The Child Thief 3: Thin Lines Read online

“Why would they have done that?” Ant asked. “That would make them pretty bad teammates.”

  “I don’t know,” Jace replied. “If anyone knows what we’re supposed to be doing next, it’s them. They had more access to Nathan than anyone but Boyd, and they were in charge of planning. I had assumed that included an idea of what we were going to do after we waltzed into an Authority prison and stole some of their most important prisoners.”

  I nodded in agreement. I’d thought the same. We’d all been so busy planning the jailbreak and so concerned with getting our friends back that none of us had dedicated much time to considering what we were going to do afterward. We’d been relying on Zion and Alexy to have a plan. They’d been the ones in charge of recon. In charge of everything.

  Now here we were, having broken into an Authority prison and having stolen our friends right out from under the Authority’s nose. We had no sure route to safety, and the people who might have had that route were missing.

  A shiver ran down my spine.

  “Where are we going to go?” I asked, my voice hoarse.

  “Back to Trenton.” Jace said firmly, picking up his pace. “Anyone with phones, get on the encrypted app and see if you can get through to the people we’re missing. Ant, use your GPS to figure out where we are and where the closest train station is. I know where Zion and Alexy live, and that’s where we’ll start. We need to get the full story from them—along with an idea of what the hell we’re supposed to do next.”

  2

  It didn’t take us long to figure out that we had been well and truly deserted. We must have sent hundreds of messages on the encrypted app and through text as we marched into the forest, but no responses came back.

  “Alexy, Zion, Allerra… even Boyd. None of them are replying to me,” Jackie muttered as she hurried to keep up with Jace, who was walking so quickly that I was having to limp-jog to keep up. “The messages are being delivered, but they’re not looking at them. Or if they are, they’ve figured out a way to do it without sending me confirmation that they’ve been read.” She scowled thunderously at her phone, and I felt a moment of sympathy for Zion and the others if we ever found them. You didn’t ignore Jackie unless you wanted to pay for it later, and now was not the right time to push her.

  What I couldn’t figure out was why Zion and Alexy would have deserted us. Where had they gone, and why? I’d thought we were a team. I’d thought we were on the same side, but we’d woken up and found them gone, without a trace or any indication of what had happened.

  Jace glanced at Ant, who was marching on my other side. “Ant, what have you got for us on the GPS readings?” he asked. “Where are we, and how quickly can we get to a train station?”

  Ant didn’t bother to look up from his phone, and I twisted a bit to glance at him, wincing at the twinge in my leg as I did so. I’d been right—it was getting better as we walked—but every so often, I made a move that made it feel fragile.

  “I can see where we are,” Ant said, interrupting my thoughts, “and the good news is that those Little John dudes put us down pretty close to a town with a major train station. Starkston, according to the map I’m looking at. About an hour by train from Trenton. Would have been nice if they’d actually taken us somewhere useful, but—”

  “But they couldn’t have known where we would have been safe,” Jace finished for him. “And they weren’t exactly subtle, considering they were flying the largest airship I’ve ever seen. I don’t like it any more than you do, but putting us down in a meadow out of sight of any town was probably done specifically to keep us safe. After all—”

  “We don’t know who might be looking for us,” I said.

  That was the truth of the matter. We might be relatively secure right now, if you didn’t count the fact that we were in the middle of nowhere and had no idea where we were supposed to go or what we were supposed to do, but that didn’t mean that we would be safe once we reached civilization. The chances of us not being on some sort of public watch list were very slim.

  “If they’d dropped us off in town, and if the government has gone public with our faces, we might have been arrested before we even woke up,” Jace confirmed. “We can’t know for sure yet, of course, but we need to assume that there are orders to report in and hunt us down.”

  At that moment, to my surprise, Jackie let out a loud snort. “Listen, Hux, I don’t know where you’re from or what they did for fun there, but of course we can know for sure.” She typed madly on her phone, then shoved it in his face. Or rather, she shoved it as close to his face as she could. Given how short she was, it was more like shoving it at his chest.

  I saw that she’d gone to the number one news site on the web.

  “Take a look at that,” she said. “Front page news. And there ain’t nothing about us. Just a story about new factory regulations in terms of attendance and some sort of large celebration the government is planning for the anniversary of the regime change. The Authority might be searching for us, but they aren’t doing it publicly yet. Which means we have some security, for the moment. But we’d better move quickly. Before they decide they need to take the manhunt public.”

  Jace took a deep enough breath that I wondered if he was going to argue, but then he just nodded.

  “Okay.” He called out a range of orders. “Gabby, can you end the comm link for us? I don’t want anyone else picking up on it. It doesn’t look like there are any public notifications about us yet, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be, and we don’t have any time to waste. We’ll get in touch with you when we’re somewhat more settled. I want the healthy members of the team supporting anyone who’s wounded, and I want us moving in double time. Ant, you’re in charge here, because you have the map. Lead the way.”

