“She brought us food.” I handed the knapsack to him. “Can you say thank you, Lazzo?”
He ignored me. “Hayley, let’s go.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Lazzo clearly didn’t want to leave me with Flynn, but he backed away. “Twenty seconds,” he whispered.
“I’ll stay an hour if I want to.”
“Hayley—” He stopped and shook his head, then continued his retreat.
When he was out of earshot, I looked back down at Flynn. “I can’t have anyone find him, Flynn. I’ll explain more later, but put it this way…if we don’t make it to Colorado, I stand to lose a lot more people I love.”
Lazzo was already whispering at me again. Idiot.
Then I heard another whisper from somewhere below Flynn. “Someone’s coming.”
“That Chase again?” I tried to see past her but couldn’t.
She nodded. “I gotta go.”
I quickly put my hand on hers. “Thank you. Both of you.”
“Same time tomorrow, okay?” Then she was gone.
I scampered quietly back to our room, and Lazzo met me at the door. “What did she want?”
“Lazzo, listen… you are going to have to trust me if you want this to work. You scaring Flynn is not making this easier. Do you understand? You jeopardize everything by leaving the room. E-ver-y-thing.” I emphasized each syllable. “Someone could see you.”
“But not you?”
I sighed deeply. “Of course they could. But when we were watching the ship from Redemption how many black men did you see?”
“Four, five, six… I don’t know. I wasn’t counting.”
Clearly. “And white girls?”
That number was closer to fifty and he knew what I was getting at now. He was going to be more memorable—more noticeable. He didn’t like how I was talking to him, but he nodded. “Okay. I get it.”
“Great.” I grabbed the knapsack from him. “Now, let’s eat.”
SIXTEEN – Six Dead (Ryan)
Danny promised to keep Tara with him during the search before he climbed onto the plane with Trigger, Twix, Royce, Deacon, Blake, and Axel. I grabbed Tara’s hand as she walked past me. “Hey.”
She turned but wouldn’t meet my eyes. “What?”
I cringed. “It’s going…” I can’t say it. “I’m sorry.”
She didn’t reply. I released her arm as I felt her pull away. She climbed into the plane and they coasted off. Minutes later they were airborne and headed for Kauai. I was miserable.
The governor had called the base on Kauai and asked for two jeeps to be dropped off at the marina for Danny. They were waiting in the parking lot when the Pack arrived. At some point Danny decided to send Blake back with Axel to help us look for the boat. He was a great swimmer and would definitely make retrieving the boat easier—if we did find it.
The rest of them split off in opposite directions on Kauai, and they searched for four hours without a single sign of anything suspicious. Danny was sounding more and more frustrated over the radio. “They’ve got to be here somewhere,” he muttered. “We’re missing something.”
Axel, Blake, Dad, and I were a little more fortunate. We found the boat. As expected, it had followed the current around Kauai and was floating off to the east—with nothing in it but a limp and lifeless Six. Poor dog. Axel landed the plane on the water, and Blake swam over to the boat. He climbed in, started it up, and steered it back to Waimea Bay to refuel. Then he brought the boat back to Redemption. Dad and I unceremoniously helped him bury Six—who had clearly been shot—before his running mate Dice could see him. The bullet hole in Six revived the panic from earlier—from watching the one dot get left behind on the satellite feed. We knew that other dot was a person now and likely had also been shot. My mind was stuck on Hayley, but it could have been any of the others. Thus far, we had no other clues.
It was after four, Monday afternoon, when Danny called in again. “Axel, take everyone to the Hexagon, then come get us.”
“Hey, Danny, I’ve got something to show you.”
“What is it?”
Axel looked at me. “Might be nothing.”
“Okay.” Danny sounded confused. This was new to me, too. “Can you bring it along?” Danny asked.
“Sure. Did you have any luck?” Axel radioed back.
“None.”
Dad volunteered to hang back on Redemption, just in case someone showed up—friend or foe. I knew Danny wouldn’t like it—his grandpa staying out here alone—but I agreed with the logic.
“Call if you need anything.” I hugged him.
“Don’t worry about me, Ryan,” Dad said. “I can shoot better than you.”
Kate kissed him on the cheek and playfully punched my arm. “Fortunately, we all can.”
“Don’t you have to pee again? It’s been ten minutes.”
Even if the smiles were short-lived we all needed those light moments.
On the way to the Hexagon, I asked Axel what it was he wanted to show Danny. He wouldn’t say and my twenty questions stalled—each yielding the same generic response. “If I find out anything important, I’ll tell you.”
By six, we were gathered in the Area 52 wing of the Hexagon—something that never would have been allowed if it hadn’t been Danny’s sister missing. I was trying to listen to Nicole’s instructions on how to operate the zoom features and controls on the satellite cameras, but I was rather overwhelmed by our electronic surroundings. What is this place? It’s like a Buffalo Wild Wings with no food. We were each given a screen to watch—covering a two-square-mile sector of the part of Kauai that had been blacked out—and told to look for anything even the least bit unusual. We watched six hours of recorded feed, from the time the blackout ended to roughly 6:00 a.m., but no one found anything. By then it was after midnight and we were all exhausted. Danny pointed out the bedrooms and suggested we get some sleep.
Most of the others stood up and followed his directions, but Tara didn’t move. I saw Danny kneel down beside her and say something. She put her head on his shoulder, and he rested a hand on her arm. When she finally stood up, Tara had tears streaming down her face. It was clear she didn’t want to stop looking for Emily, but she walked away from the computers anyway—directly toward me. We walked in silence down the hall to a room full of bunk beds. She didn’t tell me what Danny had said to her, and I didn’t push it. I wanted to lie beside her and hold her, but she didn’t seem the least bit interested in sharing the bottom bunk. She whispered goodnight and slid under the covers, clothes and boots still on. I stood there for a minute, not quite sure how to feel, before climbing up to the top bunk. As I lay there in the darkness, listening to Danny and the Pack talk out at the computers, I finally heard her whisper something. “He said it’s not your fault, Ryan.”
I felt a lump form in my throat, but I didn’t move—and I didn’t say anything back. That Danny had to try to convince her otherwise told me exactly how she felt. She obviously blamed me for Emily being gone. I covered my face with my hands and bit back an exasperated sigh. I understood blaming me was a lot easier than blaming herself—and I could take it for now—but… Please, God, keep Emily safe. Please… keep them all—the rest of them anyway—alive. I couldn’t imagine Tara’s response toward me if Emily wasn’t brought home safely. And I didn’t know how I’d handle Hayley not coming back. I was determined not to think about it—but losing that fight every waking minute.