Outview (39 page)

“Maybe she doesn’t want you hanging out
with another Ryder nut-job.”

“She’s definitely not convinced you’re sane.
Her time with Dustin really messed her up. She thinks the danger is all in your
mind. But, if they turned Tanya and Bridge, maybe you should think about who
else might be helping them.”

“How much have you told Bridgette?”

She looked at me pleadingly. “I’m so sorry,
Nate.”

“I trust Dustin that way, too. It’s not
your fault.”

“It is. I shouldn’t have told anyone. I
have to call her back to find out why she did this.”

“No! I don’t want Fitts knowing anything
else, especially that we know about her.”

“Then we have to go there. Nate, I have to
talk to her. She may be in trouble. It’s not just you. My sister has betrayed
me, and I need to know why.”

“You want to go to San Francisco?”

“I want
us
to. Right now.”

“I don’t want you to get in this any
deeper.”

“My sister is relaying my private
conversations to the CIA, which may get the guy I love killed. How much deeper
in can I get?”

“They can kill you.”

“They can’t do it any easier if I’m in San
Francisco or Grants Pass. Come with me. We’ll confront Bridge and then go on to
the Calyndra Portal. We were going in two days anyway, so what’s the
difference?”

“You have school.”

“I don’t care about that right now. I’m
going to San Francisco with or without you, but I’m going. I need to look
Bridge in the eye when she explains why she has done this.”

Where else was I going to go? Everywhere I
went in Oregon, Fitts seemed to find me. If I left the state, it might buy a
little time. And if I could really discover the Calyndra Portal, then
everything could change. “Let’s go!”

57

Linh called when we were just outside
Ashland and said Dustin was safely in a new location. “I don’t need to know
where. How is he?”

“Better. He called your mom, and I think
that went okay.”

“Good. And Bà’s all right staying
with him another night?”

“He’s charmed her so much that I think she
wants him to move into our house.”

“That sounds like him. Hey, I’m going to be
out of range for a while, so I’ll check in with you in the morning, but call if
anything comes up.”

We hung up, and I immediately phoned Mom.
“I hear you talked to Dustin?”

“I did. I can’t believe it. You saved him,
Nate. I’m so proud of you.”

“So you’re happy now?”

“I asked him if he’d ever be able to
forgive me.”

“Mom, I haven’t even forgiven you yet.”

“I’m just so . . . he said he didn’t think
he could have that conversation right now.”

“Of course not.”

“Is it true about Rose? Is she dead?”

“Who told you?”

“Dustin.”

“Dustin? Who told him?”

“He said you did. Not in words, but he
could see it on you this morning. Is she gone?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, no!”

There was silence.

“She was in the custody of federal agents, the
same ones who arrested Dustin and almost killed him. You need to be careful,
Mom. I still think Fitts was behind your accident. Do me a favor and stay with
Josh a few more days.”

“We need help with this.”

“I know. We need Sam’s sister to make
contact with them. Can you get ahold of him and see if he can arrange another
conference call with his sister for tomorrow or Friday morning? Tell him to
give her all the details about what happened with Dustin and Rose and about
them trying to arrest me at Tanya’s. We need someone working on this.”

After I ended the call, Amber said, “That
didn’t sound fun.”

“I want to do drugs. Or at least have a
candy bar.” It wasn’t long before we were in California. “Do you mind if I
crash for a few minutes?” I asked.

“Sure. Tanya and Bridgette in one day, it’s
a lot to handle, isn’t it?”

Half the trip was gone before I surfaced
again.

58

“I don’t want it to be true about Bridgette.
Our parents were so into themselves. Bridge and I were like trophies for them
to argue about. So, we were all each of us had, you know, much more than
sisters. I’m just sick. It’s impossible! I can’t believe she’s helping them.” The
rest of the drive--at the end of rush-hour traffic--was more stressful as we
played out the best way to get the truth from Bridgette.

We stopped for a quick dinner at a mall so
Amber could get a change of clothes. “You could use something else to wear
yourself.” She waved a credit card at me. “It’s Mom’s!” The mall trip made me
feel almost normal again, as if we were just a couple of teenagers shopping for
clothes. Mom phoned and said the call with the attorney and Sam was set for
noon tomorrow, and that if it went well, his sister would fly in to meet us
over the weekend. She has reliable sources within the media and Homeland
Security, and she even has a contact on the Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence, which oversees the CIA. Sam talked her into taking our case for a
very reduced fee. Finally some good news. Things were looking up.

The Academy of Art University occupied
several buildings in downtown San Francisco. I was surprised there were more
than 17,000 students and wondered where they kept them all. Amber had been
there before and easily found the right building, although we had to park a few
blocks away. Standing in the hall outside Bridgette’s dorm room, I asked if she
was ready.

“No.” She knocked.

Rod, Bridgette’s boyfriend, opened the door
and was visibly shocked to see us.

“Bridge, uh . . . Amber’s here with, uh . .
. Nate.”

“What?” Bridgette appeared behind him.
“Amber, what are you doing here? I thought . . . Wasn’t Nate going to the beach
house?”

“Bridge, can we go for a walk?”

“Yeah. Sure. What’s going on?”

Rod and I followed uncomfortably as the
girls went down the stairs. By the time we were out on the street, they had erupted
into an argument.

“I am not helping the government!”

“You’re lying. We came all the way here to
get the truth.”

