Darkest Powers Bonus Pack by Armstrong Kelley

Author:Armstrong, Kelley [Armstrong, Kelley]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Traverse Press
Published: 2011-04-25T19:14:01+00:00

Fifteen

Simon was annoyed with me. Not angry. Angry would mean he’d actually thought I might take advantage of the diversion and run. So all I got was a glower and a muttered, “You should have,” as we got in the cop car. Then he took over the explaining.

As Simon told our story, he skated the edge of reality as close as he dared. Dad called and said he was picking us up after Simon’s game. He’d been leaving work early, around noon, and that was the last we’d heard of him. When he didn’t show, we walked home. Dad wasn’t there. Neither were his keys, wallet, cell phone, no sign he’d come home at all.

The cops didn’t ask about the van. I wasn’t sure how we’d answer that. If those guys at our door yesterday morning had been real police officers, they’d have seen the van there. Now it was gone, and that added a whole new level of complication to the story. Best to let on we’d thought Dad didn’t come home from work at all.

Simon said we’d phoned Dad’s office and cell. When we didn’t get an answer, we were worried, but figured he’d been called back to work. Sometimes he was there until after we’d gone to bed. A lie, but it worked.

So we went to bed. When we woke up, and he was still gone, we got worried. After my trouble with the cops we were understandably nervous about going to the police, so we’d hitchhiked to Albany. Walking sounded too desperate.

Our story had lots of holes, but it was good enough for these guys, who only wanted to drop us off at the station and get a pat on the back for finding us.

The police station parking lot was a mess. It was snowing even harder. We got soaked on the walk to a rear door, only to find it wouldn’t open.

“Frozen,” one of the officers said. “Figures.”

It didn’t seem cold enough to freeze—not if the snow was so wet—but I could never judge temperature. All I know is that we had to go around to the front, and the whole walk there, I kept looking for a chance to run. Stupid, I know. How far would we get from a building full of cops?

I thought about it even more when I heard the chaos inside. The weather was causing problems everywhere. It reminded me of what Dad said after every snail’s crawl home from Albany when snow hit. “It’s New York, people. It’s winter. We get snow. If you aren’t prepared to deal with it, move to Miami.”

On that walk around the building, two pairs of exiting cops told our guys to hustle us inside so they could head back out on the road. Accidents everywhere. A pileup on two major roads. “Welcome to winter,” one said. “When fifty percent of drivers should have their licenses temporarily suspended.”

As we drew closer to the front doors, the noise grew louder. Cops trying to get back out on the road.

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