—
Hannah mentally cursed Theo and David as she climbed behind the wheel. She had two certified geniuses in her company and yet she was the one who had to pilot the crazy Royal Seeker. There were buttons and switches everywhere. This was no Salgado clunker. This was the goddamn Enterprise.
After ten minutes of wary experimentation, in which Hannah nearly sent the Seeker over the cliff, she finally got a handle on the controls. Soon the splinter group returned with their four-wheeled surprise. Zack’s fear turned to bafflement when he spotted Hannah behind the wheel.
He stood up and chucked his arms at full wingspan. “What . . . ? How?”
The passenger window opened to David’s chipper face. “Shall we discuss it inside?”
Soon the Silvers filled the six plush seats, basking in cool comforts. Between the air-conditioning, the fresh water, and her ridiculously cozy perch, Mia felt a full-body relief that was almost religious in intensity.
She glanced around in muddled awe. “I can’t believe you guys just found this lying around.”
David smiled at her. “After the last few days, I think we’re due for some random good fortune.”
“It just seems a little too random,” Zack fretted.
“And a little too good,” Amanda added.
Hannah narrowed her eyes. They weren’t even a couple yet and they were already making her ill with their cuteness.
David scowled at them. “This wasn’t delivered to our doorstep. It was abandoned in a distant patch of wilderness two days ago. Don’t you think that’s a little dodgy as far as traps go?”
“By the old rules, yes,” Zack replied.
“So, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying that in a world where time can go wibbly-wobbly and pretzel-bendy, it’s entirely possible that we were meant to find this Mystery Machine.”
“Meant by who?”
“Do you really have to ask, David? Do you think this is the first silver gift we’ve gotten?”
Amanda nodded darkly. “Exactly.”
Theo and Hannah remained outwardly neutral, though images of Azral had been circling their thoughts from the moment the van came to life. Theo fumbled with a thin metal attaché case he’d discovered under his seat. The lid was held shut by a convoluted system of clasps. He couldn’t tell if it was locked or just strange.
David flicked a curt hand. “I don’t know what to tell you. If you want to give yourself an ulcer over paranoid conspiracy theories, feel free. Just leave me out of it.”
“Hey come on, David . . .”
“Why are you getting so angry?” Amanda asked. “We’re just talking.”
“Except none of us have thanked him yet.”
The others looked to Mia as she straightened her seat back. Her expression was both remorseful and stern.
“Thanks to David, we don’t have to walk across the country now. We don’t have to worry about deserts or dehydration. We could be in Brooklyn in four or five days instead of two or three months, thanks to David. And he did it all without robbing or hurting anyone.”
She looked to him now. “Thank you, David. You probably saved my life again.”
The van fell quiet. Hannah scanned the bright new smile on David’s face, then confronted the disturbing new possibility that she’d be traveling with two couples soon.
Zack let out an attritional sigh. “Look—”
The attaché case loudly sprang open, startling everyone. Theo exhaled with relief. A few more minutes and he would have started smashing it.
The others stared at him, dumbfounded, as he procured a neatly wrapped stack of shiny blue cash. Hannah leaned forward and read the paper band.
“Holy shit. Five thousand dollars?”
Zack blinked in stupor. “Are you serious?”
“That’ll last us all the way to New York,” said Amanda. “Easily.”
“Guys, you’re not getting the full scope of this.”
Theo turned the case on his lap, revealing a tray of identical bricks. Lifting one revealed another, then another, then two others. Fifty stacks in total. A quarter of a million in cash.
The group fell into bewildered silence. Soon Zack found his way to the only sane response.
“Thank you, David.”
Nervous giggles spread through the van as the others followed Zack’s dizzy lead. The grin on David’s handsome young face slowly flatlined. He looked to Zack contritely.
“I’ll admit that your suspicion seems a little more plausible now.”
“Look, trust me, I’d rather be wrong. If Azral’s the one who gave us this stuff—”
“No,” said Hannah, frantically waving her palms. “I’m sorry. Between all the bad stuff of yesterday and the good stuff of today, I’m about to get the bends. Can we put away the big issues for a couple of hours? Can we just enjoy this? Please?”