Untraceable

Survival Skill #47

Before moving away from safety, always plan a course of action and a contingency plan.

~

I squeeze Mo’s arm. “It’s Tommy!”

Mo and I stare up at the entrance. Seconds later, a climbing rope uncurls in front of us.

He motions us up at the same time I hear voices yelling in the distance. Tommy changes his mind and climbs down the rope, never once making a sound. When he reaches the bottom, he puts his finger to his lips and stares up at the entrance until he thinks it’s clear. Then he whispers. “Sorry, I was going to just pull you up until I thought they saw me. There’s a swarm of people up there.”

I barely even hear what he says because I pounce on him. “Tommy!”

He clutches my arms. “Elu, (t)do-'hi-tsu!”

I nod. “I’m fine. How did you know where we were?”

He squeezes me hard. “I had a hunch you’d come here so I came prepared. Just in case.”

I pull away and search his face. “Wait. I thought you didn’t want to get involved.”

He winks. “I changed my mind.”

I smile and pat his hand. “Well, then, it’s true. You can teach an old dog new tricks.”

His face softens. “Can you ever forgive me?”

I peck his cheek. “Already have.”

Tommy smiles, and I hug him again. As he holds me, he sticks out his other hand to introduce himself. “You must be Mo.”

Mo looks at me as if to ask for my permission in answering him. I nod. This isn’t the time to bombard Tommy with all the details I’ve uncovered about Mo today. I’ll fill him in on everything later, once we’re safe. I owe him that much.

“Yes, sir.” Mo shakes Tommy’s tan hand. “How did you know we were down here?”

Tommy frowns at me while answering. “By the time I got here, I saw them dragging you guys into camp. Unfortunately, there were too many of them around you so I had to wait. You both okay?”

“Yes. Did you see Les?”

Tommy shakes his head. “Saw the big dude dragging him out of here. He didn’t look so good. What’s going on?”

I mutter. “Les’s been protecting me this whole time. Carl and some other people in our town are involved in this. Did you know what was going on?”

Tommy drops his head and makes a clucking noise. “No. But Carl came into my store a few days ago saying he had someone who wanted to finance the store. Maybe help me expand. Acted kinda strange when I asked him where the money was coming from. I turned him down. Kinda like my store the way it is.”

“I thought you wanted to make it bigger?”

“Changed my mind. Lucky I did.” Tommy takes off his fishing hat. “Man, how money can change a person.”

I clutch his forearm. “Have you seen any sign of Dad?”

Tommy shakes his head. “Not so much as a clue or a track. I looked. Is he here?”

Mo remains silent so I just shrug. “No one knows.”

Tommy points up. “Well, I’m thinking we should get out of here. Probably don’t have much time before they come back for you two.” He addresses me. “You strong enough to climb this rope?”

I tug on the frayed end. “Thought you’d never ask.”

Mo stops us. “Wait. First, we need a plan. I can tell you what I know about the layout of this place.” He squats and draws a diagram in the dirt with his finger.