I press my sweater against the wound as we carry Daniel toward the Jeep. “Where are we?”
“That’s the Tome School. It was part of a naval training center back in the forties, but it’s been abandoned for decades. The quarry Taylor drew is across the river and down three, maybe four, miles.”
“Okay. I ditched the gun.” Taylor crawls into the Jeep and shoves aside two backpacks, which I recognize as the bags I left at the beach house. Then we slide Daniel, who has now passed out, into the cargo area. A towel replaces my nearly soaked sweater, which wasn’t very absorbent in the first place.
“You and Deo will have to double up in the passenger seat,” Aaron says as he heads for the driver’s side.
“No problem. Come on, D.”
Deo is staring mutely into the back of the Jeep, misery scrawled in giant letters across his face.
“Not your fault. You know that. I’m the one who said it was Cregg.”
He doesn’t answer, just climbs in next to me.
“Damn it,” Aaron says as he slides behind the wheel. “No built-in phone. Why does Mom keep this hunk of junk?” He pulls out his cell and tosses it onto the console. “Call Sam.”
Aaron does a quick three-point turn in the middle of the road.
“Got them both,” he says, when Sam answers. “They’re okay, but Daniel’s been shot.”
“What? How the hell?”
“I don’t know, Sam.”
“How bad is it?”
“Looks bad. I already phoned it in, maybe five minutes ago, as soon as I knew something was going down. Can you call Mom? Then contact emergency services and tell them we’ll intercept in the Jeep.”
When Sam hangs up, Aaron says, “I hope the ambulance gets through, before . . .” He nods toward the school. “Things are about to get crazy around here. Soon, I think. Had a fire started when you left?”
“Yes. Cregg was on fire.”
Aaron’s eyes shift to meet mine briefly. “Guessing you guys didn’t stop to put him out?”
“We did not.”
He takes my hand and runs his thumb gently across my palm. My pulse races. I feel a tiny rush of a very different sort of fire as his thumb moves back and forth, and it isn’t entirely doused by the flush of guilt that follows for feeling this way under the current circumstances.
“But . . . that fire was contained to a lab,” I tell him. “I don’t think it could have spread. And they could call for help, even though the fire extinguisher had been put to a very different use thanks to Deo’s quick thinking.”
Deo huffs. He’s not taking compliments right now. His forehead is pressed against the window as he stares at the trees rushing past.
“The fire spread,” Aaron says. “Or, more likely, another one was set. What I felt . . . it was definitely intentional. I’m just not positive about the timing. Did you see that copter? Big one.”
“Yeah.” I comb through my Abner memories. He’s standing on an aircraft carrier looking up as a gray-green chopper approaches. Dozens of troops come pouring out when it lands. That sound is similar to the one I heard. Although I don’t really know how different one copter sounds from the next. “Pretty sure it’s a military transport. A . . . Chinook, maybe. Sounded like it was landing. Did you see where?”
“I didn’t get a good look. But if I had to guess, it’s headed for a flat paved spot we saw on the maps.” He nods ahead as we take a sharp curve. “This whole area—over a thousand acres—was built up during World War II. It’s been lying here undeveloped since they closed it down in the 1990s . . . First there was some sort of environmental cleanup, and then it’s been tied up in court or something. And now I’ve got a pretty good idea why. What in God’s name was Daniel doing there?”
“Undercover. There are . . .” I stop and ask Jaden.
How many people do you think? Total?
Now? Maybe sixty. Ninety, if you’re countin’ Fudds. Usually a new kid every few weeks.
“There are around ninety people in there,” I say. “At least half kids, some of them really young. All of them . . . gifted . . . in some fashion.”
Aaron is watching my face from the corner of his eye. “I thought Molly was gone?”
“She is. But I picked up new hitchers.”
He’s silent for a moment, and then his grip on my hand tightens. “Hitchers? Plural? You’re sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. All but one are gone now. And you need both hands.”
I put Aaron’s hand back on the steering wheel and place my hand next to his leg on the car seat. He’s driving much too fast for the narrow road, but he doesn’t have much choice given Daniel’s condition.
“Aaron’s been on a hair trigger every time we got close to this place.” Taylor is holding Daniel’s head in her lap, one hand pressing the towel and the other against the pulse point on his neck. “We’ve been here for the past day on and off. Looking for a way to get in or something we could use to get the authorities involved. But then tonight, he started getting a flash on something big. Bigger than just a few people. The place is underground, right?”