Spy School Goes to Trial

Chapter 6 - Contingency

Safe House
Top Secret Location, Virginia
May 29
1800 hours

"I can't believe that guy is still alive. Shouldn't he be dead like three times over by now?"

Mike groused as we entered into a small apartment on the 3rd floor of a nondescript building. His statement was what we were all thinking. But it was the first moment we had to really discuss what had happened.

After managing to evade Joshua in the minivan, Erica found her way into a  parking garage. I assumed it was because we needed to hide the car. It was conspicuous to drive around with a missing side view mirror, bullet marks in our windows, and dents across our back. She quickly sped her way up to the 4th floor, the last covered area before reaching the roof, parking behind one of the supporting columns so that the van was hidden as much as possible. We didn't want to draw much attention to it. Then, without saying a word, Catherine and Erica jumped out of the minivan, or at least Erica jumped, Catherine calmly exited. They walked toward a parked car a few hundred feet away.

The rest of us looked at each other, but then quickly followed them. We didn't really need to pack up anything, since most of it remained at the park, and there really wasn't time to grab the basket and blanket in the middle of being attacked by missiles. As we walked over, I wasn't entirely convinced we managed to completely lose Joshua and the helicopter, so I watched the gaps between the concrete floors. 

It suddenly dawned on me that Erica had not just picked a random parking garage to hide in. She never did anything at random, and she was purposefully walking towards a new vehicle. This made sense, we needed new transportation. I wasn't sure if Erica was going to steal one, or if she had thought so far in advance as to have one ready in case of an emergency. It seemed more likely that she had a something ready for emergencies. So I was expecting our new car might be a large van with no windows and a florist's business name splashed across the side. Something I would have seen in a spy movie surveilling the bad guys. Instead, we stopped in front of a well-worn sedan-like family car. It was the type of car you might see driving around the suburbs of Virginia, or commuting to Washington D.C. There was a bumper sticker that said "Please Be Patient: Student Driver," and faded washable paint was on the rear window. I could barely make out the words 'Sweet 16' written in loopy letters encompassed with a pink heart.

Catherine pressed a button on a key fob and the trunk popped open. Then she handed the keys to Erica, who promptly sat in the driver's seat. I expected Catherine to pull out a very large, and very dangerous looking weapon, but, instead, she turned and looked sympathetically at me.

"Can you hear me," She asked, pointing at her own ear.

"Yes," I said louder than I intended.

"I am sorry to do this to you Benjamin, but you will need to get inside the boot for the remainder of our trip. Post-haste." Catherine had lived inside the U.S. for many years, but still occasionally used Britishisms instead of Americanisms. I took boot to mean trunk. I frowned, but dutifully climbed inside. Then Catherine grimaced, and turned towards Alexander. "You too, Alexander."

I wasn't sure what to make of this, and neither did Alexander. 

"Me?" he moaned. 

Alexander was always dressed impeccably, even today when most of us were  wearing comfortable casual clothes appropriate for a day at the park, he was wearing a well-tailored blazer and crisp white shirt. I could tell he was reluctant to climb in next to me because he might soil his clothes.

"Yes, it will look less suspicious with the four of us inside the car, than with five. We absolutely need to keep Benjamin hidden. Joshua already saw there were six of us, and may be scanning for vehicles with that many people in them. It makes the most sense for you to be inside the boot," she said.