Kerim smirked, lifting his chin, which was his way of saying yes.
“Without Harry’s approval?” Rinaldo asked.
“We don’t need his permission,” Kerim said.
Cristal sensed that he was trying to control his temper.
Gabriel joined the circle and voiced his concern, by saying, “It doesn’t feel right, Kerim. I mean, Harry is our leader, and he told us that we couldn’t go there without him giving us the green light.”
Cristal’s head began to spin. What wall? Why did Kerim want to go there? And what was so special about that place?
“You don’t have to come. None of you have to come. But if you want to know the truth, you don’t need to wait for Harry to tell us when.”
Kerim put his arm around Cristal’s shoulder, and he told her, “Come on. Let’s go!”
She swallowed hard, acknowledging in her brain what she had to do. Her heart started beating faster. Taking deep breaths, she tried to control her heart rate. She told herself, “Calm down.”
“I’m coming with you,” Gabriel said. “I always wanted to find out what the big deal was about that place.”
Rinaldo’s body language was not in agreement with Gabriel. Rinaldo said, “No way, guys. I ‘a’ stay here and wait for Harry’s call. He has his reasons for saying not to ‘a’ go without him. I have a big trust for him.” He turned around and went back to the corner where he had left the girl pouting.
“Let’s go,” Kerim said.
Cristal wanted to say something, but she decided it wasn’t the right time. Sometimes keeping quiet is better than asking too many questions.
***
They rode for over an hour on the motorcycle with Cristal’s arms tightly wrapped around Kerim’s waist. Gabriel had caught a ride with Kerim’s friends in their mini-bus. Cristal had hoped that they would have ridden with them, but she realized that Kerim liked to do things his way.
She closed her eyes for most of the trip, feeling drained of all her energy. Only once did she glance up to see a highway route sign that said 60. How far is this wall?
“Don’t fall asleep. Don’t want you to fall off,” Kerim called back to her.
She mumbled, “I feel awful.”
He squeezed her arm and encouraged her by saying, “We should be there soon.”
She pressed her head tightly into his back, hoping he was right.
“Trust no one,” her dad’s voice said in her head. “Today will be the beginning of The End. Stay strong and have faith.”
“No! Stop!” she hollered, shaking her head, and not wanting to hear the voices anymore.
Kerim turned his head towards her and yelled, over the noise of the road, “Are you all right? Do you want me to stop?”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” she said.
That’s when she realized that what she had said sounded crazy. “I mean, I thought I was going to be sick. But I think I’m okay. We’re not that far. Are we?” She felt his hand on her arm.
“We’re almost there. You must be really tired. I can’t hear any of your thoughts,” he said with a soft chuckle.
Well, that’s good to know, she thought to herself.
Chapter 20
Safe Zone
Zero: video chat in 15 min
Onyx: see you then
Joanna looked over at Jenna who was sitting on the couch, busy typing on her laptop. Although, she had agreed for her to move in temporarily, living with Jenna was driving her crazy.
The sound of the chat tool notification alert interrupted her thoughts. She quickly read the message.
“Was it Harry? What did he say?” Jenna asked raising one eyebrow.
“Yeah, he wants to video chat soon,” Joanna said.
“Awesome. Okay, I’m going to set up beside you, so he can’t see me.”
Jenna stood up, grabbed her laptop, walked over and sat down on the chair beside her.
“Great,” Joanna mumbled to herself. What did I get myself into? Not only do I have the boss interrogating me at work, I’ve got Jenna bossing me around at home.
Every day at GN, senior management was breathing down her neck. Joanna knew that if she revealed Harry’s breach in security, she would only be revealing her own role. She wasn’t ready to be hauled into prison over this.
Jenna turned to her, and asked, “Joanna, why don’t you introduce me to Harry?”
“What?” Joanna couldn’t believe her ears. “Are you crazy? If he even suspects that I am talking to a non-Truth Seeker, he’s going to cut me loose. And where would that get you?”
Jenna bit her lip, a sign that she was thinking up one of her crazy plans.
“No way, Jenna. You just sit quietly right where you are. Or else, I’m going to call this whole thing off,” she snapped.