The Repossession (39 page)

Genie grinned. She turned to the dog.

‘We’re heading south, Mouch. Pack your bags.’ She glanced at the phone. ‘I have to call Renée.’

She drove over to Rian’s house, proud she could handle this old truck on her own without Rian telling her she was doing it wrong. Like all boys, he believed he could drive better than a girl, as if either of them ever had any lessons or anything. She parked two houses over, so his mother and Mr Yates couldn’t see the vehicle. This time she looked around carefully in case Reverend Schneider was hiding anywhere. She’d already resolved that if she saw him she’d run him over and just keep on driving. Only way to deal with evil. She heard the rumble of thunder. The sky was darkening. It would rain soon, for sure.

She dialled Ri’s number, hoping he was back from classes already. Marshall had warned her that his cell would be bugged, so she had to keep it short.

‘Hey.’

‘Hey yourself.’

‘Two things,’ Genie told him. ‘One: Reverend Schneider has been released.’

‘You can’t be serious. Really?’

‘Two: Wildcard.’

‘Wildcard?’

Genie waited for the penny to drop.

‘It’s your choice. Now or never, Ri.’

Rian suddenly remembered their last conversation and the agreed code word for trouble. If anything went bad, they had to have a bag packed and ready. His eyes went to his closet. It had been the first thing he’d done when he came home.

‘How long?’

‘Right here, right now.’

Rian swore. His mother and Mr Yates were downstairs.

No way he could get past them with a packed bag. He looked at the window. This would the second time he’d escaped this way. This time he’d have to jump off at the back of the house else they’d see him.

‘Two minutes,’ he told her.

Genie disconnected and started the engine. She looked at Mouch and smiled. ‘You think you’ll like Mexico, Mouch?’

Mouch had already decided that he’d like anywhere Genie went. He was easy.

*

Less than a minute later Rian’s bag was tossed under the tarp at the back and he jumped into the cab.

‘You’re driving?’

‘Shut the door, Rian Tulane, and strap in.’

Rian nodded. Genie was running this escape plan.

She didn’t immediately drive off though. She looked at him with narrowed eyes, a question on her lips.

‘Last chance to change your mind. Stay, finish school, be normal, live in Spurlake, go to college, become someone . . . I told you, Ri. I never want to hold you back.

I love you too much to stop you getting an education.’

Rian smiled, giving Mouch a hug as he stared at Genie.

‘Drive. We’re leaving. You call, I go. I told you, Genie Magee. We’re not ever going to be separated again. Anyway, I hate being at school without you.’

Genie smiled and let in the clutch. She drove off smoothly, as if she’d always driven.

‘Marshall says they’re rounding us all up. The Fortress has won. Miller might give up being a cop. Some serious stuff going down.’

Genie crossed Main Street and pulled up outside the Shopper’s Mart. Renée dashed out of the store, carrying her overnight bag and some groceries. She tipped her stuff

in the back and swung into the cab, slamming the door after her.

She smiled at them as Genie let out the clutch again and Moucher noisily greeted her.

‘Lucky I was in town. Had a sucky interview at the Dairy Queen – like I so crave working there. Don’t take any of the main streets. Just back roads, Genie.

There’s Fortress trucks everywhere. Take the bike path by the old railroad.’

‘Bike path?’

‘It’s wide enough and we can get off at the track behind it after the shooting range. I know it’s slow, but I don’t want us stopped.’

Genie did as she suggested, pulling off the road and bumping across the park to the bike path beyond. It was just wide enough. As Marshall predicted, it started to rain. The windshield wipers creaked to life and smeared the windshield.

‘Shoot, I can’t see anything. If there’s anyone on a bike they are going to regret it big time,’ Genie said, trying to get the windshield washer to squirt.

‘You hear? They got Julia Wasserman,’ Renée said. ‘I called everyone. Her mother is hysterical. They grabbed her on her way to school. Mrs Wasserman said they’ve hired a lawyer to get her back. I think they got Danielle

too. Did you know she tried to kill herself? They grabbed her at the hospital.’

‘Kill herself? That makes no sense,’ Genie protested.

‘Denis told me she was depressed. Couldn’t handle being home again or something.’

Genie felt bad for her.

‘Reverend Schneider is out too,’ Rian told her.

