The Golden Couple (The Samantha Project Series, # 2) (7 page)

“Hold on. So you’re telling me that you’re gonna die?” Colin stood up. “Sam, why didn’t you tell me this right away? You need to go to the hospital! See some specialist. Get this timer thing out of you!”
 

“Calm down. None of that will work. This isn’t something that can be fixed in a hospital or at a doctor’s office.”
 

“Why aren’t all of you freaking out about this?”

“Because it doesn’t help, Colin. And getting angry about it doesn’t help either. So we’ve decided to take action. We have a plan for how to fix this. Brittany’s DNA will help me and the DNA from Erik’s twin will hopefully help him.”

“But that just buys you time! That’s not good enough! There’s gotta be someone who can stop the timer before it goes off!”

“GlobalLife can, but we can’t go there.”

“Then I’ll go there. I’ll get whatever you need.” Colin was determined.

“No, Colin. It doesn’t work like that. We don’t even know what we’re looking for.” I explained Jack’s theory about why GlobalLife put the timer in us and told him about the missing base pairs in our DNA.

By the time I was done explaining everything, Colin was furious, but not at me. He was mad because he felt so helpless. We went back to my room, where Brittany and Erik were still watching TV. Brittany was wearing Erik’s sweatshirt again.
 

Erik noticed there was something wrong the second we walked in.
“You told him,”
he thought to me.

“Yes. Everything,”
I thought back.

“He doesn’t look too good.”

“No, he didn’t take it too well. But finding out your girlfriend might be dead in a couple years is a lot to handle.”

“Yeah, I haven’t quite accepted that either. About myself, I mean. Well, and you, too, but not in the girlfriend way.”
I could hear Erik’s mind fumbling.
“You know what I mean.”
 

“We should probably get some sleep, Brittany,” I said, signaling the guys to go.
 

Erik got up. “Yeah. We’ll see you tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed your birthdays!”

“Can I sleep in your shirt, Erik?” Brittany asked.

“Sure, I don’t care,” he said, thinking nothing of it. But Brittany took it as a sign that he liked her. Her face was beaming with joy.
 

Colin stood there in a daze. “See you in the morning, Colin.” I gave him a quick kiss. Rather than leave, he hugged me and wouldn’t let go.
 

“Um, okay, Colin. Goodnight.” I wiggled out of his arms.
 

Colin and Erik left.
 

“What’s wrong with Colin?” Brittany asked.

“I told him everything that’s been going on. He didn’t take the news about the timer too well.”

“I thought Jack was fixing that.” Brittany didn’t fully understand the seriousness of the timer but I figured that was a good thing.
 

“Well, he’s working on it. But it’s not fixed yet.” It will never be fixed, I thought. Slowing the timer wouldn’t fix it. Erik’s days were numbered and so were mine. My birthday was just another reminder of how little time I had left.

The next morning, we packed up and headed to Dana Point. Traffic was a nightmare, making us late getting to the house where we were supposed to pick up Luke’s stuff.
 

“I’ll go park the van at the beach parking lot,” Erik said as he pulled over to let Jack out. “Is 20 minutes enough time?”

“It better be. While I’m gone I want all of you to stay in the van,” Jack ordered. “Don’t go walking on the beach. We can’t be too careful.”
 

“Jack, wait,” I said, as he stepped outside. “I think I should go with. I’m the one who had the dream about this. I should make sure this guy is the same guy I saw in the dream.”

Jack considered it. “Well, I guess that’s not a bad idea, although I told him it would just be me.”

“You said you told the guy that you were Luke’s uncle, right? Then tell him I’m your daughter. Luke’s cousin.”

“Fine. Let’s go. But don’t say anything. I’ll do the talking.”

We walked up to a small blue house that was right on the beach. The house didn’t look like much, but given the location, it was probably worth several million dollars. Jack rang the doorbell, but nobody answered. We rang again. No answer.
 

“He probably took off,” Jack mumbled, annoyed with himself. “I knew we should have left earlier. I forgot how bad the traffic is. Even worse than when I lived here.”

“Maybe we should go around back. Maybe he’s outside.”

