The Equals by Daniel Sweren-Becker

Author:Daniel Sweren-Becker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Imprint

CHAPTER 10

EVERYONE WAS SILENT, their nerves rattled, as Edith drove the getaway car out of the dead end. From the back seat, Kai stared at Cody, who was riding shotgun. Even if he’d known what to say to her, he could tell she didn’t want to hear it. Not from him, not from anyone.

Kai turned to his left. There was Agent Norton in the back seat next to him, tied up, blindfolded … and alive.

The standoff at the car swap was over. Cody had ultimately listened to him, but it had cost them precious minutes—when they should have been getting away from the area as quickly as possible. Edith had the police scanner turned on, and the activity was frantic. The authorities had found the demolished SUVs, the dead agents in the security detail, and of course they’d discovered that Norton was gone. An all-out search was under way.

Edith steered the car north, in the direction of the Ark, desperately hoping to get on an interstate highway filled with thousands of other cars. As the police chattered over the radio about where they were setting up checkpoints, Cody dutifully marked them on the map. A few miles ahead, Michael and Taryn were in a scout car. They would call back if they saw any trouble.

Kai strained his eyes trying to look out ahead of them. He knew too much time had gone by since they’d attacked the motorcade. The bulk of it was wasted trying to prevent Cody from killing Norton, and now their window for escape was closing. He grasped for the gun Cody had reluctantly returned to him, knowing he might still need it. If they got stopped by the authorities or tried to outrun them, the last part of their plan was obvious: They’d have to kill Norton, after all.

Suddenly, that seemed like a real possibility. Edith’s walkie-talkie crackled, with Taryn on the other end. “Checkpoint ahead, mile marker sixty-three on Route 17. Do not proceed here.”

Edith slowed the car and picked up the radio. “Copy.”

Norton, perhaps thinking they were close to being spotted, started thrashing around. Kai leaned across the back seat, pressed Norton’s head against the window, and whispered in her ear.

“Move another muscle and I am going to start breaking your fingers one by one.” He paused. “Got it?”

Norton sat still as a statue.

Kai stuck his head into the front seat. “What do we do about the checkpoint?”

“We need to get off the roads,” Edith said. “We’re not making it through their dragnet today.”

Kai felt the extra pressure of Edith being on this mission with them. She hadn’t left the safety of the Ark in a long time, so to expose herself like this was very rare. Kai could see that she was feeling the pressure, too.

Leaning forward, Edith scanned the hilly countryside, and Kai followed her gaze. Not a lot of places to hide, and not much civilization to blend into. And off in the distance a group of helicopters had started to dot the sky like a kettle of vultures.

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