AGENT 23 BLACKOUT (Agent 23 Book 1)

CHAPTER 23

The van travels for an undetermined number of miles along the curvy highway bordering the coast. I know this because I felt my body lean to the left as the vehicle turned right onto the roadway as it exited the old fort. Half an hour later, the van speeds up onto what I suppose is an interstate, judging by how fast we're moving. I think we're still heading north, well beyond Coastal City and anything I'm familiar with.

In another disturbing development, I realize something's wrong with Kayla's father. After riding unconscious for about an hour, he stirs and finally awakens, but he doesn't speak, only sits and stares at the wall opposite of him. It's like he's in a trance. Kayla tries to talk to him, but he doesn't respond, forcing her to turn to me for answers. I can only point out the obvious, so I tip my head toward her father's on-duty bodyguard, Officer Tate. The man occupies the front corner on the passenger side, next to the mayor.

"Excuse me, Officer Tate?"

I give him a few seconds to reply, but he doesn't say a word or turn my way. After a long moment, I purse my lips and try again. "Hello, Officer Tate? Can you hear me?" I turn to Kayla. "What's his first name?"

"Rory?" She frowns. "Or Riley? No, Rowan. That's it."

After I address him by his first name, he still doesn't respond but acts in the same way as Kayla's father, not talking or making eye contact with anyone. Because of their peculiar behavior, I suspect Kayla's father and Office Tate are under the influence of the machine that Agent 24 called the Mind Bender. That makes me think the mayor has been under mind control the entire time, even when he pleaded for us to help him while he was in the assassin's strangle-hold. His suggestive thoughts may belong to The Collective now.

It's a game of wait and see. That's what I tell Kayla.

Like at the safe-house on the city's edge, she leans into me as we sit on the floor in the back of the van. My butt hurts from sitting on the hard surface, but as I wrap an arm around Kayla and hold her close, the aches of discomfort and the pains of taking a beating from Agent 24 fade into the background. More than anything, I feel her warmth and the wetness of her tears soaking through my shirt. As I hold her, I ponder how my grandparents and Kayla's mom are going to react when they find out someone has kidnapped us? It will devastate them. But we have greater problems at the moment.

"There has to be some hope of setting him free," Kayla says, glancing up at me. From the strain in her voice, it's clear she believes what I told her about her father and the Mind Bender.

"Has to be." When I see the despair in her eyes, I pull her tightly to me and kiss her forehead. As my lips touch her skin, loose strands of her hair graze my brow. My hand cups the back of her head underneath her ponytail.

She sighs in my arms. Even under the stress, the moment feels right. She was there for me from the beginning, and now I'm here for her, no matter how this ends.

"You're right." She nods, seeming to read my mind. "We have to have hope. We can't give up, no matter what happens."

"No matter what."

Across from us, my dad leans forward. "When we get to wherever we're going, when we exit the van, while he's moving us, that'll be our best opportunity to escape. It won't be easy in these cuffs, but I've gotten out of these things before. I can do it again."

My dad's voice gets me thinking. After talking about the condition of Kayla's father, and seeing what she's going through, I wonder if I've been too hard on my dad. Yes, if he hadn't left The Collective, then they wouldn't have come after me. But I can't blame him. I didn't want them to take control of my mind and use me to kill whoever they deem worthy of death. Regardless of the past, my dad showed up on the scene to stop them from sinking their claws into me. Though he couldn't save my mom, he wanted to sacrifice himself for Kayla's father and me. That makes him selfless, someone willing to atone for his past mistakes. An admirable man.

The weight of it all burns behind a well of tears. I fight it back, but as I stare at his solemn face, a single droplet slides down my cheek. I sniff and wipe it away with the back of my hand.

"I'll get us free," my dad says. "I promise."

It's then my heart jumps into my throat. I jerk my head to look at Officer Tate and the mayor. The possibility occurs to me we don't need to be talking openly about our escape plans in front of them. If they're under control of The Collective, they could eavesdrop on us and blab to Agent 24. But the two men sit there, staring at the van's interior wall. I have no way of knowing if they're listening to our conversation. But for all we know, Agent 24 may have planted a bug back here, anyway. He could spy on us from the cab. Anything is possible.

"I think it's best we be discreet." I speak under my breath, loud enough for only my dad and Kayla to hear, hopefully. "Whatever plan we come up with needs to stay between us three."

"You're right," my dad says. "Lately, you've been showing a lot of smarts and mental toughness. That's a sign of maturity. I'm proud of you."

Hearing that he's proud of me makes me feel good. "I'm sorry for saying, 'I hate you' because I don't."

"Thank you, Son. That means a lot." His eyes appear glassy in the dim light seeping through the rear window of the van's cab, where on the other side, Agent 24 steers us into the unknown. "I'm sorry for all the years I missed out on your life. When we get out of this, I'd like to make up for it."

"That would be great," I say.

The thought of escape makes me glare at the rear window of the cab that separates us from Agent 24. There's a cage over it to prevent us from breaking out. From the low angle of where I'm sitting, I can't see the roadway. The last time I checked, the road looked like an average interstate with bustling traffic. But since then, I sensed from the change in speed and vibrations that we took an offramp onto a slower traveling highway. When I peeked again, I couldn't see any recognizable landmarks, confirming my suspicions. The shoulders were absent of streetlights or signs telling us where we were. Even now, it seems like we're heading into the middle of nowhere.

"I love you, Aiden," my dad says.

At the words, my head turns. My voice comes out as a whisper, and I barely hear myself as I reply with the all-important word at the end. I love you too.

As my dad nods affirmation, Kayla shifts beside me.

When I look at her, she smiles knowingly, like she realizes something has been inside me all this time. Some unknown quantity. A character trait she suspected I possessed and now is sure of.

"We've been through a lot this weekend," she says. She lets out a half-laugh. "But the weekend isn't over. It's only Saturday night, or technically, early Sunday morning."

The realization of what day it is reminds me that tonight, I missed my entire shift at the museum. Vivian Payne will have my head on display next to the mammoth skeleton.

Kayla nudges my chin in her direction. "I'm trying to tell you something."

My gaze locks onto her blue irises, which are dimmed gray in the pale light. Something tells me I should listen. This could be the moment I've been waiting for, even if it is with my dad, and Kayla's father, and a mind-controlled police officer all present in the back of the van.

"I don't know if we'll have another chance," she says.

"For what?" I hope our minds are connecting on the same wavelengths.

"For this..."

She leans toward me and closes her eyes, her lips drawing near mine.

My heart rate skyrockets. An indescribable warmth floods my body.

But before our lips meet, the van veers off onto a rough patch of road, rattling us, sending my mouth to the bridge of Kayla's nose, bumping into her glasses. At the direction change, we peer up at the small caged window at the rear of the cab. The top of Agent 24's head bobbles as he drives us onto the alternate path.

After a brief stretch, the road turns smooth, and the van takes a curve in stride. In less than a minute, the tires squeal to a sudden halt. The rear cab window slides about an inch apart and the end of a hose pokes through a hole in the cage barrier separating us from Agent 24. An air current jets from the hose, carrying tiny gas particles into the rear of the van, and in seconds, everyone passes out before my eyes.

Finally, I too slide into a dark oblivion of nothing.