The Extraction List (18 page)

Mom shook her head, looking like she was trying to shake the reality out of her mind.

Bo threw his hands up in the air, and his voice roared. “You know what? I AM sorry! But you know what? I’d do it again. Because when it comes down to picking between you and somebody else, ANYONE else, I’m going to pick you every single time!”

Cain stepped between the three of us. “That’s enough.” He called for Jordyn to come closer. Once she was beside him, he told Bo to get into the bed of the truck and had Xander come out with us. After Jordyn pointed her gun at him once again, he obeyed. Jordyn shut the tailgate behind him. Cain locked the truck.

Cain told us to follow him farther down the road, so that we could keep an eye on Bo but he couldn’t hear what we were saying. Jordyn kept her gun on Bo as we walked. He couldn’t go anywhere, but she didn’t seem to care. “What do we do?” I asked.

Jordyn smiled. “Well, you know my vote.” She expertly twirled her gun around in her fingers.

“We can’t.” Not the response I was expecting from Cain. “If we kill Bo and destroy the tracker, they’re going to know that something’s up, that Bo’s been found out, and they’ll be on us in a second.” He stared out in the distance. “We’re going to need to keep them thinking that Bo’s loyal for as long as we can if we have even a prayer of getting to the compound alive.”

Jordyn’s eyes widened. “What do you mean WE? Xander’s here now. I need to go find my parents.”

Cain grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her square in the face. “I’m sorry, Jordyn, but you can’t go find your parents just yet. It’s too dangerous. As soon as they figure out we know their plan, they’re going to come after us in full force. We have to leave too.”

Jordyn wrestled away. “No! I’m not going. I’m going to get you to the boat then I’m going to go find them!”

Xander looked at his sister. “We can’t! We can’t! I wanna go home!”

Jordyn and Xander started to march back to the truck, but Cain took both their hands.

“I’m sorry. Jordyn, I know you know I’m right. We have to leave. We’ll figure out a way to get word to your parents to cross the border and meet us, but right now we have to leave.” He looked her right in the eyes. “I promise you we’ll find them.”

When I first met Jordyn, I never imagined her crying in a million years. But the last few days had proven me wrong.

Mom just stared blankly at nothing in particular.

“Mom, what do you think?”

“I’m sure Cain’s right, but how do we get to the port so we can sail to the compound if we know they’re going to be following us? If they meet Bo there as planned, he’s going to have to tell them about the safe houses. And that CANNOT happen. I won’t let any more children get shipped off to God knows where because of me.”

“Mom, Bo did this, not you.”

“He did it, yes, and I am FURIOUS. But he did it because he loves me. Loves us. And he wouldn’t have had to make that call if I hadn’t started this whole mess.”

Cain stepped away from Jordyn and turned toward my mother. He embraced her, squeezing her tight. “It’s not your fault. You lost a child and you wanted to make sure no one else did. Did it get out of hand? Yes. But that’s not on you.” He hugged her and she smiled a tearful, grateful smile.

Suddenly I had an idea.

“What if we found a different car? Took off to the port in a different one?”

Cain looked at me. “You may have just saved the day.”

Even though it was a completely inappropriate time, I giggled. I’m sure my cheeks glowed red too.

We marched back to the truck.

Opening the tailgate, Cain smiled at Bo. “Hello there! Guess what? You and I are going for a little ride. There’s a town up the road where a buddy of mine owes me a favor. We can get a new car there.” He pointed to the rest of us. “The girls and Xander are going to keep driving to the port in that new car. You and I are going to drive in a different direction and lead your friends away from them. And if your friends shoot you in the process, all the better. After I handle your friends, we’ll meet them back at the port. Well, that is if Claire still wants you to come. I could just leave you there and let whoever comes to pick up the bodies kill you where you stand. Claire?”

I held my breath as mom walked up to Bo. For what seemed like a long time she just looked at him, maybe searching for an answer. I hoped if she could make sense of what he did she would share it with me because all I heard in my ears were Hannah and Charlie’s bodies hitting the ground. Finally, she spoke. “I hate what you did. I mean I HATE it. But you’ve never steered me wrong before and I know you did it because you thought you were protecting me. So yes, I do still want you to come with us.”

Bo smiled and reached out to hug her, but she pushed him back.

“That said, don’t touch me.”

