“We have our ways,” Porter said enigmatically.
Layla snorted. “You can’t exactly hide a whole armored truck easily.”
“There’s no time for this,” my mom snapped from up front.
There was no partition separating the driver’s area from the back, suggesting the lie-rents had even had time to modify the vehicle.
“You really should get in the truck with us,” my mom said. “It’s the safest move.”
“Safe?” I chortled. “Like anything about this is safe.”
“She’s got a point there,” Orson muttered under his breath.
“We’ll follow you,” Brady said in a tone that also added,End of discussion.
Despite the hurry and danger, which mounted every second we were out on the road where anyone could spot us, there was a pregnant pause that invited someone to say something momentous before the farmload of shit really hit the industrial-size fan.
Brady said, “If you’re expecting gushing thanks, you’ll be disappointed. You’ve still got a whole hella lot of making up to do for all the lying and standing by while we got killed. You coulda at least told us we’d come back so we wouldn’t think we’d lost each other for good, ya know.”
Celia stood behind Porter, who was crouched, and smiled sadly. “We know. We really do. We want to make it up to you now.”
“That’s … new,” I said, my thoughts tumbling unbidden from my mouth.
Celia’s smile turned upside down. “Yes, well, we can’t go back and change things. We can only do our best now.”
I nodded with recognition. Our best is all any of us could ever do.
“We’ll do all we can to help you,” Orson said. “As much as we can.”
“Are we sure Magnum’s there?” Hunt asked.
“Confirmed,” my mom said. “As of five minutes ago, he was in his office. But he knows we’re coming.”
“What? Why?” Layla said.
My mom’s smile was taut and brittle as she lowered herself onto the bench seat beside Alexis. “Magnum knows everything. Things he shouldn’t be able to know, he still finds out. You all need to be prepared. Things might not go as we hope.”
I gulped.
She sought out my gaze from among all the others. “We really do love you. No matter what you think of us, please know that. Our love for you was never a lie.”
Alexis uncrossed her legs, leaned her elbows onto her thighs to seek out Hunt’s gaze. Her hair was tied back, an absolute first for the woman with the long, silky black hair that always cascaded around her shoulders. “Our caring for you is what made us go on the run with you in the first place, to move here, to Ridgemore.”
“Where we thought he’d never find us,” Porter said with a grunt that suggested,How could we have ever been so naive?
“We already knew Magnum was a formidable opponent then,” Alexis continued. “We just didn’t understand exactly how terrible he’d be to have as an enemy.”
My mom and Alexis started strapping in to seat belts. The time we never had to begin with was up.
“Before we go,” I said. “Show us how to use the guns.”
We were no strangers to weapons, but only the kind that didn’t require a license to own, which we couldn’t get. It wasn’t as if our lie-rents had ever taken us to the shooting range to prepare us for such a cataclysmic event, even though apparently they’d gone aplenty, all on their own.
Of all our ’rents, Orson was the one I would have pegged as the least inclined to violence. Yet it was he who leaned forward, drew his weapon, and ran us quickly through the basics with swift, sure slides and clicks. A total pro.
A minute later, Orson was joining Porter in rising, readying for our attack on the institute.
“Wait,” I said urgently. “How many Magnums are there? Is it just the three left?”
