Gone (47 page)

There was a shadow over Lana. A hollowness in her eyes.

Caine paced back and forth, from the open kitchen area into the family room, back and forth* back and forth. He had started biting his thumb again in that stupid way he had. He stopped and threw up his hands and asked Diana, "Where is he? Where is Bug?"

Bug was one of the freaks who nad signed up with Caine right at the start. Long before the FAYZ, back when Caine was first discovering his powers, learning to control them and learning to recognize others like himself. In those days it was all about getting control of the school environment: Coates had never been a nice place. Half the kids in the school were one kind of bully or another. Caine had just been determined to be the head bully, the bully who could not be bullied himself.

Bug had always been a little creep in Diana's eyes. He didn't rise to the level of a true bully, he was closer to being a Howard-like creature, a bootlick, a toady. He was just ten years old, a nose-picking gross-out artist. But then his power manifested one day when Frederico threatened to kick his butt. Bug, in terror, had disappeared.

Only he didn't really disappear, it was more (hat he seemed lo blend in, like a chameleon. Ycu could slill see him if you knew he was there. But his skin and even his clothes would lake on ihe protective coloration of whatever was behind him, like a mirror that reflected his background. The result could be pretty creepy. Bug standing in front of a cactus would seem to be green with needles poking out.

"You know* Bug," Diana said. "He'll show up to get his strokes. Unless Sam or one of his people spotted him."

At that moment the front door opened and closed. Something moved that was hard to see, hard to make sense of, like a wave in the wallpaper,

"Here's Bug now," Diana announced.

Caine leaped at him. "What did you see?"

Bug shut down the camouflage and emerged clearly, a short, brown-haired, buck-toothed kid with a freckled nose. "I saw a lot. Sam is in town, right across from the day care. He doesn't look like he's doing anything."

"What do you mean he's not doing anything?"

"I mean, he's standing there eating Mickey D's"

Caine stared. "What?"

"He's eating. Fries. I guess he's hungry."

"Does he know Drake and Pack Leader have the littles?"

Bug shrugged."! guess so."

"And he's just standing there?"

"What did you expect him to do?" Diana demanded. "He knows we've got the kids. He's waiting to hear what we want" Caine bit savagely at his thumb. "He's up to something. He probably figures we have a way lo watch him. So he's making sure we see him. Meanwhile, he's up lo something"

"What can he do? Drake and th* covotes are in there with ihe kids. He has no choice. He has lo do whatever you tell him to do."

Caine wasn't convinced. "He's up to something" Lana stirred herself, looked at Ciine, seeming to hear him for the first time.

"What?" Diana asked her.

"Nothing," Lana said. She patted her omnipresent dog. "Nothingat all"

"I need to go do this now" Caine said,

"The plan was to wait till we were close to the birthday hour. That way he loses no matter what"

"You think he can take me, don't you?"

"I think he's had a couple of days to prepare" Diana said. "And he's got more people. And some of his people, especially the freaks from Coates. really, really want you dead" She stepped closer to him, right up in his face. "Every step of the way, Caine, you listen to me, then you do exactly what I've told you not to do. I told you to lei the freaks go who didn't want to play along. But no, you had to listen to Drake's paranoid advice. I told you logo into Perdido Beach and make a quick deal for food. You have to go try and take over. Now you're going to do whatever you want, and you'll probably end up screwing things up"

"Your faith in me is touching," Caine said.

"You're smart. You're charming. You have all this power.

But your ego is out of control."

He might have lashed out> but instead, he spread his arms wide in a gesture of helplessness. "What was I supposed to do? Coates? That's it? How do you not see what an opportunity this is? We're in a whole new world. I'm the most powerful person in that whole new worid. No adults. No parents or teachers or cops. It's perfect. Perfect for me. All I have to do is take care of Sam and a few others, and I'll have complete control" He was making fists by the conclusion of his rant.

