Don't Let Go (5 page)

Unfortunately, they didn’t have a lot of other options. Public transportation was out, since Pike probably had people keeping an eye on train and bus lines. The same went for buying a car—too much contact with strangers who might ask questions.

“Pull over here,” Teo said. “I’ll switch out the plates.”

Peter eased the car into a superstore parking lot, continuing along to the back of the building. While he waited by a Dumpster, Teo grabbed a fresh set of license plates from his pack and screwed them on. Less than five minutes later, they were pulling back out.

“They should be done by now,” Teo said. “Let’s go pick them up.”

Peter didn’t answer, suddenly exhausted. He hadn’t gotten a solid night’s sleep in days. He was tired of running. Tired of stealing from strangers. He was starting to fear that they were slowly but surely becoming the bad guys.

When he parked in front of the Laundromat, Teo looked over at him. “You coming in?”

Peter shook his head. “I’ll hang out here.”

“All right.” Teo got out of the car and loped inside.

Through the plate-glass windows, Peter could see Daisy and Noa folding laundry. It was an incongruously domestic scene. Teo said something and Daisy smiled, then pulled him into a hug. Watching them, his throat tightened. They were so obviously in love.

He flashed back on the last time he’d seen Amanda. She’d looked so small and frail in her hospital bed, hooked up to all those machines. When Peter left Boston, he’d figured that within weeks, he’d be back with a cure. They’d expose Charles Pike for the monster he was, and everyone would get their happy ending. And then, he and Noa . . . well, that part had been fuzzier.

He sighed. Noa’s head was ducked down, as if folding T-shirts required a tremendous amount of focus. The way she’d been acting toward him, so cold and distant . . . sometimes he wondered if she wished he’d never come.

The Laundromat door opened and the three of them spilled out, slinging on packs as they went. Noa opened the passenger’s-side door and popped her head in. “You okay to keep driving?”

“Yeah,” Peter said, even though it felt like if he tilted his head, sand would pour out of his eyes. “Sure.”

“Good.” She took the passenger seat, and Daisy and Teo crammed in the back.

“Not very roomy,” Daisy complained, sliding a hand across the cracked leather.

Teo said, “Yeah. I miss the SUV.”

“Then you can steal the next car,” Peter retorted. “Now buckle up. I want to make Denver by tonight.”

“Anything yet?” Noa asked.

“Nope.” Peter sounded distracted as his fingers raced over the keys. The ever-present backpack forced him forward onto the edge of the chair. They were sitting in front of a couple of clunky, aged computers in the Denver Public Library, trying to find a local safe house. Teo and Daisy had volunteered to make a food run, since both of them were useless with computers anyway. Besides, Peter usually had a knack for finding a good place.

Tonight it seemed to be taking longer than usual, though. And they were short on time; it had taken nearly seven hours to drive here from Dodge City. Noa checked the clock on her monitor: 8:45 p.m. “This place closes soon.”

“You could help look,” he grumbled. “It doesn’t always have to be me.”

“I’m checking up on the other Persefone units,” she said, lowering her voice. “Still no posts.”

“Well, you told them to lie low for a while.” Peter shrugged, his eyes still glued to the screen. “So they’re lying low.”

“Maybe.” Noa had spent the past half hour trying to convince herself of that, but something still felt off.

Three units of what used to be her “army” remained, and they stayed in touch online. But there were no recent posts in their chat room on The Quad, a hidden message board for elite hackers. Nothing in any of the cloaked accounts they used to communicate, either. Complete radio silence for two full weeks.

Which worried her. Maybe the groups had disbanded, too demoralized and afraid of Pike to continue.

Or maybe Pike had captured them, too.

The thought turned her stomach. Back in Santa Cruz, his men had basically wiped out her entire unit; maybe he’d methodically gone after the others. And she was helpless to do anything about it; hell, she could barely keep three people safe. Sighing, Noa cleared her browser history and turned to Peter.

“So where are we staying tonight?” she asked impatiently.

Peter jumped, then started tapping the mouse like his life depended on it, closing windows. Noa frowned; what didn’t he want her to see? She got up and peered over his shoulder: nothing there but a local news website, which seemed innocuous enough. “You’re not surfing porn sites, are you?”

