The Child Thief 3: Thin Lines Read online

  I stared at him, surprised at the statement and its implications. What exactly was Jace into? I’d always known that he was part of the inner circle, headed by Nathan, but I’d never realized that they were quite so paranoid. It made the security put into place by Nelson look almost tame.

  Seconds later, the door succumbed to Jace’s ministrations and swung open. An alarm started screaming, echoing through the tiny hallway and announcing the arrival of intruders.

  4

  Ant, Jackie, and I immediately dropped to the ground, our hands on our ears, and though I cringed at hitting the bruise on my leg, the pain was secondary to me.

  All I could think about was the sound. I pressed my hands tighter against my head and tried desperately to shut out the wailing now spilling from Zion’s apartment and through the building.

  What in God’s good name was going on in there?

  I looked up, eyes nearly closed against the pain, and saw Jace still standing right outside the door, looking as if everything was normal. He cast an amused glance at us writhing on the ground, and then stepped calmly through the door.

  Three seconds later, the siren cut out.

  I cautiously removed my hands from my ears and squinted at the door. I could still hear the ghost of the sound, and I had to wonder if my ears might be permanently damaged. I’d never heard anything so high-pitched in my life. It had sounded like some sort of auditory torture device.

  “What the hell was that, and what did we do to deserve it?” Ant hissed, sticking his forefingers in his ears and twisting.

  “The security measures Zion chose to put in,” Jace called from inside the apartment. “Now, get up and get in here.”

  Jackie rose to her feet, helping me to mine, and we hurried into the apartment.

  I looked around, then paused and looked around again, trying to convince myself that I hadn’t started imagining things. The entire place was done in chrome and red lacquer, with a black leather finish. It was a bizarre combination of shine and matte, with bright, aggressive coloration. My gaze darted from the windows covered with metal blinders, to the black leather couch, to the red lacquer table, to the gray carpeting.

  This place was pure Zion, I realized, in terms of how aggressive and masculine it was.

  Just as Jace’s house was absolutely him.

  Whatever else it might mean to be a part of Nathan’s core group, it seemed to come with free rein in terms of decor, and in Zion’s case, clearly a great budget.

  “God, this place looks like a ball of testosterone exploded,” Jackie murmured, turning slowly as she took in the room. “What do you even call this? The Blood and Evil Look?”

  Jace let out a soft laugh. “Whatever it is, it’s Zion down to the toes. Though, every time we met here, it did give me a headache.”

  He frowned and glanced around more closely before walking quickly into the hallway. I could hear his footsteps moving from one room to another—and then the sound of something being dragged across the floor, and the abrupt slam of a door.

  “He’s definitely not here,” he muttered when he returned. “I’ve checked all the safe spots, and he’s not hiding anywhere in the apartment. Doesn’t look like he returned from the mission and then left again, either. At least, not from what I can tell. Nothing thrown around, no signs of quick packing or anyone returning from an adventure that might have wounded them.”

  He frowned again and was just opening his mouth when there was a clatter of footsteps from the staircase, followed by Julia, Marco, and Abe shoving their way through the door.

  “What’s going on?” Marco gasped, his plump cheeks flushed. “We heard some sort of crazy screaming when we were coming through the door downstairs. What was that? Did it come from you guys?”

  “It did,” Ant replied. “From this apartment, when we broke in. Evidently Nathan’s people have fancier security measures than we realized.”

  Julia cast her gaze from one side of the room to the other and lifted one elegant brow. “Well, how classy,” she said. “It’s no wonder Zion doesn’t come with a woman attached, if he lives in a place that looks like this.”

  Abe, meanwhile, was staring at the apartment with his mouth hanging open. It occurred to me that this was his first real exposure to what I’d started to think of as the underground part of OH+. This was the part that we still didn’t understand, but that undeniably went deeper than the original OH, and that we certainly hadn’t become a part of. I’d seen some of it in Jace’s apartment and in the way that Cloyd, Zion, and Alexy looked at each other. I’d seen the amount of tech that those three conveniently had access to, and I’d suspected for some time that there was more going on than we’d been told.

  But for Abe, it was all brand new—the idea that one of our friends would have an apartment decked out this richly.

  “What the hell have you guys gotten into?” he asked quietly, echoing my thoughts. “Who are these friends of yours?”

  “That’s not important right now,” Jace replied. “What is important is that this particular friend isn’t currently home.” He quickly lifted one hand to fend off Ant’s opening mouth. “I’m hoping that he’s with Alexy and that they’re at her apartment, which is equally secure. We need to get there next and find out, because if they’ve blown out of town already, it means that they’ve taken whatever escape plans they might have had with them, rather than waiting for us.” He glanced at the door, where Winter and a couple of techs had just shown up, and then toward Nelson and several others, who were trudging up the steps.

  I heaved a quick sigh of relief at seeing Nelson and turned my gaze back to Jace.

  “Shouldn’t we get going? What if someone heard that alarm?” I asked. “What if it somehow alerted a security team?”