‘I tried to call Cary just now but he isn’t answering his phone.’

Renée stared at him amazed. ‘Schneider is out?’ She looked at Genie for confirmation.

‘No wonder you said it was urgent. Jeez. I knew that something was up when us coming back didn’t even make the news – nothing, zilch. We were dead the moment we walked into that church.’ She looked at Genie again. ‘The turn-off comes up soon, keep it slow. The track’s gonna be muddy in this rain but it’ll be safer.’

Genie found the opening and drove up on to the ridge.

It was a popular place to walk in summer with views across the whole of Spurlake. The rain started to fall harder with a strong wind behind it and she began to worry they’d get bogged down on the muddy track.

Rian looked out at his town spread out below them now. He knew with absolute certainty he’d never be back.

No matter what.

‘You bring a map?’ Genie asked Renée.

Renée nodded, pulling one out of her jacket pocket. ‘It only goes as far as the border. How are we going to get across? I haven’t got a passport. You? They’re really hot on documents these days and they sure aren’t going to let us drive over.’

Genie smiled. ‘Ever been fishing?’ she asked them both.

‘On the river a few times,’ Renée answered.

‘Tried for salmon once,’ Rian admitted.

‘Did you know Reverend Schneider owns a yacht? It’s waiting for us in Vancouver some place.’

Rian looked at her and then began to smile. ‘We’re stealing his yacht?’

Genie pulled a face. ‘We’re borrowing it. Miller discovered he owned it when he was investigating him.

Keys were hanging up in the church. Marshall made me take them.’

Renée laughed with astonishment. ‘We are going to sail a yacht to where?’

‘Mexico. Hell, further. Who cares? That’s the plan.’

Rian frowned. It sounded cool, but . . . ‘You ever sail a yacht before?’

Genie laughed and looked at him a moment. ‘You’re a boy – anyway, it’s a motor cruiser. You’ll figure it out. I’m

counting on you, Rian Tulane. How hard can it be? Turn on the engine and point south.’

Rian shook his head. ‘Turn on the engine and point.’

He laughed. ‘Well, that’s my sailing education dealt with.

What next?’

‘Keeping us safe,’ Renée told him. ‘A boy’s job never ends, y’know, eh. Lots of responsibilities.’

Genie was smiling to herself as they drove on. Night was falling. Fewer cops on the roads further south, she hoped. Vancouver was one hundred and eighty kilometres once they reached Hope. First stop Ferryman’s, to gas up.

She’d let Rian drive from there. Didn’t want to bruise his ego too much. She felt guilty they weren’t helping the others but Denis had been right. Run. They had to run to fight another day.

Mouch shifted to get comfortable on Rian’s lap. Rian bent down and talked to the dog.

‘Apparently, Mouch, I always wanted to go to Mexico.’

Mouch licked his face. Genie and Renée laughed. They were breaking free of Spurlake and it felt good.

The gusting wind must have brought it down. A huge old oak tree lay across the track just before it joined the main highway and Rian swore. They didn’t have time for this. They’d barely done two Ks in the mud and rain, taking this old farm track out of town.

The thickening mud had slowed them to a crawl and then this incredible wind blew up, throwing leaves and small branches at them as they bumped down the uneven surface. It just seemed every time they ever tried to leave Spurlake the weather gods did everything they could to prevent it, or kill them – either way, they were stalled and pretty soon Reverend Schneider would be giving chase.

Genie pulled up short of the tree and angrily banged her hands on the wheel. ‘Can we pull it off?’

Rian checked the back of the truck and sighed. He could have sworn he’d seen rope there earlier. He looked behind the seat; there were some old bungee cords, maybe they’d do, but they weren’t strong, not for an old oak.

Genie didn’t wait. She backed up to a gap in the

fence and made a three-point turn.

‘We can’t go back that way,’ Renée protested. ‘There ain’t a single turn-off before town.’

‘I’m not going back. I’m going to try and back it up a bit, least ways so we can get past. No way we’re going to lift it.’

Rian didn’t think it such a good idea, a branch could get underneath and lift the rear wheels off the . . .

Genie slowly reversed towards the tree, looking back out of the window, her head getting soaked as the rain fell even harder.

