They rode along, occasionally engaging in further banter. Noah joined in sometimes, but mostly he was quiet.
Noah had always enjoyed watching scenery pass by, and this day was no exception. There were some beautiful forested areas in the western half of Missouri, places he'd enjoy visiting sometime.
When they got into Kansas, however, the scenery began to flatten out. Before long, Noah had to admit to himself that it was boring, until he finally just leaned his head back and went to sleep.
He woke a couple of hours later, as Sarah pulled off the interstate to get gas. When she parked at the pumps, he got out and pumped the gas himself, using the opportunity to stretch his legs. Neil and Moose went inside the station in search of snacks and soft drinks, while Sarah stood beside Noah.
She glanced at the engagement ring on her finger. “I'm gonna hate giving this back,” she said. “I know it's just a fantasy, but it's been kind of a nice one.”
Noah looked at her. “I don't know that getting married would be a good idea for us,” he said. “I'm still waiting for you to get tired of me. Everybody else always has.”
She looked at him, her expression slightly angry. “In case you haven't noticed, I'm not everybody else.”
He shrugged. “No, you're certainly not,” he said. “On the other hand, you said what attracted you to me was the fact that there wouldn't be any strings attached. Getting married would probably be more like a rope, don't you think?”
“I didn't say I wanted to get married,” Sarah said bitterly. “I said it was a nice fantasy. You know what fantasy is? It's something you daydream about, even though you know it isn't going to happen.”
“Why would you daydream about it if you don't believe it can happen? That doesn't make any sense.”
Sarah stared at him for a moment, and then turned her face away from him. “Just when I think you're starting to get it,” she mumbled.
The gas pump cut off as the tank reached full, Moose and Neil came back out with chips, beef jerky and bottles of soda pop, and they got back on the road. The two in the back looked at Sarah's hands, white-knuckling the wheel, and then glanced at each other. Neil shrugged, and Moose just shook his head.
The scenery stayed just as boring as before, so Noah leaned his head back again. He was just about to doze off when his cell phone went off again, signaling a text message. All three of the others suddenly grabbed their phones, as each of them had received a text at the same time.
Neverland under attack. Go to ground until further.
Sarah looked at Noah, her face in shock. “They're under attack?”
Noah shook his head. “You know everything I do. Protocol says we duck low and stay there, so let's find somewhere to hole up.”
“Boss, what?” Moose asked. “Shouldn't we get back and try to help?”
“You read the policy manual, same as I did. In the event Neverland is compromised, all field agents are to stop whatever they're doing and find somewhere to lay low. They'll contact us when it's safe to come in.”
“Holy geez,” Neil said. “What about Lacey, I need to call her. Moose, what about Elaine?”
“No calls,” Noah said, “not right now. We don't know what's going on back there, and any phone calls into the complex could end up causing problems. If we haven't heard anything by tonight, you can call and check in with them, but you'll do it on burner phones. If they’re compromised, we don't need to leave a trail back to us.”
“But, Noah...” Neil began, before Noah cut him off.
“No calls, that's the protocol. Like I said, if we haven't heard anything by tonight, we'll get some throwaway phones and you can call both of them. For right now, we do things by the book.”
Neil started to argue, but knew he wouldn't get anywhere. He flopped back in the seat and turned his face to look out the window, but not before Sarah saw the tears trying to brim over from his eyes.
She glanced at Noah. “He's scared,” she whispered. “I think Lacey is his first girlfriend, he’s worried about her.”
“I understand that,” Noah said just as softly. “We still have to follow protocol. I'll bend it for them later this evening, but for right now we're staying by the book.”
EIGHT
“We need a motel,” Noah said, “someplace inconspicuous and out-of-the-way. Neil, see what you can find.”
Neil groaned as he picked up his computer from where it sat between him and Moose and opened it up. With its built-in broadband system, he had access to the internet from almost anywhere on earth. It took him only a few moments to locate a motel that would suit their purposes.
“Two exits up,” he said listlessly, “there's a place called the Wagon Trail Motel. It's about two miles off the interstate, to the south. Looks about as inconspicuous as you can get.”