Don't Let Go (33 page)

Peter shrugged. “Best we could come up with on short notice.”

Pike vaulted from the chair. Towering over Peter, he said icily, “You little ingrate. No one threatens me. No one. Do you have any idea what I’m capable of?”

“I’ve got an idea.” Noa wished she could get to her feet to confront him, but her legs felt too weak to stand. “You had street kids kidnapped so they could be used as lab rats.” Her voice gained strength as she continued, “You’ve killed how many people, dozens? Hundreds?”

Pike spun on her. “More,” he spat. “And you know what? Few even noticed, or cared. Those kids were nothing: grubby little bastards who begged for money and drowned themselves in drugs.” He jabbed a finger into his chest, saying, “
I
found a way to make them useful, to have them contribute to the greater good.”

“And when you were done experimenting on them,” Peter said, “they were chopped up and dumped where no one would find them. That about right?”

Pike raised his hands, palms up. “Why do you even care? You’re not one of them. Hell, your parents were in this from the beginning. You think that house you live in comes without a price?”

“I didn’t ask for any of that,” Peter retorted.

“Those grubby little bastards were
people
,” Noa said. “They were our friends. Alex Herbruck. Cody Ellis. Zeke Balewa.” Her voice faltered on the last name. She bit her lip, then continued, “You murdered all of them.”

“And you created PEMA in the first place,” Peter added. “The lifetime initiative, right? How does it feel, knowing you made your own kid sick?”

Pike drew himself up to his full height. His eyes spat fire as he said, “Listen, you pathetic brat. I’m taking the girl, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Do you know how many people I have in my pocket? Senators, CDC officers, the goddamn vice president of the United States! Out of deference to your parents, I’ve saved you before. Now, you’re about to find out exactly what I’m capable of.”

“Whoa, dude,” Peter said, rearing back. “Easy on the bad guy routine.”

“You need me,” Noa pointed out. “I’m the only one who survived, right? I’m the cure.”

“Ha!” Pike threw back his head and barked a short, cruel laugh. “You think you’re special? There’s nothing special about you, you’re just another piece of garbage.”

In spite of herself, Noa flinched at the words.

Pike continued, “It’s not you that I need. It’s what’s inside of you. That damned thymus. That’s why the operation never succeeded on the others. It wasn’t the procedure that worked; that thymus was special. And we wasted it on you.”

Peter threw her a look of surprise. “Hey! That actually makes a crazy kind of sense.”

Noa sat there in shock, processing what he said. She could feel the thymus pulsing inside her, could picture it large and swollen and angry. All this time, she’d been thinking there was something unique about her.

It turned out there was, but only because she’d been given a piece of some nameless kid. She wondered if Pike even knew who it had come from.

“So,” Peter said. “About that trade . . .”

Pike leaned in and hissed, “You’re dead. Your parents are dead. Your little girlfriend, too. And they’ll die screaming, just like your friends from Santa Cruz. Plus, I have more of them at my compound in Maine. One phone call, and my men put a bullet in their heads. You dare threaten me?” A vein throbbed in his temple, and his face had gone purple. He roared, “I will destroy you!”

Peter looked at her. Cocking an eyebrow, he said, “I think that should do it. What do you think?”

Noa nodded, trying to sound steady even though her heart was racing. “That’s everything.”

Pike looked back and forth between them, a puzzled expression on his face. Clearly, he wasn’t used to having his threats dismissed. He straightened his shirt collar, drew a deep breath, and said, “I’m going to have them pull up an ambulance for Noa.”

“I don’t think so.” Peter shook his head. “See, you’re missing something.”

Pike’s face darkened again. He opened his mouth, obviously preparing to spew another tirade. Noa motioned toward the window and said, “You might want to take a look outside.”

He glared at her for a few seconds, then stalked to the window. Ripping aside the curtains, he blinked into the floodlights.

“The billboard,” Peter said smugly. “Check it out.”

Pike raised his head. From where she sat, Noa had a clear vantage point. It was still fuzzy around the edges, but the image was clear enough:

The billboard displayed the chair Pike had been sitting in less than a minute ago, blown up to several times normal size.

He turned back to them, his features twisted with consternation.

“Here’s the thing,” Peter said. “We realized that you’re right, we didn’t have any concrete proof. I mean, sure, lots of files with your name all over them, probably enough for some sort of investigation.”

