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We had about an hour of sunlight by this time, and we had no water and no flashlights. At least there was a wide trail heading up the ridge, as the area was used by people often. That was probably why Will and company had gone there as well. The trail was easy enough to be no hassle, and far enough away for them to be alone. A nice few days, no classes, enjoying the outdoors and drinking, I guessed. And so, Will hadn’t heard about his cousin. No wonder Mona hadn’t been alarmed when he didn’t answer his phone. She’d had enough to worry about.
“You really think he’s in danger?” Hansen asked as I locked the car and we started walking along the trail. It would be quite flat at first before a steep incline dominated the trek a while.
“I can’t afford not to check it out,” I said. “Whoever’s doing this must be stopped.”
“I agree, but—”
“No cops,” I interrupted. “In all honesty…what would you say if I came to you claiming someone was using their special abilities to render people in a waking coma?”
“I’d think you were off your rocker.”
“Exactly. So what do you think your colleagues would say to this?”
He didn’t say anything, but his jaw tightened. It was a sore point; I knew that.
I’d seen how hard it was for him when we’d had to hide in the forest near the Kreutz Farm from the same people he worked with every day. Then he hadn’t even known what was really going on. It was only common sense that had gotten him to go along with what it.
“Okay, so what’s your plan then?” he said finally.
“Plan for what?”
“Dealing with someone who can put us in the same state as Jake and Michael?”
“Oh, well…to deal with whoever it is very, very quickly.”
I saw his lips twitch a little at that, almost like a restrained smile trying to escape. I did have a point, though. If we wanted to avoid the same fate, and I didn’t want that to happen to us, we had to render the person doing it incapable of using their ability.
“So, we’re basically walking blind into this?”
“Yup. I don’t have luxuries like back-up.”
He seemed to consider this a while. We kept walking, the susurration of nature a continuing meld of sounds around us. The wind blowing through the trees, birds chirping away, a river far to our right, a creek crossing the trail at several points. It was like we were on a bizarre hike. All the visual beauty dampened by the crap-feast waiting for us.
“Why do you do this?” he asked, startling me a little as he’d been quiet for so long. We had started on the steep hills by now, our pace not slowing down, though.
“Someone has to,” I said and shrugged. Had I ever had other plans? Sure. But life didn’t always give a crap.
“That’s not really an answer,” he pointed out.
I bit my lower lip a moment, trying to figure this out. My first instinct was to keep quiet. But Gerard had been worried about Hansen knowing about us. If he didn’t understand, he could turn on us, and that would make things difficult.
“Someone helped me out years ago when I needed it,” I said slowly, measuring my every word. “My whole life turned around then and…I knew how much I had needed someone to care. To actually give a damn and give me a hand. Afterwards…I kind of gradually fell into this.”
I didn’t like thinking back on my early teens and my time in Yorov’s hands. They’d fooled my terrified parents into thinking they could help cure me. That’s what they had been promised, and so they’d sent me away. I didn’t really blame them anymore. I understood now how scared they must have been having a kid who knew what they were thinking all the time. But Yorov…I would be forever grateful they had spies in their midst. People who helped kids like me get away. My life now wasn’t only a way for me to pay them back. I actually knew what it was like to be on the other end of the stick. How could I stand back and not care?
He must have noticed my mind trailing off. “Care to elaborate?”
I shook my head and noticed the look of disdain on his face. “It’s not the first time Yorov’s been after me,” I heard myself explaining. “They tried various ways of manipulation when I was a kid. A kind person got me out.”
I blinked in confusion. How did he do that? Sometimes, he got this look in his eyes that made me feel like I was caught out, like my bad attitude was reined in somehow. It left me confused and angry each time.
“Hmm…kind of makes sense now, I guess,” he mused.
“How?”
“Now that I know what you…can do.” He didn’t seem able to actually say the wordsread mindsout loud. “I get why a company that size is after you.”
I raised an eyebrow at this, not planning on helping him in the least.
