“No, thanks. I’ll get some stuff myself after I’m done pumping the gas.” Alik smiled at the girl who’d driven all night with him, forcing him to stop tracking every hour so he wouldn’t get retro-cog sick. At nearly five in the morning they stopped to use the restrooms and fill the gas tank.
Farrow nodded, her short, dark hair falling adorably into her eyes, turned and hurried to use the station’s facilities. Not wanting Farrow to feel dependent on him, Alik had given her fifteen hundred dollars in cash. As far as he was concerned, it was only fair.
With the gas pumped, Alik locked the car and ran inside the building to get a few snacks. His arms were full of turkey sticks, peanuts, protein bars and vitamin-packed energy drinks when Farrow found him.
“You know, they do have little baskets,” she teased.
“I almost have everything I need. Just one more thing.”
“Well, tell me what it is so I can get it for you. If you put one more thing in your arms, the whole lot is going to topple.”
“I just need about ten packs of those white powdered doughnuts.”
Farrow raised her eyebrows. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“Ten packs of those sugar and fat-based, processed pastries?”
“They’re for my sister. She loves white powdered doughnuts.” Alik looked down at Farrow with red-rimmed eyes.
“Ten packs, you said?” Farrow hurriedly started grabbing them by the fistful.
“Thanks Farrow,” Alik managed with emotion cracking his voice only once.
“No problem,” she said trying to offer an encouraging smile.
After they paid for their items, they carried their sacks back to the car in silence.
“We need to talk about a plan, Alik.”
“I know, I’ve been mulling a few ideas over, but none of them are ready to be shared yet.”
Farrow watched Alik’s eyes begin to glow. He was already tracking. She pulled out of the lot and got back on highway I40 East and headed toward Nashville. They were already halfway there and had only been driving for four hours.
They were cruising along at ninety miles per hour as the sun was coming up over the horizon. Farrow was thinking how beautiful Alik’s natural blond highlights looked in the morning light when he yelled, “TRAP!”
Farrow immediately slowed the car to the posted speed limit of seventy miles per hour. Both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the patrol car half hidden behind the cement of an overpass.
“Don’t speed up. He’s with two other cops on motorcycles over the next ten miles or so.”
“Wow, am I glad you’re able to do that tracking thing,” Farrow mumbled thinking about how ridiculously awful it would be to have to open the back of the SUV for an officer.
“I’m going to call Mom to check in. Knowing her, she’s already wide awake and sipping coffee by now…at least, that’s what she used to do before she was in a wheelchair.” Alik frowned as he pulled his cell phone from the front pocket of his jeans. He slipped his finger across the screen to wake it, and dialed his mother’s cell phone directly. He was thinking that would probably be easier for her to get to than one of the house phones.
Margo, who had been making chocolate chip cookies with Theo and Danny, picked up on the second ring.
“Hello, Alik?”
“Hey, Mom. How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. Where are you?”
Alik could hear Theo talking in the background.
“We’re just west of Nashville.”
“What? Where are you going? Did you find them?” Margo held her breath waiting for Alik’s response.
“Yes, I tracked them to that private airfield near the house. You know, Kittyhawk? I used my new—skill to figure out where the flight was headed.” The vein in his forehead started pulsing angrily. “They were taken to Louisville, Kentucky, Mom.”
“Louisville, Kentucky!” Margo repeated for Theo’s sake. “Are you flying there?”
“Sorta,” Alik didn’t want to lie.
“Alik Winter, are you flying on an airplane or are you driving like a bat out of hell?” Margo was staring at the wilted peace lily she’d brought home from the hospital—a gift from the children to their mother in hopes of brightening her room.
“No flights were leaving immediately from either DFW or Love Field to Louisville, Mom. So,” Alik sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes bracing himself for the fit his mother was about to pitch. “I’m using my tracking ability to keep tabs on speed traps and the police in general so Farrow can drive a little faster than we ordinarily would.”
“WHAT?”
“Mom, we’re being very safe.” Alik cringed at the expression he was sure was on his mother’s face. He’d memorized her years ago. “We just have to get there as soon as possible and this was the only idea I could come up with.”
“Ali, you know we just got Cole out of the hospital after being in a horrible car accident. I just don’t want to lose you or Farrow. Do you understand?”
Danny, who had been adding chocolate chips to the dough one at a time, stopped and watched Margo as she talked. He seemed to take in everything she was saying as though he completely understood the gravity of the conversation.