The Guardians (MORE Trilogy) (13 page)

“Do what they do best. Cause trouble.” He sat back, crossing his arms over his chest. “At any rate, there’s nothing you can do right now. Not until we figure all of this out.”

She raised a brow. “ ‘We’?”

He shrugged. “The Rogues are a threat to the Race. Protecting the Race is my job. So . . . you just became my job.”

“Lucky me.”

“Look on the bright side,” he said, standing and crossing the room again to peer out the window. “You wanted to find Caleb. Now you know I won’t let you out of my sight until we do.”

“I repeat,” Ava said wryly. “Lucky me.”

Despite her anxiety, exhaustion won out, and Ava ended up curled up on the bed half-dozing as they waited for instructions from Andreas. The sun had just set when the call finally came, and Tiernan snapped his phone up off the table to answer it before Ava even realized it was ringing.

The call was brief, peppered by a couple of “Yes, sirs” from Tiernan, and Ava was wide awake when he finally hung up.

“Well?” she said as he stood up, shrugged on his jacket, and grabbed his bag.

“We go west.”

“West? That’s it?” She crammed her feet into her shoes and swept up her backpack, following him out the door, only to slam into his back. He shoved her back into the room unceremoniously and whipped the door shut, leaving barely a crack to peek out.

“What is it?” Ava whispered, trying to see under his arm and failing. She moved to the window to peer through a gap in the curtain.

“Don’t let him see you,” Tiernan snapped.

“Who?” Ava still couldn’t see anything—only the back of a car parked at the motel office.
 

A black and white car.

“Oh no.” She yanked the curtains closed, panic rising in her chest. “Is that the police?”

“It could be nothing.” Tiernan kept his voice low, still looking out the crack in the door. “Or
 . . .
”

“Or?”

He glanced at her. “Or, it could be that the motel manager also watches the news.”

“Crap.” Ava ran her hands through her hair, tugging lightly before pulling it into a ponytail. “What are we going to do?”

Tiernan shut the door quickly, trying not to slam it. “He’s coming this way.” Tiernan headed for the bathroom, frowning when he spotted the tiny window over the toilet. Striding back into the room, he tossed his bag on the bed and squared his shoulders. “I’ll try not to hurt him too badly,” he said, meeting Ava’s frightened eyes.

“No!” She hurried back to the window, thinking quickly. “I think there’s another way.” She willed her heart to slow, reaching for her Race gift through the layers of panic and fear and freaking out. “Give me a second.”

“We don’t have a second.”
 

Ava ignored him, her gift swelling through her, responding to her call as she focused on the bumper of that black and white car. “Come on
 . . .
” she murmured. She envisioned the brake releasing . . . the gearshift sliding down to neutral
 . . .

“Ava?”
 

They could hear the footsteps approaching now . . . low voices
 . . .

The police car began to roll backward, and Ava’s lips curled into a victorious smile. The car turned, coming to a quick stop then started rolling forward. “That’s right, a little faster
 . . .
” she whispered, pushing it with her gift.
 

A startled cry outside told her the diversion had worked, and she saw the police officer and motel manager running toward the car, chasing it as it rolled into the street.
 

“Now.” Ava hitched her backpack higher onto her shoulder. “Let’s get out of here.” She kept her focus on the car, increasing the speed as they ducked out of the motel room and headed in the opposite direction, keeping to the shadows.

“Nice job,” Tiernan said grumpily, as though it hurt him to say it.
 

Deciding that was the best she was going to get, she asked, “Where are we going?”
 

“I’m to check in every hour for directions,” he said, scanning the parking lot then setting off toward the center of town.
 

Ava trailed after him, hitching her backpack onto both shoulders and giving the police car one last push as it turned a corner heading away from town, the police officer running full speed behind it. “Shouldn’t we get out of town? That cop isn’t going to be kept busy for long.”

“We need a ride,” Tiernan said tersely. “It’s the only place to get one.”

“What about the sensor? I thought he was coming with us.”

“Apparently, he doesn’t need to.”

He strode quickly, but Ava knew he was holding back so she could keep up. Barely.
 

“He must be quite powerful. Andreas said he could track Caleb from where he is,” he said.

“Wow. That’s pretty impressive.” She jogged alongside him, her pack bumping against her back. “Can a lot of sensors do that?”

Tiernan was silent for a long moment. “He’s the first one I’ve heard of.”

He seemed a bit uncomfortable about that, and Ava wondered if it was because he was leery of the sensor’s power or because Tiernan had been unaware of his existence. She tended to lean toward the latter. Tiernan didn’t seem to be the kind of guy who liked to be caught off guard.
 

They came to the town’s main street, the storefronts on either side closing down for the night except for a restaurant and what looked like a biker bar. A slow grin eased onto Tiernan’s face when he spotted the bar.
 

He didn’t look at her, just threw a “Stay here,” over his shoulder before starting across the street.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll be right back,” he said. He slipped into the shadows as he neared the bar and disappeared inside.

