Winter's Awakening: The Metahumans Emerge (Winter's Saga #1) (12 page)

“What are you thinking, Meg?” Alik asked with a worried tone. Apparently, he’d been watching the emotions on my face change from what probably looked like despair to triumph.

I looked back from Alik to Evan with a smile curling the corners of my lips.

Chapter 33 Reporting to the Institute

They follow this SUV, they wait till dark, they break in and get the kids and hightail it back to The Institute. That’s it. He’d done similar things dozens of times before.

But this time, damn.

This time he and his idiot team got their butts kicked by kids. Kids! And what the heck was that dog-thing? It looked more like a wolf. It ripped the heck out of Mick’s shoulder.

That little girl, she was so strong! That’s just not right! And the younger boys, they dealt blows like—well, they just weren’t normal! He shook his head in disbelief remembering the scene in the motel.

Freddie glanced over at Mick sitting shotgun. He didn’t look so good at all. Face was whiter than a new T-shirt. He was still bleeding a lot. Bright red seeped through the make-shift bandage they put on him. It wasn’t big enough for the wound, but that’s the biggest bandage the gas station had. They couldn’t take him to a doctor, or anything. A wound like that would definitely get them noticed.

Joey and Leo weren’t doing much better. Freddie glanced in the rearview mirror to check his other two guys. Crap! Joey’s left eye was swollen shut and he was missing teeth. Leo couldn’t breathe really well, or walk or sit. We’re thinking he has some broken ribs.

Anger, pain and humiliation grabbed him by the collar. He slammed his palm down on the steering wheel. No one even moved to look at him. Everyone was in too much pain.

He could feel his heart beating in his face. Freddie was worried about his guys, but in truth, he looked more mangled than any of them. His nose looked like it’d been through a meat grinder. Both eyes were exploding with huge bruises and his lips looked shredded. Both front teeth were knocked out.

But none of these injuries worried them as much as the phone call that was going to have to happen now. Freddie, as the lead, had to call their boss and tell him what happened. He knew he’d messed up badly and was already trying to find some way to make up for it. He needed another chance to make things right. But he heard this guy gave no mercy for mistakes.

He felt a wave of nausea as he reached into the center console to retrieve the cell phone. Not allowing himself to procrastinate anymore, he pressed and held down button number two. Speed dial registered the command, and the phone began to ring.

Chapter 34 Friends Along the Way

Dr. Andrews had a friend named Gregory Burns who lived in Flagstaff, Arizona. After having Evan check his cell phone for possible bugs, he called Michelle back in Kansas and had her look through his old files for Greg’s number.

Their conversation wasn’t filled with the usual, “How are you?” and “Are you safe?” or even the standard, “I love you and miss you.” Or God-forbid she ask, “How are the children?” Nope. I was going to have to ask Cole about his dad’s relationship with her, but it would have to wait till we could talk privately. There was a lot more to that story, and I was curious to learn it.

“Are you sure this guy would be willing to help us?” Alik asked, doubtfully.

“Why haven’t you mentioned him before?” posed Evan.

Dr. Andrews explained, “It’s been ages since I talked with Greg, but it won’t matter. He will drop whatever he’s doing to help, because that’s just who Greg is. And if he ever needed me, I’d be there for him.

“These aren’t just words. We’ve lived it. Ten years ago, Greg was there when Cole’s mom lost her battle with cancer. And four years after that, I was there for Greg when his wife left him. Through it all, there was no judging, no strings attached.

“We were just two guys who would sit and watch sports together pretending not to notice the tears. Instead of offering a tissue or a shoulder, we’d do what guys do and offer each other a beer and a slice of pizza.”

Dr. Andrews stopped talking, but memories were still tracing lines in his face. Then he continued, “We’ve been friends since we were kids. We grew up in Kansas together, our houses facing each other, sharing a cul-de-sac. We were always hanging out together. We both played baseball in high school. Heck, we even shared a dorm room in college.

“Yeah, Greg would be able to help. On top of all that, he’s a cop. No one else may believe our story. But even if he didn’t believe, he would still help.”

The nostalgia slipped away from his eyes. I could tell the story was done, and I had to admit. This Greg guy sounded like a good idea.

“That’s great, but you didn’t answer my question,” Evan wasn’t as easily convinced.

“I thought of him before now, but really didn’t want to burden anyone else with my decision to help Margo and her children. This old score needed settling and it had nothing to do with Greg.

“But after the motel incident, I decided I need some backup. Literally. The Institute had crossed the line from harassing to extremely dangerous.” Dr. Andrews waited for an argument from Evan, but received none. He hadn’t seen me and my brothers exchange glances that decided Burns was an okay idea, but Evan still looked somewhat suspicious. And though he may be right, my plan could work better with more help from good guys.

The doctor took our silence as consent. He picked up his phone and dialed. The truck full of kids listened intently to only one side of the conversation.

“Hey, Greg! How’s it going? Yeah, it’s been too long, buddy. Listen, I have a situation I need your help with. Well, I can’t discuss it over the phone. I’m about an hour away. Do you mind some company for lunch? The usual place sounds great. Go ahead and get us a table for six. Yeah, I said six. I’ll explain everything. Thanks, man. See you there.”

