The Skylar Experiment : Dead Ending (second draft)

90. New Ability

LUC

WE DID MANAGE TO get a decent amount of sleep, especially after working off that anxious energy.

I hadn't realized the hour even after the floor above us stirred with footsteps, hushed voices, and the distant whooshing of a sink. The basement was dim and silent. Riley and all that hair were sprawled in her corner, breathing evenly.

Even though it was shorter now, it was still dense and curly, maybe even more than before. I could lose myself staring at her like a total creep, but it stunned me how pretty she was when she didn't think anyone was looking. In the moment, nothing beat the sight of her hair against her bare back.

Then, a hollow stomach and a glance at the cell phone told me the time. I slid out of the sleeper sofa, as quiet as a ghost, and opened the door at the end of the hall of stairs.

Real noise filtered in, and smells of eggs and bacon smacked me in the nostrils. But it was residual. No one stood in the kitchen. A glass container was left out on the countertop, full of fresh breakfast servings.

I heard Raymond and Lauren talking, voices pouring from the living room. I wasn't sure what to expect as I turned the corner, but surprise, surprise.

If it wasn't two nerds doing what they did best. Nerding.

They'd moved the guest room desk near the computer setup. Both sat in separate rolling chairs, staring at monitors. Raymond was pointing at something on software, and Lauren was rotating idly on her chair, listening.

"I'm getting a bad case of déjà-vu here," I said, interrupting their exchange.

Chairs rolled to face me. Raymond grinned. "We were wondering if you two died in your sleep. It's one in the afternoon, my guy."

I leaned against the wall, saying nothing to that. Our night was still on my mind, and I tried hard to hold a poker face. "Any answer from Harris?"

"Yup. He says he's not too far from that old hideout, so he can get Lauren's hardware and the inhibitor model. He thinks he can reach the location by tomorrow evening."

We discussed yesterday about the finer details. The stuff he was moving would be too big for an inconspicuous dead-drop space, so after a half-hour of arguing over each other, we devised that briefly meeting him in public would work.

Lauren was worried about him being followed. I'd told her vultures could be waiting around a dead-drop all the same. Much to her discontent, we agreed I'd be the one doing the meeting.

NIO didn't have Raymond's ugly mug in a database. We better keep it that way. And Lauren, as tough an opponent as she could be, she remained a priority target.

"What about Riley?" she asked, and I rubbed my fingers along my jaw. "Did you tell her?"

She would want to tag along even though I could look out for myself. But I didn't want her anywhere near the exchange in case things went south. The idea of being captured together was bad enough, but if we got separated, I didn't think I could face tomorrow.

"The meet is as safe as it can be," I said, planting my stare intently into theirs. "The two of us will handle it. I'll talk to her."

They looked at one another—Ray with a non-committal shrug and Lauren with a skeptical eyebrow. In the back of my mind, I noted they seemed to be putting aside their history to make this easy. I guessed that was good. One less thing to worry about.

Tomorrow evening it was, then.

I stalked off toward the platform, my stomach rumbling. I needed more brain juice for this kind of conversation. I felt their attention on my back as I poured some water in a glass and retrieved a plate from a cupboard.