Flowertown (17 page)

She was sweating by the time she found the church and took a moment to pull herself together. She didn’t know what to expect in this meeting, if that’s even what it was, but she figured sweating and panting were not part of the first impression she wanted to make. Ellie bent from the waist, taking in deep breaths as she watched the front of the church.

It was an ordinary-looking building, like most of the suddenly erected structures in Flowertown. This end of the zone was built last and less effort had been made to apply any aesthetics. The buildings lay side by side, with dark, narrow alleys between them for garbage service. Ellie listened for any noise, but there was none. No trucks rumbled by, no security patrols flashed their lights. Maybe that was why they had chosen this location, Flowertown’s closest spot to off the grid.

She thought about slipping through the alley between the church and the school, but it was dark down there and Ellie’s nerves were high. Instead she jogged around the corner and made her way down the wider alley behind the buildings. As she got closer, the darkness got deeper, and she looked up to see the streetlights were out. It wasn’t an unusual sight, but it made her take her steps carefully.

There were trucks in the alley. Again this was nothing extraordinary for Flowertown. Supply trucks and convoys regularly jammed up the alleys during breaks from jobs, but Ellie wished her line of sight to the church was a little clearer. There was the door. The light in the back of the church was out and the area around the small door was full of shadows. With a deep breath, Ellie stepped out from between two trucks and headed for the door, stopping when she realized the shadows were figures.

She stopped in mid-step, still in shadows herself. Were those guards? Was there some sort of password she needed to get into this meeting? Was this even a meeting? For the millionth time, she wished Bing was with her, although her faith in his knowledge of conspiracies had been badly shaken. Still, it would have been nice to have someone by
her side. She decided she had come too far to turn back now and stepped once more out of the shadows. She was just getting ready to make her presence known when the back door to the church broke open under the boots of the figures at the door and the night lit up with flares.

Ellie froze as men poured from the darkness and flooded the church. People were screaming and sirens flashed and suddenly the alley was alive with noise. Ellie didn’t know what was happening as rough hands jerked her backward, swinging her hard against the side of a truck. A gloved hand covered her mouth, blocking her scream, and she struggled against the arm. She tried to kick up her knee, but her attacker was ready for her and twisted to the right. A gun appeared before her eyes and she grew still.

A radio crackled. “The room is secure, sir. Seven people. No weapons so far, but we’re still searching.” Another voice broke in. “Front is secure, sir. Situation contained.”

Ellie knew before she even turned her head whose voice she would hear next, and she forced herself to relax, defeated, against the familiar form behind her. Guy took his hand from her mouth to grab his walkie-talkie, keeping his eye on her as he spoke. “Secure the prisoners and take them to the compound. Search the premises for evidence and weapons. And watch for booby-traps. I’m right behind you.”

Guy dragged her by the arm along the line of trucks. She didn’t resist, instead giving herself over to the tingling sensation of rage that flooded her arms and legs. She could feel the growl growing in her throat as her muscles discussed without her permission which limb would strike out first. Ellie had a good feeling it would be her right foot that would get the glory as Guy whipped her around to the back
of the last truck. He held his weapon at the ready, but rather than train it on her, he kept it before him as he looked both ways out the end of the alley. Grabbing her hard by the upper arm, he pushed her against the truck, his breath hot in her ear.

“Run.”

Ellie ran. She tore down the darkened streets while behind her the block came alive with lights and yells as people saw Feno goons dragging out neighbors and friends. She was clearing the third block when she saw a familiar figure hurrying in the opposite direction, his head bent in birdlike concentration.

“Bing!” She cut across the street, dodging a Feno truck, and had to shout again to get her friend’s attention.

“What happened?” Bing asked, looking disappointed. “We were wrong, weren’t we?”

“Hardly. Or at least Feno didn’t think so. The meeting got busted.” She held her arm out to steady herself as she caught her breath. “I was late. I overslept. They were kicking down the door as I got there. Said they arrested seven people.”