  I saw Ant straighten his shoulders and lift his chin at the increased responsibility.

  “Right,” he murmured. “Guys, we’re twenty to thirty minutes’ walking distance from Starkston, according to my GPS. Per the train schedule, there’s a train that leaves the station in fifteen minutes, going to Trenton. We’re going to be on that train come hell or high water. Everyone stick as close together as you can, in a tight group. We don’t have time to lose anyone. Let’s move!”

  Behind us, I could hear Abe snorting with laughter at the fact that his brother was giving orders, and wondered at his silence up to that point. We’d been awake for at least half an hour now, and he’d barely said anything, which was unlike him.

  Then again, he’d been arrested and held by the Authority, and who knew what they’d done to him. Maybe he was still in shock.

  Everyone else started shuffling into place, and within seconds we were running through the forest. My gait was somewhat uneven thanks to my bruised leg, and my heart was pounding at the idea that we might be heading directly toward trouble.

  We barely caught our ride. By the time we reached the station, the train’s doors were already starting to close. We shoved our way through the crowd on the platform, and Jace managed to grab one of the sliding doors with his right hand. He wedged himself into the gap sideways, so he could keep the doors open, and motioned to everyone else to get onboard.

  “In, in, guys! Through the doors! I want all of us in the same car.”

  The team funneled into the car in quick succession, the wounded among us leaning on the healthier team members. I wondered if anyone needed to go to the hospital, but as they walked past, I saw that no one appeared to have been too badly wounded. Their weaknesses seemed to come from lack of sleep and malnutrition—except for Nelson, who looked as if she’d been caught in some sort of fire tornado. Half of her hair was gone, and her hands were blistered, but if I knew her, she wouldn’t pay much mind to either.

  She’d be focused on revenge over and above anything else. She’d probably keep the spiky new hairdo, just to show the government how little she cared about what they’d done to her.

  The final tech slipped through the gap, and Jace finally shifted so the doo
rs could close. He stumbled through the aisle of the car and dropped into the seat next to Ant.

  The entire car had been empty, by some stroke of luck, so we were the only passengers. At least we would have some privacy while we tried to prepare for our arrival at the next town. The last thing we needed right then was nosy passersby. We had to look absolutely horrible.

  Jackie waited for Jace to settle in his seat before talking. “So, plan. We know we gotta get to Trenton to try to find Zion and Alexy, so we can figure out what we’re supposed to be doing when it comes to escape. And then figure out how we’re going to do it. But we need to talk details. Like how—”

  “Is it even safe to go back to town?” Austin interrupted. “Surely they’ve seen your faces.”

  Jace shook his head. “We were wearing masks by the time we got into their compound, so they shouldn’t be able to recognize us. But they will know yours.” He cast a long glance at each tech, as well as Winter, Kory, Nelson, and Abe, and then blew out a breath through pursed lips. “They’ll know exactly what every one of you looks like, and that’s going to be a big problem. They have you on video, for God’s sake. So, the minute we get into town, we’re going to have to hide you. After that…” He shrugged, the motion rippling through his body.

  “That’s about fifteen people that you’re talking about hiding, Hux,” Kory said. “But I hope you’re not including me in that number, because you know I won’t go quietly.”

  My head popped up, and I stared at him. For some reason, knowing that Kory was here made me feel better. He was one of Jace’s best friends, and the second-strongest person I’d ever known. Jace alone might not be able to force his way into a safe position, but with Kory at his side, the odds seemed somehow better.

  Jace laughed. “I wouldn’t expect you to, but the Authority knows your face, too, in case you’ve forgotten. You’re no safer than the others.”

  Kory lifted an eyebrow. “And if I don’t agree to go into hiding?”

  “Then you’ll be putting all of our lives at risk,” Ant said sharply. “I don’t think that’s good for anyone, do you?”

  Kory gave him a long look but then smiled slowly. “I won’t put anyone in danger if I’m wearing a disguise.”

  “And where exactly do you think you’ll get a disguise from?” Ant shot back.

  Kory shrugged. “We’re heading to Zion’s and Alexy’s places, aren’t we? I happen to know that Zion had a whole wardrobe of disguises at his fingertips, and I figure he must have been keeping at least some of them at his house. Seems to me that’s a perfect solution, don’t you think?”

  My mouth fell open, and I glanced from Jace to Kory and back again, waiting for Jace to get on board with the idea. We couldn’t help that the Authority knew the faces of those they’d arrested, but if we could disguise some of them, we could eliminate at least part of the problem.

  “It’s a good idea,” Jace said after a beat. “But an even better idea is if we take advantage of Zion’s and Alexy’s houses. Nathan would have set them up with the best security. I’ll go one step further and say we should leave those who are too wounded or who might be recognized there. It’s a hell of a lot safer than dressing up a bunch of wounded people and taking them into town.”

