Chapter Thirty

 

“Where exactly did he throw it?”

“Over that way, to the right.”

Lucas takes a dozen cautious steps down the rocky cliff that was scoured by the storm and is now drying in the moonlight. He sets the lantern down and reaches back for me. I grab onto his good hand, sliding to his side in a cascade of rocks and mud. The sound of rushing water surrounds us as a dozen arroyos empty out at the bottom in unseen, hissing whirlpools of gritty foam. Somewhere down there, scattered in the abyss, lie the muddy remains of Jackson Connor’s laptop, and all the answers we’re searching for.

“Look, there’s the van.” Lucas points to a sliver of white gleaming deep in the mesquite.

It’s much farther down than I thought it would be, and his face tells me what I already realize; even in the bright moonlight with a lantern, we aren’t going to be able to see a thing until we step on it—and some of those things might be snakes washed out of their hiding places. I’ve had enough snakes for tonight, thank you.

“This isn’t any good… We can’t see more than three feet in front of us.” His voice sounds as hollow as I feel.

“I guess we could come back when it’s light out and try to find it,” I offer, but he shakes his head.

“Even if we do find all the pieces of the laptop, I doubt anything would work after being rained on and bouncing down the side of a mountain. And we still don’t know where Viktor is.” As we start back up the slope, my phone rings deep in my backpack. I dig it out, and my heart leaps when I see who it is.

“Lucas, it’s Mom! Hello? Mom?

“Vivi? Honey? Where are you?” She sounds anxious, and it’s like she’s talking into a tin can, but she sounds like Mom, and the relief flooding through me makes me stumble a little.

“We’re at Pacheco Canyon. Brian’s okay. We’re all okay. Where are you?”

“With Brian at the truck.” Her voice is breaking up already, but I catch the last words before the call drops: “Una … Jeep … meet you all there.”

“Mom’s here.” I look at Lucas, grateful tears blurring my vision. “I wasn’t really sure if we’d gotten her out, but she’s here, and she’s awake.”

We scramble back up to the top and sit on one of the boulders, catching our breath. Lucas puts his arm around my shoulders. The sounds of the night forest roll over us in the rain-washed breeze, indifferent to our disappointment, but inside our protective force field, we are warm and safe for the moment.

“Umm, Lucas? Can we not tell Brian about the files? If he hadn’t thrown the laptop out of the van, he might not—he might be—”

I can’t finish what might have happened to my goofy, brilliant little brother. I can’t even think about it.

“You’re right. He doesn’t need to know. In fact, I don’t think anyone needs to know about those files but us. They’re gone, so what’s the point?” Lucas sighs. “Just like our dads. They’re probably dead, but I guess now we’ll never know. Talk about epic fail.”

“This is not failure,” I insist. “We may never find out about them for sure, but they found us. They were here tonight. Wherever they are—alive somewhere, or just living in our dreams—they spoke to us. Maybe they will again. We figured out how to dreamwalk together, and we saved Mom and Brian. We were even able to get into Connor’s head while he was awake.”

Our eyes meet. A slow smile tugs at his lips. “And you made him surrender his secrets.”

“No one knows about that last part except us,” I remind him. “I don’t even think he knows what happened.”

“No one ever will,” Lucas resolves, then sighs again. “Maybe it’s better this way. It’s definitely safer. Connor was right about one thing—this isn’t over.”

The sound of a car churning its way up the gravel road breaks through the night, and I remember Viktor could be anywhere. If his phone works, he surely called someone. Jackson Connor might even be awake. Two headlights turn in our direction and start closing the mile of road between us. I clutch Lucas’s arm as we stand up.

“It’s the Jeep,” he assures me, and we start down the road to meet it.

“’Bout time you showed up,” he exclaims as he opens both doors. He slides into the front seat while I climb into the back. Una holds his chin and inspects his face with a frown.

“Nephew,” she says, sternly shaking her head.

“You should see the other guy.”

She can’t contain her smile any longer. She leans over and hugs him, then pulls back, her face serious.

“So, where are they? What happened? Brian told us how you got up here and how Vivian rescued him.” She shoots me an approving look over the seat as she backs up and turns the Jeep around.

“Jackson Connor’s hurt pretty bad. Sprained ankle, maybe broken. Probably got a concussion thanks to Vivian, here. And he’s snake bit.” Lucas holds up his wounded hand to fend off her alarm. “We did what we could, again thanks to Vivian, and he was alive when we left him. Hopefully he’s still at the cabin.”

