Matt glanced at his phone.
Fifteen missed calls from Freddie. Twenty-nine messages ranging from curiosity to rage. Rhian at least asked him to be careful.
Matt sighed. The air was warm, the sky bright over JFK airport. It smelt like car fumes and warm asphalt. Airplanes roared in the distance, competing with the honking, revving drivers waiting to ferry their passengers to the city. People bustled through the doors, bringing with them the icy air-conditioned frigidness of the terminal.
It was a few days ago that he had even met Wallace and now he was back in America, on some ridiculous man-hunt. Things had spun out of control and Wallace's warnings had begun to haunt him. They had left in the middle of the night. He almost felt bad at not telling Freddie or Rhian, but it wasn't as if they would have understood. They already made it quite clear they didn't like Wallace. In their words she was too like Charlotte. That simply meant she was altered and a possible health hazard.
Something came up. I need to sort it out. I will be home as soon as I can. Could be a few weeks though. I'll contact you when I can.
He hit the send button and stared at it for a long moment. He shouldn't feel guilty. This was bigger than them, than him, than anything that had happened so far. War was looming, even if others couldn't see it.
"You ready?" Wallace asked, watching him from behind thick-framed sunglasses.
Matt nodded, following her to the edge of the pavement in front of the arrivals hall. Yellow cabs were lined across the narrow street. Tourists and business people were clamouring for the next car in line. Matt sighed. It was going to take them ages to get a cab, and he didn't even know where they were going or what the plan was. Whatever it was, it was Wallace's plan.
Wallace stopped at the curb, her sun dress whipping in the air whistling beneath the underpass. She looked like any other tourist. She didn't look dangerous. She looked good and sweet.
But he had no idea if she was good or sweet. He doubted it. The truth was he didn't know if he could trust her, but it was better to be out doing something rather than cooped up at his grandmother's with Freddie and Rhian watching his every move.
"Don't look so worried," she said, smiling at him. He frowned. He knew if he could see her eyes her smile would be dangerous. She always looked dangerous when she smiled, as if she knew something he didn't.
"I'm not worried".
She put one hand on her hip and grinned, showing all her teeth.
"Can't hide from me, darling," she said, linking his arm and lifting her hand as if hailing a cab.
"Eh Wallace... we have to join the queue," he said, pointing at the taxi rank opposite.
"A taxi won't take us where we need to go".
As she lowered her hand, a huge black SUV pulled up beside them.
"Wallace?" he frowned. He was willing to go along with her to a certain extent, but this meant involving more people. Plus, it looked official.
"My friend Ronnie knows a few people," she shrugged. "They're on our side. Or at least my friends are. We don't want to go to war".
Matt's brow furrowed. He didn't seem to have a choice.
Two men, dressed in jeans and white t-shirts, hopped out and grabbed the floral suitcase Matt had been dragging. The larger of the two men tossed it into the trunk, while the other opened the door for Wallace and Matt. Wallace clambered in first, pulling off her sunglasses. Matt followed ignoring the knot of doubt in his stomach.
YOU ARE READING
Feared
Science Fiction'Play the game, she thought, remembering the only three words that had helped her to survive at Kingston. Only back then she had known the game, she had known what they wanted her to be, what they had wanted her to do - this man was different. She d...
