Thin Lines (The Child Thief #3)(7)

Jace shook his head. “I don’t know. All I know is that we have some pieces, and I want to try to put them together.”

“Why not split up, then?” Abe asked suddenly. “Seems there are a couple of important things to do, and if we split up, we might get them done faster.”

“No,” Jace said firmly. “We’re already taking a chance by leaving most of our team at Zion’s, but at least that will mean we’re traveling through the city with fewer people. Splitting up any further than that—”

“Will just give us the chance to lose more people,” I finished, seeing the logic. We were already running low on team members, and if the Authority was looking for us, splitting up into smaller teams would make it easier for them to grab people. Without secure communication, we would never know what had happened to them.

“Exactly,” Jace replied. “And it would be pointless anyhow. All we’re doing is going to Zion’s. Then Alexy’s. Then… the library, I suppose. Then the coffee shop and my apartment. While avoiding any enforcers. And Authority agents.”

“Oh, is that all?” Jackie asked sarcastically. “You’re right, that shouldn’t be any problem at all. Why are we so worried? After the last week, that’s going to be a piece of cake.”

We all fell quiet, and I figured we were all too tired, both mentally and physically, to keep thinking at such a furious pace. My body felt broken, my brain as if it would melt any second now. The others might not be in as much physical pain as I was, but they were certainly mentally exhausted. We took the opportunity to sit and stare out at the countryside for the rest of the ride.

When a voice came over the intercom to inform us that we were approaching Trenton, the train began to slow.

I swallowed, horribly uncomfortable at how exposed we were going to be the moment that those doors opened—and horribly aware that the second we stepped out of the train car, we were going to be running for our lives.





3





We got off the train doing our best to look as normal as possible. The moment we all reached the platform, Jace motioned for us to group up again.

“We’re going to attract too much attention moving in this large of a group,” he whispered. “I want us to pair off or break up into sets of four, maximum. Zion’s apartment is about four blocks from here. The address is 323 Fifth Street, apartment number three. It’s on the third floor of a small, brown building, which looks more like a house than an office or apartment complex. Everyone get there as quickly as you can. But walk normally!” he added as people started to shift. “If you’re with someone who’s having trouble walking on their own, make sure you have a cover story for what happened to them, in case anyone asks. And remember, if you were in prison it means the Authority has pictures of your face. If you see an enforcer, turn your face to the ground or get around a corner to keep away from them. If you see anyone looking too closely at you, same thing. Get out of there first, ask questions later.”

“And what about you?” Winter asked, her voice husky. “Where will you be?”

“I’ll have Robin with me, and Ant and Jackie will be coming right after us,” Jace responded. “And we’ll be meeting you at Zion’s apartment, same as everyone else.”

He stopped and stared at the circle of people.

They weren’t prepared for this, I realized. Most of them were little more than techs. Computer people who specialized in things like hacking and firewalls. Sure, there might be a couple warriors here—Winter and Kory certainly fell under that category—and they might have joined a group that had vowed to fight the government in whatever way possible, but they had probably never expected that they would be on the streets, trying to hide in full daylight from the government after escaping jail. They’d also probably never thought that they might pay for their small rebellions with their lives.

I knew I certainly hadn’t been prepared for this.

Though, for me—and for Jace, Ant, and Jackie—things had changed while our friends had been in that prison. We’d been shot at, chased, and nearly killed, so we’d come to terms, at least a little bit, with the fact that we were outlaws now. The government was hunting us like animals, but for the others, this was all new and had to be terrifying.

“You’ll be fine,” I said firmly. “Chances are that we’ll manage to get you into hiding, and you won’t have to worry about anything else today. Just get there as quickly as you can and try to keep your heads down. Do whatever you have to do to avoid notice. And don’t think any further than that. It helps if you don’t think about what might happen.”

I saw faces clear at my words, shoulders relaxing a bit, and knew that it had been the right thing to say. One step at a time. That was all we could do for the moment.

“Well, what about me?” Abe interrupted. “Who am I supposed to go with if my brother is with Jackie?” He gave Ant a look that I read as half betrayal and half jealousy, and I rolled my eyes.

I’d already realized that Ant was going to have a problem with leaving Abe behind, courtesy of already having lost him once, and that we were going to have to deal with Ant being overprotective of his brother. I hadn’t thought about how the bridge went both ways—and that while they might have been attached at the hip before, they were going to be even worse now that they’d faced the threat of true mortality.