Kristi replied in a heartbeat, “I’m not changing my mind.”
“Fine,” said Finn’s mom. “I can’t tell you what to do. However, Finn isn’t coming with you, and I am legally entitled to prevent him from leaving this household.”
“Mom,” moaned Finn.
His mom glared at him. Luckily, Dr. Hansom came to their rescue once more.
“Jacqueline,” he said in his soft voice. “Do what you think is best for the greater good. I realize that you love your son, but sometimes love is also about letting go, not just holding on.”
Finn’s mom abruptly stood up. “Fine,” she said, not sounding fine at all. “Do what you will.” She left the room.
Finn’s dad looked at the doorway, as if wishing he could escape the room with his wife.
After what seemed like eons, he said, “Finn, your mother and I will deeply regret seeing you depart on this risky business if you choose to. But if that is what you want to do, I won’t do anything to stop you.”
“Thanks for understanding,” Finn said.
“No problem, son.”
Finn didn’t need to voice his answer out loud. They all knew he was coming with them.
“Finn, will you show the guests the spare bedrooms?” asked his dad in a somber tone.
Finn lightly hoisted himself up from the couch and grabbed his crutches, which were leaning against the wall. “This way.”
Thoughts whirled around Kristi’s brain like a blender set on high.
“Which case should we start on?” she asked.
“Probably the Disappearance Case,” Jaiden said. “It seems to be the most feasible case to complete.”
“Wake up.” Chelsa roughly shook Kristi awake.
Kristi directed her groggy eyes at the clock: 3:26am.
“What the heck?” she whispered.
“We have to go. Jaiden and Troop are already up. I have to go wake up Finn now. Hurry up and get dressed.”
She snagged Chelsa by the arm. “Why?”
“Look, I don’t have time to explain. We’re already six minutes late; waking Jaiden took longer than I expected.”
“I’m not heading outside at half past three in the morning without a good reason,” Kristi said. “Do you know how much trouble we will be in if we’re caught outside?”
“Alright, I’ll explain briefly,” said Chelsa impatiently. “I received an instafication notifying us there was someone who had something that could help aid us in completing one of the cases. The person’s meeting us at Jabber Boulevard at 3:20.”
“Doesn’t this seem a bit vague and skeptical? We haven’t even known about the cases for a day and we’re already being offered help in the middle of the night? Tell the person we’ll meet him or her during the day and at a place where we decide to meet.”
Chelsa let out a frustrated sigh. “Look, don’t you think we could use all the help we can get? The person said he wouldn’t be around tomorrow since he’s leaving Oppidum as soon as he hands us whatever he has to give.”
Jaiden entered the room with Troop.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
“Can you go wake Finn up while I try to convince Kristi to get out of bed?”
Jaiden left in search of Finn’s room.
“Should I find Ghost?” Troop asked.
“Nah,” said Chelsa, then she turned back to Kristi, probably ready to yank her out from beneath the blankets by force if needed.
Kristi had already pulled on a hoodie was lacing up her sneakers though. Might as well get this over with, she thought.
“Oh good, you’ve finally come about to your senses,” Chelsa muttered.
Her shoulders bunched up with tension and Kristi began to doubt herself for agreeing to meet this mysterious person in the middle of the night. As far as Kristi was concerned, meeting strangers at three in the morning usually didn’t end well.
Jaiden returned to the room with Finn within five minutes.
“Let’s get going,” he said. “Chelsa, you said you know how to get to Jabber Boulevard, right?”
“Yes.”
Chelsa tried to leave the room, but Ghost blocked the doorway.
“Ghost, can you please move?” she asked.
Ghost raised his hackles and hissed at Chelsa. Kristi had never seen Ghost act so aggressive to her before.
“Don’t make this any harder than it is,” Chelsa said to Ghost in a low voice, prodding him with her foot in attempt to get him out of the way.
Ghost spat disdainfully and stalked away in a huffy manner.
Finn unlocked the backdoor and the five of them stepped out into the crisp night. Kristi was extra glad of the thick sweatshirt she had pulled on when a stiff breeze blew through.
“How far away is Jabber Boulevard?” she whispered.
“About a ten minute walk.”
The roads were eerie and void of life. Oppidum had transformed from a lively metropolitan to an abandoned city within hours. Chelsa seemed to want to say something several times while walking, but kept changing her mind last minute. Kristi wondered if she was regretting rousing them up to meet a stranger in the middle of the night.
“Oh, I recognize where we are,” Finn said. His voice sounded freakishly loud in the unoccupied roads. “Jabber Boulevard is only two streets away.”
They turned right at the end of the avenue and the street sign for Jabber Boulevard came into view. Chelsa, who had been leading the group the whole time, paused in her steps without a warning and spun around. Kristi took a hasty step back to avoid colliding face first into her.
“Are there patrols?” Kristi asked.
“No. Let’s go back to Finn’s house.”
“You’re kidding,” Troop said. “You dragged us out at three-something in the morning only to turn back now without even seeing if we can receive some help with the case.”
“No, I’m not kidding. Let’s go.”
“At least give us a good reason why we should turn back now,” said Jaiden.
“I lied.” Chelsa’s eyes evaded Jaiden’s.
“I don’t understand,” said Jaiden.
“There is no one waiting for us at Jabber Boulevard. At least no one that you would want to meet. Unless you want to be caught by the United Region Homeland Security law enforcers.”
“Are you saying you led us straight into an ambush?” Kristi said, not believing what Chelsa was telling her.
“Yes—get behind those recycle bins!”
Chelsa shoved Kristi behind several bins sitting by the curb just as someone walked off of Jabber Boulevard. Then she walked away from the bins and towards the person.
“Chelsa, good to see you,” the person greeted her. The woman was dressed all in black, from her combat boots to her helmet.
“Greetings, Officer Zala,” Chelsa replied.
Officer Zala frowned. “You’re late by over fifteen minutes. And where are the others you promised you would bring? My people have been waiting for over an hour now.”
“I’m sorry. I thought I could convince the others to follow me with the fake instafication I sent myself. I was wrong though; they weren’t willing to break curfew.”
Zala ground her teeth, whether out of frustration or anger, Kristi couldn’t tell.
“I expected better of you,” Zala said. “I will call my men off duty then. Remember, the faster you bring the other freaks to us, the faster you’ll get what you want. I will be awaiting your next instafication and updates.”
“Is that all there is?” Chelsa asked.
Officer Zala gave a sharp nod and left. A few minutes later, three black vans pulled out of Jabber Boulevard and then roared off. Kristi quivered, thinking how close they had been with getting caught.