The Golden Couple (The Samantha Project Series, # 2) (8 page)

“She’s meeting us behind this store.” Erik parked in a loading dock behind a t-shirt shop. “There she is.”

Colin opened the van door again and Brittany hopped in. Erik sped off down the street.

“Wow, that was close,” Brittany said, trying to catch her breath.

“So a car didn’t hit you?” I scanned her face and body for injuries.
 

“No. I’m okay. I didn’t get hit. It just looked like I did. My mom’s friend used to have this scam where she pretended to be hit by a car so she could sue the driver. She actually made a good living doing it. Anyway, a few years ago I had her show me how. And it works. People really believed it.”

“But how did you get away?”
 

“I got up and told people I was okay. Then I ran off before the ambulance and cops got there.”

“Why did you tell people your real name?”

“Yeah, I guess I should have used a fake name. But lots of girls have the name Brittany so it’s not like they’ll know it’s me. I didn’t give them my last name.”

Erik was driving fast and making Jack nervous. “Erik, slow down. We’re going to get stopped for speeding. When we get to a more secure area, pull over and I’ll drive. And then I need you to find us a different road to take. Freeway traffic is too heavy around LA.”

“Yeah, all right.” Erik slowed the van.

“I can’t believe you did that, Brittany.” I looked at Colin. “And I can’t believe you guys let her.”
 

“Yes. That was irresponsible,” Jack scolded.
 

“Well, what were we supposed to do?” Erik asked. “We had to get the cops away from you guys.”

I leaned toward the front seat. “How did you even you know the police were coming after us?”

“You told me,” Erik said nonchalantly.
 

“You heard me in your thoughts? Why didn’t you respond back?” I was beyond annoyed.

“I tried, but you must not have been listening. You were probably too distracted. I told you to focus, remember? Even when you’re under stress, you can’t lose focus. It’s like that time back at the farm when you lifted the truck and those dogs came by.”

Colin glanced at me wondering what Erik meant. In telling Colin “everything,” I left out a lot of the details about Erik and me.

“Pull over right up there,” Jack pointed to a small roadside farm stand. Erik parked and Jack took his place in the driver’s seat.
 

“So what happened back there with the old man?” Colin asked me when we were on the road again.

“The guy knew Jack was lying. His mind was filled with all this talk about calling the police.”
 

“I thought you didn’t listen in on people.”

“Yeah, but this was an emergency. I could tell the guy wasn’t believing our story, so I had to know what he was thinking. And good thing I did or we’d be in police custody right now. And I’m on their most-wanted list.”

“I think it’s more like the missing person list,” Colin corrected. “At least that’s the list you were on back home.”

“Speaking of home, I never asked you, what did the local news say about that explosion at the GlobalLife building?”

“They said there was a chemical explosion in one of the labs. It took almost the whole building down.”

“And you’re sure that Dave got out of there?”

“The news named all the people who died. He wasn’t on the list. But I never heard from him again. I went to your house every day, but nobody was home. I stopped by Dave’s house, too. I even drove up to Dave’s cabin, but he wasn’t there either.”

“And what did the news say about me?”

“The day of the explosion someone reported you missing. I totally freaked out because I hadn’t heard from you since before Christmas. Well, other than the fake message GlobalLife left me. Then when I couldn’t find Dave to ask him about you, I didn’t know what to do. It’s like you both just disappeared. About a week later, the police got an anonymous tip saying you weren’t missing after all. The news said that you’d run away and were no longer considered missing. My dad told me to accept it and move on, but I wouldn’t do it. I knew you wouldn’t just run away.”

“And what about Allie?”

“She looked for you, too. She even asked her mom to help. She mentioned something about hiring a private investigator. Her parents have the money to do it. They’ve probably already hired someone to find you.”

“That’s not good, Colin. I don’t need any more people looking for me.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. If the police can’t find you, I doubt some small-town Minnesota P.I. can.”

Colin glanced out the side window. “This is my first time in California. This part almost looks like home. All farmland. Of course, the weather’s a lot better.”

