Whisper of Memory (Whispering Woods Book 2) (13 page)

Arizona studied my face. “I agree with you.”

“I guess I can save my heartache for tomorrow.” I sniffed and took a deep breath, calming myself.

“Thatta girl.” Arizona made a fist and hit me lightly on the shoulder.

Em put her arm around me, smiling gently. “We’ll figure it out. He’s still him and you’re still you. There are some things that can’t be erased.”

Despite my newfound clarity, a fat tear slid down one cheek. I brushed it away with the back of my hand. “I knew there was a good reason for not getting that chip.” I smiled. “The IIA doesn’t control me. I’ll do what it takes to find Bleeker, find my brother…” I trailed off. “Find a way to turn back what they’ve done to Regulus.”

“There’s no turning back, Mia. Moving forward is the only way to get somewhere.” Arizona nodded his head toward the road, then took off in a slow jog. Em and I followed.

W
hen I was five
, I tagged along with my brother everywhere. If he went to Cub Scout meetings, I was there. If he played baseball, I was there. He wasn’t always happy to have me around and, as older brothers tend to do, he ignored me when he was with friends. I didn’t mind. I knew he was just pretending. He’d be there if I absolutely needed him.

One time, some kid at the ballpark purposely knocked my snow cone out of my hands to fall in an icy heap on the bleachers below. Before I could even cry, my brother ran over and tugged that kid’s hat off his head. “Sorry,” he said unconvincingly to the kid. “Go buy my sister another one or I’ll knock more than your hat off.” My brother had been watching from the dugout.

That’s what I kept hoping for with Regulus. He had to be pretending not to know me. With the IIA watching, he had to convince them they’d been successful. Mia Taylor, gone from the memory of their agent…forever.

“What time is it again?” I asked Em. I wasn’t wearing a watch, and her car’s clock said 6:00 p.m., which was obviously wrong.

“Five minutes since the last time you asked. Geez. I know how parents feel now.” She adjusted her strapless bra underneath the bodice of her formal she still wore. “You look wild. Like you could be a model for some crazy magazine ad. Or you might be a bag lady.”

I flipped down the sun visor and looked at myself in the mirror. She was right about the wild part. My hair, which I usually dried without hair product or styling, had been windswept into a mass of curls around my head. Slightly crunchy, sticky curls. I had started out the night with it up and had painstakingly used the curling iron to help me form tiny pin curls from strands of hair around my face. I now looked like I’d stuck my finger in an electrical socket. My mascara had smeared into raccoon smudges around my eyes since I hadn’t been able to stop myself from crying. Between my tangled poof of a hairdo and my jean jacket thrown over the now tattered aquamarine-colored dress, I was the definition of mess. I also had on the black Converse tennis shoes that I’d grabbed from my room. They actually looked kind of cute with the outfit.

Em leaned forward to open the glove compartment. “Here’s some baby wipes I keep for spills. Do something to your face.”

I took the package she offered and removed a wipe. “You’re always so prepared.” I began cleaning my entire face with the wipe. The car heater was starting to make me feel like I was in a sauna. “Arizona has been in there long enough to find out what he’s doing.” I chewed on my thumbnail. I took off the denim jacket.

“It’s been fifteen minutes, Mia. Come on. Calm yourself.”

“I am calm.” I threw away the wipe and began to fidget with the heater vents, pointing them all away from me.

She sighed and turned down the airflow. “What’s your curfew tonight?”

“Curfew? I don’t care what it is.” I stared out the window, which was becoming covered in condensation.

“I care. You’ll be grounded forever at this rate.”

“I’ll text Dad and tell him that I decided to go back to the dance. He was asleep when I left. He originally didn’t give me a time. He thinks it’s a double date, so he’s not worried about it. I told him I might spend the night at your house.”

“Great. I’m your cover.”

“You? Peggy Sue and Pops waiting up?” I grinned. Em wouldn’t have a curfew.

Em gave me a dirty look. “I actually told her that I might crash at your house when I take you home.”

The door to the dormitory at Whispering Woods U opened, and Arizona appeared. He wore jeans and a black T-shirt topped by a leather jacket instead of the tux. He opened the back door and got in.

“You freakin’ changed clothes in there. That’s what took you so long,” I said to him.

“I had to have some excuse to be in the room. Otherwise, it would look like I followed him.” He grimaced. “Listen up. Something is happening tonight. Regulus doesn’t shut me out. It’s not his way. I don’t know how to explain to you how weird this is.”

“Oh, I pretty much think that it’s all weird, all the time,” I said it in my best commercial voice. “It’s a new motto for us.”

