Fear (Gone #5)(46)

The only boat that didn’t pull out was the White Houseboat. Sam, Astrid, Dekka, Brianna, Toto, and Edilio met on deck, out where anxious kids peering from the surrounding mismatched watercraft could see them. (Sinder, Jezzie, and Mohamed had been packed off to other boats.) It was important to send the signal that they had things under control. Sam wondered how long that illusion would last.

“Okay, first things first,” Sam said looking at Brianna.

“I got it,” she said. She had her runner’s backpack. The one with a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun sticking through the bottom, turning the pack into a holster.

“Wait!” Sam yelled before she could disappear. “Find. Look.” He pointed his finger at her and leaned forward, making sure she heard. “And come back.”

Brianna made a fake wounded expression and said, “What, you think I would go and pick a fight? Me?”

That earned a laugh from everyone but Dekka, and the sound of that laugh was reassuring to the scared kids in the boats.

Brianna blurred out and Sam heard a cheer go up from multiple boats.

“Go, Breeze!”

“Yeah, the Breeze!”

“Breeze versus Whip Hand!”

Sam looked at Edilio and said, “Just what Brianna needs: a boost for her ego.” Then he said, “Anyone have any idea who was killed? Who’s missing?”

Edilio shrugged. He stood up, went to the side, and yelled to the boats. “Hey! Listen up. Is anyone missing?”

For a while no one had any suggestions. Then Orc, on the bow of a sailboat, and so heavy that the entire boat was two feet lower in the water at the front than at the back, said, “I haven’t seen Howard. But he’s always … you know … going off by himself.”

Sam met Edilio’s gaze. Both of them had already guessed it was Howard.

Sam saw Orc stand up, shifting the entire boat and in the process scaring Roger, Justin, and Diana, who were out there with him. He went below.

“It’s good you’re back,” Sam said to Astrid. “Orc trusts you. Maybe later…”

“I don’t think Orc and I—” she began.

“I don’t care. I may need Orc. So you may have to talk to him,” Sam snapped.

“Yes, sir,” she said with only a trace of sarcasm.

“Where’s Jack?” Edilio asked, looking peevish. “He’s supposed to check in.”

“On his way,” Dekka answered, and pointed with her chin. “I see him. He’s just dawdling.”

“Jack!” Sam bellowed.

Jack was a hundred yards away. His head jerked up. Sam stuck his fists on his waist and glared impatience. Jack started running in his powerful, bounding way.

As soon as he reached the dock Edilio demanded to know what he thought he was doing. “You’re supposed to be armed and you’re supposed to be at the Pit.”

“What’s going on?” Jack asked sheepishly. “I was asleep.”

“Brianna didn’t wake you up?” Sam asked.

Jack looked uncomfortable. “We’re not talking.”

Sam pointed angrily at the boats bobbing on the lake. “I got five-year-olds getting two-year-olds where they’re supposed to be, but one of my two certified geniuses is asleep?”

“Sorry,” Jack said.

“He is,” Toto confirmed.

Sam ignored him. He was pumped full of adrenaline. Ready to forget about the disgusting mutation under the tarp. Ready to forget, for the moment, at least, that this might be the last real day they had. Ready to forget his worries about Caine and the missiles. Ready to push all those intractable problems and unanswerable questions aside, because now—now, finally—he had a straight-up fight.

Astrid took his shoulder and pulled him aside. He didn’t want a conference with Astrid: he had things to do. But he couldn’t quite say no. Not without listening first.

“Sam. This means your letter isn’t getting to Caine or Albert.”

“Yeah. So?”

“So?” Her incredulity was so sharp it made him take a step back. “So? So the lights are still going out, Sam. And we’re still facing a possible disaster. And you don’t know what Caine or Albert might do.”

“That’s for another day,” he said, chopping the air with his hand to cut off debate. “We have a slight emergency here.”

“Where is that ninny Taylor, anyway?” Astrid said angrily. “If she doesn’t show up, then send Brianna to get that note to Caine and Albert.”

“Brianna? Pull her off hunting for Drake? Good luck.”

“Then send Edilio and a couple of his—”

“Not now, Astrid. Priorities.”

“You’re choosing the priority, Sam. You’re doing the easy thing instead of the smart thing.”

That stung. “The easy thing? Drake suddenly shows up after being off the radar for four months? Don’t you think maybe it’s all one thing? Drake, the stain, whatever your ‘ignorant’ force is?”

“Of course I suspect it’s all one thing,” Astrid said through gritted teeth. “That’s why I want you to get some help.”

He held up one fist and began running down a list, raising a finger with each bullet point.

“One, Breeze locates him. Two, Dekka, Jack, and I converge. Three, whether he is Drake or Brittney, we cut him up, burn him in detail, piece by piece, and sink any ashes into the lake inside a locked, weighted metal box.”