The Golden Couple (The Samantha Project Series, # 2) Read online

  Jack took the box, scanning the room for any other clues about the boy. “What about his clothes?”

  “Clothes? Why would you want those?” The old man gave Jack a strange look.

  “My son. Agnes’ brother. He wanted them. You know, something to remember his cousin by. My son’s the same age as Luke.”

  The man didn’t seem to buy the story. “There’s a bag of clothes in the closet. I was planning to donate them, but go ahead and take them if you want.”

  “Great. Thanks.” Jack handed me the box, then went to the closet to retrieve the bag of clothes. “Well, we should be going. Thank you again for saving his things for us.”

  “No problem.” The man looked at Jack suspiciously. “So tell me again what happened to his parents? His mother was your sister, right?”

  Jack tried to stay calm, but I could tell his mind was scrambling to come up with a story to tell the guy. We knew nothing about Luke or the family who raised him.

  “Um, yes. She died in a car accident a while back. Along with Luke’s dad.” Jack started walking toward the door. I followed, deciding that now was an appropriate time to read the old man’s mind. I had to know what he was thinking.

  “Luke said he never knew his dad.” The old man wouldn’t let it go. He knew Jack was lying.

  Jack opened the door and the old man grabbed it from him. “Are you sure you’re Luke’s uncle? Because he never mentioned an uncle. Or a cousin.” The old man glanced over at me.

  “We weren’t that close, but yes, I’m his uncle.” Jack hurried through the door.

  As we left, I focused on hearing the old man’s thoughts. “These people aren’t related to Luke. They look nothing like him. I gotta call Bill down at the station. Have him check this guy’s story out.”

  In trying to listen to him, I tripped going through the doorway, spilling the contents of the box all over the ground. Jack set his bag down to help me pick up the mess. The old man shook his head and shut the door.

  “Jack!” I whispered. “The old man. He’s on to us. He’s calling some guy at the police station. We gotta get out of here.”

  Jack stood up and looked down the street. “It’s been almost 20 minutes and I don’t see our van yet. Let’s get down there. Hurry.”

  We walked fast toward the meeting spot. With my superior vision, I spotted our van off in the distance. “I see it, Jack. But it’s at least a mile away, and there’s all these people blocking the road, trying to walk over to the beach. It may take a few minutes for the van to get here.”

  Suddenly we heard sirens in the distance. Then the sirens got louder. Jack grabbed my sleeve and yanked me behind a large flowery bush.

  He kept his eyes on the street. “I can see the van, now. I hope Erik knows to turn around.”

  “This would be a good time to have a cell phone,” I mumbled.

  “Cell phones are nothing more than human tracking machines and listening devices, Sam. They’re the fastest way to get caught.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

  The van kept driving toward us despite the sirens. “Why does Erik keep going this way?” Jack asked. “He’s going to run right into the police!”

  “The police have no reason to stop him. They’ll just drive past.”

  “It’s a work van with out-of-state plates in a neighborhood full of multimillion-dollar houses. Of course they’ll stop him.” Jack seemed annoyed with my naiveness.

  The sirens stopped and we noticed a police car was now on our street. The car pulled into the driveway of the old man’s house.

  “Talk to him,” Jack blurted out, nudging me as he kept watch on the van.

  “Talk to who?”

  “Erik. Talk to him with your mind.”

  “I can’t do that. He’s like a mile away.”

  “You can do it. You two share a very strong connection.”

  “Okay, I’ll try. But I’m not making any promises.”

  We watched as a police officer went into the old man’s house. The other officer waited outside in the car.

  “Erik? Can you hear me? Let me know if you can. It’s an emergency. The cops are at the house we were just at. They’re looking for us. You can’t bring the van down here. Jack and I are hiding in the bushes. Don’t come down here.” I put all my energy into connecting with Erik’s mind. I imagined him being next to me rather than way down the street. “Erik. I need you to listen. Can you hear me? Don’t bring the van down here.”

