Authority, page 20
part #2 of The Tracker Sequence Series
He threw his legs over the side of the bed and pushed his feet to the floor. He crouched next to the box and turned it over. As he examined it, small components scraped and clinked along the inside, likely coming loose in all its adventures.
“Well, then I guess I’ll have Daddy come fix it. We were friends after all.” The smug expression returned.
My face scrunched. With fists balled, I screamed, “You leave him out of this!” So much for a subtle approach. I hated that he got under my skin so easily.
“Why? He started it.” Scurry paused, waiting for a reaction, but this time I refused to give him one.
Sure, Dad had planted the glitchy tracker inside my head. Even though I still hadn’t fully forgiven him, I never wanted him to be part of Scurry’s demented puppet show. My options were brain surgery, hide forever, or take down the tracker network. Not much of a choice. Taking down the tracker network had caused a lot of pain, but I wasn’t sure there was a better path forward. We would have to forge ahead and make things better, going forward with what we’d learned from the past.
“I said, leave him alone.” This time my voice was steady and stern, hoping Scurry would get the message.
Scurry shrugged. “Perhaps another way, then?”
He was toying with me, and while I wanted to scream at him, I remained calm. “Answer me one question before you do. You clearly have the world at your fingertips. Why stay here? Why not break out?”
He nodded. “If I leave here, the government will launch a manhunt for me. I needed a place to lay low and formulate my plan.
“Why not have the guards bring you what you need? You clearly have control over this place. Why use me?”
A sly grin erupted on his face. “I think you know the answer to that.”
I nodded but said nothing.
“I had to keep an eye on you someway. Distracting you with a task that further set everything in motion was an added bonus. Alas, this setback will cost you.” He nodded at the box.
“I owe you nothing.” I crossed my arms and glared at him.
“Perhaps your boyfriend can come fix it, then. I hear he’s quite the tech wiz.” His grin deepened.
Dread swirled through me as the horrific realization washed over me. He had Bailen too. Not physically, but under his tracker chokehold.
I’d kept Bailen out of the loop for his own protection, and now he hated me for it. Despite that, I never thought it would come to this. If I wasn’t alone before, now I truly was, without any options. There was no limit to the lengths Scurry would go to isolate and defeat me.
“You can do what you want with me, but I’m begging you, leave them out of this.” I’d have gotten down on my knees and pleaded if I thought it might help, but I knew it wouldn’t.
“Begging? Tsk. Tsk. I thought you were above that.” His grin widened. He’d break me beyond repair before this was all finished.
“This is between you and me. Your quest for revenge is with me. Leave them alone.”
Scurry’s grin faded, quickly replaced with a venomous expression. “It’s a little late for that.”
“What, afraid of a fight, old man?”
My heart fluttered in my chest. I knew that sassy voice. I whirled to find Peyton standing in the doorway.
I’d never been so happy to see her. Words failed me.
“Oh, don’t go all gooey eyed on me,” she said, stepping into the room. Ava followed close behind.
Jeremy slid inside after and crossed the room to Scurry. He snatched the box out of Scurry’s hands and tossed it to the doorway. I thought it was going to crash to the floor until Bailen appeared in the doorframe and caught it.
He grimaced at me and shrugged. But when his gaze locked on mine, I found relief in them, a glimmer of happiness to see me. The air rushed from my lungs. I don’t know how I got across the room, but I quickly found myself in his arms. I had so many things to say as the tears streamed down my face. The only word I could get out was, “How?”
“Let’s just say I got your message.” He smiled, then leaned in.
Before I could respond, his lips were on mine. I’d forgotten how much I missed kissing him. Forgotten how much I needed him. Forgotten how mad we were at each other. It was just him and me. Every other worry fell away.
“AHEM!” Ava cleared her throat.
I jumped back from Bailen, remembering we still had a job to do, but he pulled back slower than I expected considering the immediacy of the situation.
“Prisoner is secure.” Jeremy shoved Scurry toward the door.
