to meet family.