I didn’t know what to say. The coach rolled on for about an hour while I kind of stared blankly at the screen showing the red dot slowly moving south. Maybe Speed hadn’t been lying. Perhaps he was going to head to the Florida Keys for some R & R after all. I mean, I didn’t believe any of Speed’s bull about wanting to spend time with me, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about Boone just dumping him like that either. But I also wasn’t happy with Speed inserting himself into my life whenever he felt like it.
Croc stared at me from the shotgun seat. I always found his one blue and one brown eye a little unnerving. All of a sudden he jumped off his perch and picked up something from the floor with his mouth.
It was the plastic bag full of my cards, ropes, and magic stuff the terrorist had made me empty out of my pockets. Croc walked over and dropped it at my feet. The good news was I had my stuff back. The bad news was the bag was covered with icky dog drool. I gingerly opened it and dumped the contents on the table. Even before I reloaded my pockets, I took a deck of cards and shuffled it several times. It made me feel better.
Croc made another trip to the front of the coach, retrieved Angela’s battered backpack, and took it to her. She was also delighted to get her stuff back, but used a couple of paper towels from the galley to remove Croc’s slobber from the fabric.
“Listen, Q—” Boone said, but the chirp of my new phone interrupted him.
The caller ID showed Blaze Munoz. For a second, I froze. We’d been out of touch for a while and she was probably going to have a lot of questions. I was a horrible liar.
“It’s my mom,” I said with a gulp.
“Put it on speaker,” Boone said.
“Hi, Mom!” I said extra cheerfully. “You’re on speaker. I’m riding shotgun while Boone drives.” Which wasn’t true, but she didn’t need to know about Felix and his still-smelly self who was actually doing the driving.
“Hi, hon! It’s so good to hear your voice. Hi, Boone!” she said.
“Howdy, Blaze,” he said. “How y’all doin’?” The good-old-boy drawl was back.
“We’re good. Where are you?”
“We’re heading west on US 64, close to Raleigh. Gonna hook up with the interstate and head to San Antone.”
“That’s nice to hear, but you want to hear something really cool?” Mom asked.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“You’ll never guess where I’m calling from!”
“Okay, I’ll never guess,” I said. “Where are you calling from?”
“Air Force One!” Mom said. For a moment I thought she sounded a little bit like a squealing teenager.
“Really?” I was instantly curious. “Why are you taking Air Force One to San Antonio?” Right then Angela’s cell phone rang. I heard her say, “Hi, Dad.”
“The president asked us to make some appearances on our way to San Antonio,” Mom told me. “Apparently the benefit we did in D.C. raised a ton of money. He wants us to be honorary cochairs of the relief effort. And because he didn’t want to mess up our concert schedule, he’s flying us to San Antonio on Air Force One!” Mom sounded a little breathless. I heard Angela say “Amazing” in the background and assumed she was getting the same news.
“That’s cool!” I said. I’d watched a documentary about Air Force One on TV and it was a pretty remarkable plane.
“And the best part is you and Angela are coming with us! He said we could do the first appearance in Raleigh and pick you guys up. Won’t that be—wait, I wonder how he knew you were in Raleigh?” she asked.
“He’s the president,” I said. “I suppose he knows stuff. He probably just kept track of our progress because he asked you to stay behind and he didn’t want you to worry about us.” Boone gave me a thumbs-up. I almost convinced myself with that lie.
“I suppose,” Mom said. I knew that tone she was using. It was when she was firing up the Momdar—Mom radar—that I was convinced every mother possessed. Both of us being so close to Raleigh was a big coincidence, and after years of being married to Speed Paulsen she was naturally suspicious.
Angela was finishing her conversation with her dad.
“Anyway,” Mom went on, “we’re in the air. Marie and Art said you and Angela would meet us on the plane right after we finish the appearance at a Raleigh TV station. We have a few more stops on the way to San Antonio. We get to stay on board overnight and everything. On Air Force One! I have to tell you, Q, it’s awesome!”
“I’ll bet!” I said. In truth, it did sound pretty cool. But there was something fishy in all this. It smelled like a Boone-fish. For whatever reason, he wanted us out of his hair for a while. I was willing to bet my last magic coin he’d set the whole thing up.
“I can’t wait to see you, Mom,” I said.
“Me too you, honey,” she said. “And I’m sorry I have to go now. Roger and I are rehearsing a public service announcement that’s going to play on MTV and some other networks, requesting donations for the victims.”
“Okay, see you soon, Mom,” I said.
“I love you, Q.”
“I love you, Mom,” I answered and disconnected the call. Angela hung up a few seconds later.
We both looked at Boone.
“Busted,” he said. “Yes. I called J.R. and set it all up. The press conference with Bethany has taken place. The cell now knows they failed. But something has changed. Ordinarily they’d drop off the grid now and live to fight another day. But they’ve brought Malak into the inner circle. The last thing she was told before the raid was that she was going to Texas to meet the other leaders. We have to follow that trail wherever it leads. I need time and freedom to check a few things out. You two need to be safe. There is no safer way to get you to San Antonio than on Air Force One.”
“How do you know what she was told in the house?” Angela asked.
“I was in … let’s just say I could overhear them talking,” he said.
Angela sighed in frustration and still looked unhappy but I could see Boone’s point.
“What kinds of things are you going to be checking out?” she asked.
Boone shrugged. “Just things.”
“Boone, you promised in Philadelphia that you’d keep us in the loop.” I knew she wasn’t really mad at Boone and so did he. Angela was worried about her mother and right now she was just a little exasperated.
“I’m not keeping anything from you, Angela. I’m not sure exactly what I’m dealing with now. When I know something, I’ll tell you. But I am keeping you safe, like I promised your mother and Blaze and Roger. I don’t take that lightly. Plus, I’m saving you about twenty hours on the coach. I’ll find out what’s going on with your mother, Angela. Understand something. J.R. has given me a lot of latitude here. If I think she’s in a situation she can’t handle—which is unlikely because Malak Tucker is the best agent I’ve ever seen—I’ll pull her out. You have my word.”
It didn’t seem to make Angela completely happy, but I could tell it did make her feel a little better.
And if there was a silver lining in all of this, it was this: I was going to get to ride on Air Force One.