“But you’re good at making those go away,” Noa said. “We learned that back in Rhode Island.”

“Exactly,” Peter said. “Friends in high places and all of that. I mean, the vice president. Wow.”

“Impressive,” Noa agreed.

“Definitely. What we didn’t have was an actual confession. Until now.”

Pike stared at them, the vein in his temple still pulsing. His eyes darted back and forth. In a harsh whisper, he demanded, “What did you do?”

Peter shrugged. “We did what we do. We’re hackers. That’s the thing; we didn’t have much of a shot out there, when we were just a bunch of kids going after guys with guns. That wasn’t a level playing field. But this”—he nodded toward the laptop that was humming away on the desk—“is what we’re good at.”

“Hacktivism.” Noa exchanged a smile with Peter and added, “Just like with /ALLIANCE/.”

Pike turned toward the laptop. In a single motion, he swept it off the table and sent it crashing to the floor.

“Dude.” Peter winced. “I was just growing attached to that one.”

“There was no sound,” Pike spat. “It’s just a billboard.”

“True.” Peter nodded. “Noa pointed that out.”

Pike seemed to regain some of his composure. Exhaling hard, he said, “This changes nothing, then.”

“Oh, I think it does,” Peter said. “You see, we realized something else while we were sitting here waiting for you. Well, Noa did.” He turned toward her and said, “That was brilliant, by the way.”

“Thanks.” Noa inhaled deeply, fighting back the pain. Her whole body was in sheer agony, but she only had to hold on for another few minutes. And the look on Pike’s face made it worth it.

“What?” Pike demanded.

“The thing is, you need me; or, rather, you need the thymus.” Noa looked at Peter, who was staring back with an expression of frank pride. “But what I realized is that now,
we
don’t need
you
.”

“Of course you do,” Pike said dismissively. “All the research—”

“Is in the files,” Noa said, cutting him off. “Which we now have. Sure, we aren’t doctors or experts or anything. But if we hand this research over to the right people, they’ll get to the cure. It might take days, or weeks. Maybe longer. But honestly, I trust them a lot more than your creepy doctors.”

“You don’t have a choice,” Pike sneered. Waving toward the billboard, he said, “I have dozens of people on payroll who are already making this go away.”

“I’ll bet,” Peter said. “I mean, hell, you are a bad guy, right? I’d be kind of disappointed if you didn’t have minions. But you see, the thing is . . .”

He glanced at Noa, waiting. She drew a deep breath and said, “It’s not just the billboard. It’s everywhere.”

“Where did we post it again?” Peter asked, screwing up his forehead like he was trying to remember.

“CNN, Fox News, all the major networks,” Noa said.

“Right. In prime time, no less; thanks for getting here so fast, that really helped. Oh, and YouTube, of course,” Peter said. “Plus, I threw it up on the Jumbotron at Fenway. No sound there, either, but I thought it was a nice touch.”

“You’re lying,” Pike said, his voice thick with disbelief.

“Nope. Check it out yourself.” Nodding toward the computer, Peter added, “I’d show you, but you just sent this guy to laptop heaven.”

Pike tore a smartphone out of his pocket and jabbed at the screen. A second later, his face blanched. His voice radiated out from the tinny speakers.

“That’s my favorite part, where you talk about killing kids for the greater good. The sound came out loud and clear,” Peter noted. “Thank God. I was worried about that.”

Pike looked at Peter, then at Noa, his face oddly blank.

“It’s over, Pike,” Noa said. “And you lost.”

Pike’s mouth set in a tight line. He shook his head like he was trying to clear it, then stared out the window again. The billboard screen had gone blank.

His cell phone trilled. Looking dazed, Pike squinted at the screen, as if the text were written in a foreign language. When he looked back up, his eyes were empty and eerily still. “It’s too late,” he said in a hollow voice. “She’s gone.”

“Who’s gone?” Peter asked, sounding perplexed.

Abruptly, Pike bent over, fumbling at his ankle. Noa frowned, wondering what the hell was going on.

When Pike straightened back up, he was holding a gun in his right hand. Pointing it at her, he said, “I brought this for Peter. But now, you’re both going to die.”

“What cavalry?” Zeke asked, puzzled.

Teo raced to the window. Over the top of the hedge, he could see guards swarming the lawn, shooting into the woods. A couple of scruffy-looking kids darted from tree to tree, firing back at them.