Bing scanned the streets nervously. “Then let’s get the hell out of here. How did you get away? Did they see you?” She didn’t want to tell him about Guy. She didn’t know what to think of his letting her go or what his intentions were, and she didn’t want Bing to start one of his rants. She
muttered something about hiding in the shadows. Bing dragged her along the street, his long legs making her double-time to keep up with him. “So what are we going to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, are we going to contact them? Do we keep digging?”

Ellie wrenched her arm free and stood still. “Hell no. Are you kidding me? We don’t even know what they’re meeting about. We don’t even know who these people are. Look, I’m not a fan of Feno, but I’m even less of a fan of the detention center. I spent the first two years in here in lockdown. I’m not going back so Annabeth Dingle can stockpile oyster crackers.”

“Are you shitting me, Ellie? I thought those people were your friends.”

“They are. It doesn’t mean I’m going to jail for them. I don’t even know what they’re doing. What if they’re the ones who blew up the office? What if they’ve killed people?”

Bing put his hands on his hips. “So what are you going to do? Just go back and act like none of this ever happened? Just get high and look for another job and wait and see how long your liver lasts?”

“No.” Ellie jabbed her finger up at him. “You don’t get to play that card anymore. All your talk about conspiracies and social uprising—it was all horseshit that you were making up while you sat around in your underwear playing World of Warcraft. You don’t give a shit about these people; you have no idea what’s going on.”

“You don’t know anything either.”

“No, but I do know that I have a roommate at home who is really sick and really nervous that she’s not going to get
her pass out of here. She needs me, so I’m going to go back there and take care of her.” Ellie turned and started walking down the street. Bing waiting only a second before running to catch up to her.

“Why wouldn’t Rachel get her pass out of Flowertown? Didn’t she pass the detox?”

“They wouldn’t tell her. They’re making her jump through all sorts of hoops, letting her hang because they can. Because that’s the kind of people they are.”

Bing didn’t say anything until they crossed onto the next block. “They being Feno, the people who just arrested a group of locals who invited us to a secret meeting.”

“Shit.” Ellie sighed, trying unsuccessfully to walk faster than the thought. “Shit.”

“Shit is right. What are we going to do, Ellie?”

“Well, whatever we’re going to do, let’s not do it here with Feno trucks half a mile away.”

They hurried along in silence, sticking to the darker streets and avoiding people whenever they crossed paths. Ellie could feel Bing’s nervousness as he scanned the alleyways and tensed every time a security truck rolled past. By the time they made it to the third floor of East Fifth, Bing looked tense enough to bite through metal. Half of the hallway lights were burned out and the remaining fixtures flickered, a sure sign the power was going to fail again.

“Looks like it’s not going to be hard to stay in the shadows.” Ellie paused as she passed the toilet closets, catching the familiar sound of retching. She tapped on the door. “Rachel? Is that you?”

“Uh-huh. I’m okay. I’ll be out in a little bit. Did you get to your scavenger hunt thing?”

Ellie shot Bing a look. “Not exactly. It was kind of a bust.”

“So to speak,” Bing whispered, and Ellie pushed him ahead.

“We’re going to the room, honey. You need anything right now?”

“Oh,” Rachel sighed and Ellie could hear her spit, “a cocktail in Vegas would be nice.”

“I’ll see what I can rustle up.” Ellie tapped on the door again and followed Bing to her room. She couldn’t remember where she had left the files or the pages she had ripped out of the care center files and hoped her usual slovenly ways would protect her until she had time to explain to her friend what they were doing there. Bing didn’t seem to notice anything as he flopped down on Rachel’s slightly neater bed and put his arms behind his head.

“Okay, Ellie, tell me everything that happened tonight. Every detail.”

“I told you.” The files were peeking out from underneath her pillow, so as Ellie settled in on her bed in the usual spot, she tossed a towel over them. “Feno busted the place.”

“No offense, but you are a terrible storyteller. And you’d make an even worse spy. God is in the details, remember? Did you hear anything special? See anyone unusual? Did anyone get out of the building?”

