Chosen (Second Sight) (13 page)

“Mac, look,” Isabelle whispered. “We might have eyes right here.”

• • • • •

Lurking behind one of the posts of the arching gate, there was a small figure near Mac’s car. Isabelle recognized him and now she knew his name.

“Darren?” Isabelle called out. The little red-haired boy stood up. “Is that you?”

“Yes?” came a small voice.

“You know him?” Mac asked as they approached.

“He’s been following me,” Isabelle replied. “Ever since I came with Susan. And…” she paused. “I saw him when I read the shock wand. He’s been punished…several times recently.”

“
That
ought to be illegal,” Mac said.

Darren backed up a couple of steps as they neared.

“Wait here,” Isabelle whispered.

Mac stopped several feet away, his grasp lingering on her hand before he let her go. Though at least a yard away from Darren, Isabelle crouched down, steadying herself against the post. His miniature jeans and Spider Man t-shirt were dirty and his hair was a mess. He wrung his little hands in front of his stomach.

“What are you doing out here, Darren? Are you lost?”

“I’m looking for you,” he said.

Isabelle inclined her head toward him though not altogether surprised.

“For me?” she asked.

“I saw the man carry you,” he said. “You were sick.”

Darren must be small for his age because his speech was better than Isabelle had anticipated. He looked like he might be five or six but now Isabelle had to reconsider.

“Shouldn’t you be inside?” she asked. “With your mother?”

His face screwed up terribly and Isabelle saw dark circles under his eyes. Though his face was grimy, his cheeks were streaked with the clean tracks of tears.
 

“They won’t let me see my mother.”

“Won’t let you?” she asked.

“They took her away,” he whined.

He danced from one foot to the other and the wringing of the hands sped up.

“What do you mean they took her away?” Mac said softly, squatting next to her.

Darren backed up.

“He’s my friend, Darren,” Isabelle said quickly. “I’m Isabelle and this is Mac.” Darren hesitated. “You can trust me, Darren. I think you know that.” Big tears brimmed in his dark eyes. Darren wanted to trust her–wanted to trust
somebody
. She held out a gloved hand for him to take. “It’s okay,” she said quietly and waited.
 

She didn’t have to wait long as he ran to her, arms outstretched. She barely had time to get ready as they collided. Mac steadied her from behind and as Darren put his head on her shoulder, she hugged him. The tears started immediately and Darren cried uncontrollably, like–like a boy who’d lost his mother. For several minutes, she just rubbed his little back and let him cry. In the reading of the wand, she’d felt his pain and, as she held him, the punishment came back to her. Over and over he’d been disciplined for going places he wasn’t supposed to. He’d been looking for his mother.

“Darren?” Isabelle said but the crying didn’t stop. “Darren, can you answer Mac? What do you mean they took your mother away?”

Great loud sniffs and the heaving of his narrow shoulders replaced the sobbing but he didn’t let go.

“When the baby pain came,” he said between sniffs. “She was hanging clothes when the baby pain came. Then they took her away.”

His mother was or had been pregnant.

“When?” Mac said. “When did they take her away?”

“The day before you came here,” Darren said over her shoulder, hugging her tightly.
 

“Three days ago,” Mac said. “But you say they won’t let you see her, Darren. Did you
try
to see her?”

Darren nodded.

Isabelle and Mac exchanged looks.

“Do you know where she is?” Isabelle asked.

Darren nodded again.

It occurred to Mac that they were placing a good deal of trust in a child they’d just met. But as the boy tugged Isabelle along after him, with Mac following, Darren seemed very sure of his direction.

Though Darren had been nearly giddy to have help, Mac had insisted they move the car first. Maurice would expect that. As far as anyone at the Green Earth Commune knew, he and Isabelle were gone. While they’d parked off the narrow dirt road that led to the parking area, Mac had asked Isabelle to call for ‘backup.’ Without any hard evidence, having agents on the property was out of the question.

“It’s not far!” Darren yelled, as they skirted the edge of the trees. Even the light of a half-moon didn’t penetrate into the thick trunks and dense branches more than a few feet.