  I got no response from Erik’s mind. “He can’t hear me, Jack. It’s no use.”

  “And now I’ve lost sight of the van. A truck turned out in front of it at the intersection.” Jack pointed behind me. “Look, he’s leaving.”

  The police officer left the old man’s house and got into the squad car. He backed the car out and started driving down the street. Then suddenly, he stopped the car right in front of the bushes where we were hiding. Jack looked at me and I looked at him. I felt my heart racing. What were they doing there? Why did they stop?

  The officers stayed in the car. I could hear their police scanner. “Officer Daniels. We need you to file a report down by the entrance to Salt Creek Beach. A teen girl has been hit by a car. First name Brittany. Last name unknown. Emergency personnel is on the way.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Silent Treatment

  I grabbed Jack’s sleeve. “Did you hear that?”

  “Hear what? What happened?” Jack didn’t have my enhanced hearing so hadn’t heard the scanner inside the police car.

  “It’s Brittany! The police radio said she’d been hit by a car down by the beach!”

  “What? I told them not to get out of the van! What are her injuries?”

  “They didn’t say. Oh my God! Jack, what if she’s really hurt?”

  “Calm down. The car could have just grazed her. Traffic is barely moving on that road.”

  “We’ve gotta get down there!”

  The police car was now working its way down the crowded street. I ran out from the bushes, still holding Luke’s box of possessions. Jack followed behind with the bag of clothes. As I ran, I could see our white van coming out of a side parking lot between two buildings.

  “Sam, come meet us. You should be able to see us now. Hurry up.” It was Erik, talking in my head.

  “Jack, this way. Hurry!” I yelled. Sirens blared as the ambulance made its way down the crowded street.

  I pointed in the direction of the van as Jack followed. When we got to the van, Colin opened the door for us. Erik was driving, but Brittany was nowhere to be found.

  “What happened to her?” I asked frantically. “They said she was hit by a car! Where is she? Why did you leave her?”

  “It’s okay, Sam,” Colin assured me. “It’s an act. Just a distraction so we could get the cops away from you and Jack.”

  “And us,” Erik added. “There’s cops everywhere around here, especially down by the beach.”

  Jack crawled up to the front seat. “Where is she now?”

  “She’s meeting us behind this store.” Erik parked in a loading dock behind a t-shirt shop. “There she is.”

  Colin opened the van door again and Brittany hopped in. Erik sped off down the street.

  “Wow, that was close,” Brittany said, trying to catch her breath.

  “So a car didn’t hit you?” I scanned her face and body for injuries.

  “No. I’m okay. I didn’t get hit. It just looked like I did. My mom’s friend used to have this scam where she pretended to be hit by a car so she could sue the driver. She actually made a good living doing it. Anyway, a few years ago I had her show me how. And it works. People really believed it.”

  “But how did you get away?”

  “I got up and told people I was okay. Then I ran off before the ambulance and cops got there.”

  “Why did you tell people your real name?”

  “Yeah, I guess I should have used a fake name. But lots of girls have the name Brittany so it’s
not like they’ll know it’s me. I didn’t give them my last name.”

  Erik was driving fast and making Jack nervous. “Erik, slow down. We’re going to get stopped for speeding. When we get to a more secure area, pull over and I’ll drive. And then I need you to find us a different road to take. Freeway traffic is too heavy around LA.”

  “Yeah, all right.” Erik slowed the van.

  “I can’t believe you did that, Brittany.” I looked at Colin. “And I can’t believe you guys let her.”

  “Yes. That was irresponsible,” Jack scolded.

  “Well, what were we supposed to do?” Erik asked. “We had to get the cops away from you guys.”

  I leaned toward the front seat. “How did you even you know the police were coming after us?”

  “You told me,” Erik said nonchalantly.

  “You heard me in your thoughts? Why didn’t you respond back?” I was beyond annoyed.