“I’m glad you’re OK.” Arizona looked at me and set his chin on the back of my seat.

“OK is relative,” I said without looking at him or Em. “I’ll make it. At this moment, I’m just so pissed.” My voice began to rise. “They had no right.”

“It’s the rules, Mia. We told you this.” Arizona’s voice was gentle. “I didn’t think that they would find out.” He stroked my hair like I was a little kid. The car was silent except for the hum of the engine and the heater. “He cared for you. He did. They might have ignored it if not for that.”

“Thanks for nothing.” I attempted a smile. My mouth rose at the corners, but the rest of my face refused to follow. “What do we do now?”

“I need all the reinforcements I can get. You two are in?”

“Duh,” Em said.

“Yeah, duh.” I managed a tiny smile.

“Will Austin talk to you again after tonight?” Arizona asked me.

“Yeah. I think so. Friends through thick and thin, you know.” I didn’t sound as sure as I wanted.

“Call him. I saw a map of Goliath on Regulus’s printer. You’re taking a road trip.” Arizona smiled. “You have any food in here, Emily?”

“Really?” Em said. “You have to eat…now?”

“My level of charm and intellect requires a constant source of calories.”

“We can’t go get food now. We’ll lose him,” Em said.

“He was getting in the shower a minute ago. It’s his routine before he goes to bed. He’s trying to throw me off.”

Em shifted quickly into drive and sped out of the parking lot. “Drive-through,” she mumbled. “Only with you would we interrupt this rescue mission for a fast-food emergency.”

“Wait. You said,
you’re
taking a road trip. As in us, not you. What about you? Aren’t you going?” I said.

“I can’t go, Mia. I want to more than anything, but he’ll know I’m there. The IIA will know.” Arizona held up his wrist with the chip implant. “I need to borrow Em’s car. I have a plan.”

I was finding my way out of the numbness. Picking up my cell, I hit speed dial for contact one. “Austin?”

“Yeah, babe.” He sounded tired.

I let the “babe” part slide. “I need your help.” I took a deep breath. “I really need it or I wouldn’t ask.”

“I know. When and where?”

“Now. We’re sitting outside Regulus’s dorm. When he leaves, we’re going to follow him. We think he’s heading to Goliath.”

“You spying on the boyfriend?” I knew Austin was teasing since he didn’t know about the cleansing. It still hurt.

“The IIA did something to him. Austin…” I said.

“Yeah?”

“He doesn’t remember that he’s my boyfriend. He doesn’t remember me at all.”

The silence on the phone seemed to stretch endlessly before Austin finally spoke. “I’m sorry, Mia.”

“Sure,” I said. “Right now, we think he’s doing something he’s been ordered to do alone. Arizona has a bad feeling about it. We’re not letting him go alone.”

“I’m coming.” No hesitation or doubt.

I sighed. Austin was that friend you could call in the middle of the night. I was sorry that I’d never be more than that to him. He clicked off, and I put down the phone.

We drove into the drive-through lane of the local fast-food restaurant and ordered several burgers, fries, and shakes. My stomach had been a knot of emotion and stress, but I was suddenly famished. Arizona ate his order and asked to finish the remainder of mine. Em nibbled on her fries while driving and maneuvered into a dark corner of the dormitory lot with her lights off.

“This chip business. Does he know you’re this close?” I asked.

“Yes.” Arizona squinted to see someone walking across the north end of the lot. “I told him that we took you home and Em was waiting in the car for me.”

“What does he think she’s waiting for?” I asked, confused.

“What do you think we might do in a dark parking lot?” he asked, grinning widely.

Em threw a fry at him. “Um…you wish.” She wasn’t angry though. I could tell she thought it was funny.

My cell rang.

“I’m here. I didn’t pull up. Where are you?” he said.

“Far end of the lot by the line of poplar trees,” I said.

“South end of lot twelve,” Arizona said simultaneously.

“You’re on speaker phone now,” I said as I held out the phone where Em and Arizona could hear.

“Do you want me to pull up there or what?” Austin said.

“No, they’ll come to you. I’m keeping Emily’s car. Where are you?” Arizona looked around.

“Admin building by the Dumpster,” Austin said. “Tiny’s with me.”

“Keep your phone charged and on. Both of you. I can tell you if he’s moving and the distance and direction. I can give you coordinates for him.”

“Holy crap.” I couldn’t breathe. “Are you saying the chip has global positioning?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Bet you wish your portal finding was that exact,” Arizona said, as if I should be jealous.

