Nightrise (36 page)

The Secret Service people had acted too late but now they moved fast. Two of them threw themselves on top of Trelawny, dragging him to the ground. Two more dealt with Warren Cornfield. If there hadn't been so many people around, he would have been shot and killed. Instead, they tackled him, knocking him down and disarming him. He didn't even try to resist. All the life had gone out of his eyes. He didn't seem to know where he was or what he had just done.

The policeman let go of Alicia. He suspected that she was part of what had just happened but he couldn't be sure and his job right now was to try to bring the crowd under control before anyone else was killed.

There were people running everywhere, screaming, trying to protect their children. The barriers were being knocked over. The band had abandoned their instruments and were trying to get out of sight, afraid that there might be more shots. As Jamie watched, Senator Trelawny was led away and thrown into a car as if it was his turn now to be kidnapped. But of course, his safety was the first priority. His wife and children were also being bundled out of their seats. The whole family had to be removed from the scene before any more shots were fired.

And what about Scott? He was sitting in the same place and looked dazed, as if he couldn't quite understand what had happened. Susan Mortlake was next to him, quite spectacularly dead. Jamie took advantage of all the confusion around him. The way ahead was clear. He ran forward, leaped over a barrier, and crossed the street. A moment later, he was climbing up the bleachers. There was a doctor crouching next to the mayor's wife, who was screaming, in hysterics. A few people were still in their seats, traumatized, blood-splattered. Jamie ignored them.

Finally he reached his brother.

"Scott!"

Scott turned but didn't recognize him and that was when Jamie knew how much had been done to him, how badly he had been hurt.

He didn't know what to do. He felt a burning in his throat. He had dreamed of the moment when he would find his brother again, but he had never expected it to be like this.

And then a woman that he didn't know came up to him. Jamie glanced at her only briefly, taking in her reddish brown hair and expensive clothes. But she seemed to know him. "Are you Jamie Tyler?" she asked.

He didn't know what to say. He just wanted her to leave him alone.

'You don't know me, but I'm a friend of John Trelawny." She had to shout to make herself heard above all the confusion. "My name is Nathalie Johnson. I was here today as his guest but I've been looking for you. For both of you…"

"My brother…"Jamie could only think of Scott.

The woman nodded. "Please. Trust me. I can help you. We have to get you both away."

On the other side of the street, the policeman who had been about to arrest Alicia was making connections. He had worked out that he knew the boy from the car. He was the boy who was wanted in Nevada — the one who had shot his uncle. And there he was on the bleachers, talking to someone, right next to the woman who had been shot.

The policeman didn't understand what was going on. There was too much going on to understand. But one thing was certain. The boy was a wanted felon.

He picked up his radio and began to talk.

TWENTY-TWO

Cave Rock

There was no time to think and there was so much they needed to do. Nearly everyone had left the bleachers by now, desperate to get away from the sprawled-out corpse of the woman who had been shot.

At the same time, police and paramedics had arrived and taken charge. They had no interest in Scott, who was still sitting there, staring ahead of him. There were some spots of bright red blood on his white shirt.

"Was he with her?" one of the paramedics asked. The boy looked as though he was in shock. Maybe it was his mother who had been killed.

"No," Nathalie replied. "He's with me." She turned to Jamie. "We have to get him out of here," she said.

"Scott!" Jamie crouched beside his brother. Scott had blocked him out before but if he saw him, if he heard his voice, maybe it would be different. "It's me…Jamie. It's all right now. Nightrise is finished.

They've closed Silent Creek. I've been looking all over the place for you but I'm here. Everything's going to be okay."

Something passed very briefly through Scott's eyes — perhaps a flicker of recognition. He opened his mouth and tried to speak but no words came. Jamie turned to Nathalie Johnson and there were tears in his eyes. "What have they done to him?" he cried. "What have they done?"