“But we don’t know where Viktor went, so can we please get out of here?” I poke my head over the front seat. “Where are we meeting Mom?”

“At the rest stop near the last exit. She’s got Brian in the truck.”

“She’s okay to drive? There’s no… after-effects from Jackson Connor?”

“No, none at all, thank God.”

“Unlike my mom,” Lucas says. His voice unravels with exhaustion. “Una, he’s the one that made her… the one who…” He leans back on the headrest and closes his eyes. In the dim light of the dash, I see a tear slide down the curve of his bruised cheek. I rest my hand on his shoulder. Una holds his bandaged arm, and her eyes, too, are full.

“I’m all right. Just really tired,” he whispers.

Exhaustion must be contagious, because I have never been this worn out in my life. I close my eyes—only for a minute, I swear—but when I open them again, we are pulling into the deserted rest stop. Well, not quite deserted. Parked by a picnic table is Lucas’s red truck.

All three of us tumble together, hugging—Mom, Brian, and me. Mom is totally out of uniform, wearing skinny jeans and a black T-shirt. Two large bags from Blake’s Lotaburger rest next to a thermos on Lucas’s truck box. The smell of green chile cheeseburgers is pure heaven, and my stomach reminds me with a loud grumble that I haven’t eaten since this morning’s cereal.

Brian looks at Lucas’s bandaged hand. “What happened to you? Did you punch out Jackson Connor too?”

“Yup.” Like he takes out CIA agents every day and twice on Sundays. “It’s a long story, but basically Vivian saved me. She helped me get loose, and I got into a fight with Connor. I hurt my wrist. He got bit by a rattlesnake.”

“Told you there were snakes,” Brian reminds me.

“Then Vivi did the snakebite kit,” Lucas continued. “We made sure he was okay, and, well, that’s about it. Una found us, and here we are.”

Brian turns to me, erupting with questions. “You cut him? You cut into Jackson Connor? Gross! Awesome!”

“It was absolutely disgusting, so I had to do it with my eyes closed,” I joke, and hand the Space Camp box over to Brian. “Assisted by Hamlet.”

He high-fives me. “Nice work, V!”

“Brian, go wash up,” Mom urges, “and then we can eat. I know you guys must be hungry, and I’m starving.” He makes a face, but she shoos him away. “You have not washed your hands all day. Go!” Brian trots off to the restroom, and when he’s out of earshot, she motions us closer. “After we eat, you have to get out of here,” she says calmly, handing Lucas his keys. “They’re already looking for you two.”

“What? How do you know?” I burst out. “Jackson Connor told us they might, but—”

Ninja Mom looks at me, her eyes reflecting eighteen years of Stargate surveillance and living as off-the-grid as possible. “Someone ‘Unavailable’ called my cell looking for Lucas, and hung up when I asked who it was. When I called the number right back, it was no longer in service.”

She glances toward the restroom and continues, “I never met Jim Cooper. We only spoke on the phone a few times, and it was so long ago. But there was something about Jackson Connor, something I couldn’t put my finger on. I thought if I kept him coming in for readings, I would figure it out, but trying to read Jackson Connor was like running into a big stone wall. And then I started getting sick. I can hardly even remember this past week. I did have the weirdest dream today, though, and when I woke up, Una explained what’s been going on. All of these years staying out of the databases, and they still found us.” She shakes her head.

In the still of the night, the sound of Brian slamming the bathroom door echoes across the parking lot, and Mom’s voice drops almost to a whisper.

“Vivian, you and Lucas need to take the truck and go to Grandma Lily’s for a few weeks. Just until everything settles down and they quit looking for you. They won’t find you up there if you stay off the grid.”

I’m definitely used to being off the grid, and it will be even easier on the reservation. Cellphone coverage is shaky in those mountains, and there’s only Wi-Fi in a few places. They won’t look for us without Jackson Connor pushing them, and a week or two up in Whiteriver with Lucas sounds safe. Peaceful. Even… romantic.

Brian reappears and holds up his clean hands for Mom to see. “Can we eat now?” he demands. “I’m starved.”

We find a table away from the street light and dig into the Blake’s bag for a midnight picnic. The burgers are hot and gooey with cheese, the fries are crispy, the Cokes are ice-cold, and I don’t think anything has tasted this good ever in the history of cheeseburgers.