  “I tried, but you must not have been listening. You were probably too distracted. I told you to focus, remember? Even when you’re under stress, you can’t lose focus. It’s like that time back at the farm when you lifted the truck and those dogs came by.”

  Colin glanced at me wondering what Erik meant. In telling Colin “everything,” I left out a lot of the details about Erik and me.

  “Pull over right up there,” Jack pointed to a small roadside farm stand. Erik parked and Jack took his place in the driver’s seat.

  “So what happened back there with the old man?” Colin asked me when we were on the road again.

  “The guy knew Jack was lying. His mind was filled with all this talk about calling the police.”

  “I thought you didn’t listen in on people.”

  “Yeah, but this was an emergency. I could tell the guy wasn’t believing our story, so I had to know what he was thinking. And good thing I did or we’d be in police custody right now. And I’m on their most-wanted list.”

  “I think it’s more like the missing person list,” Colin corrected. “At least that’s the list you were on back home.”

  “Speaking of home, I never asked you, what did the local news say about that explosion at the GlobalLife building?”

  “They said there was a chemical explosion in one of the labs. It took almost the whole building down.”

  “And you’re sure that Dave got out of there?”

  “The news named all the people who died. He wasn’t on the list. But I never heard from him again. I went to your house every day, but nobody was home. I stopped by Dave’s house, too. I even drove up to Dave’s cabin, but he wasn’t there either.”

  “And what did the news say about me?”

  “The day of the explosion someone reported you missing. I totally freaked out because I hadn’t heard from you since before Christmas. Well, other than the fake message GlobalLife left me. Then when I couldn’t find Dave to ask him about you, I didn’t know what to do. It’s like you both just disappeared. About a week later, the police got an anonymous tip saying you weren’t missing after all. The news said that you’d run away and were no longer considered missing. My dad told me to accept it and move on, but I wouldn’t do it. I knew you wouldn’t just run away.”

  “And what about Allie?”

  “She looked for you, too. She even asked her mom to help. She mentioned something about hiring a private investigator. Her parents have the money to do it. They’ve probably already hired someone to find you.”

  “That’s not good, Colin. I don’t need any more people looking for me.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about it. If the police can’t find you, I doubt some small-town Minnesota P.I. can.”

  Colin glanced out the side window. “This is my first time in California. This part almost looks like home. All farmland. Of course, the weather’s a lot better.”

  “Yeah. The weather was part of the reason I picked Stanford.”

  “So I guess you’re not going there now.”

  “Nope. The college plans are on hold indefinitely. I worked my whole life to get accepted there, and it was all for nothing.”

  “You never know. Maybe this will get worked out somehow.” Colin tried to sound optimistic.

  “That’s not gonna happen, Colin. This is my life now. Always running. At least until the—” I didn’t want to mention the timer again in front of him.

  It was too late. He knew what I meant. I could tell by the worried look on his face.

  “Just forget I mentioned it,” I said before he got worked up again. “Getting upset doesn’t help.”

  Colin got quiet and looked out the window. After a while, he turned to me again. “So is it weird for you that we’re going to Stanford?”

  “No. Not really. It’s more weird imagining my dad there. I can never picture him or my mom at my age. But you should have seen him on the college tour last fall. It was like he was a teenager again.”

  “I guess I didn’t tell you, but I got an acceptance letter for college. I got it right before all this happened.”

  “Colin, that’s great! Which college?”

  “U of M, Mankato. They offered me a football scholarship.”

  “That’s awesome, Colin!” I gave him a hug, but he didn’t seem too enthusiastic.

  “It doesn’t really matter now. I’m not going. I won’t even be graduating from high school.”

  I’d been so focused on getting Colin healthy that I hadn’t considered all that he was missing back home. I’d graduated early and wasn’t even thinking about school.

  “Colin, you can still graduate. You can catch up on what you missed when we get back.”