“Keep your voice down,” Mac whispered.

“Remember what it’s like getting caught,” Isabelle whispered. “We don’t want that again, do we?” Darren missed a step as he shook his head hard but quickly recovered. “Good boy,” Isabelle said.
 

Darren ran as fast as Isabelle could follow. By Mac’s estimate, they’d gone about a mile, maybe less, in about thirty minutes.
 

“
There
,” Darren began too loudly. He ducked his head. “Sorry,” he whispered, pointing as he came to a stop. “There it is.” Through a sparse stand of oak trees, Mac could see lights. “My mom is there!”

It was a large building, built in the same style as the others of the commune. To look at it, there was nothing to say it would be any different. A white building with a dark roof, two stories tall, like the main house but long like a dormitory.
 

“You’re sure?” Mac asked, crouching down behind Darren. “You’re sure that’s where your mom is?”

“Yes!” he said nodding. He pointed emphatically. “That’s the window. One. Two. Then her window.”
 

Apparently she was on the ground floor. Darren started forward.

“Hold on,” Mac said and put a hand on his shoulder. “We need a plan.” Isabelle crouched down as well, still holding Darren’s hand. “There have to be security cameras,” Mac said to her. “Just walking in is going to trigger the alarm. We need to be more
careful
than that.” He turned to Darren. “Do you know who’s inside? Are there guards?”

Darren nodded vigorously.

“That’s who caught me,” he said.

“Right,” said Mac.

“How can we avoid them?” Isabelle said. “We didn’t manage it at the main house.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Mac said.

• • • • •

When Darren was in position, Mac pounded on the front door.

From her vantage point at the edge of the clearing, she could clearly see both of them. Mac had told the little boy he’d have to be brave but courage didn’t seem to be something Darren lacked.

He stood some ten feet in front of the door, waiting.

Mac pounded on the door again.

He’d circumnavigated the building looking for security cameras and seen four, one at each corner. But reasoning that the middle of the long sides were uncovered, he and Darren had approached from there. When it was her turn, Isabelle would do the same. Mac must have been right. If security had seen them, he wouldn’t need to knock.

The door opened and Isabelle cowered lower though she was already hidden behind a tree.

Darren stood his ground and waved at the security guard as he emerged.

No sooner had the guard taken a step toward him, though, than Mac stepped from behind the open door and punched him squarely in the back of the head.

“Oh my god,” Isabelle muttered.

She clamped a hand down over her mouth as the security guard pitched forward. His baseball cap tumbled to the ground as Mac caught him around the shoulders and drug him sideways. Darren picked up the hat and Mac motioned to the door with his head. Darren quickly closed it and, in moments, they were gone, around the far corner of the building.

Though Isabelle shivered in her hiding spot, she knew it wasn’t cold.
 

Were more guards going to come pouring out of that door? Had any of that been seen?
 

Based on where the cameras were located, Mac had decided their field of view didn’t include what was right under them or too far to the left or right. If they stayed close to the building, under the cameras, they were in blind spots. Plus, they probably didn’t expect visitors in a building that most people didn’t know existed.

Suddenly, the security guard dashed around the corner of the house and Isabelle nearly screamed. But he waved to her and Isabelle realized that it wasn’t the guard. It was Mac. He waved again.

As Mac and Darren had done, she moved sideways, just behind the trees, down the long side of the building. Then, trying to retrace their footsteps, she ran into the moonlit clearing toward the building. She ran as fast as she could and only realized too late she was going to have trouble stopping as her hands met the wall. But she didn’t pause. Instead, as Mac had told her, she ran along the side of the building. At the corner, she stopped, breathing hard. Just as she was about to poke her head around it, Darren appeared.

A tiny yelp escaped her as one hand flew to her chest.

“
Come on
,” he said, taking her other hand.

Staying near the wall, they dashed to the open front door and came to a stop.

“Where’s Mac?” she whispered.

A metallic rattling came from inside and she jerked her gaze up. Suddenly, the end of a gurney poked out.

“Hurry,” she heard Mac whisper.

