Perception (23 page)

I jumped back into
Noah, gasping aloud. The lights in the room snapped on, and I squinted against
the sudden brightness. Noah groaned.

In the corner was a
brown leather wing-backed chair. I had often curled up with a picture book in
that chair. The leather was as soft as butter.

Now Senator William
Vanderveen sat in it, his legs crossed, a glass of amber liquid in his hands.

“Check mate.”

“Grandpa?” I said, not
believing my eyes. “I thought you flew back east.”

“I wanted you to
think that, honey. But I knew you were digging. I couldn’t leave until I found
out how far you’d get. I have to admit, you’ve impressed me.”

I shot Noah a
sideways glance. We were in trouble. Big trouble.

“What do you think I
know?”

“I know you
befriended a natural to help you access places you couldn’t have otherwise.” s
Dr. Vanderveen looked disgusted. “We just can’t seem to shake free of the Brody
family.”

I shifted in front of
Noah when I saw him flinch.

“And I know you tried
to break into an office in the tower, somehow gaining access to the secured elevators.
And, of course, I know you had a lover’s spat with your boyfriend, Jackson
Pike.”

“He’s not my
boyfriend anymore.”

“Well, you are young.
I’m sure you’ll find
another
boy at the right time.”  He sipped from his
glass, clearly enjoying it.

“Did you kill Liam,
Grandpa? Did you kill your own grandson?”

Dr. Vanderveen
scoffed. “I’m not an animal. I did know about the experiment, of course, and I
encouraged him. Perhaps a little too eagerly.”

“Did you finance it?”

“Yes.”

“Even though you knew
it was too soon, that the technology wasn’t ready?”

“Yes, I knew all
that. What I didn’t know was how far Liam had already progressed, and how far
he was willing to go to test it on himself. For such a bright young man, he
sure could be stupid sometimes.”

“What went wrong,
then? Why’d he die?”

“That imbecile,
Mitchell Redding.”

“Mitchell?”

“I told Liam he was
too squirmy. Didn’t have the guts for something like this.
He cut the power
.”

“
Mitchell
sabotaged the experiment? But why?”

“Apparently he was
afraid it was going to work. He said he’d turned it back on right away, but of
course, it was too late then. The damage had been done.”

So Mitchell had seen
the dangers of unleashing a technology like that.

“The boy knew too
much.” The Senator re-crossed his legs. “And with his constitution, I just
didn’t trust him.”

“So you
killed
him?” I was incredulous.

Dr. Vanderveen made
no reply. He carefully set his empty glass down on the table beside him. “He
killed my grandson. And he destroyed a year’s worth of work. We were so close
to breaking through, Zoe, so close.”

“If the US military
has put a hold on cyber-organic research,” Noah said. “Then why aren't you
holding up on research? Unless
you
want to create the super soldier?”

“Mr. Brody, you are
too smart for your own good. It was and still is my intention to...” Dr.
Vanderveen shook his hand impatiently. “
I
don’t need to explain myself
to
you
.

“Zoe, darling,” he
continued. “Some people are dangerous. Even though you think you can trust
them, you can’t.”

I agreed with his statement,
but it was my grandfather who was dangerous, not Noah.

Dr. Vanderveen
snapped his fingers. Instantly, two men blocked the doorway. I recognized one
of them as Officer Grant. I’d known he was dirty.

“Grandpa, what are
you doing?”

“It’s time for your
friend to go.”

I looked at Noah
nervously. There was no way my grandfather would let him live.

“What about me? Is it
time for me
to go
, too? I know as much as he does.”

“Zoe, Zoe, Zoe,”
William Vanderveen cooed. “You’re my grand-daughter, I would never hurt you.
Besides, you can be fixed.”

Several things
happened at once. Noah jumped on top of the desk, leaped for the chandelier and
swung himself across the room. He clipped Officer Grant on the chin, knocking
him over. As Noah ran for the door, I pushed an iron coat rack down, tripping
the second officer.

I ran after Noah
toward the staircase as I heard Grandpa V shout, “Get them!”

Half way up the steps
I felt heavy hands grip my arm, throwing me off balance. Someone had me by the
waist. I twisted and pulled, but his grip was secure. Grant sprinted by, his
eyes set on Noah who’d stopped at the top of the steps. Noah’s eyes filled with
desperation, and I could tell he was debating if he should come back to help me.

I shook my head and
shouted, “Noah! The tree!”

“I’ll find you, Zoe!”

The last thing I saw
was Noah sprinting down the hall, one of my grandfather’s henchmen on his
heels.

PART TWO

NOAH

Chapter 30

I crawled out onto
the wet branch of the oak tree. The rain pelted my face from an angle, almost
horizontal.

I gripped the
slippery bark close to my body, inching my way to the trunk of the tree.

My leg was caught.
Snagged on a tree stub?

Worse. Grant had the
hem of my jeans in one beefy hand. I impulsively jerked my leg. The motion
tugged Grant half-way out the window, his bulk precariously dangling two
stories from the cement patio. He let go of my jeans but the movement caused me
to lose my balance. As I felt my body slip off the branch, I swung my loose leg
back up and around. I glanced at Grant, who had pulled himself back into the
house.

Our eyes caught for a
moment. Grant’s were icy slits of blue evil. He wanted to hurt me; I had no
doubt of that. Sheet lightning blanketed the sky and reflected on a metal
object in Grant’s hand. A gun was pointed right at me.

I shimmied down the
back side of the trunk, flinching as the first shot went off. I jumped the rest
of the way, rolling in the landing. I groaned as the air was knocked out of my
chest. My back sunk into the saturated lawn. I cracked my eyes open and caught
a blurry view of Grant’s bulky back like a bear huddled in a tree. If I didn’t
get up, he would reach me.

