MY HANDS ARE sweating. My heart is pounding. I turn in to an abandoned parking garage and pull into a dark corner. I watch the garage opening for TinGrins. Are they chasing me? Did I lose them? Are they taking positions outside and waiting for a clean shot?
A few hours ago, my biggest problem in life was getting marked up for skipping class. Seems like pretty small potatoes at the moment. Now I’ve got a choice to make. I can abandon the car, sneak out the back, and act perfectly normal. In a half-hour, I’ll be back home with my grandmother. That would be the reasonable choice. What can I do for Lamont at this point anyway? Why is he my problem?
Who am I kidding? Of course he’s my problem. He’s my goddamn inheritance! I hear a loud bang behind me. I duck! But it’s only some old guy dropping the lid on a dumpster.
After a few minutes, I peek over the hood and ease the car out of the garage. I turn north. About a block from the World President’s Residence a huge black SUV moves up behind me, right on my bumper. Shit! But the next second, it pulls around me and speeds ahead down the street. I slow to a crawl to create some space. Then I hear my passenger door opening. Am I getting carjacked? I pop my door latch and get ready to roll out and ditch the car.
“Maddy, stop!”
Lamont’s voice?
When I turn back, it’s him! He’s sitting in the passenger’s seat like nothing happened.
“What are you waiting for?” he says. “Drive!”
“What happened?” I say. “They let you go?”
“Not really,” says Lamont. “I just…left.”
I move the car forward. Slow this time. Let’s not attract attention.
“I don’t understand.”
I’m running out of patience now. I took it easy on Lamont at first. Didn’t want to send him into a mental tailspin. I did what he said, took him where he wanted to go. Which almost got him killed. Now I need some answers.
“Okay,” I say. “That’s it. I’m tired of the mysteries. Tell me the truth. Who the hell are you?”
“I thought I made it perfectly clear,” he said. “I’m Lamont Cranston.”
I pound the door panel and shout. “Lamont Cranston is a character from the radio! He’s totally made up! Maybe somebody gave you a false identity before you…you know…went under! Maybe all those chemicals turned your brain to mush!”
“Lamont Cranston is very real,” says Lamont, calm and smooth. “And so is the Shadow. Same coin, two sides.”
“I don’t get it,” I say. “What’s your story?”
“It’s a very long story.”
“Try me. How long?”
“Ten thousand years.”
“Ten thousand years? Lamont, you’re not making any s—”
The windshield shatters into a million tiny pellets. The air cushion hits me like a hard punch in the chest. I hear the crunch of metal and fiberglass. When I look up, I see the front end of the L20 wedged under the back end of a dump truck. In the few seconds it takes me to realize what happened, the driver of the truck is already at my door, his fists clenched. He’s huge and red in the face.
“Hey!” he shouts, leaning in to my window.
I shove the door open, forcing him backward. When I stand up outside the car, I come up to about his chest. I’m pretty sure he’s not going to punch a girl half his size, but he’s really pissed.
“You rich bitch!” he says.
Of course. He thinks I actually own this thing. And now he thinks he can wring some cash out of me to pay for the minor scrapes on the underside of his ten-ton truck.
“It’s all fine,” I tell him. “Go back to your rig and just drive away.”
And that’s exactly what he does. Lamont opens his door and gets out. I reach into the back of the car and retrieve my scooter as the truck drives off.
“Impressive,” says Lamont. Or is it the Shadow? Or is it just a crazy man who has no idea who he really is? At this point, I don’t really give a crap. We just need to get out of here. New plan.
The front of the L20 is a crumbled mess. The scrappers will show up soon. An hour from now, there won’t be anything left. Which is good. Because that means there won’t be anything to trace.
“We’re going home,” I say. “My home this time.” I head through an alley, moving south. Lamont is right on my heels. I still haven’t gotten any real answers to my questions. But that can wait.
For right now, I just need to keep us both alive.