Jump Line (Book 1 - Jump Line Series)

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

We landed back in Paul's old apartment, staring out at NorthStar. Suddenly, there were several loud explosions and the building erupted into flames. Audrina and Gave had done their jobs.

"What happened?" I asked, looking around Paul's old living room. "Where are Troy and Luther?"

The silence in the air was thick.

"Esa, I told you to stick with the plan and, once again, you ignored me. Don't do it again." Samuel hit his fist against one of the walls, leaving a hole in its wake.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled.

"At least we learned some new information," Samuel said.

"Esa, we told you about the tracker. We were right. I have a feeling your mother was the one tracking you," Paul said as he stood awkwardly in the middle of the room near Samuel.

My bottom lip quivered. "So, you think she's still alive?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but something is not adding up."

"If she's not dead, then where is she?" I asked.

"I think Troy has her."

"Do you mean she was inside that building?" I yelled, looking back at the crumbling pile of rock.

"No," Theo shook his head.

"How do you know? How do any of you know? She could have been there, and we killed her, just like we killed all of those people trapped under that floor."

"I just know. Your mother is too brilliant to be captured. She was always one step ahead of everyone," Theo responded.

"Do we know where Luther and Troy are at? Do you think they got out in time? Do we have any way to track their movements?" I asked.

Samuel looked over at me. "No. Luther removed his watch, but he's also been consistent. I'm sure they made it out, and now they will need to set up shop somewhere. We just have to make sure he doesn't go back in time and screw with history any more. We're still vulnerable."

"Then we need to find them and quickly," I said, wondering why we were all still sitting in this old, nasty room.

"We will," Theo said. "But first we need to return to OnyxFive and get all of us scanned."

I rubbed my temples, hoping to quiet the noise in my head. "Did we get the information you needed?" I looked up at Samuel and Paul.

"Yes," Samuel responded. "You occupying Troy and Luther gave us the window we needed to extract information from his system before we destroyed the compound."

I turned to Theo. "I thought you were supposed to distract Luther?"

"Sorry. He must have known what I was doing and he got past me."

"What about the holding facility?" I asked the entire group.

Samuel looked at his computer screen. "It's still intact."

I looked at my reflection in the window. Luther had been right. My ponytail was askew and tiny hairs had made their way out. A large red smudge covered one of my cheeks. "What if Luther and Troy try to attack OnyxFive?"

Paul answered. "Troy has tried many times, and failed. Our facility is well hidden. Luther knows how to get there, but I've already put additional security systems in place to make sure we know if they come our way. Any sign of Luther or Troy and we will be immediately alerted and soldiers will be sent out to kill them."

Samuel walked over to me and put both his hands on my shoulders. "Esa, I know you want to go after him right now, but please, this time, follow the plan."

"Fine, but we can't just sit around," I responded, frustrated.

"I know, but I need to look at the information we received and you need to get cleaned up. I'll send Theo, Gave and Audrina out to make sure our ancestors are not targeted. We will protect us first, and then we will start returning the normals to their proper years. But, at some point, we need to stop worrying about Luther and Troy and start preparing our own exit from this place."

Samuel pulled off his medallion and opened up the Line. Slowly, we all walked on to it, unsure what would happen next. Somewhere out there Luther and Troy were plotting their next move. It wasn't over yet; this was only the beginning as we set out to save our past, present and future.

There was also the lingering question about my mother's whereabouts. How would we find her, and did she even want to be found?