“Come on, let’s go!” she said. Van and Sang piled into the back of the van, climbing over the pods.
“You kids comfortable?” Neil asked as he climbed into the driver’s seat. Van could see the driver of the van was running away as fast as he could.
“Let’s go!” O’Hara said. “They had a guy in the back with a shotgun. Caught him really good, but he’ll probably be up soon.”
“Oh, I hope no one ID’d you,” Neil said.
“Yeah, because the pods being reported as missing and us not showing up to work tomorrow will definitely not be linked,” O’Hara said.
“Hey, plausible deniability is our friend here,” Neil said.
The van sped out onto the empty streets. It was too late for there to be any kind of traffic to slow them down. Half an hour passed with everyone sitting in silence. Sang had climbed into the passenger’s seat of the van and was looking at the rearview mirror.
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Sang said, “but I do believe we are being followed.”
“Damn it,” Neil said. “I really, really don’t want to get shot at.”
“Make that two of us,” Van groaned as he laid down on his back next to a pod. His exhaustion was setting in and he felt himself drifting off to sleep. He didn’t want to pass out, though—especially when there was a chance for danger—but on some level, he realized that he just didn’t care, he was so tired.
“Holy crap!” Neil said. “It’s that Kenneth weasel!”
That was enough to open Van’s eyes. “What?” Van mumbled.
“He’s following us! Haha, what an idiot.”
“Actually, it’s not a bad idea,” O’Hara said. “All he has to do is follow us to our hiding place and report us to the CIA. Then we’re really in trouble.”
“Yeah, I can definitely imagine that following a group of trained CIA operatives is a good idea,” Neil said. “Now then, watch this.”
Van felt the vehicle shift as Neil moved them into the right-hand lane.
“What are you doing?” Van asked as he leaned up to see that they were heading for the highway.
“Just watch,” Neil said as he stared at the rearview mirror. “Three… two… one!” The van’s brakes screeched as Neil slammed his foot down on the pedal. A loud whump emanated from behind the van and the vehicle lurched forward hard.
“Now we’re cooking!” Neil said as he leapt out of the van. Sang slid into the driver’s seat and shook her head.
“That guy is nuts,” Sang said.
“You think he’s bad now, you should see him when he’s fully rested,” O’Hara said. “He just gets worse.”
Van slid open the side door and poked his head out to watch what was happening. Kenneth had crashed the front of his car into the back of the van. The impact hadn’t been too bad and the airbags hadn’t even gone off, but it had brought him to a stop. Kenneth was trying to get out of the vehicle now.
“What a crazy coincidence!” Neil said as he grabbed Kenneth by the arm.
“Ah!” Kenneth shouted. “Stop, let me go! Police!”
“Hey, hey,” Neil said as he jammed a pistol into Kenneth’s ribs. “I feel like no one is going to hear you die if you keep that up!”
“Please, let me go!”
“What’s that? You’re going the same way we are, too?” Neil asked. “That’s an even crazier coincidence. Let’s go together!” Neil wrenched Kenneth to the passenger’s side of the van and chucked the man in.
“Long time no see,” Van said to the groaning Kenneth.
“Are you kidding me?” Kenneth asked. “How did you guys see me?”
“Your problem is,” Van said, “you’re too confident in your abilities. Did you really think you could follow highly trained agents?”
“Neil!” O’Hara shouted. “We do not have time to set his car on fire! Get back in the car!”
“Fine, whatever,” Neil grumbled as he walked back to the driver’s seat. “See? This is the thanks I get for being thorough. It would have taken less than five minutes to set it on fire.”
“Five minutes if you had the proper amount of gasoline,” O’Hara said.
“Man, I can destroy vehicles with nothing more than two quarters and a piece of cheese wire,” Neil shot back.
“What do you want from me?” Kenneth asked. He tried to sit up, but O’Hara grabbed him and shoved him onto his back. She was sitting atop one of the pods and had put her foot down onto his chest.
“Why were you following us?” O’Hara asked.
“I don’t have to answer you. Frederick said I was free to go; we were just taking the same exit at the same time. As far as I know, that’s not a crime!” Kenneth replied.
“Oooooh, I have got some bad, bad news for you,” Neil said.
“The program was cut,” O’Hara said.
“And that means we get to reschedule that trip to Arizona! You’re gonna love the bottom of the Grand Canyon!” Neil cheerfully replied.
“We’re rogue now,” Sang said. “And that means, if you don’t play nicely, this psychopath is going to make your life way harder.”
“Or shorter,” Van said.
“Probably both,” O’Hara added.
“I wasn’t doing anything,” Kenneth said. “I was just under instructions to follow you, Van. That’s it.”
“Why me?” Van asked.
“Draco wanted to make sure that you understood you’re done snooping around. They have some hostages now. They won’t hesitate to execute them if you get back in the game.”
Van gasped. “Crap!”
“Yeah,” Kenneth said. “So please, do everyone a favor and just go home.”
“No can do,” Neil said. “This jerk’s in just as deep as you. If he bails, that means you’re gonna have a buddy digging a six-foot hole alongside of you.”
Van didn’t appreciate the veiled threat from Neil, but knew it was necessary to put pressure on Kenneth. He wasn’t sure why the jerk was trying to dissuade him from going back into the game, but he suspected something was up.
“Come on, guys. What is it to you? You think that you can really stop Draco? They’ve got their hooks in too deep,” Kenneth pleaded. “Just give up and go home.”
“Why are you even still here?” Van asked. “You were released from the CIA. Why not just leave town?”
“Draco will find me. I tried, believe me. Two hours ago, Frederick told me I was free to go and I made a beeline right for the airport. Thought I’d buy a ticket to somewhere like the Bahamas and never be seen again. Someone’s waiting for me at the terminal, though. A cop. Tells me he has something for me and hands me a bullet. Says it’s from Draco. Then tells me to find you,” Kenneth said, his eyes darting left and right as he relived the memory. Van could see that the man was on the brink of tears.
“Oh, boo hoo,” Neil said. “So they threatened you with a bullet. Unless he shoved the gun in your mouth, he definitely wasn’t serious. You’ll be fine.”’
“I promise, if you guys let me go, you’ll never see me again,” Kenneth said.
“Sorry, man,” Van said. “But until this all blows over, you’re hanging out with us.”
“Van, you can’t be serious about going back in there! They will kill you! The only reason they haven’t killed you yet is because they still think they can turn you to their cause!” Kenneth said. “The moment you log on, those two friends of yours are dead.”
Van frowned. He had no idea what to do now.
“I’ve got an idea,” Sang said. “But it’s… it’s a bit crazy.”
“Everything from this point on is crazy,” Van said. “What’s the plan?”
“We bring Kenwar back into the game with us. He communicates to Draco that he’s managed to flip you, Van, and that you’ll betray me once we get back on the ship,” Sang explained as she looked back at them from the passenger’s seat. “Then we break the girls out, get them to a safe place, and log them out. After that, we rally up the army and send them against Lemuel.”