"You'll never have complete control, Caine. This world is changing all the time. Animals. People. Who knows what's next? We didn't make this world* we're just the poor fools who are living in it"

"You're wrong. I'm not a fool. This is going to be my world." He slapped his chest. "Me. I'm going to run the FAYZ, the FAYZ is not going to run trie"

"It's not too late to walk away"

He grinned, a dark echo of his once-charming smile. "You're wrong. It's time to win* It's time to send Bug to Sam with my terms"

"Til go" Diana volunteered. !t was foolish. She knew* what he would say. And she could see the light of suspicion in his eyes.

"Bug. You know what to say. Go" He pushed Bug away, and the chameleon blended into the background. The door opened and closed.

Caine took Diana's hand. She wanted to pull it away, but she didn't. "Everyone out of here'' Caine said.

Howard go! heavily to his feet. Lana as well. When it was just the two of them, Caineand Diana, he drew her close into an awkward embrace.

"What are you doing?" she demanded stiffly,

"Pm probably going to die tonight"

"That's kind of melodramatic, isn't it? One minute you're invincible, and the next—"

He interrupted her with a rushed, lunging kiss. She let him for a few seconds. Then she pushed him back, though not with enough force to free herself from his embrace.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"IPs the least you owe me, isn't it?" Caine said. He sounded childish, needy. "I owe you?"

"You owe me. Besides, I thought you . . , you know" His cockiness had given way to petulance and now his petulance was dissolving into embarrassment and confusion.

"You're not very good at this, are you?" Diana mocked.

"What am I supposed to say? You're hot, all right?"

Diana threw her head back and laughed."Pm hot? That's what you want to tell me? One minute you're master of the FAYZ, and the next minute you're like a pathetic little kid going for his first kiss."

I lis face went dark and she knew immediately she had gone too far. His hand, fingers splayed, was in her face. She tensed, awaiting the blast of energy.

For a long time they stood that way, frozen. Diana barely breathed.

"You're seared of me, after all, Diana," Caine whispered. "All your altitude and all, and underneath it, you're scared-I can see it in your eyes"

She said nothing. He was still dangerous. At this range he had the power to kill her with a thought.

"Well, I don't want to seem like a pathetic little kid going for his first kiss" Caine said."So how about you just give me what I want? How about from now on you just do what I say?"

"You're threatening me?"

Caine nodded. "Like you said Diana, we didn't make the FAYZ, we just live here. Here in the FAYZ it's all about power. I have it. You don't."

"I guess we'll see if you're as powerful as you think, Caine," Diana said, cautious but unbowed. "I guess we'll see."

02 HOURS, 22 MINUTES

THE DAY CARE had no window facing the plaza. Sam had snuck around into the alley to peck in one of the high-on-the-wall windows. He had seen the coyotes. He had recoiled from the sight of Drake.

The coyotes had instantly noted his presence. It was all but impossible to sneak up on them. Drake, looking him right in the eye> had uncoiled his whip hand and languidly drawn the shade.

The kids were huddled together, practically on top of one another, solemn and terrified and half watching
The Little Mermaid
on the TV,

Sam returned to the plaza. Neither Drake nor the coyotes could see him there. But he felt eyes on him just the same. He only slowly became aware of the kid standing beside him,

"Who are you? And how did you get there?"

"They call me Bug.
Vm
good at sneaking up on people."

"I guess you are."

"I have a message for you " "Yeah? What does my brother want?" "Caine says it's you or him." "I figured that."

"He says if you don't do what he says, he'll turn Drake and the coyotes loose on the prees "

Sam stifled the urge to punch the little monster for the smug way in which he had delivered his vicious threat. "Okay"

"Okay. So, everyone has to come out in the open. All your people. Out in the open, out in the plaza where we can see them. If anyone stays in hiding, you know what happens."

"What else?"

"Your people all set their guns or whatever on the steps of town hall. All your freaks go into the church "

"He's asking me to surrender before we even tight," Sam said.

Bug shrugged."He said if you argue, Drake is going to start turning the coyotes loose on one kid at a time. You have to do all this and then Caine and you go mano a ma no. If you win, no problem, Drake lets the littles go. All your side goes free-Caine goes back to Coates."

"Why are you doing this, Bug? You're okay with this? Threatening little kids?*

Bug shrugged. "Man, I'm not going to mess with Caine or Drake."