It felt good to have something to look forward to besides my possible demise at the hands of an evil scientist. Looking around the truck, I felt everyone’s spirits lifted with the prospect of finding an ally in Flagstaff.

Chapter 35 Peanut Shells on the Floor

About an hour later, we pulled into the graveled parking lot of a place called Sizzling Steaks by Samuel and it struck me that lots of places use a name in their title. I was a little pumped and not just at the idea of meeting Dr. Andrew’s friend. But because this was the first real restaurant I’d been in besides Trudy’s, and I gotta tell you that didn’t even count because of the earthy atmosphere and the fact that we had to take our food to-go.

I was hoping for a restaurant like I’d read about in books. You know, the lit candles and fancy table cloths, and square plates with delicious food arranged artistically. I wanted to go to the kind of restaurant where the waiters pulled out the tables for you to sit and offered you a sorbet to cleanse the palate between courses.

“Hey there, welcome to Samuel’s! Table for five?” The hostess greeted us with enthusiasm, braided pig-tails and red lipstick on her front tooth. But she wasn’t the most striking thing about Samuel’s. No, it was more the layer of peanut shells covering the hardwood floors of the entire room that caught my attention.

If it weren’t for the delicious scent of steaks enveloping my senses, I would have been sorely disappointed. Maybe I needed to just appreciate what was around me and not be so bothered by atmosphere. I forced a smile onto my face and tried not to grimace at every peanut shell as it crunched under my shoes.

We were led to the large booth in the back corner. A dark-haired man in his forties stood grinning through his heavy mustache at the doc. He jumped from his seat and bolted toward us. And for a moment, I saw the two men as children giving each other a big hug and hearty slugs against the shoulders. It was pretty neat to watch.

“How the heck are you, you old dog? You look great! Get to the gym sometimes. Time’s treatin’ you better than me. Naw, look at all this gray hair!” They were talking on top of each other.

“My goodness!” He stared at each of us as if we were the most curious creatures he’d ever seen. I felt like crawling inside my purse and hiding. My brothers, who sat on either side of me, tensed too.

“Margo’s missing, and I’m pretty sure you can guess who has her.” The doctor looked meaningfully into his friend’s eyes.

“That piece of crap has been hunting her all this time? Of course, from your stories he sounded like one sick son-of-a-gun. I guess I shouldn’t put it passed him to hold a grudge. Has he contacted you? Is that why you’re heading back to California?”

“You always did catch on fast, Greg. No, he hasn’t contacted us directly. But he did send four meat-heads to ‘collect’ us and take us back to The Institute. We also found a GPS and audio transmitter in the truck.

“He’s probably hired a whole team of people to track us and make sure we get to where we’re going. But they haven’t been too worried about whether Cole and I survive. They just want the kids back.”

Greg was frowning deeply. I wondered what he was thinking so I watched his facial expressions and listened to the tone of his voice when he spoke.

“You always had a way of befriending the hard-luck cases. Why you ever got involved with this, I’ll never know! No offense to you kids, but Theo, you have to think about Cole. He shouldn’t be a part of this. He’s already lost one parent, for Pete’s sake! You don’t owe Margo anything. You helped her as much as you could twelve years ago. Both you and Jenna did! These kids can be turned over to the state. They’re almost of age anyway.”

“Stop right there, Greg.” Dr. Andrews’ voice was stern and his face hardened. “I knew what I was getting into when I met Margo, and I knew what I was getting into when I flew down to Texas to pick up her children when she went missing.

“Yes, Cole has lost his mom. So now it’s up to me alone to teach him the importance of faith, integrity, right and wrong and friendship, Greg. A part of me died with Jenna, and the only reason I didn’t give up entirely was because of our little boy. Jenna loved Margo and if she were here today she would be sitting beside me at this table asking you to help these children. This is the right thing to do, and you know it!”

Before Mr. Burns had a chance to speak, I asked to be excused to use the restroom and signaled my brothers to follow me after a few moments. I had no doubt they’d figure some excuse to leave the table.

Three minutes later, we met up by the restrooms. And I could tell by the looks on their faces, we all knew what I was about to say.

“What are we going to do? We are in the middle of Arizona and have no way of getting to California on our own?” I shuffled my feet into a pile of peanut shells as I thought.

“So, why are we hanging out by the bathrooms?” It was Cole’s voice.

I looked up and saw his sparkling eyes smiling at me and my brothers. We must have looked as if we just got caught with our hand in the cookie jar.

“Well, I wasn’t planning to help anyone use the bathroom!” Cole teased, trying to lighten the moment. He knew something serious happened just before he walked up and he was bracing himself for what it might be.

“You and your dad have been so great to help us. Your dad flying down to Texas to get us, searching for our mom’s whereabouts, driving us all the way here… it’s just—it’s just getting too dangerous for you two,” Evan explained.

“Mr. Burns was right, and we like you guys too much to see you get hurt because of us,” I said, trying not to blush.

“We were just trying to figure out how to go from here,” Alik said.

Cole looked at each of our faces measuring our resolve. He pressed his lips together and nodded slowly. Then he shrugged and said, “Well, you’ll need the wheels. I’ll head back to the table and get the keys. Meet me at the truck in a couple of minutes. After you leave, I’ll stall dad telling him you three were needing some time to talk, or something, so he won’t come looking for you right away. Okay?”