Fake

  “Name it,” Avery said, looking grim. “We need to stop these guys.”

  “You said you knew a cop?” I asked. “Someone you’d trust?”

  “I thought we weren’t calling any cops,” Ethan said. “I don’t want to drag Alice…”

  “I just want a cop on board at the right time,” I said. “If we dangle access to the core out, the ones who want it will come get it. They can fight over it. We back off, they think they get what they want, and the cops can roll in and bust anyone who was really involved.”

  Ethan started to talk, but I held up a hand to stop him. “And if Alice doesn’t come bulldozing in for your core, and we get the guys back without her around, and if she’s truly innocent, she won’t have anything to worry about. I won’t even mention her threatening me if it turns out I’m wrong about her.”

  Ethan started to shake his head, but then his shoulders relaxed. “It seems reasonable,” he said in a low tone.

  I got the impression he really didn’t like this plan and was just agreeing with me, but there wasn’t much else we could do.

  Corey nodded slowly. “How do we make this trade, though? How do we get them to come to us? We don’t have a phone number, do we?”

  “I’ll have to do it,” I said. “I can go to the house with Ethan, and Ethan can turn off the security packet thing. We just need you to maybe figure out a way to make it look like they’re getting what they want. By giving them access to a signal they can listen in on?” I looked at Corey, asking quietly if that would work.

  “No,” Raven said. “We’re not targets. We don’t make ourselves into targets. If we are there, there’s nothing to stop them from shooting us all for knowing about it.”

  “We just need to get them out long enough that they start fighting each other rather than us. They want this core thing. They can fight over it while we get away.”

  Corey shifted on his feet. “We could rig something up so it just looks like we’re giving them access.” He looked at Ethan. “If I can get there before they do, do you think we can fake a cell phone tower signal? Maybe draw in some normal cell phone data from nearby towers?”

  “I could show them the cell phone signals I’ve been working with,” he said, putting a finger to his chin. “But I’d need to contact my people to let them know to use their cell phones.”

  “Or,” Corey said, “we could load more numbers into your system. Then it’ll look like more than just a couple of friends. It’d be an actual underground cell service.”

  Suddenly, the floor shook. Glass shattered somewhere, it sounded like it was coming from the front of the house.

  Raven ran to the kitchen door, opening it with his back, and peering out. “There’s three people at the front door trying to bust it in.” He closed off the kitchen door, hitting a latch on the lock. He lifted part of his shirt, revealing a belt across his waist, and lifted a gun from a back holster. He pointed the nose at the ground and steadied himself with his back against the doorframe. “Get down. Kayli, behind the counter. Corey...”

  At first, I stared at the gun. I hadn’t noticed it before.

  Without a word, Corey went to the windows and started shutting the blinds. Raven went to the table, and started pushing it in front of the door, blocking off access. Avery and Ethan moved to the counter, getting behind it.

  “You’re barricading us in,” I said. “Let’s sneak out the back. Or tell them we’re going to give them access to the core if they’ll just…”

  “They’ve got guns,” Raven said. “I saw them. They’re not here to talk to us. They’re here to kill us.”

  “Then we need to get out of here,” I said. “Not lock ourselves in.”

  “I don’t know how many there are,” he hissed. “They could be coming around the back, too. Kayli, down. Now.”

  Corey peered out the window. “I don’t see anyone.”

  Raven scanned the windows, as if he wasn’t sure, but then looked at Corey. Together, they nodded at the same time. “Take them out,” he told Corey.

  I scanned the kitchen, not wanting Raven to play the hero and stay behind to ward them off. I spotted the microwave and got an idea. “Corey, go back out through the window. Go through the backyard and make a run for it. Take Ethan and Avery. We’ll meet you at the lake.”

  “What are you going to do?” Corey asked.

  I looked at Raven. “I heard a rumor about what happens when you put whole raw eggs in the microwave.”

  Raven’s eyes lit up and his chest puffed out. “My little thief thinks the way I think. This is fate.”