  He seemed confused. “Back? Who’s going back?”

  I explained my most recent dream to Colin and how we were planning to go back to Minnesota.

  “I’ll have to leave as soon as we get the flash drive, but you can stay and finish school. And then you can go to college. And med school. Just like you planned.”

  “Wait. What are you saying, Sam? You want me to stay behind? I thought we were together on this. I don’t care about college. I can do that later. Right now I need to do whatever I can to help you get that timer shut off. And I need to make sure you’re safe. I’m not staying in Minnesota. I’m going with you.”

  “No, Colin. I can’t have your whole life being ruined. Think about all that you’re missing back home. School. Sports. Your family. And you’re in danger when you’re with me. It’s not safe. I can’t let you go with us.”

  “Are you serious? You really don’t want me to come with you? I can’t even believe you’re saying this.”

  “It’s just for little while. Once Erik and I get this timer thing stopped and find a place that’s safe, you and I can be together again.”

  He turned his back toward me.

  “Hey, don’t be mad.”

  “I’m tired, Sam. I’m gonna sleep.” He moved farther away and rested his head on the back of the seat.

  I instantly regretted what I’d said. I had given it no thought. The words just came out. Like Colin said, I assumed he would continue on this journey with me, but then, when he talked about college, it was like a brick hit me over the head. I couldn’t let him destroy his life. GlobalLife had already ruined enough lives. Colin deserved a normal life. He needed to finish high school and go to college.

  Later that day, Erik took over driving and I went up and sat next to him. Brittany sat behind us with her headphones on. Jack and Colin sat in the back row.

  “Why aren’t you sitting back with Colin?” Erik mind-talked to keep our conversation private.

  “He’s mad at me. He’s not even speaking to me.”

  “What happened?

  “He told me that he got into a school in Minnesota. They offered him a football scholarship. I was so excited for him. And then it hit me that being here with us, he was missing high school. And if he stays with us, he won’t graduate. And he’ll miss going to college and playing football. His whole life will be ruined.”


  “So he decided to stay behind and finish school?”

  “No. He doesn’t care about that. He wants to stay with me and make sure I get the timer turned off. And whatever happens after that.”

  “And you told him he couldn’t?”

  “Well, no. Not really. I mean, I guess I kind of did. I told him to stay in Minnesota and that I’d find him later, once we were safe.”

  “Well no wonder he’s mad!”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?

  “It’s not your decision, Sam. If he wants to go with you, that’s his decision, not yours. How would you feel if it were the other way around?”

  I paused to think about it. “Okay, I would want to go with him. But it’s different for me. I don’t have anyone left. He still has his parents. His sisters. His friends. He has a future back home, not with me.”

  “If he felt that way, he wouldn’t be mad at you right now. Don’t you get it? He wants to be there for you, Sam. He wants to protect you. That’s what guys do. They want to protect their girl. And you’re telling him that he can’t. I’d be pissed, too, if I were him.”

  “But I don’t need him to protect me. If anything, I’d be protecting him. I’m the one with special powers.”

  “That’s not how guys think. We think it’s our job to keep you safe. Yeah, we know you girls can take care of yourselves, but you have to at least pretend that you need us.”

  “I was just trying to keep Colin out of this.” I glanced back to see Colin leaned against the side of the van, asleep.

  “So what are you gonna do?” Erik asked.

  “I have to think about it. I mean, maybe he’d be safer going with us than staying at home. If he’s at home, GlobalLife could take him again and use him to get to me.”

  “That’s probably true, but don’t tell him that. You have to tell him that you NEED him to go with us.”

  “But that’s a lie. I don’t need—”

  “Then maybe you should think about your relationship, Sam. Because if I only had one person left in the world that I loved, I would want that person to be right here with me through all of this.”

  “What are you trying to say? That I don’t love him?” My thoughts got defensive. “If I didn’t love him, I wouldn’t be trying to protect him by making him stay home.”