And I’d be dead.

I pulled myself off
the ground and ran. Rain dripped into my eyes and the electric storm left a
metallic taste in my mouth. More shots. My heart beat like a thousand tribal drums.

Grant was strong but
not very agile. He shouted at another shape from the direction of the front of
the house. Both men sprinted toward me. I was in the cover of the hedges, but
the continuous flashes of lightening were like spot-lights on my back,
revealing my position. At any moment I expected to feel the sharp pain of a
bullet.

I struggled through
the hole in the fence, getting slicked down with mud in the process. I was
comforted by the fact that the hole was too narrow for anyone the size of
Vanderveen’s men, but I knew that wouldn’t stop them.

My pulse spiked as I
pumped my legs, dodging cars and seeking the shadows of buildings and
shrubbery, but Sol City was well-lit in the night. I feared I wouldn’t escape. My
ears strained for the sound of sirens, or footsteps, anything that might prove I
wasn’t imagining the pursuit.

A crack in the sky
rattled the earth. I fell hard to the payment, sand grinding into my cheek.
Something very near to me had been struck by lightning. Sleiman Tower? I turned
my head in the direction of the imposing building and watched as it went dark,
one floor after another like the removal of Christmas lights from a gigantic
tree.

Suddenly, all of Sol
City was blanketed in darkness. I thanked God and sprinted to the gates. The
crowd there was mangled in the darkness, and I pushed past bodies until I’d
squeezed through to the other side.

The emergency lights
were all that lit up LA, leaving it in a ghostly semi-darkness. At least the
transit was still functioning. I hopped on to the first pod I came to, my chest
burning with quick, short breaths. Still looking over my shoulder, I checked
for the faces of Grant and his partner.

A sigh slipped out as
I realized they weren’t on the pod with me. The thudding in my chest gradually
slowed to normal. I was safe. For now.

But I’d abandoned
Zoe. I left her with the most dangerous man in the state. The Senator of
California and presidential candidate, her grandfather.

If I’d stayed, I’d be
dead, and I wouldn’t be much help to her then. No, I did the right thing by
running. I had to hide and then think of a way to get back to her. To save her.

I thought about going
home, but that would be the first place Grant would go.

My heart stuttered. My
family. Were they safe? Vanderveen wanted me, and needed to find me because of
the man’s stupid pride-filled confession.  Now I knew too much.

But would he go after
my family?

I tapped the base of
my ring. I needed to warn my mother, but how to do that without throwing her
into cardiac arrest?

I’d go through Skye.
She’d deliver my message in a calming way. I couldn’t risk being overheard by
the other passengers, so I texted her.

Skye, I’m in
trouble. I have to go into hiding for a while. Mom and the boys may be in
danger, too. Please take them some place safe. I have to ditch my ComRing, so
don’t try to respond. I’ll contact you somehow in a few days to explain.

I hated dropping such
a heavy message and task on Skye, but I had to make sure my family was safe.

Now, where to go?

I pinched the bridge
of my nose.
Think, think.
Anthony’s? Brian’s? No. They’d check all of my
friends. The church? For sure they’d go there.

The warehouse?
Vanderveen knew we had found out about the experiment, but he hadn’t mentioned
the lab. Was it possible he didn’t know Zoe and I had found it? Even if he had
figured it out, it was the last place they’d guess I would go.

I got off at the next
stop. They couldn’t track me via a chip since I didn’t have my own and had given
Liam’s back to Zoe. But all ComRings were equipped with GPS. Finding the
nearest drainage ditch, I slipped my mine off my finger and dropped it.

I found the pod line
that would take me to the eastern sector. A block away from my destination, the
pod lurched to a sudden stop throwing the passengers into blackness. The wind
whipped against the pod, flipping it off the magnetic grid. Screams filled the
confined space as everyone was tossed about. A blast of pain shot through my
side when my ribs caught on the back of a seat.

I covered my face
while shattered glass fell around me, and the pod skidded to a halt on its
side. I crawled to a broken window, wincing as shards of glass bit into my
palms.

Blood dripped onto
the ground. Mine? I felt something warm run down the side of my face. I touched
my forehead and frowned. I had to get to the lab. There were medical supplies
there.

I pushed myself into
the wind. At times the force of nature was too much, and I was compelled to
drop to the ground, covering my head as I folded into a ball. I pushed onward
as the wind whipped my body. Debris and trash whirled above my head. My teeth
chattered with the cold, and my skin was prickly with chills. Sheet lightning
brightened the sky and was my only guide through the dark neighborhood. I’d
never witnessed a storm as freaky and wild as this one in my entire life. I
felt like I’d fallen into some kind of wormhole and into an alternate universe.

The door to the lab
swung wildly as if possessed. Inside, I pushed the door closed and twisted the
dead bolt. The sudden calm shocked me. Even the pelting rain against the
windows felt quiet.

I no longer had my ComRing
for light, and the warehouse lights were out like the rest of the city lights.
The lightning came at wider intervals, but it still helped me get my bearings.
In my mind I played the memory game. What did I need, and where was it?

First aid. The box
was where? I’d seen it, but where was it? In one of the cupboards? Yes, which
one? In the bathroom. Like a blind man I walked across the room, my arms
stretched out, yelping when I banged into the corner of a table.

I patted the wall
were I’d spotted a first-aid kit. My hand came upon a tube-shaped handle.

Yes. An emergency
flashlight. I flicked it on and jumped.

Bloody hell. The
light reflected off the mirror and on my face like a horror movie. Blood
thickened on my forehead and in my hair, and more streamed down the side of my
face. I opened the first aid kit and got to work.