The Cost

Chapter 5 - Hello Wendell

"A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?" —Albert Einstein

"Here's the kid." The masked guy who'd been sitting next to me in the car pushed me forward into a small room; above us a single lightbulb swung ever so slightly with the light rocking of the ship. I nearly smacked into a square shaped table, the only piece of furniture. If it wasn't for the gun in his hand, I might have tried harder to get away.

The girl on the other side of the table didn't appear too surprised to see me. She folded her arms and exhaled with obvious annoyance. "Wendell, I asked you to bring him here, not kidnap him. He's a guest."

"Are you kidding me?" I muttered, straightening and positioning myself on one side of the table in such a way that I could see both of them.

"Hey," Wendell said, removing his mask. "We didn't have to go after him in the first place." Seeing the sweaty, hardened and scarred face beneath a clean shaved head, it was pretty clear to me that this guy's name didn't exactly fit. "We ain't gettin' paid to babysit."

Her arms still folded, she raised an eyebrow. "Just remember who you work for."

A pause. Then he muttered something and left the room, shutting the door behind him as he went out onto the deck.

I turned to her. "Do I have to ask or are you going to tell me?"

"You mean what's going on?" She shook her head. "Sierra and Kris asked a favor."

"What do you mean? Where is my sister?"

"Your sister?"

"Trish. Her name is Trish."

She shook her head. "I don't know. I can't think of anyone on board with that name."

She motioned for me to follow her, and we went out another door on the opposite side of the room. This one led down a long hall with doors on either side, most of them having a small window installed at the front. The lighting was quite a bit brighter, and I had to blink a few seconds to adjust.

"Sierra and Kris got a heads up from a friend about enforcers headed to their house," she said. "Where the enforcers got their lead, I have no idea—and those girls weren't the only ones whose location was discovered. Apparently you were on the list too."

So that was the favor—Sierra and Kris wanted to warn me. "Who sent Wendell?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I did. I'm Rachel by the way."

"Jacob."

Rachel opened a door at the end of the hall and we walked out beneath a sky cleanly scattered with stars. "Wendell isn't so bad once you get him on your side."

"I have my doubts about that ever happening."

Her smile was illuminated by rays of light that spilled from the windows of the ship. "You never know."

"Where are the others?"

"Sierra and Kris? They were here a little while ago. They must've gone back inside."

The more time passed, the more worried I became about Trish. I hadn't really talked about her to Sierra and Kris, which I kind of regretted since they wouldn't have known to get her away from the enforcers too. I couldn't forget that phone call, and I knew she wouldn't be at home wondering where I was; somehow she'd gotten involved in this mess that even I didn't totally understand.

****

Rachel led me into a small living room where Sierra, Kris and a couple others were sitting in front of a TV. On a low table fastened to the floor were several open boxes of pizza, mostly missing except for a few pieces that were leftover. In the center of it all was a large bowl of salad.

Kris waved when she spotted me, seeming unusually happy. "Dig in," she said, standing to thrust a paper plate at me. She pointed to a set of plastic utensils near the salad bowl.

The front page of a newspaper on the table caught my attention: Children Missing All Over. I skipped past images of models, a list of movies showing and a couple other articles. The report was simple: kids had gone missing, and the enforcers were still trying to get on top of the issue.

"You gonna eat?" Sierra asked.

"Maybe in a little while," I told her. "I'll be back," I muttered as I set down the newspaper and paper plate, then went back out beneath the cheerfully starry sky. I needed a moment to think.

I walked to the ship's side and leaned my elbows on the rail. Trish. How in the world was I going to find her? I didn't even know where to start.

"Hey kid," a rough voice said. I turned around to see Wendell. "You okay?"

I raised an eyebrow, surprised by the question. "Why would you care?"

He smirked. "I don't. But I get paid to keep an eye out."

I eyed the black water, spread out in all directions. To my left the glowing lights of the community were slowly disappearing. I kept partially faced towards Wendell, not totally sure what to expect from him. "I thought you said you didn't get paid to babysit," I told him in a dull voice.

He walked closer. "I suggest you watch your back. You're in my turf now. If I had it my way you'd be overboard for all I care."

"Then do it," I told him, forcing my voice to sound braver than I felt.

"You don't know what you're messin' with." I ducked him before he could grab for me, then put some distance between us before taking on a fighting stance.

Suddenly the door to the living room opened from the other side of the deck. "Wendell! Jacob!" Rachel's voice came. "I suggest you get some pizza before it's devoured!"

Wendell eyed me with a glare but said nothing. After a few seconds of waiting to see who would leave the scene of the fight first, I finally decided to take the initiative. What did I have to prove anyway?

"You got lucky," I heard him hiss behind me. "But Rachel ain't always gonna help you. I got ways."

When I looked back he had disappeared.

"You okay?" Rachel asked, and I realized my expression must still be tense from almost getting into a fight.

I nodded and we walked inside.

(To be continued.....)