“No. I don’t.” Now I understood why the IIA wanted me to have it done. They’d know exactly where I was all the time. I had pictured it all differently. I sort of thought it worked like my portal sensing—an inexact science and more of a feeling than a geographical map.

“Why did you need my help in the woods?” I asked.

“The portal invalidates the signal. I would be able to locate him after he was already through but not before,” Arizona said.

“Are you guys coming?” Austin cut in on us.

“Yes,” I said. “We’re on our way.”

“Mia, take this.” Arizona gave me a stunner.

“I haven’t practiced enough,” I said while trying to hand it back. “What if I accidentally kill someone?”

“Then you’ll have to make sure you do it right.” He pushed it back toward me and smiled. “I have faith in you.”

Em and I opened our car doors as softly as possible. While trying to steal across the parking lot, I muttered an oath to never ever wear a dress again as long as I lived. Em had no trouble running in her winter formal ensemble. She even looked graceful.

I was winded when we reached the Jeep.

“
Hola
, ladies.” Austin jumped out of the driver’s side and stared at me, gaze traveling from my messy hair to the torn dress and tennis shoes. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Rough night,” I answered, not wanting to explain all that had happened. “Could you save the gawking for some other time when I can deal with it?”

“We have to hurry,” Em said. “I’ve got to download an app on my phone for GPS.”

“Got it,” Tiny said in his low gravelly voice while holding up his phone. “Trade phones with me, and I’ll get your download started.”

“Thanks, Tiny,” Em said. “You’re the man.”

“Uh-huh.” Tiny smiled.

I was amazed. I’d never seen him smile. “Let’s get on the road,” I said. “Arizona texted me. Regulus is moving.”

Austin waited for us to hop in the back seat and buckle up. The heater air in the Jeep didn’t reach the back seat, and I began to shiver.

Tiny shoved a jacket in my direction. “Take this. I can hear your teeth chattering from here, I stay hot anyway.”

I gratefully took the jacket and spread it over Em’s and my legs like a blanket. Watching my phone for texts, I read off coordinates. Tiny programmed in destinations while Austin made sure that we stayed in range but out of sight.

I felt my eyelids getting heavier by the minute and yawned as I laid my head back. The Jeep seat vibrated with movement, and I struggled to keep my eyes open.

“I’ve got it, Mia.”

I heard the words and felt the phone being taken from my grip. I thought I’d rest my eyes for one minute. No more.

T
he brush
of a hand on mine woke me. “We’re here,” Em said.

I looked through slitted eyelids to see that we were in total darkness and still in the Jeep. I must have fallen asleep. I immediately went into panic mode. Had I missed something important?

“Regulus went inside this building,” Austin whispered as he pointed across the street at a brick building in the middle of what looked like an industrial area.

“This is Goliath?” I asked.

Tiny nodded while looking at his phone.

“We’re not near the railroad tracks, are we?” I wanted to know.

“No. Why?” Austin said.

“I don’t feel the portal here,” I answered.

“Why do you think Regulus broke into this building?” Em said.

“Million dollar question,” Austin said. “Man, I sure don’t want to run into Officer Sanchez again.”

“Oh.” Em and I groaned in unison.

I leaned forward to talk to Austin. “You have to stay out of trouble. I don’t know if my dad will come and bail you out a second time.”

He shrugged. “Life is short and simple. I do what I have to do and worry about the consequences later.”

“It’s not simple,” I said, an ache deep in my chest. “It’s—”

“Shh,” Tiny said and signaled at a large silver Hummer driving into the parking lot of the building. It parked at the corner of the building lit by a streetlamp.

“He’s still in there,” I said while panic threatened my ability to speak.

A man exited the driver’s side, while behind him, a woman got out of the backseat.

Nancy Taylor.

When I finally tore away my mesmerized glance to look at the man, I recognized Dr. Eli Bleeker. A man almost as large as Tiny, he held something—probably a key card—and went to the building’s front door.

Em laid her hand on my arm. “He’ll hear them coming.”

“He must have set off an alarm when he went in. Why else would they be here at this time of night?” Austin said. “Maybe we should call Officer Sanchez for backup.”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” I said.

“They’re turning more lights on. I think they’re searching the place,” Austin said.

“How can you tell?” Em said doubtfully.

“I need to get out. I can’t see what’s going on.” I grabbed the door handle.

“No, Mia, stop—” Austin’s voice was urgent.

My shoes made no sound as I tiptoed to the front side of the Jeep and then sprinted to the building. I made it to the far corner away from the streetlamp when I noticed Em, Austin, and Tiny all following me.