AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Instead of turning, Owen grabbed the hem of my T-shirt and shoved his hands under it, sliding the envelope under there. I instinctively wrapped my arms around my middle to keep it in place. He stuck the key in my pocket, then he hissed, “You know what to do.”
He jumped to his feet and ran toward the man, startling him. That gave me a second to get up and run in the opposite direction, toward the office. There were shouts behind me and the sound of a struggle, but I forced myself not to look back. That was the downfall of women in every horror or action movie ever made, and I’d sworn I wouldn’t ever do the same thing if I were being chased. It grew harder and harder to keep my focus forward when I heard what sounded like blows landing behind me and when I became aware of running footfalls nearby.
I clasped the envelope tighter to me as I felt someone clutch at my shirt. There was a rushing sound from above, zooming over my head, and then I heard something hit the ground behind me. “It’s okay, sweetheart, I got your back. Just keep runnin’,” Sam’s voice said.
o;The gate to the service entrance is open, and there’s a car waiting there for you,” she said as we handed her the chef’s coats.
“Thanks so much, Nita,” I said.
“Glad to be of service.” She gave Owen a saucy wink. “I’m a huge fan. Not that I have any idea who you are, of course.” With another wink, she was gone, and we ran to the metal gate at the end of the alley.
A limousine waited there, the driver holding the door for us. We dove inside, he shut the door behind us, and then he went around to the driver’s side and got in. “City Hall,” I called out through the window to the driver’s compartment. “And make sure we’re not followed.”
“In this traffic, that may not be easy, but I’ll see if I can confuse them,” he said. “Now sit back and enjoy the ride.”
I collapsed against the seat back and caught my breath. Owen took off his cap and sunglasses and rubbed his forehead. “I’ll have to be sure to leave a huge tip when I check out,” he said. “That was hotel service above and beyond the call of duty. Do they really have contingency plans for sneaking celebrities out?”
“I don’t know if the hotel does, but Nita’s been living for this, I’m sure. I’m impressed that she’s already got the whole hotel working with her on it. Her dad may be right. She’ll be running the place before long.”
He found a bottle of water in a cooler and handed it to me, then opened one for himself. After a long drink, he said, “You’ve got to admit, this beats taking the subway.”
“And it may be harder to track us this way. How will they know we’re in here?”
The limo wove in and out of traffic on the way downtown, making a few abrupt turns along the way. Finally, the car stopped. “City Hall,” the driver said. “I haven’t noticed anyone following us, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone here waiting for us.”
Owen paid him for the ride while I scoped out the area. The fact that the driver didn’t see anyone didn’t mean anything. I wouldn’t feel safe until I knew no one was there. But there was no one to see—no men in black, no Mr. Bones. We might stand a chance.
As the limo drove away, I turned to Owen. “Do you have any idea which monument the stuff is in?”
“None whatsoever, but this is supposed to lead me to it.” He took his mother’s key out of his pocket and drew the tip of it across his thumb, drawing blood, which he then smeared on the key. The key began glowing softly in his palm. “Let’s hope this works,” he said. He closed his hand around the key and paused, like he was listening for something, then said, “This way.”
While he followed whatever signals the key was giving him, I kept an eye out for any possible pursuers. “I’m glad your mother thought of sending you a magical divining rod because there are dozens of monuments to everyone and his or her dog in this park. And wasn’t the park renovated not too long ago? Things have probably been moved.”
Instead of answering, he moved faster, and I had to hurry to keep up with him. Soon, he was on his knees in the grass, next to a brass plaque on a stone base. He touched the key to the plaque, then the plaque popped open. In a cavity underneath was a manila envelope. Owen reached in and pulled it out, then the plaque slid back into place. He hurried to open the envelope, and I leaned over his shoulder to see what was in it.
“There you are, Palmer,” a voice said. “Turn around with your hands up.”
Instead of turning, Owen grabbed the hem of my T-shirt and shoved his hands under it, sliding the envelope under there. I instinctively wrapped my arms around my middle to keep it in place. He stuck the key in my pocket, then he hissed, “You know what to do.”
He jumped to his feet and ran toward the man, startling him. That gave me a second to get up and run in the opposite direction, toward the office. There were shouts behind me and the sound of a struggle, but I forced myself not to look back. That was the downfall of women in every horror or action movie ever made, and I’d sworn I wouldn’t ever do the same thing if I were being chased. It grew harder and harder to keep my focus forward when I heard what sounded like blows landing behind me and when I became aware of running footfalls nearby.
I clasped the envelope tighter to me as I felt someone clutch at my shirt. There was a rushing sound from above, zooming over my head, and then I heard something hit the ground behind me. “It’s okay, sweetheart, I got your back. Just keep runnin’,” Sam’s voice said.
I was gasping for breath, and still I had to keep going. Sam and his security gargoyles fought off a few pursuers, and then we neared the street. “Sam, the light!” I panted. I’d be taking my life into my own hands to dart across that street against the light, but I couldn’t stop and wait for a walk signal with people chasing me.
“I got it, doll!” he cried out, flying ahead. The moment I reached the curb, the light changed. There was a squeal of tires and a chorus of honks, but I ignored them and dashed across the street. Then I faced the mob of protesters. If they were all controlled by the charms and amulets, that meant they’d likely try to stop me. I got a firmer grasp on the envelope under my shirt as Sam dive-bombed them, but there were too many for him to fight off. Hands clutched at my clothes, pulled off my hat, tried to grab my arms. Keeping one arm around my waist, I struck out and kicked, fighting in sheer animal desperation.
There was a crack of thunder and a roar of wind, and soon the crowd was being pushed away from me by an invisible force. I looked up to see Merlin standing, staff in hand, in front of the MSI doors. Sobbing with relief, I stumbled toward him. He escorted me into the building with an arm around my shoulders. The sound of those doors shutting behind me was more joyous to my ears than Christmas carols.
I turned to Merlin, words pouring out of me in fits and starts. “Owen, they got him, back in the park.”
Merlin said calmly, “Intervening at this point would endanger my position on the Council, and I need to hold that position to be able to help Owen. I hope he had a good reason for leaving his place of safety.”
I pulled the envelope out from under my shirt. “So do I. It all depends on what’s inside this.”
“Let us go to my office and find out.”
He got me settled on the sofa in his office, where I got a sudden bad case of the shakes. He went to make tea, giving me a moment to pull myself together. I wanted to go to the windows to see what was happening in the park, but I knew Owen would be long gone by now. They’d probably zapped him to wherever the magic jail was the moment they brought him down. The only way I could help him now was to use the information he’d risked his freedom to find—and that his mother had probably lost her life for hiding.