Like a kicked dog, Bo cowered backward, keeping his eyes on the ground. “Okay.”

We started to all climb in the back of the truck when Cain grabbed Bo’s arms. “Oh no, I want you up where I can see you.” He pushed Bo into the passenger seat. Jordyn didn’t seem to mind being sent to the back of the truck.

After about forty minutes of straight, flat roads, we reached the town that Cain was talking about and parked in the back lot of a fire station. Cain went inside, and when he emerged again he had keys dangling from his fingertips.

The car was small, white, and smelled of antiques and old socks. But Cain’s friend assured him that it had a stellar motor and would get us where we needed to go in one piece.

Cain gave the keys to Jordyn and gave her a peck on the cheek. I bit my lip and turned away. I’d never even bothered with guys before, but Cain was different. Cain made
me
different. Maybe he was a few years older, but I couldn’t help reasoning with myself that what I had been through the last few days added at least a couple years to my age.

Next he hugged Mom. “Be safe, okay? Jordyn knows the way. It’s only about sixty miles or so. We’ll lead them off your trail and then meet you.”

“But what about you guys?” Mom said. “They’ll attack you the minute they find out you tricked them.”

Holding up one of his knives, Cain replied, “I’m counting on it.”

Mom relaxed. We all knew Cain could handle himself in a confrontation, and none of us would lose any sleep over the idea of another few dead Taskforce Officers.

Next Cain came over to me. He knelt down so he could look me right in the eyes, like always. I never wanted him to look away. “Do you remember what I’ve taught you?”

I nodded.

“Look out for your mom, okay? Remember, don’t just use your eyes to see.” He leaned over and whispered in my ear, “If anyone is going to be okay in this world, it’s you. Stay strong, okay?”

“I will.” I threw my arms around him. It was only when I reached up to wipe my cheek that I realized I was crying.

Mom sat in the passenger seat, Jordyn in the driver’s seat. Xander and I stayed in the back. I watched Bo get into the passenger seat of the truck. He looked back at us and gave us a slight wave. I looked at my mom’s face. She was looking away from him. I couldn’t say that I blamed her.

Bo’s face fell as he shut his door.

None of us had slept, so the first thing all us passengers did was fall asleep. I wondered how Jordyn was able to be herself on so little sleep. Maybe sleep deprivation made her strong. Sleep deprivation just made me, well, sleepy.

When I woke up awhile later, I didn’t open my eyes. Jordyn and Mom were talking, so I kept my eyes shut and my breathing steady. And listened.

“Do you know what you’re going to do? About Bo, I mean?”

Mom laughed. “I have never had less of a clue about anything than that.” Mom glanced at Jordyn’s gun, which was lying innocently on Jordyn’s lap. “I imagine your vote hasn’t changed?”

“Well, yeah, but I do get where you’re coming from. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I still hate the guy. I mean REALLY hate the guy, but if I were in your shoes, I’d be having trouble too.”

Mom smiled. “Thank you. Care to tell me how to handle it?”

“Ha! That one’s up to you.”

Mom sighed. “I would be so much easier if I could just hate him like you. But after all he’s done, I still don’t. Is that weird?”

“Nope. I’m not saying that you don’t have absolutely terrible taste in men, but no, it’s not weird.”

I couldn’t help but laugh under my breath. Leave it to Jordyn to wrap comfort in insult.

Once their conversation stopped, I revealed myself. I sat up in the back of the car and noticed we were nearing the ocean. There was no one else around, and it seemed like God made it just for us. I could hear the faint crashing of the waves over the rumble of the car, and for just a moment I forgot we were about to leave the country forever.

I looked around the beach and all I saw was a small shed next to the water and a dock even older than our musty-smelling car. Rotten wood barely held together by rusty nails formed the shape of a pier, and I wondered how we expected it to hold a boat, let alone us, as we walked out to the boat when it docked. “Well, we’re here,” Jordyn announced, leaving her gun on her seat as she got out of the car.

Amazing how one bad decision can change everything.

T
he rest of us threw open our doors and got out of the car. I ran straight out to the ocean and dipped one cautiously excited finger into the crystal clear water. I’d never seen the ocean before, except in pictures and magazines. But in those you couldn’t smell the salt or feel the sand between your toes. The real thing was much better.