  Corey eyeballed each of us in turn and then groaned. “I know that face. We can’t...”

  Raven moved over, shoving Corey in the shoulder toward the window. “Out. Now.”

  Corey looked at me, pleading, but I shrugged. We’d provide the distraction as they ran off. We had to let Eddie’s people—or Alice’s—know we wanted to negotiate, but at the Murdock house.

  Corey went to the window. Ethan and Avery followed. Corey surveyed the backyard, and then went out first. Ethan and Avery crawled out behind him.

  Another crack in the house, and a slam of wood against thicker wood, like the front door bursting open. Raven kept his back to the doorframe of the kitchen and pointed to direct me. “Go to the fridge, and dig out as many cartons of eggs as you can. Don’t take the eggs out, just leave them in.”

  “Is this how you blew up his yacht?” I asked, doing as he told me and finding five cartons stacked neatly in the fridge, all ready for blowing up.

  “No,” he said. He pointed to the microwave. “It’s time to play Texas and load the microwave.”

  I thought about what he said. “Tetris? The game?”

  “Same.”

  I was getting the gist that when he said “Same”, what he really meant was, ‘that was what I meant’.

  I opened the microwave, and started stacking the cartons inside. The fifth one was a tight squeeze. Why did Blake have so many eggs? But then, his fridge and cabinets were overstuffed with food, more than he could eat. I assumed that’s how the rich worked. Overabundance.

  There were footsteps in the hall outside. “What do you want?” Raven asked loudly.

  There was a voice shouting, muffled through the wall, but then the crack of a gun sounded.

  I ducked beside the kitchen island.

  Raven was steady. “They aren’t here to negotiate,” he said.

  “Tell them we’ve got Ethan Murdock,” I said.

  Raven unlocked the door and then opened it just wide enough to point his gun out, aiming up. He shot a couple of bullets, a warning to get their attention. “We’ve got Ethan Murdock,” Raven said. “Do you want him?”

  “Give him to us,” someone shouted. I wasn’t sure who it was but the accent wasn’t as heavy as Eddie’s.

  Raven pointed the gun toward them. “Back up, or I shoot him, and then I shoot you.”

  “You shoot him, we’ll shoot you all!”

  “Back up!” Raven yelled. “There’s five of us with guns in here.”

  I grimaced at his lie, and then looked around for a weapon, considering the kitchen knives in the wood block. Not much use in a gunfight, though.

  “Send Ethan out and we’ll walk away,” said the voice.

  Raven backed his head up, pointing to the microwave and then held up five fingers. I took it to mean five minutes.

  I swallowed, wondering how quickly the explosion would happen. I hit five minutes. As soon as the microwave kicked on, I headed toward the window, crouching and trying to be out of the way in case it was an instant explosion.

  Raven yelled at the guys while motioning to me to get out. “We’ll leave him here and then we’re going to his house,” Raven said. “I’ll count to ten. I’m going to back away and put Murdock in the middle. Come in then.”

  “We’ll count,” they said. “One...” There was a long pause, and then murmurs as it sounded like they were conversing about the situation.

/>   Raven backed up quickly and shoved me out the window. I fell out onto my back on the porch, got up and continued to duck as I moved away from the window, waiting for Raven.

  It was way too long before Raven eventually joined me.

  “What did you do?” I asked as he scrambled over to me. “You were right behind me.”

  “Forgot to set the oven,” he said. He grabbed at my arm, urging me along.

  “You mean the microwave?”

  “No,” he said, shoving me. “Run.”

  How far would a microwave blow up? Wouldn't the door just blow off? It would sound enough like an explosion so we could make a getaway before they realized we’d escaped.

  I didn’t have time to ask. Raven was shoving me away. I ran with him off the back porch and then through the yard, heading toward a low wall that met with the neighbor’s back yard. We hopped it together.

  The moment we were on the other side, Raven was on top of me, holding me down into the grass. I cursed at him to get off of me.

