Trade Me (Cyclone #1)(80)

“All this time,” I say, choking, “I’ve been trying to make it up to you guys, to make things right. I’ve been scared, so scared, and so convinced that I had to do anything I could to stay safe.”

My mother rubs her eyes. “When I got on the plane leaving China, I promised myself that I would never be afraid again. That I would never be quiet again. I have never done so.”

“No. You haven’t.”

She looks over at me. “Maybe I should have promised that my daughter would never be afraid, too. I should have realized. I should have asked.”

“No, Ma. Never.”

She leans over and sets her hand on my shoulder.

But at that moment, the door opens. I expect the officer to gruffly tell us not to touch. Instead, he saunters in and undoes my handcuffs.

“You’re free to go,” he says.

“What?” My mother stands. “Why? No bail?”

“You,” he says to her with exaggerated slowness, “can go.” He demonstrates with two fingers walking.

“I understand what,” my mother snaps. “Just not why. Explain why.”

The guard shrugs. “The DA made other arrangements.”

My head is spinning. I don’t know what that means, what will happen with me.

But I’m not about to question my good fortune. I elbow my mother and frown at her, and then stand up and follow the guard to get my things. Which is good; even though the launch is today, I don’t want to think about leaving my prototypes in the hands of the police.

They’re keeping the car, the officer tells us as he leads us down a long hall. Apparently, that’s evidence.

Fine. I’ll let Blake deal with that.

I see another policeman coming our way. A man is following him. I don’t even register who it is until we’re almost on top of them.

And then I do. His sandy hair is tousled; his eyes are bright blue and he’s wearing glasses. But the man being led down the hall is most definitely Blake Reynolds.

“Blake?” I come to a stop. “What are you doing here?”

He gives me a long, slow smile. “What do you think?”

I can’t think anything at all.

“We’ve got twelve minutes until the launch,” he says. “Everything we agreed on together? It’s still on. Come on, Tina. Trade me.”

My eyes go wide. My heart starts to thump. “What? Blake—your dad, the product launch—no, I can’t let you—”

“Too late,” he says. “I already signed the papers.”

“Blake.”

“Have fun, Tina.” He winks at me. “And, oh, if you have a chance, do watch the launch. For me, okay?”

23.

TINA

“What is going on?” My mother grabs my arm as we head to the car. “What is Blake doing here? Why is he staying? Is he dealing drugs? What did he mean launch? Is it a rocket launch? Why is the DA listening to him?”

“It’s a long story.”

My mother looks at me sidelong. “We have a long drive.”

I glance at my watch. “Um. Not yet. We have to watch the product launch.”

“Product launch. What is this product launch? And how do we watch it without a TV?”

I’m not going to get around this one. I take a deep breath. “Okay. Here’s the deal. Blake is…”

“I know, your boyfriend. Don’t you know you can’t lie to your mother?”

“He wasn’t my boyfriend when we came down,” I mutter. “Really. That came afterward. And we broke up this morning.” I frown. “I think.”

“Huh. Didn’t look like a break-up to me back there.” We arrive at her car. She unlocks my side of the door and I open my bag. I take out a tablet and check the reception. It’s complete crap. “Drive north,” I tell her. The launch has already started.

She starts her car. “Fancy gadget.” She frowns at it on my lap. “Very fancy gadget. Are you selling meth or something? I was only joking when I said you should deal drugs.”

“Ma! No. Of course I’m not.”

“I had to ask,” she says mildly.

“Look. I didn’t lie to you about Blake being my boyfriend. I did imply, incorrectly that he had…not a lot of money.”

“Oh?” My mother perks up. “He’s rich? Is that a present from him?”

“He’s Blake Reynolds,” I explain.

She frowns. “Who? Some kind of actor?”

“His dad is the CEO of Cyclone. The company that makes these.” I tilt the tablet to her. “This is a preproduction model.”

“Hmm.” She frowns.

I stick to the basics. “Cyclone is launching a new product right now. Blake was supposed to be running the launch. His dad had a heart attack last night.” I inhale. “If Blake is here, getting me out of this, he’s not there. So if he wants me to watch the product launch, I will.” I keep my eye on the reception on the way back, and once I have four bars, I motion my mother into a supermarket parking lot.

She parks next to a flock of shopping carts. I navigate to the Cyclone website. It’s twenty-two minutes into the launch by the time I get the feed working. David Yu, the chief product engineer, is finishing the demo on the updated tablet and the new video app, to massive applause.