Scorpion's New EQ

Chapter 28

The first thing I found myself doing was rethinking the last four hours of the day and running every chance of them finding us.

"Okay, logically my apartment is the safest, because it hasn't been titled in my name yet, therefore they wouldn't know that we are here," I said quickly, jumping to my feet and allowing my genius to overcome my normal instinct of worry.

"Good idea, but they'll have your name on this place in a day or two tops. In that amount of time we either need to locate these people, or find a different safe place," Walter added, also pacing and speaking quickly.

"Anywhere can be a safe house if you know the right people," Happy added, a gleam in her eyes. I couldn't help but notice Toby look at her with an adoring look.

"Wait, wait, we can't all just stayed holed up in this apartment. And it would be nice if you guys would exercise some EQ for once. These people are angry and seeking revenge, they're not going to stop if they can't find us, they're going to find another way to get to us," Paige interrupted, her voice raising above the rest of ours.

The room went silent for a moment and I felt tension building. That's when it hit me like a train, "Caine."

Walter's eyes landed on me and I could feel the intensity of his gaze, "Taylor, you can't go storming off to protect your brother."

I took my phone out of my pocket quickly and dialed Caine's number, "I wasn't about to, but I believe he needs to be warned."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Happy mutter something and grab her phone off the table.

"Hello?"

"Caine, hi. Yeah I need you to leave your house until I say it's safe to go back. And to be safe, make sure that those kids that you watch are safe too," I said quickly. Walter was already on his computer, typing away madly.

"Woah, what? Are you on drugs right now?" Caine asked, his voice holding a note of laughter.

I felt my anxiety levels go up slightly and I fought to block off my EQ that was no doubt causing it, "Caine, damn it, I'm not joking. I need you to go somewhere, anywhere, that has no trace of you. Your life is in danger." I hoped that my voice carried the note of urgency needed to get Caine to believe me.

Unfortunately, Caine seemed to lack common sense, "Very funny, thanks for the heads up, if any aliens show up I'll be sure to call." And then the line went dead.

That's when I noticed something about the way his voice slurred slightly. It sounded much like my father's did after a long night out on the town, "He's drunk. The bastard's drunk." I don't know what was more devastating, that my brother didn't believe me, or that he had taken up a habit that had torn apart the only real family that I had had.

"Taylor, leave him be. Try again in a few hours. It's not worth it right now," Paige's voice broke me out of my rage and I had to take several deep breaths to regain my focus.

"Okay. Okay, what is the estimated amount of time we have until they're in the city" I asked, snapping my attention back to the problem at hand.

Sylvester had this information ready, "Without traffic delays it's a six and a half hour drive. Because it is a Thursday, and about the time most people are getting off work, I'd calculate a seven hour and eight minute drive."

"And they've been on the road for about fifteen minutes. They'll have to stop at least once for gas, so that will add at least nine minutes," Toby said, scrolling through his phone absentmindedly, "As a precaution they will more than likely do some roadside maneuvers, taking roads off of the freeway. I'll assume that may bring them up to driving seven hours and-"