Chapter Twenty-Six
“You can come out now,” Ethan said.
Kaitlin crawled out of the back of the truck where she’d been hidden under a tarpaulin. She brushed herself down. “You did say I could come to London with you.”
Ethan rubbed his eyes; he’d been blindfolded on the drive here, so he wouldn’t know the exact position of their hiding place. Now he looked around. The truck was parked on the runway beside the big private jet that would fly him back to London. The pilot stood at the top of the steps, ready to welcome him on board.
First, he had to decide what to do about his stowaway.
He looked at her for a long moment. He wanted to get on his way. He’d let her come along and decide on the flight what to do with her. He could always send the plane back with her on it. And he had promised her a trip to London.
“Yay.” She high-fived him before he had even spoken a word. Bloody telepaths. “I’ll be no trouble, honest.”
He wondered how many other people she had said that to in her short life.
“You wouldn’t believe how many of them actually believed me.” She grinned, looking for a moment like a child on an adventure. Her grin turned to a scowl. “I’m not a child.”
But in some ways, she was.
“Well, that’s something I’ll have to remedy. Now can we go?”
He ushered her up the steps in front of him. The pilot stepped aside, allowing them to enter, and then introduced the copilot and the two cabin staff.
“Can I bring you anything?” one of flight attendants asked as they took their seats and fastened the seat belts.
“Champagne for me,” Kaitlin said.
“I’ll have water.”
“That stewardess fancies you, you know. And she doesn’t have a clue who I am, or what I am to you, but apparently, I’m seriously going to cramp her style.”
He raised a brow, looked after the hostess in her fitted uniform. He supposed she was beautiful, but he wasn’t interested.
“That’s because you’re in love with Sadie,” Kaitlin said matter-of-factly. “That shows good taste, but maybe not a lot of common sense.”
“Why not? I thought you liked Sadie.”
“I do, but she’s totally screwed up. And while she’s super brave in a lot of ways, she’s a coward in others. When she lost Josie, she sort of shut herself off.”
He knew that. He also knew that the reasons made no difference. He couldn’t get through to her.
Kaitlin reached across and patted his leg. “I wouldn’t give up hope.”
The stewardess came back at that moment with Kaitlin’s champagne and his glass of water. She swallowed it in one gulp and held out the glass for more. It was refilled. “You might as well leave the bottle,” Kaitlin said. “Oh, and once we’re up, can you bring me some food? Anything will do—no, actually, make it pizza. Lots of pizza. What?” she asked, when she looked up and found him watching her. “I like pizza and they never, never served pizza in my little prison cell.” She sipped her champagne. “I could get used to this. You know, whatever else I do, I plan to have money. There are lots of ways a person like me can make money. I’m going to be very rich.”
They were silent while the plane taxied along the runway, then rose into the sky. Kaitlin stared out of the window. “I think I’d like to learn to fly.” She unfastened her seat belt and wandered off to the seating area, taking her champagne with her. She plonked down on one of the leather sofas.
He followed her. Took a seat opposite. “So what are you going to do? Providing Jake doesn’t insist on me sending you back.”
“Jake can insist all he likes. He’s not my father.”
“He loves you.”
“Hey, I’m actually very lovable. But I have to get away.” She thumped her chest with her fist. “There’s too much hatred, too many dark feelings in here. I want to kill the colonel and Kane so badly, it’s like sickness rising inside me every time they’re near.”
“And where would you go?”
The stewardess reappeared, and they were silent while the woman set out an array of pizzas on the table in front of Kaitlin. Two plates, silverware. “Anything else?”
“That’s fine for the moment.”
Kaitlin picked up a slice of pizza and breathed in deeply. “Yum. I want to go everywhere. Do you know how…narrow my life has been up until now? I grew up in a goddamned military compound. I hardly ever left until Jake and the others turned up. But we were still virtual prisoners. Then, when I was sixteen and I started doing the colonel’s sordid little jobs, I almost wished I never had to go anywhere. I hated it. So now, I’m going to travel for fun.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“I’m going to cross the ocean on a yacht, canoe down the Amazon, bungee jump from Victoria Falls…I have a list a mile long.”
“I’m sure you’ll have fun.” An alien concept. But in a strange way, they weren’t dissimilar. He’d hardly had a normal childhood, either.
“Yeah, we’re so alike.” She glanced at him over her half-eaten pizza. “Both broken.” She finished the first slice, ate a second, picked up a third. “You’re not eating.”
He wasn’t hungry.
“You know,” she said. “Maybe you should come with me.”
“Maybe I will.” If he survived.
“You’ll break Sadie’s heart if you die,” she warned him.
He doubted that. Her heart was way too guarded.
Kaitlin heaved a huge sigh. “You know nothing about women.”
He grinned. “And I suppose you know all about men?”
She swallowed her third glass of champagne. “Absolutely nothing. But I suspect I have atrocious taste. That’s another reason I have to leave.” She leaned closer to him. “I think Kane fancies me.”