“The Northeast chapter!” Teo practically shouted. He could hardly believe it—despite his doubts, they’d responded to the SOS. Luke and his people had come to rescue them.

His eyes flicked to Mason, who was still on the phone. He was acting oddly oblivious. His eyes were far away, focused on whatever the person on the other end of the line was saying.
Is it Pike, on his way back with Noa?

Daisy had gotten to her feet. Her cheeks were still damp with tears, but there was clear resolve in her eyes. Zeke had edged closer to Mason and the door, taking advantage of the distraction.

Abruptly, Mason tucked the phone away. His gaze shifted to Zeke, and he frowned. In one swift motion, he drew a handgun, leveling it at Zeke’s chest. Teo sucked in a deep breath and shifted protectively to block Daisy. “Easy, Mr. Balewa. This could still end well for you.”

“Doubtful,” Zeke scoffed, but there was a tremor in his voice.

“I’m afraid you aren’t privy to the latest information,” Mason said, eyeing them speculatively. “It appears that my employer just encountered his Waterloo. Earlier than expected, I have to admit.”

“What?” Teo asked, puzzled.

“Was it Noa?” Daisy asked eagerly. “She beat him, didn’t she!”

“Clever girl,” Mason said, although it wasn’t clear if he was referring to Daisy or Noa. “I warned against underestimating his opponent.”

“So he’s been arrested?” Teo’s head spun.
Did Noa and Peter really do it?

“Hubris,” Mason said disdainfully. “Of course, as a general policy, I do prefer to honor existing contracts. Which means that I should, by all rights, carry out my final orders.”

Teo was finding it hard to breathe. They were so close. If only Luke’s team had arrived a few minutes earlier, they might have breached the house by now.

As it was, they’d burst in just in time to discover their corpses.

“You won’t do it,” Daisy said confidently.

Mason cocked an eyebrow. “And why do you say that, Miss Stoia?”

She stepped out from behind Teo, shrugging off his restraining arm. “Because,” she said defiantly. “You hate Pike. And we have more in common, right? You said so.”

A few beats passed. The gunfire outside was intermittent, but clearly getting closer to the house. Mason hardly seemed to notice; he was regarding Daisy with bemusement. “True,” he finally said. “And the only thing I hate more than breaking a contract is wastefulness. Despite your many failings, I do believe that killing you would be a terrible waste.”

“So let us go.”

She reached out for Teo’s hand and clasped it in her own. Her spine was rigid, her gaze fixed on Mason. She looked like a warrior. Teo felt a swell of pride that combated with the instinct to get her out of harm’s way.

Zeke was staring at the gun as if weighing his chances. Mason noticed, and narrowed his eyes. “Really, Mr. Balewa. There’s no need for any more bloodshed. Wasn’t getting shot once enough for you?”

“You’re just dragging it out, toying with us,” Zeke spat. “That’s what you do.”

“Or perhaps,” Mason said blandly, “I’ve decided that it’s time to cut my losses.”

In the distance, the wail of sirens.

Mason cocked his head to the side and said, “That’s a much faster response time than I would have anticipated.”

Teo groaned. Traditionally, cops had not been their allies, and Pike’s local department had to be deep in his pocket.

“At Waterloo,” Daisy said. “Did any of the generals survive?”

Teo threw her a look;
what is all this nonsense about Waterloo?
But Mason broke into a wide smile that only served to make him look more sharklike. “They did, in fact. Tremendous losses on both sides, but that’s a regrettable by-product of any war. Including this one.”

An explosion close to the house made Teo flinch, and Daisy reflexively squeezed his hand. It did sound like a war out there, making the relative calm inside all the more jarring.

“Well, then,” Mason said decisively. “It’s been an unexpected pleasure, Miss Stoia. Do consider a return to your natural hair color.”

Daisy snorted. “No way.”

Mason smirked. “Shame, but I admire your desire to flaunt convention. That should serve you well in the future.” He was backing toward the door as he spoke, keeping a wary eye on Zeke.

“You’re just going to let us go?” Teo blurted, astonished.

“You’re already free. You just don’t know it yet.” As Mason abruptly turned on his heel, he tossed back over his shoulder, “Give my best to Peter when you see him.”

And he was gone.

They stared at each other, dumbfounded. From far away came shouting, and the sound of heavy feet running.