  Jace shook his head. “This building has been soundproofed, so there’s no chance of anyone outside having heard it, first of all. Secondly, if it led to a security team, it would be Nathan’s security team. And if they got here, it would be, presumably, to save us. That said, from what Zion has told me, this alarm is for one reason and one reason only: to warn him if someone was trying to break in.”

  I exhaled. That made me feel slightly better, but the main problem remained. The guy wasn’t here.

  “So what now?” Marco asked, still breathing heavily.

  “Get into Zion’s box of tricks, get disguises for Jack and Abe, and then get out of here. At least, that’s the plan for Robin, Ant, Abe, Jack, Jackie, and me,” Jace said. “We’ll get to Alexy’s and pray that she and Zion are there. If they are, we find out what we’re doing next. If they’re not… well, it will give us another safe house, at least.”

  I nodded, though I still felt bothered by the lack of direction, and then remembered the other complication.

  “What about the list of addresses?” I recalled that list of five hundred addresses with no names attached. “It was housed in the OH+ portal—which has been taken down, by the way. Or rather, is now inhabited by the Authority.”

  I added that last bit for the sake of those we’d just rescued from prison, who all turned toward me. We hadn’t even taken the time to explain what had happened while they had been imprisoned: OH+ being hacked, the techs that we had tried to find, the traps in the OH+ portal, and Gabby’s break-in, using software that Robert had given her. How we had found the lists of names and addresses and suspected that the Authority had started searching for them. How the Authority soldiers had chased after us when we had tried to find them. How Little John’s men in black had rescued us at the last minute, which made our run-in with them outside of the Authority’s compound our second experience with the organization, rather than the first.

  It was all important to the larger story, and our friends didn’t even know all that had happened yet.

  We didn’t have time to tell them everything right now. We needed to get to Alexy’s, and if she and Zion weren’t there, waiting to save us, then to a place where we could print my pictures from the Authority co
mpound. Because if Alexy and Zion were gone, our next best bet was Nathan and Little John. We had to get off the streets, quickly, but we also needed to figure out where we were supposed to go. With any luck, the timeline from my photos would give us some sort of clue. Then we would go to the coffee shop where we’d left Allerra and see whether she was even still there. Jace could also get whatever he would need out of his apartment. And we had to do this all before the Authority found us.

  There was no doubt in my mind that they were already looking and that we’d avoided them to this point by pure luck.

  “The only important part for the moment is that none of you can go home,” Jace said, addressing our bewildered-looking friends. “Your addresses aren’t safe. We know there are two lists of addresses floating around out there, and that the government has at least one of them—the one with the addresses of the techs. The other list… well, we know that the addresses for everyone else might be on it. And we’ve seen what they do with people who don’t agree with them. All of you are to stay right here until we come back and get you. Don’t leave the apartment, don’t open the windows, and don’t answer the door. If enforcers show up after we leave, you’re to rush to the bedrooms and get into the safe rooms.”

  He turned to Winter. “Winter, I’m putting you in charge. Make sure everyone stays in line. I know some of you are hurt and that you’re all probably tired and hungry. If I know Zion, there will be plenty of food in the kitchen, and you’re welcome to eat as much of it as you want.”

  His mouth worked as if he wanted to say more but didn’t know how to put it into words. “Zion has great security, and this place should be safe for the night, at the very least. Safer than you would be out on the streets with us, anyway. So eat, rest, and wait for us.”

  He then turned to Winter, Kory, and Abe. “Come with me to sort through the disguises, and, Winter, I’ll get you into the safe rooms. We’re going to leave them open for easy access. Pray you don’t need them.”

  “Something tells me Zion’s not going to like us ferreting through his things.” Kory said, as he followed Jace toward the hallway.

  “If he didn’t want us going through his things then he should have been here to stop us,” Jace retorted over his shoulder.

  A sharp laugh was Kory’s only answer.

  Once they’d disappeared, I took charge of the group, turning to the people I knew best: Julia and Marco. “I think you two should stay here as well, with the techs. To keep an eye on them.”

  Julia nodded. “To watch out for them. I don’t want them caught unprepared.” She shared a long look with Nelson, and I remembered that once, what felt like a lifetime ago, Julia had been Nelson’s second-in-command. She’d been the one who’d taken over when Nelson wasn’t around, and she was one of Nelson’s oldest friends. It was no wonder that she wanted to stay here. She must have been even more worried about Nelson than I had been.

  To my surprise, Nelson shook her head, the hair she had left swinging into her face. “I’m not staying here. I’m one of the best techs you’ve got in this outfit, and from what I can see, you’re going to need me.”

  “And you’re hurt,” I retorted. “Probably worse than anyone else.”

  “No worse than you.” She cast a pointed look in my direction. “Some burns and a haircut, and that’s it.” She gave me a quick grin before turning serious again. “This isn’t about me playing hero. It’s about me being able to see what you need. You guys are planning to search for Little John? Well, to do that, you’re going to need to get into computers, and you’re going to need someone who’s faster and more efficient at searching than the average person. That’s me. If you want to figure out what’s going on, I’m your best bet.”

  She paused for breath, and my mind ran over the implications. Yes, Nelson was hurt. She looked like she’d been through a war, in fact. Yet she was obviously still capable, and though she’d fallen behind when we had been escaping from the prison, she seemed to be doing just fine now. And she was absolutely the best tech I’d ever met.