Xander was right behind me, coaxing Jordyn to join him. “Come on, sis!”

Jordyn obeyed, and soon Mom jogged up next to her. When she knelt down to touch the water, Jordyn playfully splashed her, and before we knew it, we were all soaking wet and happy. When we got out, our clothes sloshed heavily with each step as the ocean water glided into the beach behind us.

Like Cain told me, I started to see without my eyes. I barely heard the sound of a car coming from down the road. I wouldn’t have heard it at all if I hadn’t been paying attention. “Cain and Bo must be here!”

Jordyn and Mom looked at each other, not hearing the same sound I did. The sound grew louder as I ran up the beach toward it. Mom, Xander, and Jordyn followed me. “But it can’t be. They can’t be here already. It’s too early,” Jordyn yelled from behind me.

By the time I stopped running, it was too late. A big orange van came to a stop in front of me, and three men jumped out, scraping through the sand. I barely recognized them from the mercenary camp where the three men attacked Jordyn. I slowly stepped backward. The first man towered over me. His pupils took over the whites of his eyes.

Harlow’s face flashed in my head.

His smile was a sparse collection of brown teeth with wide spaces in between. “Well, well! Look here! Do you remember us, little girl?”

Suddenly Mom and Jordyn were next to me. Mom stepped forward. “Get away from her. Who are you?”

The first man feigned a gasp. “You don’t remember us? After we let you in our home? Gave you food?”

The second man cut off the first. “Then your man killed three of ours?”

Suddenly Jordyn shoved Xander next to me and both she and Mom were blocking us from the men. The third man spoke, throwing an accusing finger in Jordyn’s direction. “Over that whore! There she is!”

Xander stepped toward him, but I pulled him back next to me. “Don’t talk to my sister like that!” He tried to sound strong, but his voice came out as a muffled squeak.

Jordyn turned around and hissed at Xander to shut up. “Why are you here?”

The first man laughed. “Payback.”

They swarmed us like wasps. More men got out of the van and charged us, and though Mom and I kicked and screamed, they captured us easily. They tied Xander up and threw him into the back of our car. It took three men to bring down Jordyn, and I feared they’d killed her by the time she hit the ground.

They threw us in a pile on the floor of the shack by the pier as if we were tattered laundry in a basket. Mom and Jordyn landed on top of me, and the sudden weight knocked the breath from my body.

I looked down at my hands and watched as blood seeped out of them in tiny red dots. I must have scraped them on the floor of the shack, and the floor left behind little shards of wood embedded deep in my skin. There was a sharp pain in my shin and I guessed that some of the wooden shrapnel had made it into that part of my body too. I winced as my jeans rubbed against my wounds.

The door of the shack slammed and we heard our captors laughing at us. Mom leaped for the door only to find it locked from the outside. She slammed her fists against it, cursing the mercenaries, flecks of spit flying from her mouth as her words left her.

“Scream all you want. Cain’s not going to find anything left of you anyway.”

Cain’s face popped into my mind and so did his words:
Don’t just see with your eyes.
I shut them tight and forced myself to stay perfectly still. As I listened to the sound of the mercenaries driving away, a faint odor drifted toward us from the far corner of the shack.

Smoke.

“Mom! It’s burning!”

Mom ran over and grabbed me, pulling me to the opposite corner of the shack from where I had smelled the smoke. Jordyn looked throughout the shack trying to find the source of it. “I don’t see anything. Where is it coming from?”

My stomach dropped to the floor. The mercenaries’ plan started to take shape in my mind and I realized why they didn’t just kill us right away. That was too easy. “It’s outside. They started it outside so we can’t just put it out.”

Mom looked at me and pulled me closer.

Jordyn pushed her ear to the side of the shack where we smelled the smoke. Sure enough, she heard the crackling of a fire and felt the heat sting her face. “We have to get out of here. Now.”

I couldn’t have agreed more.

We each took a part of the shack and looked for anything we could possibly use to break out. The wood of the shack was so rotted, if we could just find a tool to tear through it maybe we could free ourselves. I found an old metal dinghy, fishing hooks, and some rusted cans, but nothing sharp enough to help us escape. Mom went through the shelves and threw everything that wasn’t useful over her shoulder. Cans, bottles, and fishing gear bounced and landed with a thud on the rotten wood floor.