Scurry’s hands were bound with authority cuffs, but despite his situation, he still smirked, then closed his eyes as if in quiet meditation.
“That was easy.” Peyton shrugged.
I shook my head. “He’s up to something. We need to disable his tracker before we leave.”
Jeremy set his go kit on the bed and opened it. He grabbed some wires and his laptop, organizing what he needed.
Bailen opened his mouth to speak, but I held up my hand to silence him. The glint in Scurry’s eyes told me everything I needed to know.
“She’s right, you know.” The bands dropped from Scurry’s wrists and clanged to the floor.
“What the…?” Jeremy bent down to retrieve them, but his eyes grew glassy. He turned toward Bailen and pulled a knife from his belt.
“Jeremy, you don’t want to do this.” Bailen held out his hands, readying himself to block.
“He can’t hear you,” I said.
“I think his subconscious can.” Bailen backed away slowly as Jeremy walked toward him with the knife extended. “Jeremy, I know you’re in there. SNAP OUT OF IT!”
Bailen shook his head and withdrew his knife as well, while Peyton maneuvered behind Jeremy. Ava reached for the laptop and started booting it up.
“I don’t want to have to use this.” Bailen whirled without warning toward Scurry and ran with the knife.
I gasped, but Bailen stopped dead in his tracks, then pivoted toward Peyton.
“BAILEN, NO!” I screamed, knowing he would never forgive himself if he harmed his twin.
Peyton dodged the attack right into Jeremy, who wrapped his muscular arms around her and held the knife near her throat. Peyton kicked and pushed off from the floor, but Jeremy’s grip was tight. He held the knife firmly, inches from her face. Ava abandoned the laptop and launched herself at Jeremy. She tried to pry his arms off her, but Peyton’s eyes went glassy and Jeremy released her.
Ava backed away and crouched, readying herself for an attack.
“How many of them do you think he can control at once?” she asked, wondering if she would lose control next.
Then I’d be alone.
The only one Scurry couldn’t control because my tracker was an anomaly. “I don’t know, but can you keep them busy?” I launched at Scurry, who now had the damaged box.
“Uh sure, no problem. I’ll just take on three of my friends at the same time.” It was the first time I’d heard Ava sound uncertain. Almost scared. But she could handle it. At least I hoped she could.
Scurry dodged my attack, but it was merely a distraction. I blinked and searched my tracker for his connection. He had to be using something to access the other trackers. It wasn’t obvious at first. Hidden behind a rogue program on his network, I found what I was looking for. I was proud I’d retained some of the programming tricks I’d picked up from Bailen.
I queried the sleeper program. It asked for a password. I pivoted and launched at Scurry again, aiming for the box. I put in several possible passwords as I punched and kicked at Scurry, but none worked. Scurry dodged my lame attempts to distract him and lifted the box out of my path.
“I could do this all day,” he said with a grin.
I secretly hoped it wouldn’t take all day to crack his password. I needed in. I needed a way to stop him.
“Watch out Kaya!” Ava screamed from behind me. I dodged Jeremy’s right hook, but I couldn’t warn her as Peyton swung her baton into the back of Ava’s knees, sending her to the floor. Peyton swung the baton again, connecting with Ava’s stomach. She crumpled over with a groan.
I ducked in time to avoid Bailen charging toward me. I was seconds from being pinned down, and not in a good way. My mind raced as I tried to think of how to crack into the program that controlled everyone. None of the passcodes and pins from my time chasing Scurry and his box worked. I’d have to brute force the access. I quickly opened a command prompt and thought about some password decryption code Bailen had taught me. The lines of code filled in as quickly as they entered my mind, but it could take up to an hour or more to run. I didn’t have an hour. I barely had a couple of minutes.
I set the program in motion, hoping something would land. But the focus on my tracker had cost me. Bailen had backed me right into Jeremy and Peyton, who each grabbed one of my wrists and shoved me toward a wall, holding me there with firm grips. I squirmed and kicked, but it was no use. Nothing registered in their pain receptors while they were under his control.