  At that moment, a series of shouts, followed by an explosion...followed by a louder, thundering explosion. With heat...

  I shoved Raven off enough so I could look over the wall. He got up beside me, keeping a hand on my back.

  The whole outside wall of Blake’s house was a mess of shattered glass and wood, blown out from the explosion. The house itself was on fire.

  “Raven!” I cried. “What did you do?”

  “I set the oven,” he said. “The stove, I mean. He has a gas stove.”

  Had a gas stove. From the looks of it, there wasn’t much left of the kitchen. “Did...did we kill...”

  “No,” he said. He reached for me and then grabbed my hand, pulling me into him. “No, no, Little Thief. We’re not murderers. Not unless they got in the way of the blast like idiots.”

  That wasn’t comforting. “How did you...why...”

  “Physics,” he said.

  I stared at him. “What?”

  “It’s a matter of physics. I’m a professional Russian,” he said.

  I still didn’t understand. Maybe it was lost in the translation. The fire from the hole in the house lit up the area. Neighbors’ lights started turning on.

  We needed to get going. “Let’s get out of here.”

  He lifted me and pushed me to start running. “They’ll be after us. Or the police will be here in a minute. Get to the road. Walk fast but don’t run. Look normal.”

  Easier said...

  THE CHASE

  As we walked through the night, cutting through side streets in the neighborhood, sirens filled the air. We didn’t pass any cruisers on our way, and I only hoped Corey and the others made it out without getting picked up by police.

  We hurried, but no one appeared to be chasing us. Either they ran off after the blast, or…I didn’t want to assume they might be dead. Raven didn’t seem worried about it. I tried not to be. Hopefully they got the message that we’d be heading to Murdock’s house. We just needed to get there before they did.

  It had to be two in the morning now. My heart was beating fast, but my body was tired and I felt sluggish. Raven eventually put an arm around me, and I leaned into him as I walked.

  I was really feeling down. Was I getting sick? I tested for a fever, but it was hard to tell.

  When Raven and I got to Colonial Lake near the apartments, I scanned the park. The cement surrounding the small lake was clear of people. Did Corey get lost? Avery wouldn’t have gotten lost. He knew the way. Or did he only know it by car?

  “Please tell me they didn’t get picked up by someone else?” I turned to Raven. I didn’t expect him to be psychic and know, but I’d already lost a lot of people and I was ready to sit down and get taken away, too, giving up the chase, if everyone I cared about was going to get carted off not matter what I did.

  Raven looked over the area and shook his head. “I’ve got a feeling Corey might have went to go save his brother.”

  My jaw popped open. I grabbed Raven’s arm and shook it. “He’d do that?”

  “He won’t want to wait,” Raven said. “Not for Brandon. Now when it’s his life. He thinks too much like me.”

  I didn’t want to believe him. Corey wouldn’t just run off…

  Suddenly, a person appeared from a sidewalk and ran across the street toward us. Raven got in my way, covering me.

  As the person got close, I recognized the shape. “Corey?”

  He jogged faster. When he got to us, he bent over, holding his chest and breathing heavy. “We lost Ethan.”

  “What?” I asked. “Why? We need him.”

  “He said he was going to find his wife. I couldn’t stop him. Avery went with him.” He looked at me. “He said you should call him for updates. He’d stay with him.”

  I nodded. The traitor. He was going to tip off Alice. He knew the plan. Hopefully Avery could keep him safe…Avery the stoned taxi cab driver was in way deep now.

  “Then we need to get to the house before anyone else,” Corey said. “Before they ruin the plan.”

  I raced beside him toward the Sergeant Jasper that was near the lake. Every bone in my body wanted to simply take the elevator upstairs and pass out and let Raven and the others take care of it. It wasn’t that I didn’t care. I was dizzy, and it was late and my body was refusing to cooperate. I breathed in some cool air, hoping for some energy. With the cloud cover it was damp and dreary. I craved warmth.

  Raven and Corey cut through the middle of the building, only to spill out on the other side to the parking lot. Corey scanned the area, and pointed to a black SUV. I scurried after them.

