The Flight of the Silvers (Silvers #1)(177)

Case Lead Alert. Oct-5. 11:07am. Civic Camera #NYS-55-1948C (New Union Square). Sighted: Farisi, Mia. Kidguard Facial Recog: 98%.

Melissa opened her computer and logged into the camera alert network. It had been four weeks since she added the ghosted images of the fugitives to the facial map database. As minors couldn’t be entered into the Blackguard registry of criminals at large, she threw David and Mia into Kidguard, the archive of missing children. The effort finally paid off.

Her screen displayed a grainy still photo of the group’s youngest member. Mia cradled a pay phone handset and scribbled something into her ever-present journal. Three tall people stood behind her. Though their masks prevented the camera from making positive IDs, Melissa had no trouble recognizing David, Zack, and Amanda.

As she phoned the local office, she kept her somber gaze on Mia’s frozen image. Should have kept your mask on.

Rosie Herrera was Melissa’s equivalent at the New York DP-9 branch, a stout and square-jawed matron who endlessly groused about the Bureau’s glass ceiling. Fortunately, she wasn’t too jaded to help.

“They can’t have gotten far,” she told Melissa. “Let me call my guy at the precinct.”

“No. The police aren’t prepared to handle these people. All I need is your fastest ghost team at Union Square. The girl wrote something in her book. I’m guessing it’s a new meeting address.”

Melissa’s phone beeped with an interrupting call from a person marked simply as Nameless. She narrowed her eyes at the screen.

“Rosie, hold on.” She switched lines. “Cedric?”

Cain chuckled. “Professional pointer: when a shade hides his name, you don’t say it out loud.”

“Look, this isn’t the best time . . .”

“I know. I got the same alert you did. Don’t bother with the ghost drills. In five minutes, I’ll know exactly where your runners are headed.”

Melissa’s stomach churned as she tried to guess his methods. Integrity’s resources were as frightening as their freedoms.

“I see,” she replied. “So this is an anonymous tip then.”

“No. That’s coming. This is just a heads-up warning to gather your forces and gather them big, because you’ve got one last chance to bring these people in. They get away this time, it’s out of my hands. They’ll become Integrity’s problem, and vice versa.”

Melissa rubbed her aching back. “I understand.”

“Good. Make your calls. Get ready for mine. And next time, don’t say my name.”

He hung up. Melissa heaved a loud breath, then switched lines again. “Rosie?”

“Yeah. I’m here. You still need that drill team?”

“No. Now I need everyone.”

The young agent leaned forward in his chair, baffled by the thermal scanner. A moment ago, there were two orange figures on the monitor. Now there was just one. In the blink of an eye, Peter Pendergen had vanished.

—

Battery Park was one of the few areas of Manhattan that had to be rebuilt twice. In August of 1931, a clash between police and pro-immigrant protesters erupted into a citywide riot known as the Deadsetter’s Brawl. It culminated with a massive blaze that killed 112 people and destroyed half the new buildings on Battery Place.

Today the street was a posh and pristine beauty, flanked by acres of lush greenery to the south and sleek glass office towers to the north. Commemoration had turned the business side into a tranquil void. Pigeons merrily strutted about the concrete, free to forage without the usual human bustle.

Zack found a parking spot mere yards from their destination, a twelve-story structure of sloped steel and mirrors. The entire ground floor was enclosed in a thick sheath of tempis.

Amanda swept a nervous scan of the area. “So where is he?”

“Inside,” Mia guessed. She motioned to the four-foot metal post that stood near the barrier. “There’s the buzzer.”

“Seems like a strange place to meet. I mean, why here?”

“I’m sure it’s all just part of the zigzag,” Zack speculated. “He’s dodging his own people as well as the Deps.”

Hannah tapped a tense beat into her thigh. She didn’t have the strength to tell her companions about her encounter at the parade. Now she reeled in the dark subtext of Ioni’s comments. She’d called today a minefield. What if this was the first bad step?

They chose to travel light for their rendezvous, limiting themselves to one knapsack each. Zack nestled the last of their cash in a front flap. The sisters combined their essentials into one bag, saving their strength for an ailing Theo. They propped him up like crutches and walked him to the building.

Mia hunched over the intercom and pressed the call button.

“Uh, hello? Peter?”

After five seconds of silence, a ten-foot square of tempis melted away to reveal a pair of swinging glass doors. They unlocked with a hollow click.

The Silvers moved dazedly through a brushed stone foyer, past the unmanned security desk. The directory listed fifty-four different companies in the building, everything from law firms to placement agencies for corporate augurs. Zack swallowed a daffy chuckle when he noticed a nonprofit advocacy group called the Justice League of America.

Suddenly the tempis sealed up behind them, blocking the doors like a snowdrift. Hannah fixed her round white eyes at the barrier.