Winter's Edge

Chapter 49 - Slight of Hand

Abby

THE next morning, I was visibly dragging. I sipped on a cup of coffee as a remedy then dressed in a black business dress with high slits up the legs for mobility in case we got into a fight. I'd changed my hair quite a bit, not wanting to appear similar to yesterday.

I'd had run-ins with Hunters before, but they'd never identify me. I wasn't part of the system. I was a ghost. That took on a whole new meaning considering my ability.

I slipped on some jewelry then stuffed a change of clothes in my bag and carried it downstairs.

Soon, we were in the garage, orders distributed, and it was time to leave.

Joseph tossed me the keys to the M3. "Watch your backs today. If you pick up any tails, call me and we'll come get you."

As Ian and I walked to the car, I kept my voice low. "Normally, if we're attacked by Hunters, we head back to Winter's Edge immediately. I don't know why we're still here."

I hit the unlock button on the key fob and the car beeped, lights blinking. Murph had already changed its wheels and removed its spoiler. He'd even painted over the SHO logos embossed on the bumper and sideskirts to make the car look almost just like a regular Ford Taurus.

Ian sighed. "Great."

"Keep an eye out for anything suspicious today." I opened the door and climbed into the driver's seat. Ian dropped into the passenger seat a second later. "If we're tailed again, we'll know someone in the house tipped off the Hunters. If they want us badly enough, they'll come for us again."

"And if they don't?"

"Then maybe we weren't set up." I started the motor and the car put out a throaty hum. "Or maybe the Hunters have a different plan in mind now."

***

After retrieving our gold from the refinery, Ian and I distributed it among various banks and storage units, then headed back to the warehouse.

"Come with me," Ian said, pulling onto the interstate.

"Where?"

"To check on my parents."

My God, how could I have forgotten about his parents? He'd been training with us for three months now. He'd learned extremely fast. He'd have a lot better chance against Hunters now. And I got the impression he liked his odds against the Hunters better than he did in Winter's Edge right now.

It was all I could do to hold back the tears wanting to form in my eyes. "Ian, you're asking me to leave my mother, my friends...everything I've ever known."

"College kids leave home all the time. What's the difference?" He had a point, which made it all the more difficult.

"The difference is, I don't exist on paper in the real world." I slowed the car and turned, taking a longer route back to the warehouse. "I have no identity. No social security number. Nothing. My driver's license is fake. Artie implanted my identities into the system."

"Then use one of them, like a CIA agent."

I was torn. Part of me felt like Winter's Edge was a prison. I'd been there my entire life, never able to leave, never free to go where I wanted or do what I wanted. I had no powers before, which meant I was the only one there who could leave and live a normal life—a normal life without my family. I'd always wanted to live a normal life, but there was nothing normal about that.

"If you haven't noticed, I'm not a CIA agent." I sighed. "I might have said yes before I discovered my powers. But now, I'm not so sure. How would it ever work? You're on the Hunters' radar. They'll find us eventually. Is that what you want? A life on the run?"