The Enlightened (Mind Dimensions #3)(53)

“I bet he couldn’t find us,” I say. “As a precaution, none of us told anyone the specifics of where in Florida we were vacationing.”

“But there should’ve been an electronic trail—your phones, credit cards, that sort of thing,” Thomas says. “With so many people involved, someone could’ve slipped.”

“We had Mira, the queen of paranoia, and a ton of cash. Plus we had Bert, the god of making electronic trails disappear and a paranoiac in his own right.”

In the rearview mirror, I see Bert puff up like a peacock.

“But Caleb found you,” Thomas points out. “So you slipped up somewhere.”

“True,” I admit. “I have no idea how Caleb found me, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it involved one of the Enlightened using their boundless Depth to Read a massive amount of people all over Florida—something Kyle couldn’t do. On his own, he can’t Read at all.”

“Right. That man who died, Jacob, he was his Reader partner. But where he had one, he could have others.”

“Maybe. My crazy grandparents did mention a whole organization called the Orthodoxy.”

“Right, the mysterious organization that combines Leacher Purists and our craziest Traditionalists,” Thomas says skeptically. “I don’t see those groups uniting so easily.”

“It doesn’t matter. Kyle probably didn’t even bother looking for us since he had a surefire way of smoking me out. He was planning on getting to me at my mom’s funeral.”

My friends digest that morbid scenario for a few blocks in silence.

“I have an idea about the Orthodoxy,” Bert says. He’s always hated uncomfortable silences, and I hope he hasn’t forgotten how little he’s supposed to officially know. Not that I know how much someone in this pretend position would be allowed to know to begin with.

“What’s your idea, minion?” I say in a commanding tone, hoping that ridiculous term convinces Thomas that I’m Guiding Bert.

“This Orthodoxy is probably behind the ‘suicides’ of the prominent scientists I’ve been telling you about. Don’t you see that what happened with your mom has the exact same MO? When combined with the USB drive results—”

“Darren,” Thomas says, his voice even. “Is this the expert you gave the USB drive to? The USB drive my people couldn’t crack?”

“That’s because the encryption was strong, but not—”

“Yes, that’s him,” I say, stopping Bert from going into a post-graduate-level lecture on cryptography.

“I’m impressed,” Thomas says, looking in the rearview mirror. “I can see why you brought him up to speed.”

“What? No,” I say defensively. “I just let him know things because he’s pretty bright and can usually give me wise counsel—”

“I didn’t buy it at the hospital, and I’m not buying it now,” Thomas says. “But Liz did, so I didn’t contradict you. When it comes to matters of exposure, she’s a lot more cautious than you and me, having grown up a Guide and all, so I didn’t want her to put her brainwashing sights on your friend.”

“Thanks,” Bert says. “So you don’t mind?”

“No,” Thomas says. “Especially since, in my line of work, I might need your help.”

“Blackmail,” Bert says sadly. “At least Darren will stop calling me his minion now.”

“Nothing like that.” Thomas smiles. “I’ll keep your secret regardless. Just please consider helping me.”

“I don’t think I want to stop calling you my minion,” I say.

“I can make your Harvard diploma disappear.” Bert crosses his arms. “For starters.”

“Oh yeah, minion? Surely you forget that I can use my superpowers to make you eat your own—”

“Your destination is on the left,” Thomas’s GPS chimes in.

“Okay, pull up there,” I say, humor forgotten. I point to a ‘no parking under any circumstances’ spot across the street from the police building. With Thomas’s nifty Secret Service plates, no one should bat an eye at this.

He pulls over. “So, what’s your—”

I don’t hear Thomas finish the rest of his question because the world goes silent as I phase into the Quiet.

Thomas is stuck with his mouth open mid-sentence.

My plan is simple.

Walk in. Find Kyle. Then come back, take a gun out of Thomas’s arsenal, and bring Thomas into the Quiet with me. Together, we’ll go to Kyle. I’ll bring Kyle into the Quiet with us and shoot him. Then, once he’s Inert, we’ll figure out step two.

Approaching the police station, I walk through the revolving door. The station looks eerie, like some kind of police-themed wax museum.

I make my way to the second floor where Kyle’s department is located.

When I reach his desk, I find it empty.

I look inside the nearest bathroom, stop by the copy room and water cooler, and in general, search the floor for the man.

No luck.

Shit. I really wanted him to be here. Then again, maybe it’s best we don’t recreate the bridge debacle in the middle of a police station. But if Kyle is not here, I need to figure out where he is.