The Alliance (12 page)

 

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins
Publishers

....................................

Chapter
33

The grand commander gave a speech to the masses this evening. I did not agree with what he said, but even I found myself swept up by his enthusiasm. He promised a better America and stressed protection of our borders. Our settlement's numbers will lower now as groups of men will be dispatched to guard the major ports. I hope this results in less hostility.

—­The journal of Isaac Ryland

The small plane Grant was flying landed close to the youth home. It was easy to spot since the building was aflame. Grant walked toward the fiery structure. There were no cars, so someone had survived. He hoped it was not Amelia. He pulled out his phone and debated calling the explosion in to the nearest RAG post, but that would mean questions. Such as, how did he know about the incident and why was he interested in the French party?

Rage was working its way through Grant's body. If Amelia had escaped this blaze she could be anywhere. He needed to locate the survivors but felt trapped at the moment. If he made any move to trail her it would create a problem for him.

A vibration went off in Grant's pocket. Grant pulled out his cell phone and was surprised to see Rex calling at this hour. This was the sort of trip Grant would have had Rex accompany him on, before the betrayal of course.

“Rex,” Grant said. “What news do you have for me?”

“I'm coming home,” Rex said. He was breathing heavily.

“Your undercover job not going well?”

“They figured out I was still working with you,” Rex said. “I barely got out with my life.”

“Where are you?” Grant asked.

“I stole a vehicle,” Rex said. “I'm in Mexico.”

“And Amelia?”

“She's still with them,” Rex said. “I'm not sure what the plans are, but she is up to something.”

“Do you need assistance?” Grant asked.

“Negative,” Rex said. “I could use the travel to clear my head. I am already on my way.”

Grant paused before proceeding.

“I'm glad you're all right.”

“Thank you, boss,” Rex said.

“Take all the time you need,” Grant said.

Grant didn't appreciate how all those around him doubted his intelligence. Rex was trying his hardest to convince Grant of his loyalty, while Carter had all but guaranteed Rex was working for the resistance.

“Did you run into some trouble?” Grant asked. “I expected you a week ago.”

“We're back on schedule,” Rex said. “I'm nearing America, but I'm driving.”

“Why don't you fly back?” Grant asked.

“No money,” Rex said.

“Yet you managed to keep your phone?” Grant asked.

There was silence. Grant didn't want his man to know he suspected him just yet.

“Can you drive all the way back?”

“I can't bring this car into America,” Rex said. “It violates the technology ban.”

Grant didn't want to lose his lead on Amelia's location, but he knew whatever happened would be brought to the attention of the RAG agents and the grand commander. Grant could not risk the grand commander guessing that he had any previous knowledge of the events. If Ian found out Mia was in the country it could mean the end of Grant's political career. There was not much he could do now.

“I can head to the Southwest Area,” Grant said. “Cross the border near the coast. Call me with your location and I'll come pick you up. Can you make it there by morning?”

“I don't see why not.”

“There's an airport about thirty miles north of the border. If you cross earlier head that direction.”

“I'll figure it out,” Rex said.

“I'm glad you're coming home,” Grant said.

“Me too,” Rex replied.

Grant hung up the phone and smiled to himself. He was happy Rex was on his way back. That would make it easier to monitor him and deal out the punishment that was necessary for Rex's betrayal. They would all pay, and then Grant could focus on the future. Absolute power was within his reach.

 

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins
Publishers

....................................

Chapter
34

Based on my writing skills I asked the grand commander if I could start writing our history. He informed me anything I write will be subject to his approval and review. Somehow I think this journal will provide more truth than what is to be written down and preserved for our descendants.

—­The journal of Isaac Ryland

The terrain was more mountainous than Andrew had expected, but he hadn't seen a single house or sign of a person for miles. Even the pavement had given way to a gravel road. He turned off and started driving along the rocky landscape, Carter's headlights flashing in his rearview mirror. It didn't take long for Andrew to reach a destination he thought safe enough. He paused and turned the car off. There was a chill to the air, and a shiver ran down Andrew's spine. He hoped wherever Mia was, she was safe. He shook his head. He knew she was safe. That was the only way he could keep moving. A knock on his window startled him from his thoughts. Carter was waiting. Andrew pushed open his door and stepped outside.

“You left the agent alone?”