Between them, they helped Scott to his feet and carried him along with them. He moved like a sleepwalker, not resisting but seemingly unaware of where he was going. Alicia was waiting for them at the bottom of the bleachers with Daniel. She hadn't been able to come any closer. She couldn't expose her eleven-year-old son to the sight of the dead woman.

"Jamie! Scott!" She didn't know what to say.

"Are you Alicia McGuire?" Nathalie asked.

'Yes."

"It's all right. I'm a friend. John told me about you."

"Who are you?" Alicia asked.

Nathalie looked around her. The streets were emptying rapidly, people scattering in all directions. Soon there would only be policemen left. "We can't talk here," she said. "We have to get these boys on their way."

"On their way where?"

"Alicia…!" It was already too late. Jamie pointed. The policeman with the moustache was striding purposefully toward them. He had unfastened his holster and his hand was on his gun.

"Tyler." The single word was an accusation. The policeman stood with his legs slightly apart, like a cowboy in an old film. "Jamie Tyler. Right?"

"No." Jamie looked him straight in the eyes and pushed. "Jamie Tyler was here but he's gone. You've missed him. And now you've got to help all these people. You're not interested in us."

The policeman frowned as if he hadn't quite heard what Jamie had said. Then he relaxed. 'You're right, I've got to help these people…" He turned around and walked away.

Nathalie Johnson stared, not sure what she had seen. But Alicia understood. Jamie had done the same thing when they were trapped in Don White's house in Sparks. Even so, she shivered. She couldn't imagine what it must be like for a fourteen-year-old to have so much power.

She turned to Nathalie. "Listen to me," she said. "We're not going anywhere until we know who you are."

"I'm Nathalie Johnson."

The name meant something. Alicia had seen it in the news. "Computers?" she asked. "Are you that Nathalie Johnson?"

''Yes."

''You helped the senator. You did a couple of fundraisers last year…"

''Yes. But that's not why I'm here." Nathalie stopped. The policeman with the moustache had disappeared but she had no doubt that others would soon arrive. They had been lucky that he had decided to make the arrest on his own — but he would surely have put out an alert before he moved in.

"I have a car very near here," she said. "Will you come with me at least that far? I'll tell you the rest once we're on the way."

Alicia nodded. She couldn't take her own car. The police were certain to be guarding it, waiting for her to return. And anyway, they would have circulated its plate number.

They hurried around behind the bleachers and down toward the statue. Nathalie first. Then Jamie and Alicia, guiding Scott between them. Finally Daniel. As they went past, Jamie glanced one last time at the statue. He felt a strange mixture of emotions, looking at the craggy face, doomed to kneel forever with the dusty highway in front of him. The prospector had traveled a long way to deliver his warning. At least Jamie hadn't let him down.

Nathalie's car — a blue Mercedes — was parked nearby in a spot reserved for VIPs. Normally, she would have had a chauffeur, but today she had decided to drive herself.

'You can take my car," she said. She handed Alicia the keys. "The best way I can help you is to make some calls."

"Where should I go?" Alicia asked.

"Give me a minute. You need to get to an airport. I'm just trying to think which one."

"An airport?"

Nathalie sighed. "I know this is difficult for you, but you have to understand: I know what's been happening…or some of it anyway. You see, I belong to a group of people, an organization, that exists solely to help Jamie and Scott and the other Gatekeepers."

Gatekeepers.

Jamie stared. Had this woman really said that?

"What do you mean?" Alicia demanded.

"It's all right, Alicia," Jamie cut in. He looked at Nathalie. 'You know about the Gatekeepers," he said.

'Yes, Jamie. The Gatekeepers. The Five." She paused. "I know Matt Freeman."

"Where did you meet him?"

"In England. I met him there twice. But he's not there now. He's in Peru. A place called Nazca, just south of Lima. And that's where you have to go."

"Peru…?" Alicia couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"It's okay." Jamie hadn't told Alicia anything about the time after he was shot. He had decided it was too much to explain. He hadn't even wanted to try. "Why is Matt in Peru?" he asked.

