“Get home right away,” Ophelia said. “I mean here—to the apartment.”
I said we would. Then she hung up. I felt another surge of sympathy from Luna as I put my phone away. And fear. She didn’t know Mr. Entwistle well, but she could feel my distress and was worried.
Charlie was watching me closely. “He knew where we were going, didn’t he?”
Probably.
“So Hyde got him.”
I didn’t think so. My guess was, he had told Ophelia he was coming to find us, but instead went after Hyde knowing we wouldn’t be able to follow. It would have explained his odd behavior and the things he’d said when he came to see me that morning. It was his way of saying good-bye.
Do you think so?
I do.
Luna squeezed my hand. “Step on it,” she said to her sister.
Suki didn’t disappoint. The engine roared. What would have taken Charlie and me almost an hour on the Shoe-Leather Express she covered in about twenty minutes. The only thing that slowed us down were all the fire trucks on Clonsilla as we approached the apartment. Police cars and ambulances were gathering, too.
“That’s smoke,” said Charlie.
It was. It got thicker as we got closer to home.
“I can’t,” Suki exclaimed. “There’s police everywhere. You want to get pulled over and spend the next few hours explaining why we have a car full of medieval weapons?”
She had a point. The two-handed sword and voulge were tucked along one side of the car. They were too long to lie flat against the floor, so the handles of both would be obvious to anyone who looked in.
As we rounded the corner near Gordon Avenue, I could see the apartment. It was being consumed in a pillar of fire. Gouts of flame burst from the windows, and a thick, billowing cloud of black smoke poured from the roof. The fire trucks were setting up. Men scrambled with ladders and hoses. The police were there. Someone in a paramedics uniform was waving for us to turn down Victory Crescent instead of driving past the building.
“What do I do?” asked Suki.
“Pull over up there,” said Charlie.
We turned off of Clonsilla and Suki slid in along the curb. Charlie had to get out first so I could climb past his seat. I heard Luna’s voice in my head: Call her. I dug out my phone. Found Ophelia’s number. There was no answer. I started running. Several officers tried to stop me, but I was moving too quickly. Then I reached the front walk. The heat from the building was so intense, I couldn’t get near the door. I felt someone take hold of my arm, a firefighter. He started talking to me.
“It’s my house,” I said. “My mother is inside.”
I don’t know if he answered me, but he let go. I guess he knew I wouldn’t be able to get any closer. I just stared at the inferno. If Ophelia was in there, it was going to take a time machine to save her.
Charlie caught up a moment later. Luna was with him. Listen! she thought.
I looked at her, then realized Charlie was talking to me.
“. . . be around.”
“What was that?”
“If Hyde did this, he might still be around. We need to get out of here.”
“What about Ophelia?” I couldn’t leave until I knew if she’d made it out okay.
Luna took hold of my arm. She would want you to get somewhere safe.
That was true.
Luna started pulling me away from the crowd that was gathering on the sidewalk to watch. I didn’t resist. Men and women in uniform were trying to move everyone to the other side of the street.
Then my phone rang. I checked the display. Iron Spike Enterprises. It was my uncle. He would know what to do. I picked up and said hello.
“Zack. What a relief! Everything okay?”
“No.”
“Are you here—at the hospital?”
It was just up the hill. “I’m down the street at the apartment.”
“What’s going on? It sounds like a circus.”
I told him about the fire. He swore. “I’m still at the Civic. It’s crazy here, as well.” I could hear him stumbling around. “Wait. I can see it from the window. Did Ophelia make it out?”
I couldn’t answer. He repeated the question. Luna moved her mouth closer to my ear and told him we didn’t know.
“Zachary, listen. This is important,” he said. “Hyde was just here. He’s taken Baddon’s son.”
I thought of the small, frail child and a part of my mind snapped awake. It was angry. “Is he still there?”
“Who? Hyde? I don’t think so. I can’t get near the room. Security has it cordoned off. I was asleep when he broke in and didn’t get down the hall in time. Dammit, I can hardly move.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No. It’s the radiation treatment. Burns your insides. . . . Poor Adam. I think he might be dead.”
Who’s Adam? Luna asked.
For a few seconds all I could hear was static and the sound of sirens and chaos.
“Get somewhere safe,” my uncle said. “I’ll find you. Just get out of sight.”
Somewhere safe? Unless he had a spaceship and could ferry us to Mars, we weren’t going to be safe anywhere. And I had to look for Ophelia. She had to be somewhere. My uncle started talking again. I couldn’t really hear him. The hand I was using to hold the phone had dropped to my side, and the sirens were making a lot of noise.
“Zack. Zack, are you still there?”
Luna took the phone. “We’re here. We’ll call you once we’re clear.”
My uncle said something to her, then she hung up and handed the phone back to me. I felt Charlie’s hand on my back. He’d opened the door to the car and was guiding me in.
“What’s going on?” Suki asked.
She and Luna and Charlie started talking. I didn’t follow their conversation. My mind was too busy trying to figure out how to find Ophelia. If she’d made it out, where would she go? Would she stay here knowing we’d be back? Did she have another safe house I didn’t know about? Would she try to find Mr. Entwistle or go to the hospital to get my uncle?
Suki pulled out of the parking spot and Charlie fed her instructions. I didn’t pay attention. Not until the car stopped.
We were outside of town on Highway 4. A familiar pasture was beside us. It was where Mr. Entwistle, Charlie, and I had followed Hyde’s trail the night before. Charlie got out. So did Suki. I felt Luna nudge me gently. I climbed outside and she followed.
Where is this? she asked.
I told her.
What is Charlie thinking?
That we have something to take care of. I turned to face my friend. He was talking to Suki.
“Then we followed him out here. His trail is just off the road.” He reached into the car along the side of the seat to where he’d stashed our weapons. He handed me the sword, then pulled out the long-handled voulge.
“What are we doing?” I asked, although I already knew the answer.
Charlie looked at me. His pupils were widening. I saw his tongue flick up against his gums, a sure sign his teeth were dropping.
“We’re going to follow Hyde’s tracks,” he said. “You and I. We’re going to find his lair and wait for him there. Then when he comes back, we’re going to kill him.”