  “Well, you won’t be leaving me behind, either,” Abe cut in from several seats down.

  To my surprise, Ant shook his head firmly. “No. You’ve been through too much, Abe, and I want you in one of those apartments, recovering. Not out on the streets with us. You might get hurt—or, worse, arrested again.”

  Abe gaped at his brother, and I almost laughed. For as long as I’d known them, the twins had a specific M.O.: Abe was the leader, and Ant was the goofy younger brother. I had no idea which of them was actually older, but it had always been clear that Abe was the one in charge.

  That had changed while Abe was in prison. Ant had done things that I doubted either of them had ever expected, and though Abe might have seen a lot of things he hadn’t wanted to while in prison, Ant had been on the outside, growing by leaps and bounds.

  It didn’t take a genius to see that Abe was having trouble with this new version of his brother. This version was taking protecting Abe—and keeping him out of trouble, rather than getting him into it—extremely seriously.

  “I… I…” Abe sputtered, frowning.

  “We might be able to use him, Ant,” Jace interjected. “If Jack’s coming, I vote we let Abe come, too, if he wants to. If we run into trouble, more bodies and brains might give us a better chance of getting out of it.”

  I could see that Ant wanted to argue, but he finally shrugged in resignation and gave his brother a half grin.

  “Guess that means you’re coming with us, bro,” he said. “Just try to keep up, huh? I don’t wanna have to rescue you again.”

  “As cute as it is to see you two on your reunion tour,” Jackie interrupted, “shouldn’t we talk out some details before we get to Trenton?” She glanced at her watch and then at me. “We don’t have that long before we’re going to be pulling into the station, and this is going to be risky enough for us. We’re the walking wounded. Let’s not make it riskier by going in there blind.”

  I looked up at Jace. “She’s right. The quicker we get through town and off the streets, the less chance we have of being spotted by the wrong people. What are we going to do to make that happen?”

  Jace’s response told me he’d already been thinking along the same lines, bless him. He didn’t hesitate with his answer. “We go to Zion’s first. It’s closer to the train station than Alexy’s place. Plus, he was the one in charge of planning, which should have included the after-the-jailbreak escape. And even if he’s not there, that’s where we can leave most of the team. It’s too dangerous to continue with so many people. We can grab whatever we can to disguise Abe and Jack and then get to Alexy’s. She and Zion might be there instead, and we really don’t have many options other than trying to find them. It’s the best plan I can think of right now, unless anyone else has other ideas.” When no one offered any suggestions, he nodded.

  “I also have to get to my apartment,” he said suddenly, as if he’d just remembered something.

  I frowned. That seemed random. “Why?”

  “Two reasons,” he answered. “One, that coffee shop is where we left Allerra, and I want to see if she’s still there and get her to safety if we can. Two, I have things I need to get from my apartment. If we don’t find anyone, we’re going to have to start doing some research on our own about what the hell just happened and what our next step should be. Robin, you took plenty of pictures of that timeline we saw, right?”

  I nodded quickly, my mind returning to those photos and what they might mean.

  “I want to know who Little John is and why they keep stepping in at the last minute. They act like they’re our allies, but if they are—”

  “Why do they keep leaving us out in the open?” Ant finished. “Why aren’t they taking us to their super-secret headquarters full of fun toys and safety?”

  “Exactly,” Jace finished. “I’ve never heard the name before, but the fact is the Authority had an entire timeline dedicated to them and they just happened to be the organization that’s rescued us so many times. If we’re going to be in Trenton, we should see if we can find out anything about them. Definitely blow up and print those pictures so we can recreate the timeline. We’re in a bad way here, and we need shelter. Seems to me that Little John is the best place to find it, but we need to know who they are and how to find them.”

  “We already know that Zion and Alexy knew Little John. You think Nathan has something to do with them, too,” I said, making it a statement rather than a question. I couldn’t be the only one to have noticed that Jace still hadn’t mentioned Nathan, and that he was choosing to look for Little John over Nathan and his organization. We’d known from our earlier encounter with Little John that Zion and Alexy knew the organization, or at least had known how to contact them, so i
t made sense that Nathan might be connected as well.

  Jace turned his warm honey eyes toward me and gave me a sideways smile. “I hope so, because I’ve tried to get in touch with him at least a dozen times, and I’m getting no response. Could be that he’s just gotten rid of the burner phone he was using, or that he has it off for security, but I also can’t get hold of Boyd, and that’s never happened before. I don’t want to believe that they’ve hung us out to dry, but I also don’t want to believe that anything happened to them. I’m thinking that we need to use what we’ve got to find them, though, instead of sitting around and hoping that they’ll come rescue us again.”

  “Doesn’t seem very nice of them to up and disappear, though, does it?” Ant asked. “They had us on their ship, man! Why not just take us to safety right away?”

  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.”