Carter lifted up his keys and jingled them in front of Andrew's face. “If he wakes up he's not going anywhere.”

Andrew opened the back door and started handing Carter the bags they'd collected from the youth home. Andrew walked around to the passenger side and grabbed the rest of their belongings. He stopped in the back and lifted the trunk. There sat the two cans of gasoline.

“Are you going to blow up this car too?” Carter asked.

“No,” Andrew said.

“How did Mia know that gas would destroy the building?”

“She grew up on a farm,” Andrew said. “Gas is flammable.”

“Oh,” Carter said.

Andrew picked up the two gas cans and left the trunk open. He took solace in the fact that maybe an animal would call it home. He walked toward the other SUV, his arms full.

“What time is it?” Andrew asked.

“Two,” Carter said.

“We have a few hours,” Andrew said. “You should try to get some sleep.”

“I'm not tired,” Carter said.

Carter opened the back door and set his bags down. He walked around and opened the trunk. Andrew set the extra gas cans down and closed the hatch. The two men stood next to the car.

“You want to hit me,” Carter said. “I can tell.”

“I want you to tell me everything,” Andrew said.

“I found out my dad was still alive when we made it to Affinity,” Carter said. “Grant let me speak to him once a day. He gave me a time limit. Mia for Grant. That's all I know.”

“What does
he
know?” Andrew asked.

“That we're coming back to America, that we are with a group of rebels,” Carter said.

“Does he think we're coming to destroy the Registry?”

“I'm not sure,” Carter said. “He may assume that, but he didn't hear it from me.”

“How does he know we're here now?”

“Not from me,” Carter said. “Before we left for France I told him I couldn't call any longer. It was too painful to hear my dad. All I said was I would be there with Mia by the deadline.”

“You don't think a man that clever could figure out we were coming in with foreign aid?”

“How could he know that?”

“Because the whole reason Florence was here was for his wedding,” Andrew said. “You don't think he is clever enough to put two and two together?”

“If he was wouldn't we have been greeted by him at the airport?”

Carter did have a point.

“You're going to call him,” Andrew said, “and tell him that everything is going according to plan and you're still with Mia.”

“Why?”

“Because as long as he thinks she's with us he won't go looking for her elsewhere.”

“I can't,” Carter said. “It was dangerous enough calling him internationally, when I didn't care if he knew where I was, but if I call him now, from inside America, he can trace me in a second. Then he'll kill all of us, including my dad, and then he'll know for certain Mia is inside the country. That creates more of a risk.”

“Affinity had a medical contact; maybe there's some technology guy they know who could help us,” Andrew said.

“In America?”

“Why don't you stop shooting down my ideas and start coming up with your own?”

“I've been trying to think of an alternative for weeks,” Carter said. “I can't get my dad without Mia. I was hoping she would be willing to trade and then we could break in and save her.”

“Why don't we break in and save Rod?”

Carter was silent for a moment.

“That might work now,” Carter said. “Before I thought we were going to get too close to the deadline, but there's no more cross-­country visiting trip. We can make it to the capital area and Grant's house in a few days, then scope it out and decide how to break in and save him.”

Carter's mood elevated.

“Mia is meeting us in three days,” Andrew said. “And I don't want her to think she has to sacrifice herself.”

Carter frowned for a second, then his smile returned, but Andrew noticed the hesitation.

“By the time she returns my dad will be safe,” Carter said.

“I can tell you don't believe me,” Andrew said. “But she wouldn't abandon us. This mission is too important to her.”

“What if she has?” Carter asked.

“Nothing has changed,” Andrew said.

“What do you mean?”

“Mia is getting the information she needs to prove her identity,” Andrew said. “Then we continue on with our plans.”

“What about my dad?”

Rod had been nice to Andrew. He was one of the only men who ever was. He had given Andrew advice on how to handle his feelings toward Mia and taught him to act like a soldier. Andrew owed the man too much to ever walk away.

“I promise you,” Andrew said, “I will do everything in my power to make sure we get him out of there, alive.”

“Thank you,” Carter said.

“Grab the bag filled with the identification,” Andrew said.

Carter opened the back door. The RAG agent did not wake up. Carter walked back around and Andrew grabbed the bag from his hands.

“We need to find three agents who look similar enough to us,” Andrew said.

Carter reached in and pulled out a stack.

“That's why I hid, you know,” Carter said.