“Oh, crap.” Ava glanced nervously up and down the street as she figured out his intent.

Tiernan lounged against the brick wall near the entrance, eyes wandering purposefully as people passed by. After a few moments, he walked into the bar, following a group of scruffy men in leather jackets.
 

Ava wrung her hands and stopped abruptly when she realized she was doing it, annoyed at the cliché. She started to cross the street then thought better of it, returning to a bookstore window and pretending to examine its contents. Her gaze darted to the bar entrance every few seconds while she kept an eye open for the police. Tiernan eventually emerged, glancing up and down the street before approaching a group of motorcycles. He hovered over them for a moment before he straddled one, the lights flipping on a moment before the engine roared to life. He pulled a wide turn in the road and stopped at the curb next to her.
 

“Get on,” he said, scooting forward a little on the seat.

“You can’t be serious,” she said, eyeing the bike with dread. “Those things are dangerous.”

He glanced over his shoulder. “Not as dangerous as the drunk guy I stole the keys from once he notices it’s missing.”

Ava’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, like you’re really scared.”

To her surprise, Tiernan laughed.
 

“It looks kind of old,” she said, not getting any closer to the bike. It was big and shiny . . . with metal studs all along the seat. Definitely not her.

Tiernan practically caressed the bike as he ran his hand over the emerald-green gas tank. “Seventy-two Harley Softail. It’s a classic.” He reached back to pluck a black half-helmet emblazoned with a skull and crossbones off the backrest and held it out to her expectantly.
 

She frowned but took it, her stomach fluttering nervously as she buckled it on. “Don’t you have one?” she asked.
 

Tiernan revved the engine. “Quit stalling. Get on.”

Resigned, Ava did as she was told, wrapping her arms around Tiernan’s thick waist and clenching her eyes tightly shut as they sped out of town under the darkening sky.

They continued west, stopping every hour or so to stretch their legs and call Andreas, through South Dakota and across the Wyoming border, angling slightly north toward Montana. Then, after a late-night call, they were ordered to turn abruptly south at Sheridan.
 

“Sensor says Caleb’s trying to lose us,” Tiernan said, cracking his neck as he shoved his phone into his pocket and climbed back onto the bike.
 

Ava’s heart sank at his words. “Maybe he’s doing what I’m doing. Trying to find a way to clear his name.”

“Maybe.” Tiernan didn’t seem convinced, but to his credit, he didn’t challenge her. Instead, he jerked his head toward the back of the bike. “You coming?”

Ava yawned widely as she got on behind him.
 

“I hate to do it, but we’re going to have to ditch this bike,” he said. “We need to keep going, and you’re going to fall asleep and fall off.”

“No, I won—” Ava’s yawn gave her away.
 

Tiernan smirked and started the bike.

They traded the motorcycle for a Jeep at a park and ride at the edge of another nondescript town, then zigzagged their way southwest through Wyoming, stopping midmorning for a few hours of sleep at an isolated rest stop, and again that evening to fill up with gas and grab some food at a mini-mart in Riverton.
 

Tiernan’s phone rang as they wolfed down stale doughnuts and coffee. Ava was still exhausted, but she fought her drooping eyelids, swallowing the last of her coffee and retrieving another from the store while Tiernan spoke to whoever was on the other end. He was in the Jeep, its engine idling, when she returned.

“Caleb’s stopped,” he said, peeling out of the parking lot. “The sensor says he hasn’t moved in the last hour. He must think he’s lost us.”

Ava was suddenly alert, her stomach churning wildly. “Where is he?”

Tiernan checked the rearview mirror and stepped on the gas. “Utah. Andreas said the sensor’s closing in on a more precise location, but for now, we’re heading to Salt Lake City.”

Ava leaned against the passenger side window, snoring lightly, as they finally crossed the border into Utah.
 

The sky lightened, the second sunrise since Tiernan had gotten any decent sleep himself, and he yawned, shaking his head and blinking to try and stay alert. He picked up his phone, pressing the speed dial for Andreas as Ava sighed in her sleep next to him.

He had to admit the girl had impressed him a bit. Other than the need for conventional transportation, she’d been less of a burden than he’d expected. She did ask a lot of questions, which was annoying, and never failed to state her opinion, no matter how wrong or irritating, but overall, she was . . . 
not horrible.

He smirked at the thought, his expression growing grim as Andreas answered the phone.

“We’re a little over an hour out of Salt Lake City.”

“ ‘We’?” Andreas repeated, and Tiernan winced. He’d been so careful to avoid mentioning Ava until then. Obviously the lack of sleep was making him sloppy.
 

“Yes, sir,” he said, clearing his throat. “Ava Michaels is with me. She was . . . rather insistent about it.” He wondered if he should relay his suspicions about Officer Simmons’ death and the Rogues, but to his surprise, Andreas laughed.