‘Move, you bastard!’ Genie yelled. The tree didn’t seem to give an inch. They could hear the tyres spinning trying to find grip.

‘It ain’t gonna . . .’ Rian started. Suddenly the tyres found grip and the tree moved half a metre. Genie shouted something and then repeated the whole process. The tree moved some more.

‘Get out, Renée. Check we can get through.’

Renée grabbed the flashlight and bounced out of the truck to the muddy ground. She squelched towards the tree surveying the situation, wiping rain from her eyes.

She turned back towards the truck. ‘Turn her around again, Genie. We can squeeze through.’

Rian leaped out of the truck to help Renée.

Genie looked at Moucher, who was clearly frowning and doubting she knew what she was doing. ‘See? We can move trees. You didn’t think we could, but we did.’

Moucher barked a couple of times to show enthusiasm, but you could tell he was still unsure. He didn’t like the weather much either.

Genie made another three-point turn in the tight space.

It turned out to be five turns to get it all way around – but who was counting? – and brought the truck to face the tree, the headlights picking out Renée and Rian lifting huge branches out of the way. She grinned like a maniac.

Nothing was going to stop them this time. They were going to drive down to Vancouver, find Reverend Schneider’s yacht and sail away. Nothing was going to stop them at all.

Rian was waving like a crazy loon suddenly. Fast-approaching vehicles with bright headlights could be glimpsed through the trees.

‘Kill the lights. Kill the lights,’ Rian was yelling and she quickly switched them off. Seconds later, two fast-moving Fortress vehicles flashed by. They had a momentary glimpse of men in the back seats armed with shotguns poking out of open windows. Genie knew for sure that they were out looking for them. Either way, it meant that there were Fortress people ahead of them on the

road up ahead – and this was the only road out of Spurlake to Highway 1.

Rian jumped back in, Renée staying put to hold back some branches as Genie inched the truck by the fallen tree.

‘They looked mean. Shotguns? They want to kill us now?’ Rian asked. He shook the rain out of his hair.

Genie nodded. ‘I don’t think they want us to get out of Spurlake alive, Ri.’

Renée jumped in, soaked to the skin.

‘Get on the road, travel about half a K to the stone quarry and take the track behind it. I used to ride my bike there. It comes up the other side of the bridge. If the Fortress is waiting for us, they’ll be at Hell’s Gate motel.

We’ll come out a hundred metres behind it.’

Genie just drove, thankful that Renée knew her way.

Rian wiped the water from his face and placed a cold hand on Genie’s shoulder. ‘You did good back there.’

Genie said nothing. They’d got nowhere and now armed Fortress people were ahead of them. She didn’t want to let Ri know she was scared.

The wind was sheer; a brief squall of hailstones beat against their heads and collected around their sodden feet. They were gathered on the rooftop of the Fortress, watching the huge helicopter swaying in the wind as it attempted to land. It was the type of chopper presidents used, no expense spared. Everyone stared, clutching their collars to the necks or holding a cardigan over their heads in useless attempts to stay dry. Each staff member on the roof filled with uncertainties and not a little fear. An hour earlier the three leading executives had been fired, other jobs were certain to go. Someone had been appointed to clear things up, make cuts, get the Fortress back on track and they all knew it would be someone ruthless, someone who wouldn’t care about their mortgages or debts, someone who’d fire them at a drop of the hat. The bigger the helicopter, the more cuts he’d make.

For a moment it looked as though the wind would flip the aircraft and abort the landing, but at last it set down

with a thump and the rotors began to wind down – the engine whine was deafening.

Now the moment of dread came. Who would it be? Finance people in the city called the tune now.

Whoever emerged from that chopper, it wasn’t going to be Santa Claus.

Reverend Schneider pulled his jacket closer. He was soaked through. He’d been summoned to this rooftop humiliation. He wasn’t even an employee of Fortransco but they had insisted he be here to greet the new CEO, whoever it might be. The previous administration had been lax, everyone knew that, they had managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Genie Magee was on the run. They had only managed to recapture three of the successful transmissions and now they had lawyers involved. They certainly weren’t going to be able to keep Fortress activity secret any more.

‘I don’t like the look of this,’ Mr Yates muttered at Schneider’s elbow.

Schneider turned and frowned. He’d never liked Yates.