He grumbled. “Can nothing else today go wrong, please?”
“I know,” I said. There wasn't much else I could say. She picked us up from two different locations, found me shopping in a grocery store close to midnight. Some of our team was missing still. I wasn’t sure where Silas, Mr. Blackbourne and Gabriel were supposed to be, but after all this, I wanted to make sure everyone was okay. And where was North?
“Sang,” Erica said in a voice a little too kind for the craziness we were going through in the moment. “Sweetie, can you tell him to get home, and that we're all going to have a talk when he does?”
“I heard her,” Kota said. “I'm sorry about all this. I'll fix everything.”
“It's okay,” I told him. Without the ability to say it another way, I just needed him to know. “Just so you know, North left that thing in the back of the truck.”
“What?”
“Him,” I said.
He paused. “I'm on my way.”
He hung up. I only hoped he got my meaning, but I still needed to make sure to get word out clearer as soon as possible. I passed the cell phone back to Erica, and she tossed it into the cup holder.
“I don't understand anything going on tonight,” she said and then checked her review mirror, making adjustments. “Sang, were you the one throwing fireworks at the school?”
“What?” I asked. “What fireworks?”
She breathed out quickly from her lips. “I guess it wasn't you. But all of this is an odd coincidence. You walked all the way out here for groceries? Why didn't your parents drive you?”
The lies started on my tongue, but faded. There was no way I could ignore her questions completely. What Academy protocol was there for a situation like this? “My mom doesn't have a car,” I said.
“Sweetie, why didn't you tell me? Or why not wait for Kota?”
My voice cracked as I continued my lie. “I didn't think it was that far.”
She sighed and glanced over at Nathan. “You need a car, too.”
“I've been saying that,” Nathan said, still looking out the front window. “I need one. Sang needs one...”
Erica drove on but stopped on our street at Bob's Diner. “I'm picking up some dinner for all of us,” she said. “Are hamburgers okay with you two?”
“Yes,” we said at the same time.
“Stay here. Keep warm until I get back.” She went in, taking her purse with her but left the engine running.
The moment she was out of view, Nathan turned to me, reaching for my hand. “Holy shit, are you okay?”
I grabbed his hand to hold on to but blurted out. “North got in the truck. I had to go back to the Jeep, but...it's gone.”
He grumbled. “I know. I saw it.”
He told me what happened, up to the point where he got into the car with Erica. “Next thing I know, she's bringing you out.”
I told him what happened with me, too. “Could you call the others?”
“My phone’s in the lake.”
I gripped his hand. I couldn’t believe what happened to him. Victor’s car. The Jeep. All of it gone. “My phone is in the security trailer. If Victor’s still there.”
He sat up. “Victor...is he still...” He turned around and lunged at the door. “Stay here. We’re going to need that phone.”
“What if she comes back?”
“Tell her I went into the restroom.” He got out, shutting the door quickly.
I waited in the back, watching as he jogged across the parking lot in the rain and around the back.
I waited and then worried I was alone in the car with the engine running. I debated going inside with Erica just to be near someone.
Before I could, Nathan returned from around the corner, carrying with him my pink-encased iPhone. He got into the front seat and pulled it around to his face, breathing rapid. He pushed a green button on someone’s app and put it on speaker.
The phone rang a few times before it picked up. “Yell-ow?” Gabriel said although his voice was odd.
“What the hell are you doing, man?” Nathan asked.
“Hey! I found him!” He spoke more, but the next part was at a distance from the phone. “Hey! We got him.” He came back. “What the fuckery of hell...where did you go?”
“I chased Volto down the road after he threw that smoke bomb,” Nathan said.
“Yeah, we got that part. What happened?”
“He’s gone. He’s got the Jeep. Although he might have ditched it by now.”
“We can’t get a tracker on it. Or Vic’s car.”
“That’s because the BMW is in the lake.”
There was a pause. “Holy shit. What happened?”
“Long story.”
I interrupted. “Gabriel, North’s probably still in the truck.”
“Mr. Blackbourne followed it with Silas. The idiot. He’s going to get it now. He didn’t need to go in. And he’ll be pissed about his Jeep.”
“Where are you?” Nathan asked.
“I was in Dr. Green’s trunk. Now I’m in the front seat.” He paused again. “We’re still at the grocery store. We’re waiting on Luke. He’s still inside the school, but I don’t know if we can get him out. The place has cops all over. Did you know Wil works here now?”
“About him,” I said. I told them everything he said to me. It was a weird time to mention it, but I didn’t want to forget. “I know Mr. Toma wanted updates about him? Are we still doing that?”
“Last I heard, his sister was giving him space. She’s in with some other Academy team. You met her. Remember? You told me about the angry girl at camp?”
I forgot about that. And how I’d met Marc and we swapped numbers. North swapped numbers with her. I didn’t know her and Wil were related.
I wanted to ask more questions, but Erica reappeared at the front of the diner and Nathan hung up on Gabriel. He hid the phone from view.
I sat back. There was some relief in knowing most of the team was recovered, or at least safe for the moment. But we now had our own challenge with Erica.
The Long Wait
Nathan
––––––––
Erica passed Nathan the food containers filled with burgers and fries and got in behind the wheel. Nathan dropped Sang’s phone to be able to hold them. The phone slid down until it was underneath the seat. He’d have to come back out and get it later. The important part was they got word where they needed to. The rest they’d have to straighten out when they got a chance.
Within moments, they were back at the Lee house. The light above the garage was already on, and one of the garage doors open. Max barked as the car pulled in. The golden retriever shook his blond fur against the rain and sat just inside the garage, out of the weather.
Erica parked inside the garage and turned toward Sang. “Sang, do you want to run your groceries to your house? Or did you want to wait until morning?”
“It can wait,” she said.
“I need a shower,” Nathan said. He wanted to keep with his plan, to not say much more at this point before Kota got there. But now he needed to talk to Sang and Kota together, hopefully before Erica got a chance to quiz them about tonight. “Sang, you want one?”
“Yeah,” she said. “And dry clothes.”
“Feel free to stay tonight,” Erica said. “And shower up quickly. I’ll have the food waiting for you all after you get out. Sang, if you want the one downstairs, I’ll have Jessica run up and get your clothes.”
Nathan got out of the car, holding on to the containers. “She’s here by herself? At night?” It wasn’t the first time, but usually there was someone on the street, like himself. He supposed there was Victor, but Jessica didn’t know that. Or maybe he was more paranoid now after running into Volto?
“I was on my way home,” Erica said and walked around the car to let the dog off the lead. “She told me she wanted to wait until I got home tonight. Silly girl doesn’t like sleeping without someone in the house.” Max nudged at her legs for attention and then went to the inside door that led into the house.
Sang trailed behind Erica and Nathan as they went in. Jessica sat inside on the couch, a movie playing on the screen. She paused it, looking back over her shoulder. When she spotted Sang and Nathan, she jumped up.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Caught in the rain,” Nathan said.