Sam nodded. His mind was already elsewhere, trying to find a way, trying to find a path. "Tell Caine I'll answer him in an hour"

Bug grinned, "He said you'd say that See? He's smart. He said you have to send your answer back with me. Yes or no, with no extras or anything,"

Sam glanced at the steeple. He wished Astrid was here. She might have an answer.

The terms were impossible. He was absolutely sure, sure beyond any reasonable doubt, that even if he won, even if somehow Caine admitted defeat, Drake would never just walk away.

One way or the other, he had to beat Drake as well as Caine.

There were a thousand thoughts in his head, a thousand tears, yammering at him, crowding one another, demanding attention as Bug stared at him, impatient to be on his way. There was no time to make sense of it all. No time to plan. Just as Caine had intended.

Sam's shoulders slumped. "Tell Caine I accept/'

"Okay" Bug said, no more concerned than he would have been by an announcement that he was having chicken for dinner.

The chameleon blended into the background, all but disappearing. Sam watched him trotting off, a warping of light and image. He soon became impossible to make out.

Sam keyed the walkie-talkie. "Astrid. Now" Edilio had been watching from his post in the hardware store. He came trotting out.

Sam steadied his breathing, kept a careful poker face. There were too many eyes on him. Too many people needing to believe in him.

On thai school bus so long ago, no one had even realized there was a problem before Sam was up and taking charge. It was harder being bold when the whole world seemed to be watching your every move.

With Astrid and Edilio beside him, Sam quickly related Caine's terms. "We have very little time. Caine will send that chameleon back to spy, right after he reports back to Caine. Caine will move fast, he won't want to give us any time to prepare"

"Do you have a plan?" Astrid asked.

"Kind of. A piece of a plan, aryway. We need to stall a lit-tie. Bug sees Caine, Bug comes back, that's probably five minutes minimum wherever Caine is, probably a little more. Then Bug has to see whether we are doing what we've been told to do. He's going to see people out in the open, and he's going to see our Coates friends heading into the church. Then he'll report that back. Caine will say/Make sure they're all in.'"

"More time." Astrid nodded agreement. "We don't hurry. In fact, maybe we have to force some of the kids, maybe they're arguing. You're right, Caine won't show up till he's sure."

"If we're lucky, we have a half hour" Edilio said. He glanced at his watch, not easy to read in the swiftly falling night.

"Yeah. Okay. AH I've done so far is screw up. So if this is crazy, someone tell me."

"You're our guy, Sam," Edilio said.

Mary read. She sang.

She did everything short of tap-dance. But there was no distracting the children from the horror before them. With solemn, fearful expressions they followed Drake's every move. The whip hand tilled every eye.

Some of the coyotes had gone to sleep. Others, though, eyed the children with a look that could only be described as hungry.

Mary wished she had another Diazepam or maybe threeor maybe ten. Her hands shook. Her insides churned. She needed to go to the bathroom, but she needed to stay with the children, too.

Her brother, John, was changing a diaper, no different from usual, except that John's mouth was an upside-down "IT of trembling lips.

Mary read, "I would not eat green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-l-am."

And in her head, going around and around like a crazed merry-go-round she could not stop, was the question; What do I do? What do I do if... What do I do when . ■. What do I do?

A boy named Jackson raised his hand."Mother Mary? The dogs stink"

Mary kept reading. "I will not eat them in the rain. I will not eat them on a train ..

Astrid squeezed his hand. "Then here's what we do."

It was true, the coyotes did stink. The smell of them was suffocating, the heavy scent of musk and dead animals. They urinated freely against crib legs and tables and chose the corner with the dress-up clothes to defecate-But the coyotes were not at ease, far from it. They were jumpy, nervous, unused to being in an enclosed space, not used to being around humans. Pack Leader maintained order with snarls and yips, but even he was jumpy and unsettled.

Only Drake seemed at ease. He lounged in the glider that Mary used to rock the times to sleep at night or teed them a bottle. He was endlessly fascinated by his whip hand, kept holding it up for inspection, coiling and uncoiling it, reveling in it.