His lips twitched. “Isn’t he a little old?”
“Yeah. The pervert. Except not really. I’m eighteen now. I’m all grown up. And he’s…hot. And I keep noticing that. And it’s so inappropriate, considering I want to beat his brains out. Or shoot him in the head.” She sighed dramatically. “I’m just a mass of contradictions. So I’ll take myself away, get a little experience under my belt, and then I’ll no doubt see him for the asshole that he is.”
He suspected she was getting a little inebriated.
“I suspect you’re right.” She poured herself another glass.
At that moment, the stewardess poked her head around the door. “There’s a call for you, sir. We’ve put it through to the office.” She waved a hand to a door at the back of the cabin.
He got up and crossed the room. The door led into a small room with a desk and a leather chair. Kaitlin followed him in, and he let her. There wasn’t much point in trying to keep secrets from her.
“I knew you were bright,” she said.
He took the seat, and she came to stand at his shoulder as he switched on the screen. Fergus’s face appeared.
Kaitlin waggled her fingers. “Hi, Fergus.”
A smile broke his stern expression. “What’s she doing there?” he asked.
“I’m a stowaway.”
He shook his head. “You’re on your way back here?” he said to Ethan.
“Yes. I’ll be there in about seven hours. What’s happening?”
“I’m in with Lauren. I’m sure she believes I’m interested in her offer.”
“Well, keep it that way. I want to meet when I get in, but see if you can make it without her knowing.”
“I’ll try.”
“What else?”
“I’ve been trying to get that video footage you asked for. The part from the garage to where the police car stopped them is gone. No record at all.”
“Damn.” But it wasn’t unexpected.
“But,” Fergus continued, “I extrapolated possible routes backward from there and forward from the party site. And I managed to pick them up on route. The video isn’t the best, and they are in the vehicle for the most part, but there’s one part that’s…interesting.”
“Send it through.”
“It’s on its way.”
He tapped his fingers on the desk as he waited for the video to open. When it did, it showed a wide street at night time. A car pulled up—the black sedan he recognized from the chase. The door opened and a passenger got out. Behind him, Kaitlin drew a sharp breath. The man stood for a moment looking around. He closed his eyes, opened them, got back in the car and drove off. The video only lasted for a minute. He played it again, then turned to Kaitlin.
“What do you think?”
“I think Fergus is right. It’s very interesting,” Kaitlin muttered. “And that you need to call Jake.”
Ten minutes later he’d set up the link. Jake’s face came on the screen, Kane beside him. There was no sign of Sadie. He thought about asking, but in the end, he decided to keep quiet. She clearly didn’t want to see him again. First things first, because he was sure they must have been worrying. “Kaitlin’s here.”
“What the hell is she doing there?” Kane snapped.
“None of your fucking business,” Kaitlin said from behind him.
“You’ll send her straight back.”
“No, he won’t.”
Actually, he’d already decided no, he wouldn’t. She patted him on the back, and he sighed. He wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing, releasing Kaitlin on an unsuspecting world. “I think you need to let her have some space,” he said.
“And I think it’s not up to him to let me do anything. I’m not in the goddamn army. I’m a free person. Isn’t that what breaking out was all about?”
Jake ran a hand through his hair. “Kaitlin, are you sure?”
She nodded. “I need this.”
“Well, keep in touch. And if you need anything…”
“I know.”
Kane opened his mouth to say something, but Jake spoke to him quietly, and he shut up. “What else?”
“I’m sending you a video Fergus tracked down. It’s the car that chased us from the garage, presumably the same people who attacked the party.” He hit send, then waited while they watched it. Jake swore softly.
“Who the hell…?” He turned to Kane. “You know them?”
“Never seen them before in my life.” He faced the screen, speaking directly to Ethan. “You need to access the Conclave’s files, to see if they were working with any other groups.”
“I will. But I suspect the answer is no. Travis didn’t mention anything, and there was no point in keeping it secret when he knew we’d have access to the files.”
“Who the hell are these people?” Jake said. “And more to the point—what do they want?”
“Well, that’s pretty obvious. Us. Dead.” Kane rubbed a hand around the back of his neck. “Okay, so let’s list the facts: One—they can find us. Hone in on us. Two—both Rose and Sadie said they could feel them, so we can sense them once they get close enough. Three—they can knock people out, presumably with some sort of mind control similar to Rose’s psi bolts. Four—they want us dead. Five—finally, and best of all, they look just like us. Coincidence? I don’t think so.”
Ethan switched the screen back to the video and then flicked back to the image of the man. He’d stopped under a street light, and he could see him clearly. Tall, lean, black hair, and deep blue eyes.
Who else could possibly be after them?
He didn’t believe it was Conclave. There was no reason and no way would they have attacked the party or killed his father. It wouldn’t happen. All he could do was follow his plan, take down the Conclave, and hope that with the Tribe all out of London, these others would stay away. And that the distance was too great for them to hone in on them while they were in Africa.
At least Sadie would be safe.