Scurry set down the box and stalked toward me. “I’m going to enjoy this.” Bailen stood behind him, glassy eyed, staring at me. My heart shattered into a million pieces. Not only was Scurry going to punish me, he would also make Bailen do it, make him watch as he tortured me. Slow and painful. Enough to take me out of his way but not so much to kill me. I closed my eyes. A single tear squeezed out and rolled down my cheek.
I quickly blinked additional impending tears away, using it as cover to check the brute force program. It hadn’t unlocked the access to Scurry’s tracker yet. I was doomed. Bailen stepped toward me and lifted his knife. He tilted it back and forth, the light reflecting off the blade.
“Bailen, I know you’re in there. Listen to me. You don’t want to do this. I know deep down you don’t. You have to fight this. Fight with every ounce of passion you have.” But my words weren’t getting through. I screamed, not in terror but in uncontrollable rage, shoving all my emotions out on my tracker connection—all the pain, frustration, and anger I’d accumulated through this whole ordeal—hoping a small fraction of it would reach Scurry.
Scurry laughed, deep and sadistic. He had won. I was out of options. I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to see what came next, but the whine of an authority weapon hummed. The electric static of the gun firing buzzed in my ears. I opened my eyes in time to see Scurry crumple to the floor. Ava stood over him, frozen in shock.
“I’ve… I’ve…” She closed her eyes, trying to erase the scene before her. “I’ve never fired one of those before. Even on the stun setting.”
“I find that really hard to believe,” I said, motioning to Scurry’s crumpled body.
Ava either didn’t hear me or was still in too much shock to react.
Bailen, Peyton, and Jeremy all blinked and looked around. Once they had their bearings, Peyton and Jeremy released my arms. I rubbed my wrists, then blinked to check if the hacking program had ended with Scurry out cold.
As I opened the app, my tracker flooded with so much data it blocked my vision. My head exploded with pain. I stumbled, crashed to the floor, then slid across it. My knees scraped against the concrete. I took a couple seconds to catch my breath, then rolled over and inspected the files laid out before me.
There was a lot there, but it was apparent what Scurry had been up to, what he had come so close to executing. And while we’d suspected it all along, seeing his plans as concrete evidence didn’t make the outcome any less shocking. He’d been building a network to control every human with a tracker, and he was going to use them to mold the world how he saw fit.
Twenty-Four
After tossing and turning most of the night, I woke alone in my bed at the Hive. While I’d wanted to get right to work, it was my father who put his foot down and insisted I sleep after my recent escapades with Scurry. As much as I wanted to argue, the exhaustion overcame me more easily than I’d expected. But nightmares plagued me at every turn, people I cared about turning into mindless zombies, then suffering from the vague memories of what they’d done.
In between that, I dreamt of losing Jake over and over again. I didn’t know if it was better to sleep and not rest from the nightmares or stay awake worrying about what was to come. But with Scurry back in Ghost custody, and them investigating how he got access to a network, there was one less thing weighing on my mind. They had temporarily deactivated his tracker so they could understand everything he’d been up to. Once they had the necessary answers and data, they would remove Scurry’s tracker permanently. It would soon be over.
A knock on the door echoed with a loud bang.
“Come in!” I called, swinging my legs over the bed.
“Good, you’re awake.” Bailen smiled, his carefree one that I’d missed so much during my solo adventures. It quickly faded, as if he remembered how mad he was at me. “We need to talk.”
And there it was.
I could ask what about, but it would be a waste of words; I knew exactly where this was headed. I wanted to sit here and pretend for a little while longer that there wasn’t this huge rift between us. That I hadn’t disagreed with him on how he handled Harlow. That I didn’t have to run off and keep him in the dark to protect everyone. That I hadn’t withheld important information from the Ghosts. But I hadn’t seen another path then.
I should have apologized and explained everything, but something held me back. It wasn’t fear, but I couldn’t explain it. Instead of going right to the heart of the matter I asked, “How’s Harlow?”