  Raven went to the driver’s seat. “You’ve got a key?” I asked.

  He grunted. I think it meant yes.

  Corey got in the front passenger. I hopped in the back.

  I collapsed into the seat, laying on my side. Raven turned the car on, and then the SUV lunged as he pulled around and raced out of the lot.

  I closed my eyes, and tried to ignore the sounds of cars honking and screeching of tires. Russian driving.

  ♠♠♠♠♠♠

  Eventually, I had to sit up, because Raven’s driving was even scarier when I couldn’t see what was happening. He slowed down enough to almost a stop at the entrance of Kiawah.

  He rolled down the window. “Let us in,” he said.

  The guard was a woman. “Where are you two headed?” she asked with a small smile, looking wary. She glanced at me in the back, and then a small look of surprise. “I mean three?”

  I felt around my head, and found a rat’s nest of hair. “I was at…the gift shop earlier, got a flat and left my car here,” I said carefully. “I wanted to pick it up before it got towed. He’s here to help me fix it.”

  The woman lifted a brow, weighing out my story and then eyeballed Raven, who appeared to be biting his tongue. Corey smiled pleasantly, nodding. He was probably the most normal looking one.

  “I’ll give you twenty minutes,” she said. The guard pushed a button, and the gate lifted. I managed a quick wave in thanks as Raven continued on.

  “We should stop,” I said. “We shouldn’t drive in. If Alice is at the house, she’ll spot us.”

  “We don’t have time to pussyleg,” Raven said, and I assumed he meant pussyfoot, but he moved on before I could correct him. “And that guard lady is a snitch.”

  “She gave us twenty,” Corey said. “But I’m willing to bet she’ll forget about us when she gets other people driving in later, like Eddie’s men.”

  “We need a plan,” I said. “We don’t have Ethan to let us into his house. And we need to scout it before just barging in.”

  “We don’t have time for plans,” Raven said. “We already had one.”

  “Raven!” I grabbed his shoulder and squeezed hard. “I don’t want to kill Brandon if he’s stuck there with Alice. We don’t need to barge in and get shot at, either.”

  He revved the engine, lunging the SUV forward and I leaned into his seat, b
ut then it slowed and he did a small turn. He slid the car into a parking spot near the closed gift shop.

  “How far is the house from here?” he asked.

  I pointed in the direction. “I know which one. If we walk from the beach...”

  “We’ll be spotted quickly,” he said. “But we don’t have a choice. They’ll be expecting people coming in cars, they’ll be keeping an eye on the road. We’ll have to take the beach.”

  “I’ll know when we get close,” I said. “We can circle the house, maybe peek in a few windows and see who might be home.”

  Corey groaned and opened his door. “I’m going to get shot at today. I can tell.”

  Raven climbed out. When we were standing at the edge of the beach together, he pointed at us to get our attention. “Don’t plan anything. Our only goal is to get our team out. Nothing heroic beyond that. Get them out and run. No trying to get revenge, okay?”

  I pouted. “If they aren’t hurt,” I said. “But no promises if they’ve even got a little bruise.”

  He smiled, and it lit up his dark eyes. He pressed his hand to the top of my head, and scratched at my scalp with his rough fingers. “My little thief is back.”

  I moved toward the beach, ready to get going. “What do you mean, back?”

  “You’ve been...dead,” he said, doing a short jog to catch up with me. “The last few weeks. Ever since Florida.”

  “I wasn’t dead,” I said. I was walking on the sand now, and had to focus on it to make sure I didn’t trip on a dune. “I was working with you. Remember? On those houses?”

  “He’s right,” Corey said, walking up beside me. “You’ve been out of it. You wouldn’t smile. You’d barely eat, you know?”

  Raven put an arm around my neck. “Now you’re ready to kick someone’s ass. I’ve missed you.”

  Maybe I hadn’t been myself, but was he really only happy with me when I was scared out of my skin, and running on the edge?