Andrew stopped and looked up at the other boy.

“If I died nobody would ever know that Grant had him,” Carter said. “It wasn't because I was scared for my own life. I would die for Mia or you. But I'll never put anyone above my father. From here on out I won't run, as long as I have your word you will get him out, even if I die.”

Coward. That was the word Andrew had used for Carter, but with Mia missing Andrew appreciated what Carter had done. If their group were under attack and Andrew was the only hope Mia had, he would have hidden too. Andrew nodded his head at Carter and the two went back to sorting through the identification.

 

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins
Publishers

....................................

Chapter
35

There are fewer than one hundred women living in my neighborhood. I have a feeling that there are more of us, kept in smaller sections around the city. My former friend believes it is for convenience, but I can't shake the feeling a more sinister purpose exists.

—­The diary of Megan Jean

The sun was starting to rise and Mia was getting nervous. Everything looked familiar. The landscape was filled with cornfields and random patches of trees in the background. For the past two hours Mia had been getting off at every exit and heading west, trying to see if anything sparked a memory of her former home. She remembered from the night she left her father's farm that it was located on the same road as the highway entrance, and that was all the information she had. Mia had never known the name of her town, and she wasn't certain she lived in one. There was nobody else nearby. Whenever her father had taken her off the property they had always driven for at least thirty minutes.

Mia glanced down at the gun on the floor. As soon as she arrived at her parents' home she would point the weapon at her father, threaten him until he gave her the information she needed. They had to have some proof of the sale of their daughter. Mia was certain her father wouldn't lose track of business records.

Mia came up to another exit and turned off the highway. She headed west and the sun was growing in her rearview mirror. The exhaustion was starting to overtake her. Mia didn't know what was worse, the mental or physical pain. She was starting to lose focus again. She needed something to distract her as she kept the car on the road while scanning the area looking for any semblance of home.

Andrew was always a good distraction, but the pleasant memories of his kiss, his touch, and the elusive smile he gave only her, the one where his brown eyes warmed and melted her insides, had been replaced. Andrew didn't trust her or believe in her. He still saw her as property, only now she was his property. His actions showed that. Andrew kept too many secrets from her and did so under the guise of protecting her. Mia did not need his protection.

The anger in her was rising again. All of them had used her. It started in Saint Louis. She thought about Lisa, the woman she didn't get a chance to speak with much. Lisa was Mia's first point of contact with Affinity and all of them kept it from her. If the world was a game of chess Mia felt like a pawn.

Mia was so distracted she didn't notice that the corn had faded away. Then she saw it. The long gravel drive. Mia turned her head and spotted the large farmhouse in the distance. Her heart started to ache in her chest and she headed down the drive. She thought about what she would say to her parents.

There were no words. Mia knew it would be difficult to keep her composure and not ask a million questions. But stopping the Registry was more important than hearing excuses about the society her parents were willing participants in. Mia hoped she could keep her nerves under control long enough to get the information she needed.

The farmhouse grew closer and before Mia knew it she was ready to stop the car. She switched off the engine. Mia picked up the gun and opened the door. She started marching toward the porch and up the steps. All of her rage bubbled in her chest. She would be in and out of there in ten minutes, not giving her parents the opportunity to call Grant and let him know his lost property had returned. Mia would tell her parents how she hated them and what awful ­people they were. But the second Mia's hand touched the doorknob she froze.

Mia did not hate her parents. They were victims of the system, just as she had been. If Corinna was unable to open their eyes Mia was unlikely to change anything. This was a mistake. Mia felt the urge to run. She dropped the handle and twisted her body away. Before she could make it down the steps the front door swung open.

“Mia?”

She turned back around. It was her mother. It had been months since Mia had seen her. She was standing in the doorway, wearing her pajamas from the night before; her hair had started to gray but she was more beautiful than Mia remembered.

“Mia, is it really you?”

Mia stood on the edge of the steps. Open and honest communication. That was Flo's advice. Mia looked at her mother and was at a loss for words. She opened her mouth, but none came out. Instead a sob made its way toward Mia's lips. She felt her legs give out and was sure she would hit the porch, but instead her mother caught her. She wrapped her arms around Mia, who buried her head into her shoulder. Mia continued to cry. She cried for the loss of Flo, she cried for Affinity's betrayal, but most of all Mia cried because she was happy to see her mother.