Lucas and Brian take turns telling about getting snatched at the bus stop and demonstrate how they managed to send me the picture of the van with their hands tied. Brian reenacts Hamlet’s dramatic conquest of Viktor. When he comes to the part about the flying laptop, Lucas catches my eye, and we silently remind each other of the lost files—and the life they saved.

By the time we polish off every crumb and lick all the cheese and ketchup off the paper, the horrifying events of the last twenty-four hours have been framed into a PG-13 adventure for Brian, and I feel almost human. He declares that Hamlet deserves a picnic too, after everything the spider has been through today, and he runs under the street light to catch some June bugs.

I head for the ladies’ room to wash my face and braid my hair. When I come out, Lucas is leaning against the Jeep, talking quietly with Una. His long legs are crossed at the ankles, and he’s shaking out an old gray T-shirt with a faded Marine Corps emblem on it.

I stop and hold my breath as he peels off the bloodstained nightmare he’s been wearing, and it’s the Piggly Wiggly all over again. His lean body is a perfect sculpture in the moonlight, and the wave that surges through me is more than chemistry. Chemistry is volatile, tricky, a balancing act that can go wrong at any moment. This is… gravity. We belong together.

I can’t drag my eyes away, but if I put one foot in front of the other, I can probably make it to the truck.

Mom intercepts me at the sidewalk. She hands me a small gray duffle bag, one that usually lives on a high shelf in the garage. “Take this with you. You probably won’t need all of it, but in case you have to stay longer—or leave for some reason.”

I unzip the bag and see some rolled-up clothes, a polka-dot toiletry bag, and a pair of disposable phones still in the box. There’s a juice pack to charge the phones, a map, and a bank deposit bag from Déjà Vu. Inside that, there’s an envelope of cash, minute cards for the phones, and copies of my birth certificate and Social Security card.

I stare at her. Has she kept a Stargate-Ninja-Mom-getaway bag in the garage all these years, ready to flee with us at a moment’s notice?

“Don’t use your old phone, either. Send me the pictures you want, but then take out the battery and toss it.” She points to the dumpster near the bathrooms.

“Mom,” I begin, but she puts her arm around my shoulders and walks me to the passenger side of the truck.

“Vivi, I’m so sorry. I should have listened to you. Maybe if I had, none of this would have happened. I was trying to keep you out of it, when you were right in the middle of everything the whole time. You’re going to have to stay out of contact while I handle things here, but Brian and I will be fine. He’s not the one they’re interested in.”

“But those guys—what if—” My sluggish brain is still trying to process this new side of Mom, and it must be really obvious because she smiles her patient Summer smile.

“Don’t worry. It’s been a while, but this is nothing new. Your dad and I always had an adventure bag ready in case we needed to get away for a while.” Her voice is light and her eyes are steady, telling me nothing yet telling me everything.

“You better get going, though. Liluye is expecting you by morning. On Monday, I want you to text me and say, ‘California is awesome, and Lorena says hi.’” Mom says this like she’s making a morning to do list: 1. Water flowers, 2. Take out trash, 3. Evade CIA.

Who is this woman, and what has she done with my mother?

Mom reaches into the pocket of her jeans and presses something small and pointed into my hand. My fingers close around Dad’s caduceus, and tears prick my eyes.

“Your father would be so proud of you, honey. As hard as it was, you probably saved that man’s life. Surgery in the field, and you brought Brian home. He would want you to have this.”

She hugs me for a long time, and when I close my eyes for a moment, I see that nighthawk again, swooping out over the canyon and back into the shadow world of dreams.

While Mom explains to Lucas how to find Grandma Lily’s once we get to Whiteriver, I put the Stargate-Ninja-getaway bag in the truck behind the seat, slip on my father’s jacket, then step over to the Jeep to say goodbye to Una.

“I guess we’re going now. Una, thanks for everything.” That sounds woefully lame after everything she’s done to help. Mom might still be asleep if it wasn’t for her—or worse.

“Thank you for saving Lucas. Ashoog,” she says simply.

“Doo da t’eedah,” I reply. “It’s okay.” And for a moment, everything really is okay.

“Una, there’s something you should see. It helped me find my Dad, maybe even Brian and Lucas. It was in the jacket.” I draw the feather out from the lining, handing it to her.