  She was right.

  “I second that.” I sighed, and she threw me a grateful look. “That doesn’t mean I like dragging you back out into danger,” I warned her, narrowing my eyes in mock anger.

  Jace suddenly answered from behind me. “I agree. Nelson, go down the hall and into the first door on your right and tell Jack that you need a disguise as well.”

  She nodded and disappeared into the hallway. I could hear raised voices—Nelson’s the loudest—then silence, and I grinned. Kory might be used to people giving him a lot of leeway, based on what I’d seen of his position in his group of friends, but he’d never dealt with Nelson when she was on a mission. That girl put even Jackie to shame.

  “I don’t see why she gets to go when she’s the reason we’re in this mess in the first place,” a new voice interrupted.

  I whirled in its direction and stared into the crowd.

  I didn’t recognize the voice immediately, but when a guy in his early twenties swept past the others with his hip cocked and his chin up, I sure as hell recognized the face.

  “Robert,” I said curtly. “It’s nice to actually meet you. But this certainly isn’t the time for you to start questioning the leaders of this crew.”

  He cast a narrow-eyed glance at me. “And you are?” he asked, his voice slightly nasal.

  I bit my lip, disliking him even more. I’d never spoken to him before and knew him only as Gabby’s new paramour and one of the techs who had helped prepare for the raid on the warehouse. He was also, I recalled, a man with a low opinion of Nelson and her capabilities, based on what Gabby had repeated from their conversations.

  The more I remembered about him, the less I liked him. The sneer that seemed perpetually plastered to his face really wasn’t improving my opinion.

  Before I could reply, however, a hand shot out and grasped my arm, giving it a squeeze. Jace stepped forward and addressed the mouthy tech.

  “Robert, is it?” At Robert’s look of condescension, Jace continued. “I recognize you from the video we saw. Of you in jail. Keep in mind that we weren’t in jail, which means we know more about what’s going on than you do, and we’re only going to be taking people we know as well as the backs of our hands along with us. For the time being, that’s the safest option. It will keep us all safer.” He paused and gave the guy a long stare. “I trust you see the rationale there? Or are you in favor of taking the more dangerous route?”

  Robert huffed once but took a step back and shrugged. “I never run from danger, myself, but if you want to play it safe, I suppose I’m not in a position to argue with you.”

  Well, mark that under the heading of an agreement that’s not really an agreement, I thought grimly. When this was all over, Gabby and I were going to be having a very serious conversation about her taste in men and how to tell the good ones from the ones who insisted on being cocky when there was no reason for it.

  “So, what about the rest of us?” Ant asked, turning his back on the offending tech.

  “As discussed, the rest of us are going to Alexy’s to check for her and Zion. If they are there and have a plan, we hop to it,” Jace said. “If they’re not, then we get to a place that will allow us to print out the pictures from Robin’s phone, because finding Little John or Nathan is our best bet for finding safety. I also…” He paused and bit down on his lower lip. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that he was holding back something else.

  There was another option, I realized, heart pounding. Something beyond just searching for Little John and Nathan. Only, it was something he wasn’t telling us about, for some reason. I pursed my own lips, wondering what it was exactly and why he wasn’t sharing it. Surely, given our situation, it would be better if we all knew what we were dealing with. More minds on the case, and all that.

  He must have decided not to share, though, because he shook his head and finished his statement. “With luck, we’ll be in a safe place befo
re the Authority picks up our trail.”

  Ant grunted in agreement, and before anyone could say anything else, Kory, Abe, and Nelson appeared at the opening to the hallway.

  I looked up and promptly started laughing.

  Nelson had completely shaved her head, taking my idea of a spiky hairdo several steps farther. One side of her scalp was completely bald and blistered from whatever fire she’d been through, and the other side was sporting a fine peach fuzz stubble. Her large green eyes were lined heavily in black kohl underneath her glasses, and she’d donned bright red lipstick. She looked as though she’d stolen a pair of Zion’s pants, belted them so they’d fit her waist, and then found a midriff-baring crop top to go with them.

  She looked exactly like one of the gothic musicians I’d once gone to watch with Henry, at the concerts I’d never dared to tell my parents about. And she looked nothing like herself.

  “Nelson, your hair!” Julia cried.

  Nelson made a chopping motion with her hand. “Better my hair than my life, don’t you think?” She arched her eyebrows.

  I nodded and saw that Kory had donned the traditional garb of a farmer from the country: overalls and a plaid shirt. His mid-length, ash-blond hair was loose above his shoulders, and he’d tied a bandana around his neck to hide his mouth, should he need more cover.

  Abe, on the other hand, wore huge glasses and a wig of long black hair, making him look like someone else entirely. He’d also donned some of Zion’s clothing—the pants both too large and too long—and behind the glasses, his face was magnified several times, his features distorted and comical. He’d become difficult to identify, even for me, and I must have looked at that face at least a hundred times over the last year.

  “Looking good, bro.” Ant eyed him over. “What is Zion doing with so many disguises lying around, by the way?”