CHAPTER 9

Todd and Claudia scurried down the standpipe and finally reached the sidewalk. Next to the standpipe was the gang member’s car she spotted earlier. Lavishly decorated with a multi-colored florescent paint, expensive chrome wheels and a low center of gravity, the vehicle sat inches off the pavement. A thick chrome chain, brightly polished, was welded around the dark tinted windows. Claudia tried the door. It was open. She poked her head inside and searched for the ignition key, unable to find it. Frantic, she stepped outside and examined the area around the car. In a corner next to an adjacent garbage can, she spotted what she was looking for.

She rushed over and picked up a fist-sized rock.

“What are you doing?” said Todd.

“Get in.”

Todd did as he was told and Claudia hopped in the driver’s side, sliding under the steering wheel.

“Pull on the wheel.” Todd grabbed the steering wheel and she slammed the rock against the key assembly, breaking it free. Claudia pulled three wires out of the column, twisting two of them together. She tapped the red lead against the white ones. The starter sputtered and the engine roared to life.

Todd was astonished. “Where’d you learn to do that?”

Claudia adjusted the seat and the rear view mirror. She revved the motor. The loud pipes resonated against the surrounding buildings.

“When I was eleven,” she said, “our car broke down in a remote area of Austria.” Claudia made a last adjustment to the rearview mirror, put the car in gear and edged into the street.

She looked at the mirror as she spoke.

“We were near the Austrian border, in a little town. I read every manual in the garage while the mechanic went for parts. When I was finished, I walked outside and hot-wired a car so we could get home.”

“No,” said Todd.

She stopped and put the car in neutral. “It was before I discovered boys.”

“Thank God.”

Right at that moment the group of mercenaries rounded the corner on foot, headed for the standpipe. Claudia slammed the vehicle into gear and screeched away, leaving her pursuers in the dust. She maneuvered onto a main road and glanced at the rearview mirror to see if they had been followed.

Todd turned in his seat and focused on the road behind them.

“Clear.”

Claudia was beaming, her face flushed, electrified by the adrenaline rush of the escape. It was not a sensation the young woman avoided.

“That was interesting,” said Claudia.

Todd noticed the glow radiating her face. “I think you’re an adrenaline junky.”

She ignored the comment and closely examined the ornate dashboard. Lined with a two inch purple fringe, the dashboard held a statute of the baby Jesus, planted in its center. The steering wheel was also a welded chain, a smaller version of the chain lining the windows. When Claudia flipped on the headlights, the interior of the car lit up with day-glow lighting.

“I have to get one of these,” she said.

“Right,” he said.

“Do you have a cell phone? I need to make a call and let someone know what happened.”

“Here.”

Todd gave her his phone and Claudia dialed a number she knew by heart – Professor Blackstone’s. The phone rang several times before voicemail picked up the call.

“It’s Claudia,” she said. “Call my cabin and leave a number and time when I can reach you. It’s urgent. It’s about the treatise. Something terrible has happened and you need to be careful. Please call me.”

She handed the phone back to Todd.

“What about John?” he said. “I think he needs help. We should call the police.”

“I don’t know if he –”

Todd’s phone rang. He answered it on the second ring.

“Hello?”

It was John.

“You two in one piece?”

John was in a rundown garage, surrounded by sophisticated electronic equipment. Seated next to him were four men, dressed in identical commando gear. All were armed. John nodded to the men and pointed to a blip that appeared on a green tracking scope they had been monitoring.

“John?” said Todd. “We’re fine, we –”

Claudia snatched the phone away from Todd.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” said John. “Little bump on the head.”

“Thanks for holding them off. We couldn’t have made it out of there if it weren’t for your –”

“I see you two are traveling down Colfax,” said John, interrupting. “You just turned off University Drive.”

Claudia was shocked. “How do you –”

“Look in your pocket. The GPS device. It emits a signal.”

Claudia felt the small device in her jacket.

“Who the heck are you?”

“You know that small airport near Littleton?”

“Yes?”

“Meet me there. I’ll explain everything. But be careful. …And don’t stop for anyone or anything.”

“I won’t.”

She handed the phone back to Todd.

Claudia looked in the rear view mirror. Confident they weren’t being followed, she pushed the pedal to the floor.