We walked around to the back of the house and saw a man sitting on the deck reading a newspaper. It was the same man from the dream I’d had days earlier. “That’s him,” I whispered to Jack.

“Excuse me, but are you Mr. Blackstone?” Jack yelled up at the man.
 

The man looked around, confused.
 

“Mr. Blackstone? Harold Blackstone? We’re down here,” Jack yelled again.

The old man walked to the side of the deck. “You Mr. Reid? You’re late!”

“Yes, I’m terribly sorry about that. I wasn’t prepared for the traffic.”

“It’s California. We’re known for traffic. You should have left earlier.”

The old man seemed very cranky. He hadn’t seemed that way in my dream.

“Should we go to the front door?” Jack asked.

“Yes. Hurry up.” The old man took his paper and went inside. He met us at the front door.

“Again, I apologize for being late. I’m sure you’re a very busy man,” Jack said.

“Who’s this?” The old man pointed at me.

“Oh, this is my daughter. Agnes.” I shot Jack a look. Agnes? I thought. That’s the best fake name he could come up with?
 

The old man smiled. “That’s a nice name. That was my mother’s name. Come inside.”
 

Jack smiled at me. I had no idea how he knew that little fact. But hearing his mother’s name seemed to brighten the old guy’s mood a bit.

“Shame about your nephew. He was a good kid. Just a little lost. Needed some help getting back on track.” The old man sat down, so we did as well.

The house was all white inside except for the furnishings, which were dark leather and wood. Very masculine. The back of the house was all windows, providing a jaw-dropping view of the ocean. I could see massive waves off in the distance. Jack said the beach was known for surfing, which is probably what had drawn Luke there.

“Did Luke stay here long?” Jack asked.

“Oh, I’d say he was here for maybe five or six weeks. Not long. I barely noticed him living here. He was real quiet.”

Jack glanced at his watch. “Well, Agnes and I are in a bit of a hurry. I’m taking her on a tour of colleges, and we have an appointment at USC soon. So if we could just get Luke’s things.”

“All right. They’re in his room. This way.” The old man led us to a side bedroom. It was very small. There was just enough room for a twin bed, a tiny desk, and a bookshelf. “His stuff’s all there in that box. He didn’t have much. Just some surfing trophies and some books.”

Jack took the box, scanning the room for any other clues about the boy. “What about his clothes?”
 

“Clothes? Why would you want those?” The old man gave Jack a strange look.
 

“My son. Agnes’ brother. He wanted them. You know, something to remember his cousin by. My son’s the same age as Luke.”

The man didn’t seem to buy the story. “There’s a bag of clothes in the closet. I was planning to donate them, but go ahead and take them if you want.”

“Great. Thanks.” Jack handed me the box, then went to the closet to retrieve the bag of clothes. “Well, we should be going. Thank you again for saving his things for us.”

“No problem.” The man looked at Jack suspiciously. “So tell me again what happened to his parents? His mother was your sister, right?”

Jack tried to stay calm, but I could tell his mind was scrambling to come up with a story to tell the guy. We knew nothing about Luke or the family who raised him.

“Um, yes. She died in a car accident a while back. Along with Luke’s dad.” Jack started walking toward the door. I followed, deciding that now was an appropriate time to read the old man’s mind. I had to know what he was thinking.

“Luke said he never knew his dad.” The old man wouldn’t let it go. He knew Jack was lying.

Jack opened the door and the old man grabbed it from him. “Are you sure you’re Luke’s uncle? Because he never mentioned an uncle. Or a cousin.” The old man glanced over at me.

“We weren’t that close, but yes, I’m his uncle.” Jack hurried through the door.
 

As we left, I focused on hearing the old man’s thoughts.
“These people aren’t related to Luke. They look nothing like him. I gotta call Bill down at the station. Have him check this guy’s story out.”

In trying to listen to him, I tripped going through the doorway, spilling the contents of the box all over the ground. Jack set his bag down to help me pick up the mess. The old man shook his head and shut the door.

“Jack!” I whispered. “The old man. He’s on to us. He’s calling some guy at the police station. We gotta get out of here.”