“Yeah. The weather was part of the reason I picked Stanford.”
 

“So I guess you’re not going there now.”

“Nope. The college plans are on hold indefinitely. I worked my whole life to get accepted there, and it was all for nothing.”

“You never know. Maybe this will get worked out somehow.” Colin tried to sound optimistic.

“That’s not gonna happen, Colin. This is my life now. Always running. At least until the—” I didn’t want to mention the timer again in front of him.

It was too late. He knew what I meant. I could tell by the worried look on his face.

“Just forget I mentioned it,” I said before he got worked up again. “Getting upset doesn’t help.”
 

Colin got quiet and looked out the window. After a while, he turned to me again. “So is it weird for you that we’re going to Stanford?”

“No. Not really. It’s more weird imagining my dad there. I can never picture him or my mom at my age. But you should have seen him on the college tour last fall. It was like he was a teenager again.”

“I guess I didn’t tell you, but I got an acceptance letter for college. I got it right before all this happened.”

“Colin, that’s great! Which college?”
 

“U of M, Mankato. They offered me a football scholarship.”

“That’s awesome, Colin!” I gave him a hug, but he didn’t seem too enthusiastic.

“It doesn’t really matter now. I’m not going. I won’t even be graduating from high school.”

I’d been so focused on getting Colin healthy that I hadn’t considered all that he was missing back home. I’d graduated early and wasn’t even thinking about school.
 

“Colin, you can still graduate. You can catch up on what you missed when we get back.”

He seemed confused. “Back? Who’s going back?”

I explained my most recent dream to Colin and how we were planning to go back to Minnesota.

“I’ll have to leave as soon as we get the flash drive, but you can stay and finish school. And then you can go to college. And med school. Just like you planned.”

“Wait. What are you saying, Sam? You want me to stay behind? I thought we were together on this. I don’t care about college. I can do that later. Right now I need to do whatever I can to help you get that timer shut off. And I need to make sure you’re safe. I’m not staying in Minnesota. I’m going with you.”

“No, Colin. I can’t have your whole life being ruined. Think about all that you’re missing back home. School. Sports. Your family. And you’re in danger when you’re with me. It’s not safe. I can’t let you go with us.”

“Are you serious? You really don’t want me to come with you? I can’t even believe you’re saying this.”
 

“It’s just for little while. Once Erik and I get this timer thing stopped and find a place that’s safe, you and I can be together again.”

He turned his back toward me.
 

“Hey, don’t be mad.”

“I’m tired, Sam. I’m gonna sleep.” He moved farther away and rested his head on the back of the seat.
 

I instantly regretted what I’d said. I had given it no thought. The words just came out. Like Colin said, I assumed he would continue on this journey with me, but then, when he talked about college, it was like a brick hit me over the head. I couldn’t let him destroy his life. GlobalLife had already ruined enough lives. Colin deserved a normal life. He needed to finish high school and go to college.
 

Later that day, Erik took over driving and I went up and sat next to him. Brittany sat behind us with her headphones on. Jack and Colin sat in the back row.
 

“Why aren’t you sitting back with Colin?”
Erik mind-talked to keep our conversation private.

“He’s mad at me. He’s not even speaking to me.”

“What happened?

“He told me that he got into a school in Minnesota. They offered him a football scholarship. I was so excited for him. And then it hit me that being here with us, he was missing high school. And if he stays with us, he won’t graduate. And he’ll miss going to college and playing football. His whole life will be ruined.”

“So he decided to stay behind and finish school?”

“No. He doesn’t care about that. He wants to stay with me and make sure I get the timer turned off. And whatever happens after that.”

“And you told him he couldn’t?”

“Well, no. Not really. I mean, I guess I kind of did. I told him to stay in Minnesota and that I’d find him later, once we were safe.”

“Well no wonder he’s mad!”
 

“What’s that supposed to mean?

“It’s not your decision, Sam. If he wants to go with you, that’s his decision, not yours. How would you feel if it were the other way around?”