Even as Darren scrambled underneath, balancing on the metal spans for the wheels, Isabelle tossed herself on top of the black, vinyl pad. A giant white sheet wafted over her and had hardly settled down before the table was moving and she heard the door close.

They were in.

• • • • •

The t-shirt had to be two sizes too small but at least Mac had been able to get it on. The baseball cap was adjustable. But the pants and boots–there was just no way. But, to an unsuspecting eye and a view that looked down from above, he was a security guard pushing a gurney.

As Mac had suspected, this was a hospital: linoleum floors; charts outside the rooms to their right; an empty nurse’s station on the left; wheelchairs lined up next to empty gurneys in branching corridors. Whether it was lightly staffed at night or the nurse was in a patient’s room Mac didn’t know but he wasn’t pausing to find out.
 

“Are we there yet?” Darren said from under the gurney.

“Almost,” Mac answered.
 

As he passed each chart, Mac quickly read the names.

‘Massen, Kayla,’ read one.

That’s her.

Mac took a quick look into the window as they passed. Most of what he could see was the large bulge of her stomach. Although it was Kayla they’d really come for, they could hardly deny Darren help. Without him, they wouldn’t have come this far. No doubt the nurse’s station would hold records that could be invaluable as well but now wasn’t the time.

Third door from the end. This is it.

“Warren, Melissa,” Mac whispered.
 

In answer, Darren started to get out from the gurney.

“
No!
” Mac said under his breath.

But the sheet moved sideways and it was all that Mac could do to keep Isabelle covered as the balloon of Darren under his cover met the door and opened it. As the door began to close, Mac kept it open with one hand and pulled the gurney in after him.
 

“Mom?” Darren said.

Mac quickly checked the ceiling and walls. They were barren. At the end of the room was the window they’d seen from outside.

“We’re clear,” Mac said as he removed the sheet from over Isabelle’s face.
 

Her eyes snapped open and she took in a huge breath as though she’d been holding it.

“Mom?” Darren said again. Mac felt a tug at the back of his pants. “What’s wrong with her?” Darren asked. “She won’t wake up.”

Mac turned to him as Isabelle got off the gurney.

“She’s had the baby,” Isabelle said.
 

“Safe to tranquilize her now,” Mac said.

“No more baby?” Darren asked.

“No,” Isabelle said, putting an arm around his shoulder as he reached through the railing and took his mother’s hand, the one without the IV. “She had the baby. But now she’s sleeping.”

“Wake her up,” Darren said looking up at Isabelle.
 

Isabelle shook her head.
 

“We can’t. She’s going to sleep for a while because she’s so tired.”

“We don’t have much time,” Mac reminded her.
 

Isabelle nodded as Darren looked back and forth between her and his mom.

“Darren,” Isabelle said. “You wait here with your mom. We’re going to find my friend. Okay? We won’t be gone long so you wait right here. Can you do that?”

For once, Darren seemed content and simply nodded.
 

“All right,” Mac said. “Let’s go.”

Isabelle hopped back up on the table and Mac covered her with the sheet. He adjusted his ball cap and pulled it low.

“Be right back,” he said to Darren.

He pulled the door open and pushed the gurney out. The corridor was still empty.

On the other side of the nurses station, a room door opened. Mac sped up.

“Doctor’s been paged,” a nurse was saying as she backed out. She was wearing purple scrubs.

Quickly, Mac rolled Isabelle back the way they’d come and, once at Kayla’s door, pushed right in, tugging the gurney behind him.

“Thank god,” Kayla said behind him. “I thought you’d never get here.”

Isabelle wasted no time throwing off the cover and as Mac turned to Kayla, her mouth opened in shock as she stared at Isabelle.

“Isabelle!” she said. “What–”

“We’ve come to get you out!” Isabelle said, taking her hand. She and Mac saw the hand restraints at the same time. Mac immediately reached across the bed and undid the far buckle as Isabelle unbelted the near one. “We have to hurry,” Isabelle said.

“I can’t,” Kayla said.

“Well, you don’t have to run,” Isabelle said. “But–”

“No,” Kayla said, gripping her stomach as soon as the wrist straps were free. “I can’t.
Contractions
.”