Her eyes widen in recognition. “That was in there? The way it’s wrapped—my brother made that. A hawk feather is unusual, but good for a hunter. He must have made it for your father. A nighthawk for a Night Hawk.” She holds it for a second then gently opens my hand and lays the feather across my palm. “Maybe you should hang on to it a little longer.”

“But I don’t feel right keeping it.”

“It belongs with you two, for now.”

“Hey, V.” Brian hops into the back seat holding a Blake’s paper bag. Hamlet’s midnight snacks are buzzing around inside. To Hamlet, I suppose they’re like little flying nachos.

“Hey, B. Guess I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.” I lean in and give him a big hug. “We’re a pretty good team, aren’t we?” A big-sister impulse makes me smooch his cheek noisily. “Mmmwah!”

“Yeah.” He wipes his cheek quickly, but he nods and refrains from making his usual gagging noise. I guess he’s too tired to put up much of a fight.

“Vivi, guess what? I remembered some of that dream I had. Mom was in it, and I was scared. I was calling you, and you came, just like you said. We were flying.”

“See, I told you I’d come. And we got out together, right?”

“But it felt like real. Are your dreams always like that?” His eyes are huge and anxious in the dark.

“Pretty much. They do feel real, but they’re usually not scary. Stars and colors with delicious smells. And more flying.”

He smiles. “Guess you aren’t the only Night Hawk around here that can fly.” His voice drops to a whisper as he says, “You know when I threw the laptop out the window?”

“Yeah, that was a stroke of genius, bro. We never would have escaped if you hadn’t.”

“Well, I need to give you this.” He’s holding something in his fist, and I’m relieved it isn’t Hamlet. I appreciate the spider’s help, but there is such a thing as too much togetherness.

“When Viktor was out looking at the wreck, I downloaded some of Jackson Connor’s files. I only had a few minutes, but I got two for sure—Wolfsong and Night Hawk. And another one too, but it’s encrypted.”

He opens his fist and drops his USB drive into my stunned hand, sending a shock wave through my whole body. “I can’t open it, or someone will know. Remember how they found us because of the tablet? You guys better take this. Make sure you open the files on a computer with no Internet.” Brian yawns loudly. “And bring me some of Grandma Lily’s fry bread, okay?”

“Um, okay… see you soon, B.”

“Laters, V.”

I don’t know how I make it to the truck. I can’t feel my feet, and there’s a roaring in my ears. Lucas adjusts the rearview mirror as I latch my seatbelt.

“Okay, we’ve got fresh coffee and a full tank of gas. From here, we just hit I-40 for a few hours, then exit at 77 South.” He grimaces, flexing his bandaged hand. “When we get off the main road, you can drive. I guess you don’t need any more driving lessons now, but we don’t want to get pulled over for something, and you don’t have a license.”

I can’t speak. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.

He looks at me. “What’s wrong? Besides this whole day, I mean.”

I set the USB on the dashboard carefully, as if it might explode without warning. “Brian just gave this to me. He… he copied some files.”

“Files? What files?” Lucas’s quizzical look turns laser-sharp, and he goes very still. “The laptop?”

I nod. “He said to only open them on a computer that’s offline.”

We watch the Jeep pull out of the rest stop. We don’t say anything for a moment. He clasps his hand around mine, and we are warm and strong together. Our eyes meet. A flush of excitement surges under my skin, and I’m not sure if it’s because he’s so, so near, smelling like rain and coffee, his muscles smooth under his father’s ancient T-shirt, or if it’s because what we thought was gone forever may be alive and waiting in a thumb drive.

“Okay, then,” Lucas says thoughtfully. “I guess the hunt is on. Maybe we’ll get some answers after all.” His voice is calm, but his eyes are gleaming with fresh hope in the light of the dash, and as we drive out of the parking lot, I can’t stop smiling.

I don’t know what comes next. Like Mom said, you can’t push the river. All I can do right now is be still and see where it takes us. I don’t want to get my hopes up—there’s probably nothing in that thumb drive but a lot of details about what we already know. Anything more than that is just a dream.

But for dreamwalkers, dreams are as real as being awake.

 

 

[FILE 201 230614 SANTA FE (04:37)]

Black Sky: Raven. Trigger. Request situation report.

Trigger: Sir. Mission aborted. FUBAR. Van totaled. All targets, location unknown.

Black Sky: Continue surveillance on the mother for a few days, in case they make contact. Where’s Raven?

Trigger: No report from Raven, sir. Location and status unknown.

Black Sky: (pause) Find him. You know what to do.