Jack stood up and looked down the street. “It’s been almost 20 minutes and I don’t see our van yet. Let’s get down there. Hurry.”

We walked fast toward the meeting spot. With my superior vision, I spotted our van off in the distance. “I see it, Jack. But it’s at least a mile away, and there’s all these people blocking the road, trying to walk over to the beach. It may take a few minutes for the van to get here.”

Suddenly we heard sirens in the distance. Then the sirens got louder. Jack grabbed my sleeve and yanked me behind a large flowery bush.
 

He kept his eyes on the street. “I can see the van, now. I hope Erik knows to turn around.”

“This would be a good time to have a cell phone,” I mumbled.
 

“Cell phones are nothing more than human tracking machines and listening devices, Sam. They’re the fastest way to get caught.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

The van kept driving toward us despite the sirens. “Why does Erik keep going this way?” Jack asked. “He’s going to run right into the police!”

“The police have no reason to stop him. They’ll just drive past.”

“It’s a work van with out-of-state plates in a neighborhood full of multimillion-dollar houses. Of course they’ll stop him.” Jack seemed annoyed with my naiveness.

The sirens stopped and we noticed a police car was now on our street. The car pulled into the driveway of the old man’s house.
 

“Talk to him,” Jack blurted out, nudging me as he kept watch on the van.

“Talk to who?”
 

“Erik. Talk to him with your mind.”
 

“I can’t do that. He’s like a mile away.”
 

“You can do it. You two share a very strong connection.”

“Okay, I’ll try. But I’m not making any promises.”
 

We watched as a police officer went into the old man’s house. The other officer waited outside in the car.

“Erik? Can you hear me? Let me know if you can. It’s an emergency. The cops are at the house we were just at. They’re looking for us. You can’t bring the van down here. Jack and I are hiding in the bushes. Don’t come down here.”
I put all my energy into connecting with Erik’s mind. I imagined him being next to me rather than way down the street.
“Erik. I need you to listen. Can you hear me? Don’t bring the van down here.”

I got no response from Erik’s mind. “He can’t hear me, Jack. It’s no use.”

“And now I’ve lost sight of the van. A truck turned out in front of it at the intersection.” Jack pointed behind me. “Look, he’s leaving.”

The police officer left the old man’s house and got into the squad car. He backed the car out and started driving down the street. Then suddenly, he stopped the car right in front of the bushes where we were hiding. Jack looked at me and I looked at him. I felt my heart racing. What were they doing there? Why did they stop?
 

The officers stayed in the car. I could hear their police scanner. “Officer Daniels. We need you to file a report down by the entrance to Salt Creek Beach. A teen girl has been hit by a car. First name Brittany. Last name unknown. Emergency personnel is on the way.”

I grabbed Jack’s sleeve. “Did you hear that?”
 

“Hear what? What happened?” Jack didn’t have my enhanced hearing so hadn’t heard the scanner inside the police car.

“It’s Brittany! The police radio said she’d been hit by a car down by the beach!”

“What? I told them not to get out of the van! What are her injuries?”

“They didn’t say. Oh my God! Jack, what if she’s really hurt?”
 

“Calm down. The car could have just grazed her. Traffic is barely moving on that road.”
 

“We’ve gotta get down there!”
 

The police car was now working its way down the crowded street. I ran out from the bushes, still holding Luke’s box of possessions. Jack followed behind with the bag of clothes. As I ran, I could see our white van coming out of a side parking lot between two buildings.
 

“Sam, come meet us. You should be able to see us now. Hurry up.”
It was Erik, talking in my head.

“Jack, this way. Hurry!” I yelled. Sirens blared as the ambulance made its way down the crowded street.

I pointed in the direction of the van as Jack followed. When we got to the van, Colin opened the door for us. Erik was driving, but Brittany was nowhere to be found.

“What happened to her?” I asked frantically. “They said she was hit by a car! Where is she? Why did you leave her?”

“It’s okay, Sam,” Colin assured me. “It’s an act. Just a distraction so we could get the cops away from you and Jack.”

“And us,” Erik added. “There’s cops everywhere around here, especially down by the beach.”

Jack crawled up to the front seat. “Where is she now?”