"There was a second gate. It opened. Matt tried to stop it but he was hurt. Pedro is with him now. Pedro may be able to help your brother. That's another reason why you have to be there."

"What about Scar?"

Nathalie shook her head. "I don't know any Scar."

Jamie had made his decision. Everything that Nathalie had said had made him believe that she was telling the truth. But the mention of Pedro clinched it. That was Inti's other name. Matt had told him.

And Inti had the power to heal. The sooner Scott was with him, the better.

"How do we get there?" he demanded.

Nathalie let out a deep breath. She had been afraid that she would be unable to persuade them — but somehow Jamie had found out who and what he was. One day she would ask him how that had happened. But for now, she had to think straight. They were in Auburn. The police were still looking for them. Nightrise might be looking for them too. How to get them away…

"Lake Tahoe Airport," she said. She glanced at Alicia. "It's just off Route 89. Right down at the south end of the lake."

"I've passed it," Alicia said. "But Sacramento is nearer."

"If the police are looking for you, they'll close off all the airports. Lake Tahoe is tiny. And there are no main roads. It's the last place anyone will think of looking."

"What happens when we get there? I just buy the boys a single ticket to Lima?"

"Lean arrange a private jet. I can have it in the air in fifteen minutes. It'll fly out from San Francisco and it should be there at the same time as you."

"And you're just going to give us your car?"

"The car doesn't matter. Nothing matters. Just get them there." She rested a hand on Jamie's arm. "I'll call Matt and tell him you're coming," she said. "And one day you and I will meet properly and you can tell me everything that's happened."

They heard the squawk of a radio on the other side of the bleachers. The police were sealing off the entire area. It was time to go.

Alicia didn't even try to argue. She unlocked the doors. Daniel got into the front. Jamie helped Scott into the back and was about to follow him. But then he remembered something. He straightened up, facing Nathalie.

"The security man," he said. "Warren Cornfield…"

'You redirected his shot." So she had guessed what had happened.

"I couldn't do anything else. Will you be able to help him?"

"I'll do what I can, Jamie. I promise."

Then another policeman appeared, walking toward them. Jamie got into the car. Alicia didn't even wait for him to close the door.

She started the engine. They sped off.

***

Jamie was next to him, watching the scenery go past without taking any of it in. He was thinking about Matt. Of course, it wouldn't be the same Matt that he had spoken to after the battle, at the river's edge.

For a start, this Matt would never have met him or Scott. But they were still the Five. The same…but in a different time. That was how Matt had explained it. Perhaps when they were all together in Peru it would make sense.

Peru. Jamie didn't even know where it was. Somewhere in South America? Even now, a private jet should have been taking off to collect them. The very thought of it made his head spin. He had never flown in his life.

Alicia glanced around. "How's Scott?"

"I don't know." Jamie had examined his brother. He could see no sign of any external injury, and in a way that made his condition even more disturbing.

"We'll be there in a couple of hours. Maybe you should try to get some sleep."

But they never made it to Lake Tahoe Airport.

They had just passed through the Eldorado National Forest and some of the most beautiful countryside in California and were heading north toward the lake itself. They came to a sign pointing to the airport and Alicia turned off, following a narrow, leafy road. Nathalie had certainly been right. Nobody would think of coming here.

But the police must have decided to cover every airport in the surrounding area. It was always possible that they weren't working alone. Perhaps Nightrise had been influencing and advising them. Either way, the road was blocked. There was a single police car parked across it, with two young officers checking every car that came their way. They were looking bored. There couldn't have been more than half a dozen cars in the last few hours.

Alicia pulled in and waited with the engine ticking over.

What now?

"Is there another way?" Daniel asked.

Alicia bit her lip. "I don't think so, Danny. I didn't see any other signs."

Jamie was sitting up in the backseat. He was feeling sick. They were so near. It didn't seem fair that they should be stopped at the very end. "Can you drive around?" he asked.