“It didn’t look like it. They said it was secure, that they had arrested seven people.”

Bing sat up and looked at Ellie over the mess on Rachel’s nightstand. “You were close enough to hear their radios and they didn’t see you?”

Ellie shrugged, dismissing the question. She didn’t want to get into a Guy-bashing session with Bing tonight or any night. She wanted to think. She heard Bing whistling a tuneless whistle, a sure sign that he, too, was working on a thought.

“Okay, I don’t want to freak you out.” Bing swung his feet to the floor and stared at Ellie, who knew that that was exactly what he was preparing to do. “But do you think it’s possible that Annabeth and Torrez set us up? Like they thought we were getting too nosy, so they clued us into a meeting that they knew would get busted?”

“Really?” Ellie pulled a pack of cigarettes off her nightstand. “Even for you, Bing, that’s a bit much.”

Ellie fanned the smoke from her face and leaned over to open the window. Rachel probably wouldn’t appreciate a cigarette funk in the room, considering her condition. The window stuck, as it did when the weather turned damp, and Ellie had to get up on her knees to force the pane up. It was brighter on the street than it was in her room, and Ellie craned her neck to see what the source of the light was. That was when she recognized the telltale yellow flashes of Feno security trucks. Before she could get her head back in the window to tell Bing, her door crashed inward and a team of black-clad goons flooded the room.

“Hands in the air!”

“On the ground!”

Orders were screamed around the room, and Ellie couldn’t catch Bing’s frightened eyes before one of the goons dragged him off the bed and slammed him hard against the floor. Three guns were trained on her, all of
them held by serious-looking men, and Ellie raised her hands above her head.

“On the ground!” The leader of the team yelled at her even though she was less than three feet from him. It had the desired effect because Ellie slid from the bed and joined Bing facedown on the floor. In seconds, her wrists were bound in plastic ties behind her back. She was able to turn her head and look down at Bing, whose head was at her feet. His eyes were huge with fear, and Ellie didn’t blame him one bit.

“Where are they?” The leader put his boot on her back and stepped down hard enough to push the air out of her lungs. “Make this easy on yourself.”

Bing spoke up, his voice thinner with fear. “We don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Shut up.” Another goon pointed his weapon at Bing’s face, and the leader took his foot off of Ellie’s spine and crouched down close to her. He grabbed her hair and lifted her head.

“I’m talking to you. Where are they?”

Ellie closed her eyes and swore to herself. “On the bed. Underneath the pillow.”

Someone stepped over her, and Ellie saw her clothes fly to the floor. “They’re here.”

She kept her eyes closed as the leader talked into his radio. “We have the stolen property, sir. We’re bringing two suspects in for questioning.” Rough hands jerked her to her feet by her bindings, and as they were being dragged out the door, she saw the bewilderment on Bing’s face. She shook her head, trying to think of something to tell him that would make sense of the situation, but the guards pulled her along
too fast to come up with anything. All along the hallway, doors slammed shut as they approached and then creaked open as they passed. It took every drop of her control to not make eye contact with Rachel, who stood wide-eyed and silent in the bathroom door. She knew Rachel would have enough sense to not step forward. When Feno security came out in force, heroics and loyalty were losing bets.

Riding handcuffed in the back of a paneled Feno security truck was worse than the ride after the bombing, although at least this time she had a pretty good idea where they were going. Bing tried to whisper something to her until the leader slammed his head back against the wall of the truck.

“You can either ride in silence,” he said, “or we can wait until you regain consciousness to start the interrogation. Your choice.”

The streetlights in the Feno compound burned brightly. There was no power problem down here, Ellie thought, as she squinted against the harsh light. She and Bing were marched at gunpoint past the cinder block building where Guy had first interrogated her, past the row of classrooms that had held her before, and down to a short brick dorm-like building. Two guards held open the doors as their escorts led them down the hall. Bing, who was taller than the guards, had no trouble keeping up, but Ellie was once again half-carried, half-dragged until they got to one of a dozen unmarked doors. The guard holding Bing unlocked this door and shoved them both in hard. Ellie stumbled and would have fallen if she hadn’t crashed into Bing, who
had crashed into a set of bare metal bunk beds. The door slammed behind them.