The computers were set in a circle, with each workstation facing in toward the others. A middle-aged woman on the computer opposite scowled at them.

“What? No!” Peter protested.

“You look guilty.”

“I was checking email, okay?”

Noa eyed him; the tips of his ears had gone bright red, a clear sign that he was lying. “Bull. But hey, you don’t have to be embarrassed about it,” she teased. “It’s totally normal for a boy your age.”

The woman was doing a terrible job of pretending not to eavesdrop. In deference to her, Peter lowered his voice to a barely audible whisper and said, “I was just handling a personal thing. Okay?”

Noa wondered what kind of personal thing he’d handle on a public computer; she definitely didn’t like the look in his eyes, like she’d caught him doing something wrong. But his face had shuttered. She sighed. “They’re kicking us out in ten minutes.”

“Well, I found a place.” He gestured to the news report on-screen. “The South Lincoln Homes Housing Development. They’ve been demolishing it in stages, so most of the units should be cleared out. Work stalled because the money ran out, so no construction crews should be there.”

“Great,” Noa said, trying to muster up enthusiasm for yet another dilapidated housing project. With any luck, it would have just as many rats as the last one. “Nice work.”

Peter executed a small bow. “At your service. Maybe someday I could become a real estate agent who specializes in really, really terrible properties.”

Noa managed a weak smile. “Big market for that. Hopefully we can stay for at least a few days. We could use the rest.”

“Sure,” Peter said. “Or maybe we’ll find a better place.”

Noa frowned. “Like where?”

“I don’t know. Somewhere.”

She examined him; the flush had spread all the way down his neck, and he was avoiding her eyes. “You’re being really weird tonight.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Shh!” the woman hissed.

“Don’t worry, ma’am. We’re leaving.” Peter staggered slightly against the weight of the pack as he got to his feet. He was probably going to develop permanent indentations in his shoulders from never taking it off. As they strode toward the front door, he raised a fist. “South Lincoln awaits!”

“You’re really not going to tell me what you were doing back there?” she asked, pushing open the door. The curb in front of the library was empty, no sign of Daisy and Teo.
Hopefully they made it to the store, and didn’t just go somewhere to make out again
, Noa thought with a sigh. Honestly, she didn’t know how they managed it. Apparently teenage hormones were more than a match for constant terror.

“Porn,” Peter said resolutely. “You were right.”

Noa rolled her eyes. “All right, fine. Don’t tell me. But you’re taking first watch tonight.”

Daisy hummed along to the radio as Teo drove them back to the library to pick up Peter and Noa. She didn’t mind making the food runs; it was one of the few chances they got to be alone. And besides, being trapped in a stuffy library made her twitchy.

Not that prowling the aisles of a supermarket was much better. At least in Denver, her dyed hair drew fewer horrified looks than in some of the backwaters they’d holed up in. She held out a few strands and frowned, examining the tips. She really needed to touch up the color, it had faded to the point where it looked more gray than blue. Of course, that meant finding a bathroom with actual running water, and a few hours when she wasn’t being chased. She imagined running away from Pike’s men in a shower cap and cheap plastic gloves, streaks of blue dye flying out behind her.

As she dissolved in giggles, Teo glanced over. “What?”

“Nothing. Just thinking that my hair looks awful,” she said ruefully.

“I think it’s cute.” He threw her that grin that always made her stomach lurch. She’d had boyfriends before, sure, but not like this. Those guys had all wanted something from her.

But Teo actually cared what she thought about things. When she spoke, he hung on her every word. Daisy reached over and ran a hand through his hair, which looked perfect as always. It was almost long enough to put in a ponytail. “I’m going to braid your hair tonight.”

“The hell you are!” he said, looking mortified.

She laughed. “I think you’d look cute with a braid.”

“I look enough like a girl already,” he muttered, a shadow flickering across his face.

“Hey,” she protested. “Don’t talk smack about my guy.”

Teo blushed, which made him even more adorable. He stretched an arm across the front seat and she snuggled into it, trying to ignore the gearstick digging into her thigh. Closing her eyes, she let out a happy sigh. He had gorgeous dark skin, courtesy of his Latino parents. Dark eyes, glossy black hair. Sure, he was skinny, but she liked that. And he had the most amazing lips, so incredibly full. Her mom would have said they were wasted on a boy, but Daisy knew better. It would only have been a waste if she didn’t get to kiss them.