“This whole thing with Nate is crazy. I
mean his whole family is
crazy
!”

“Bridgette, has the field agent called you
for further clarification of the data?” I shouted.

She turned to me stunned.

“We haven’t done anything wrong--” Rod started
to say.

Bridgette held up her hand.

“Bridge, Nate’s not crazy; he’s psychic.”

“Oh yeah, then what am I thinking right
now?”

“It doesn’t work that way.”

“I’ll bet it doesn’t.”

“Hey, you’re the one who betrayed us.”

“Us? What, are you two married now?”

“Shut up Bridge. Just admit it.”

“Don’t admit anything Bridge. They don’t
know anything,” Rod said.

People were staring. Amber led us to a
bench on the corner in one of those micro parks.

“What don’t we know?” Amber yelled at
Bridgette.

“Nothing.”

“Let me see your phone. There’s a 703 area
code on there from this morning, I can tell you the whole number if you want,”
I said, reaching for her phone.

Rod shoved me.

“Let me see your phone,” Amber said calmly.
“If there’s no 703 number on there, I’ll believe you.”

“No.”

“We didn’t do anything wrong,” Rod
repeated.

“Why’d you do it?” Amber asked softly.

“It’s all so intense--”

“Don’t!” Rod snapped.

“Rod got into this big mess,” she said. “He
needed money for tuition. His mom died, and he had this job waiting tables.”

Rod sat on the bench with his head in his
hands.

“At first he just double-charged customers’
credit cards, but soon he started selling the numbers. Then he got a couple
more people involved, and it just got out of hand. I only helped a little near
the end. Then, we got busted. And it turned into a federal crime because of
some interstate commerce thing, and soon the FBI was talking to us. We were
going to get indicted when suddenly they offered us a deal.”

“What kind of deal?” Amber asked.

“Full immunity for Rod and me if I just
told them everything you said about Nate.”

“So, you didn’t care about what I was going
through. You just needed to fulfill your contract.”

“No, I care about you more than anything,
Amber.”

“So you turned on us?”

“If I got arrested . . . you think the media
is having a field day with Mom about the divorce? They’d destroy her over
this.”

“So, get Nate and maybe me killed so Mom
doesn’t get on the cover of the Enquirer again this month?”

“They aren’t going to kill anyone. You guys
are a couple of minors. I doubt they could even get any charges to stick. Amber,
they don’t even have anything on you.”

“You’re incredibly stupid sometimes.”

“I’m not the one running around with a
fugitive psycho.”

“Yeah, congratulations. You’re running
around with Mr. Credit Card Fraud over there.”

Rod looked up but didn’t say anything.

“I love him, Amber. He’s not a horrible person--he
just made a mistake. We’ve all done things we’d like to take back.”

“What’s going to happen now?” Amber asked. “I
mean, I’m not going to tell you another syllable about my life. What happens to
your deal when you have no more information for them?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you even talk to an attorney?” Amber
asked.

“No.”

“Who cares if she talked to an attorney?” I
said. “She almost got me killed. I’m lucky to be here. Because of her, Fitts
got to Dustin before we did. And Rose is dead as a direct result of Bridgette
talking to them,” I screamed at Bridgette, stopping just short of pushing her
down. “You’re a stupid, self-absorbed airhead!”

“It’s true Bridge, it’s really true.”

“They told us Nate and Dustin were involved
in some domestic terrorism plot,” Rod said.

“Do I look like a terrorist?” I asked. “Bridgette,
you may think Dustin’s a loon, but you know he’s been locked away in an
institution for two years and I’m like a goody-two-shoes. Terrorists? That’s
what they say now to get around all the rules and throw out the Constitution.” I
wanted to shake them both. “Every government in the history of the world has
eventually betrayed its people. And it’s not like the whole government is after
me. They’re just a small part, but the bureaucracy is so massive that even a
corrupt few can wield incredible power against anyone who gets in their way.

“Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts
absolutely,” I continued. “They have the power. Any suspicion at all, real or
imagined, and they can throw you in a military prison indefinitely. No
evidence, no formal charge, no jury, no trial, just jail for as long as they
want. It’s like the Inquisition all over again.”

“Why are they after you?” Bridgette asked.

“Come on, Amber’s told you enough. They
killed my dad, and they know I know it. They think I have proof of that and of
many other murders, including my aunt’s.”

“Do you?” Rod asked.

“I’m not telling you two anything.”

“What can we do?” Bridgette asked.

“I think you better find a good attorney
and get them to look at your deal,” Amber said.

“They didn’t give us anything in writing,”
Rod said.

“Of course they didn’t.” I shook my head.

“Amber, we really should go. If they’ve
bugged her room, then they know we’re here.”

“My room may be bugged?”

We didn’t talk until we were half a block
away. “Poor Bridge,” Amber said.

“I wouldn’t want her karma.”

“Maybe we can still help her clear it.”

“I’m only trying to figure out the
ramifications of what she’s done.”

59

After a call with her mother, Amber hung
up, smiling. “We’ve got a room.”

It was only a couple of blocks away. Halfway
there, a bum holding a cardboard sign that read, “The end is near,” caught my
eye.

“If it isn’t the young wizard. Nathan,
quick, don’t look now, but I think there’s a beautiful girl following you.”

“Crowd, what are you doing
here
?”

“You two know each other?” Amber scrunched
her face.