“Are you all right?” they said in unison.

“I’m fine.” Ellie spoke louder. “You’re bleeding.” A trickle of blood ran down from a cut on his eyebrow from hitting the bunk bed. “Does it hurt?”

“Yes, it hurts.” He blinked the blood back from his eye, his hands still bound and useless. “What the hell is going on?”

“An excellent question, sir.” Mr. Carpenter stood at ease in the now-opened door next to an armed guard. “Bring in the chairs.” The guard stepped away and returned with two metal folding chairs that he set up before the front wall like desks in a classroom. Ellie doubted they were going to enjoy this lesson. The seats in place, Ellie and Bing were shoved down to sit and Mr. Carpenter leaned against the wall in front of them. He nodded to the guard, who left the room without a word.

“You can’t hold us here.” Bing’s voice shook with either fury or fear, Ellie couldn’t tell, but she applauded him for his intensity, however ill-timed. “Who the hell are you?”

“Ask her.” Mr. Carpenter smiled that charming smile.

“This is the dreaded Mr. Carpenter, who so thoughtfully rearranged my desk while looking for my Twinkies.” Ellie had thought the man was frightening when surrounded by his goons. She was unpleasantly surprised to find him even more unnerving alone in a room.

“Oh, Ellie,” Carpenter shook his head, “always making jokes. I like that about you.”

“Fuck you.”

“Hmm, I don’t think that’s really an option because, you see,” he leaned in close enough for her to smell cinnamon
on his breath, “I’m getting ready to fuck you. And believe me, when I fuck you, you will know you have been fucked.”

Ellie didn’t doubt him, but that didn’t mean she had to show it. “Ooh, I’m tingling.”

He laughed again and leaned back against the wall. Bing struggled against his restraints.

“Is this the son of a bitch who tore your desk apart? Who accused you of stealing files? Hey, dickhead, ever heard of a search warrant?” Bing leaned forward, spit flying. “How about evidence? Miranda rights? You have no right—”

Carpenter’s backhand knocked Bing off his chair, and Ellie could see blood splatter across the linoleum floor. Bing spit and tried to get to his feet, but the other man grabbed him under the arm and yanked him back into his seat. He leaned in close to Bing, his finger jabbing at his face.

“You don’t talk. Do you hear me? The smartest thing you can do right now is to keep your big mouth shut. Although I don’t think you’re very smart. Not if you’re running around with the likes of Eleanor Cauley.” He turned to Ellie. “Unless of course he’s your co-conspirator. Is that it? Is he part of your crew?”

Bing spit blood. “Oh yeah, you caught us. The dreaded Twinkie smuggling ring.”

Carpenter made a naughty-naughty sound at Ellie. “You haven’t told him, have you?” He smiled at Bing. “It seems your little playmate has been stealing classified Feno files.”

“Bullshit.” Blood sprayed out from Bing’s lip. “Your goons planted whatever it is you think she stole. I’ve known Ellie for four years, and she doesn’t give a shit about your classified little secrets.”

“No?” Carpenter pulled out a small digital recorder and pressed a button. Ellie’s mouth dropped open when she heard her own voice confessing the theft to Rachel. Carpenter let the audio run up to the point where she said she wasn’t going to tell Bing about it. At that, he flipped off the device and slipped it back into his pocket. Bing would not look her way. Carpenter sighed. “This is awkward.”

“You’ve got me on tape confessing to stealing the files. Why don’t you let him go?”

“Well, Ellie, I have a couple of reasons. Good reasons, too. For one thing, I don’t think you’re smart enough to know what to do with stolen files, and so I am positive you have an accomplice. Two,” he looked down at the blood on Bing’s shirt, “I don’t especially like your little buddy. But three, oh, number three is my favorite. Want to know what it is?”