She leaned over and did just that, pressing her lips firmly to his.

“Whoa!” he said. “Careful. You’re going to make me get in an accident.”

“You are a pretty terrible driver,” she agreed solemnly.

“I’m not that bad.”

“You’re getting better, but still. Hell on wheels.”

“Well, it’s not like I get much practice outside of grocery runs,” he muttered.

“It’s easier to cuddle in the backseat.”

“Yeah, but I still feel like ‘the kids’ sometimes. Don’t you?”

Daisy ran her fingernails along his forearm the way he liked. Choosing her words carefully, she said, “It doesn’t have to be like that.”

“What do you mean?” His eyes flicked to her.

“I mean . . . I don’t know.” She sighed. “When I first joined up, I thought it would be different, you know? There was a whole group of us, and we were really doing something, saving kids. But now—”

“Now we’re just running for our lives,” Teo said.

“Exactly. And I just keep wondering what the point is. Remo and Janiqua and the rest of them are probably dead. If we get caught, we’re dead, too. And we won’t have stopped anything. Maybe we should just go off on our own.”

There was a long pause. Daisy held her breath, wondering if she should have kept her mouth shut. They’d complained to each other before, late at night in the dark, but what she was proposing was practically treason.

“So you want to ditch Noa and Peter?” Teo asked.

Daisy bit her lip; his tone was impossible to read. “This guy Pike doesn’t care about us, he’s after Noa. If we’re not with her—”

“He’ll probably leave us alone,” Teo said. “I know. I’ve thought the same thing.”

The fact that he wasn’t judging her, or calling her a coward, made her weak with relief. “So you don’t think I’m totally awful?”

“What? No, of course not. Come here.” He pulled her over and planted a kiss on her forehead. Daisy squealed as he inadvertently turned the steering wheel at the same time, almost driving them into a line of parked cars. “Let me talk to them about it, okay?”

“Sure,” Daisy said. She felt light, like a burden had been lifted.

“So where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I didn’t really think you’d go for it.”

“California,” Teo said decisively, hitting the turn signal. “Los Angeles. It’ll be warm there.”

“Maybe we’ll become movie stars,” she teased.

“Maybe,” he agreed with a grin.

Daisy grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Thanks, Teddy.”

He looked abashed. “I’d do anything for you. You know that, right?”

The library came into view. Noa and Peter were standing at the curb, looking impatient.

“I know,” Daisy said, trying to sound cheerful. Seeing them brought the weight of reality crashing back down. Could they really just leave Noa and Peter to fend for themselves?
They don’t need us
, she told herself.
Not really.
Changing the subject, she said lightly, “I hope they found a good place to stay.”

“I just hope we don’t spend the night running for our lives again,” Teo muttered as he pulled over to the curb.

“Wow,” Teo said. “This is—”

“Disgusting,” Daisy interrupted, wrinkling her nose.

“Is it just me, or are the hideouts getting worse?” Teo grumbled.

“Next time you can find one,” Peter muttered, scanning the room. They were right, of course: The South Lincoln Homes Housing Development was beyond grim. It was kind of amazing that it had only been scheduled for demolition a couple of years ago. The walls of the apartment were coated in mold. The windows were practically made of papier-mâché, with layers of newspaper duct-taped over the broken sections; he couldn’t imagine surviving a Denver winter in a place like this. Even now, on the cusp of summer, frigid air whistled through the gaps.

Noa bent over and picked up a plastic Mickey Mouse head that must have popped off a child’s toy. Holding it up, she said wryly, “And I thought
I
grew up in some nasty places.”

Peter swallowed hard, abruptly overcome by a wave of homesickness; he could practically picture the walls of his room, and the bed with its crazy comfortable organic mattress. His house always smelled like furniture polish and freshly cut flowers. He didn’t know what the other kids’ homes had been like; it wasn’t something they ever discussed. But out of all of them, it was a safe bet that he’d fallen the furthest from what passed as home. He eyed the filthy linoleum, which had cracked and peeled away to reveal a concrete subfloor. “Could be worse,” he said unconvincingly.