Fearless

chapter 4

The morning didn't start with coffee. First Ian woke me up by tickling my nose with a feather from my pillow, then I spent twenty minutes composing a note to my brother. In the end it sounded like this:

"Rick, I'm going with my friends to the cottage for a couple of days. Don't worry about me, we'll be in touch."

I didn't write about the Fearless, of course, so as not to be too much of a clue. Rick's not stupid, he'll figure it out.

I put on my favorite jeans, a black top, and booties.

We left the house at 4:30am, while the streets were quiet. The most important thing was to stay out of sight of the cops, and so far we'd been successful.

"Ian, there are four cops around the right corner." I said quietly, sitting in the law-enforcement tracking app. Yes, yes, there is such a thing.

We quietly climbed to the roof of the gas booth, climbing the fence and crawling over the top. We had a better view of our surroundings from up there. There were really five people standing around the corner, and the fifth was a guy in a leather jacket and gray sweatpants.

"Nel, it is one of us. - Ien whispered in a voice that wasn't his own. - That's our scout, Kai."

I frantically began to think how to get the guy out of an uncomfortable situation. The cops were clearly not friendly, and you could tell by the look on their faces that they were going to take him to the station, even if they didn't have enough evidence.

"I got it!" I whispered, and crawled toward the stairs.

"What? Stop! - Ian turned around and grabbed my denim jacket. - You don't have to risk your ass; we'll think of something else."

"Do we have time for that? - I raised an eyebrow skeptically. - Look, just trust me. - I asked soulfully."

"Okay..." Inwardly fighting the urge to protect me and save his friend, he said. Or maybe he just doesn't trust you. - My inner voice told me.

I climbed down the stairs and quietly snuck away from the cops. Then I pulled all my acting skills together and let out a tear. And another. And five more. Great. To be sure, having smeared the flowing mascara, I sniffed a couple of times. I picked up some dry earth and stained my knees like I'd fallen more than once. It took me about 20 seconds to do all that.

Turning toward the cops, I ran as hard as I could, like I was running from someone dangerous. I was focused on one thing at a time: helping Ian's friend, the Fearless.

"Help! - I screamed, tears streaming down my throat. - They're after me!"

I ran up to the slightly confused cops and fell to my knees, covering my face with my hands and getting it dirty in the ground.

"What happened?" The policeman asked sternly.

"l... there was... the guy with the machine gun... all in black... he was chasing me! - I said confusedly, sobbing. Noticing that they tensed up momentarily, I continued. - I didn't do anything wrong, I just saw him breaking down the door of the armory, and..."

"Where is he?" The man interrupted me, pulling out his gun.

"Right around that corner." I pointed toward West and looked at all of them. Just four cops, one Fearless and me.

"Watch him here." One cop rudely ordered the other, and the three of them disappeared around the corner. Kai looked at me warily, and I flicked my gaze to the roof of the house where Ian was sitting and winked.

Kai turned sharply, knocked the cop off the elbow, and held out his hand to me.

"We don't leave our own behind." He said, helping me up.