Bailen jerked in shock like I’d broken some of his computer equipment. Clearly, that wasn’t the right thing to start with. But I didn’t know what to follow it with, so I sat silently watching as the anger boiled inside Bailen, about to explode.
He balled his fists and shot up from the bed. “You know what? I can’t do this anymore. Watch you focus on him and cut me out over and over again.”
“Focus on him? I did all this for you.” My voice matched his tone and anger, but my insides burned with pain and emptiness. How could he not see it? This had all started with Harlow, but now, knowing Scurry could control anyone on a whim, we needed answers. “I did this to help Harlow. Not to spite you.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
I wanted to scream, No, it isn’t! Those two things could exist at the same time. I could want to be with Bailen and protect him while still caring about what happened to Harlow as a friend. I had to call it out.
“You’re jealous!”
His chest heaved as I watched the anger of the word fill him up. But he stayed put, unwavering without making eye contact. “When it comes to you, I always have been, and I always will be. You have to know how important you are to me. I can’t lose you.” His shoulders sank, giving in to the emotion. He’d lost the will to be angry, and the only thing left was pain.
My insides melted. For the first time, I truly comprehended how much I’d hurt him when I’d shut him out. He’d misread my running away from him as running back to Harlow when, in reality, I was clearing a path back to Bailen. I was trying to keep us both from getting killed. In the process, I’d still managed to hurt him, and myself.
“You won’t lose me.” I sucked in a deep breath. “And if you’ll let me explain it all from the beginning, you’ll see I did this because I care about you so much too. Because I can’t lose you, either.”
I held out my hand but didn’t make any attempt to grab his. If this was going to work, he had to meet me halfway.
He looked down at my outstretched hand, then accepted, allowing me to lace my fingers between his and pull him down to the bed next to me. Part of the emptiness evaporated knowing I wasn’t alone in this, that he’d accepted my olive branch.
I looked him in the eyes and said, “You’re everything to me, which is why I ran. Why I didn’t tell you.” I paused to collect my thoughts. “Scurry manipulated me, held you all over my head, and forced my hand. Keeping secrets was the only way out. But in fairness, I did leave a note.” I leaned into Bailen and nudged him with my shoulder.
His lips quirked upward ever so slightly. “A vague one,” he muttered under his breath.
“I ran to protect all of you. I reached out when I could. And you managed to find me despite everything.”
Bailen nodded but didn’t say anything, waiting for me to tell the rest of the story. I took a deep breath, then let the words tumble out. I didn’t leave out a single detail. From Scurry’s demented maze, to the video call, to the help from J.W. The weight pushing down on me slowly lifted with each word I spoke, with each truth I revealed.
When I finished, Bailen squeezed my arm and pulled me into an embrace. I buried my face in his chest. He kissed the top of my head. I felt safe in his arms. The world had been peeled away. I could finally focus on us. He lifted my chin so he could gaze into my eyes, now glistening with tears.
I shook my head, and tears streamed down my cheek. He wiped them away with his thumb. I closed my eyes, committing this to memory. If I’d had enough time, I would have drawn the moment, but I was better off living it. He rubbed my back. As I gained my composure, my mind flashed back to what had happened in Scurry’s cell. I hadn’t checked on Bailen since the incident.
“Are you okay?” I asked, but the question was more about what he’d been through than how I’d treated him.
He nodded, but the glint in his eyes darkened as he picked up on what I’d implied.
“What was it like?” I asked.
“Like I was a passenger in my own body, watching things happen but unable to stop them.”
“That’s what—” I wanted to say, “Harlow said,” but knew it would make the situation worse. “That’s what I’d heard. I can’t imagine what that would be like.”
“It was only a few minutes, and it was enough for me to know that I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.” Bailen’s gaze dropped to the floor.
The irony of that statement wasn’t lost on me. Not that Harlow was his worst enemy, but they had something in common now that wasn’t just me.
