Enders(45)

“How long?” I asked.

“Hours. Days.” He shrugged. “We just have to wait.”

The screen became a stream of numbers and letters flashing by at lightning speed.

I wondered what my father could have had on that drive that was so important. That those dangerous Enders wanted. The bartender was so relieved to hand it off—he was scared of them. What did they do to my father? Was he not taken to the treatment facility when we were told?

“Is it safe to be doing this here?” Michael asked.

“You’re right,” Hyden said, getting ready to move.

I looked back to see if the way was clear and saw the Starters waiting for their cars. One tall girl with blond hair to her shoulders got in her convertible and the valet shut her door. She looked like someone I recognized.

No. Really?

I pulled out my phone and aimed it at her. Across the top of the screen, it read: EMMA.





CHAPTER FOURTEEN





I kept my eyes on her as she started up her convertible. “That’s Emma!”

“That blonde?” Hyden said.

“Yes.”

He closed the airscreen and got out of the car.

“Emma!” he shouted as she drove right next to our car.

She turned, looked at Hyden, and sped away.

“Now you’ve scared her,” I said, leaning out the window.

“Did she see you?” he asked me.

“I don’t think so,” Michael said.

“Don’t lose her.” I pointed in her direction.

Hyden jumped back into the driver’s seat and followed. At that late hour, there weren’t too many other cars, so it only took a moment until we saw her taillights glowing ahead.

“That’s her,” I said. Another car got between us, a minivan. “Don’t let her get away.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get her,” Hyden said.

“It’s not just that she’s a Metal,” I said. “I owe it to her grandmother. She doesn’t know her grandmother’s dead, and she’s inherited half her estate.”

“You’d think she’d want to know that,” Michael said.

“I have her number, but … ,” I said, holding my phone.

“Don’t think she’d answer,” Hyden said. “We have something better, anyway.”

“The tracker,” Michael said.

Hyden got the scanner going. Soon I could see her signal glowing on the airscreen.

“Got her,” he said.

Hyden eased up on the pedal now that we had her signal. The few cars on the freeway helped keep us hidden, but also allowed us room to maneuver and keep sight of her, in case the airscreen lost her signal.

“How far can she be before she won’t show on the screen?” I asked.

“About a quarter mile. Depends on whether there are buildings around.”

She drove east for about twenty-five minutes. Then she changed lanes to the right.

“There she goes,” I said.

“I see her.”

She got in the far right lane. We waited a beat and then did the same. After a while, she exited the freeway.

“Stay back,” Michael said.

“You want to drive?” Hyden looked over his shoulder. “I know how to follow someone.”

“You think I can’t drive this thing?” Michael asked. “It’s got a steering wheel and pedals.”

“Guys,” I said. “Focus.”

Emma turned left. We let two cars slip in front of us, and then we followed. It was an iffy area of small stores with barred windows and signs in foreign languages and boarded-up auto shops.

“What’s she doing here?” I asked.

Michael nodded. “Strange neighborhood for a rich girl.”

“Did it occur to you she might be jacked?” Hyden asked.

“Could she be?” I touched the back of my head. “What makes you say that?”

“Only that it’s possible. You always have to keep that in mind.”

I thought how that would be. If she was jacked, it would have had to be by Hyden’s father, or one of his people. Wouldn’t they have used her better? Had her talk to me?

“I don’t think she’s jacked,” I said.

She drove down a side street. We kept our distance.

“Dear Emma, where are you going?” Hyden asked.

“There.” I pointed straight ahead.

In the middle of a row of barred stores was one place that was open. A small neon light flickered in the window. A café. A tiny place, kind of a dive.

“That café, see?”

“The princess goes slumming,” he said.

We stayed back, double-parking in the street while Emma pulled into the small lot on the side of the café. It had a chain-link fence, but the gate was open for customers. She got out of her car and went inside.