The Skylar Experiment : Dead Ending (second draft)

Chapter Sixty-Four - Back to Columbus

LUC

DEEP RAP AND BASS VERSES thrummed out of the speakers until my seat vibrated. My thoughts were broken, unclear, and it was making me increasingly antsy. I twisted the volume button, earning myself a vexed huff from the driver's seat.

"It's impossible to have fun around you, these days."

I glanced at Raymond from the corner of my eyes. "I'm trying to think."

The corn fields had been harvested before December. Today, they became short stick rows standing over the thinning layer of snow. What once reached taller than my head currently stopped below my knee. An invigorating sliver of wind blew inside the car through the cracked window, and I watched the plantations zoom in and out of view.

"We've gone over this at home," Raymond replied, one hand casually steering the wheel. "This is what we got so far, and we'll go from there. First, take care of Michael."

I muttered an agreement. The others had stayed at the house. It was hard to convince them or to decide who came along for the ride, but I got them to stick together and be on the lookout while we were gone. We needed someone to check the woods—follow up on any new development.

Raymond left his laptop for them to use and monitor the dot whenever they pleased. If Lauren moved even a mile away, I wanted to know asap.

"She kept touch with him for who knows how long." I squinted at the setting sun. "At some point, Michael knew her whereabouts and that she was alive. He never said anything, even when I visited him."

He sighed, head leaned back. "I'm hungry."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously." His foot pressed the pedal and the heavy clouds rolled faster. "I was busy all day with that tracker and its malfunctioning copy. Then, I had to make sure it caught well in the parking lot. Haven't eaten in over ten hours."

I guessed there wasn't much I could do to argue against that. While he coasted at a drive-in and ordered takeout half an hour later, he turned to me.

"You want a panini, too?"

I waved an arm. My stomach quivered at the prospect of food. The day had been so agitated that none of us slowed down to eat. "Sure, whatever."

I wasn't thrilled about being stuck with Raymond for hours on end, but we both had to settle matters with Michael, and he worked for him. Wherever he lived in the country, far or near, he completed tasks from a distance. If meetings were mandatory, they were also rare and not that big of a restraint for him.

Fifteen minutes later, we hit the road on full stomachs. As he drove toward the state border, his eyes blinked in my direction. The light at a stop painted his face and the whole dashboard red.

"What if they realize that's not the real map?"

My finger tapped the door handle. It was exactly what I obsessed over for the past hours. We left the coordinated signal at the cabin and sent the mapping of a regular tracker to NIO, which was stuck to Lauren's bike, hoping they'd conclude this method needed no more attempts. It was a risky move.

"At least it's buying us time," I said.

The light flipped green and the car started. Raymond focused his gaze on the highway, burning the miles away. By now, night had fallen, and the trimmed fields were long behind us. Our horizon transmuted to taller apartments and concrete buildings with yellow-lit windows. I could see offices through them and people sitting at their desk. The highway turned into a smaller one swelled with cars and paths for pedestrians.