Ice Shock(28)

Another hour goes by, at least. I check my watch—8:30 p.m.

Then the front door opens again. I hear the sound of footsteps in the downstairs hallway and then Ollie’s voice:“Hi.” There’s no answer from the new person. A door closes and I hear the TV switch on.

I bite my lip, wondering what to do. I could risk leaving now, but they might suddenly leave the room. Or I could stay in this room until they go to bed. But that could be hours away. I still need to go home and pack a bag for Ek Naab.

I decide to risk it. I carefully open the door, then tread down the carpeted staircase, keeping my step on the less creaky edges. I reach the front door, try to turn the handle.

Adrenaline spikes inside me and I gasp. The front door is double-locked. I turn around, expecting to see the living room door open.

It doesn’t. Cautiously, I pace across the hallway and into the kitchen, toward the back door. I reach it, almost leaping to the handle.

It’s also locked. A wave of absolute dread floods me. And just as I knew it would, the living room door opens. Ollie saunters toward me, her expression somewhere between smug and disappointed.

“You didn’t expect us to let you just leave?”

We stand facing each other, me frozen with horror, Ollie seemingly calm.

“Look at you, all dressed up,” she remarks, casting her eye up and down. “What did you think you were coming around for, huh?”

I don’t answer; instead I’m looking for a way past her. She’s blocking the door, but I could take her down with a capoeira move. From there I’d have to make it to the broken window. I get ready to spring into action, when Madison appears behind Ollie. He pushes his way past her, stares at me for a second, his jaw clenched tightly, then throws a punch straight at my face. I drop out of the way and launch a spinning kick, the armada, aiming for his face. I feel my heel connect with his head and hear a yell of anger. But when I land, I stop short.

Ollie is aiming a pistol right at my heart.

My eyes go straight to hers. I can’t help but look appalled.

“Ollie … I thought you were my friend …”

For just a second I catch the tiniest flash of regret. But as quick as she shows the emotion, she suppresses it.

“Chill out, Josh. The dance-fighting isn’t going to get you out of this.”

From behind, I feel a violent kick land hard against my ribs. The air rushes straight out of my lungs. I collapse to the floor. My arms sweep a container of silverware to the floor as I crash. Knives and forks scatter. I try to grab one, but Madison stamps on my hand, forcing me to scream. Lying on the floor, I gasp uselessly, winded, trying to get my breathing going again.

This time Madison speaks. “Get up.”

It begins to dawn on me just how bad my predicament is. I stand up slowly, sucking in air. Still holding the gun, Ollie pats my pockets, removes both phones. She passes them to Madison. He switches off my normal cell phone and places it on the stove top, among the ashes of the pages from Thompson’s house. He doesn’t take his eyes off me until he opens the Ek Naab phone.

“Who else knows about Ek Naab?” he asks, in a matter-of-fact way.

I say nothing. Madison smashes the phone down against the sideboard, snaps it in two, then proceeds to bring his heel down on the two halves, until it’s reduced to fragments of metal and plastic, the internal chips exposed.

“This time, Josh, they won’t find you,” says Madison, with malice. “Now. Where’s the new entrance to the city?”

I say nothing.

He shouts right into my face, “Where’s the Ix Codex?”

That one, I answer. “It’s in Ek Naab.”

The answer earns me another hard kick, this time to my right shin. I double over, groaning.

“I know that, jerk. You think we don’t know all about your little trip? Where in Ek Naab?”

Another blow, this time to my ribs, which by now feel as though they’re on fire from the inside.

“You have any idea what you’ve cost me?”

Then Ollie’s voice says calmly, “That’s enough for now, Simon. Save it.”

My mind is working overtime. I don’t know exactly what they’ve got planned, but questions and more of Madison’s kicks seem pretty high on the list. Without weapons, I’ve got no chance against the two of them.

I make a sudden lunge for Ollie’s gun. She yanks the pistol out of the way, but fires it anyway. The sound is deafening, and chunks of ceiling plaster crash down over us. Madison sweeps my legs from under me and I land on my stomach, sprawled over the threshold between the kitchen and the hall.

The gunshot seems to have stunned them too. Madison recovers first. “Baby, you wanna give me the gun?”