I paused to think about it.
“Okay, I would want to go with him. But it’s different for me. I don’t have anyone left. He still has his parents. His sisters. His friends. He has a future back home, not with me.”

“If he felt that way, he wouldn’t be mad at you right now. Don’t you get it? He wants to be there for you, Sam. He wants to protect you. That’s what guys do. They want to protect their girl. And you’re telling him that he can’t. I’d be pissed, too, if I were him.”

“But I don’t need him to protect me. If anything, I’d be protecting him. I’m the one with special powers.”

“That’s not how guys think. We think it’s our job to keep you safe. Yeah, we know you girls can take care of yourselves, but you have to at least pretend that you need us.”

“I was just trying to keep Colin out of this.”
I glanced back to see Colin leaned against the side of the van, asleep.
 

“So what are you gonna do?”
Erik asked.

“I have to think about it. I mean, maybe he’d be safer going with us than staying at home. If he’s at home, GlobalLife could take him again and use him to get to me.”

“That’s probably true, but don’t tell him that. You have to tell him that you NEED him to go with us.”

“But that’s a lie. I don’t need—”

“Then maybe you should think about your relationship, Sam. Because if I only had one person left in the world that I loved, I would want that person to be right here with me through all of this.”

“What are you trying to say? That I don’t love him?”
My thoughts got defensive.
“If I didn’t love him, I wouldn’t be trying to protect him by making him stay home.”
 

“Just think about it, Sam. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Well, what would you do if your genetically-enhanced girlfriend was being chased by powerful people who would kill anyone who stood in their way?”
 

“If I loved her, I would risk everything for her. If she told me to stay home, I’d go anyway. I mean, I barely know you and I would do anything—”
Erik stopped.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing. Never mind. I’m done with my relationships 101 lecture for today. Want to play a road game?”

“Sure.”

We spent the next few hours spotting license plates and making words from the letters. “CCA,” I said, reading the plate of the car in front of us. “Let’s see, that stands for the Calico Cat Alliance.”

Erik shook his head. “Nope. Not good enough. Try again. Here’s one. HLA.”

“Hairy Lions Anonymous,” I said in a serious tone.

Erik laughed. “That was a little better.”

“Hey, let me try,” Brittany said from behind us. “That red truck over there. HAS. Hmm, that stands for Hot And Sexy. I should have that license plate. Or actually, Erik should.” Brittany leaned up and started rubbing Erik’s shoulders. I rolled my eyes then glanced at Erik, who seemed to be enjoying it way too much.

“That feels good, Brittany. My back is killing me after sitting in this van for hours. I’m used to working on the farm all day.”

“That’s why you have these huge muscles.” Brittany moved her hands up and down his biceps.
 

The scene was making me ill. I turned to look out the window. I was no longer interested in the road game.

“Erik, get off at the next exit,” Jack instructed from the back of the van. “We’ll get some gas and see if they have a pay phone. We’re getting close to San Francisco. I need to call Paul and get directions to his place.”

“Do they even
have
pay phones anymore?” I heard Colin ask Jack.

“Of course they do.” Jack sounded annoyed. “You kids and your dependence on cell phones.” We all started to laugh. “It’s not funny. You’re all too dependent on technology.”

“Calm down there, old man,” Erik yelled back at him. “Remember, you’ve got two technologically-advanced people up here. We could take offense to that.”

“What do I always say about technology, Erik?” Jack yelled back.
 

“Just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you SHOULD,” Erik answered as if he’d heard it a thousand times.

Erik drove into a gas station that looked like it was built in the fifties. And sure enough, right in front of the station was a public telephone.
 

“Look at that! It has a cord and everything,” Erik kidded. “It should be in a museum. Wish I had the camera.”

“Pump the gas, son,” Jack said, shaking his head.
 

Everyone got out of the van while Jack went to use the phone. It was almost sunset. Fields of grapes surrounded us on both sides. It was quiet and peaceful. Much better than the chaos of Southern California.