Ever Hayes - Redemption

Lazzo took one more watch shift that night, and then we both slept four more hours until 6:00 a.m. I finally felt a little rested—which was good—and my headache had subsided, but I awoke even more bitter toward Lazzo than I’d been the day before. The finality was sinking in, and the resulting ache was spreading through my chest. He killed Sam. My boyfriend is dead.

I pulled myself out from under the bed, desperately needing to pee. There was a bathroom across the hall from our room, conveniently not in the scope of the cameras. I had a feeling Flynn had moved those cameras specifically for me—for another girl. She didn’t want me to have to improvise. I was silently grateful as I tiptoed across the hall. I washed my face in the sink and cleaned up a little. I looked like a chimney sweeper. Ugh!

When I came out, Lazzo was standing in our doorway. “Where were you,” he asked.

I pointed at the sign that read Ladies . “That okay with you?”

He ignored my sarcasm. “My turn,” he said. “Don’t go anywhere.”

“Oh, okay.” Seriously? Where was I going to go?

I had just sat down inside the door to our room when I heard a distinctive “Pssst” out in the hall. I poked my head around the corner and saw a head sticking out of a manhole over by the stairs. Flynn . She waved at me to come toward her, motioning me to stay against the wall. I slipped down the hall to her.

“Hey,” she said with a slight smile.

“Hey yourself.” I smiled back, and then I saw the bruises on her face. “What the hell? Flynn, did your—”

“Can we not talk about it, please? I’m fine. Sorry ’bout the knife, by the way.”

“I’ve been through worse. You too, obviously.” My dislike was rapidly becoming hatred for that man. I reluctantly changed the subject. “Hey, did you move the cameras?”

She nodded and the smile came back. “Hayley, do you have a minute?”

Several hours worth of them. I nodded. She was looking nervously behind me—likely for Lazzo. “He’s in the bathroom. What was up with the alarms last night?”

“Governor Barnes sent a message about two terrorists sneaking onto the boat the night we left. Dad sent search parties out to look for them… or you. No one found anything though, so they’re still looking.” She lifted a knapsack up from the manhole and handed it to me. “Chase and I saved our bread for you from last night, and I brought two bottles of water.”

“Flynn, you shouldn’t ha—”

“Hayley!” Lazzo whispered sharply at me. He was back in the bunkroom. “What are you doing?”

I held up a hand, signaling him to wait.

Flynn put her hand on my arm. “I wanted to ask if you’re okay?”

I shrugged.

“I know—sorry—it’s kind of a stupid question. You said he killed your boyfriend. So is he holding you hostage?”

I could hear Lazzo walking up behind me. “It’s complicated.”

Her eyes shifted up, and the sparkle in them vanished. She gave Lazzo a cold stare.

“What do you want?” Lazzo was suspicious of our conversation. With good reason .

“She brought us food.” I handed the knapsack to him. “Can you say thank you, Lazzo?”

He ignored me. “Hayley, let’s go.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Lazzo clearly didn’t want to leave me with Flynn, but he backed away. “Twenty seconds,” he whispered.

“I’ll stay an hour if I want to.”

“Hayley—” He stopped and shook his head, then continued his retreat.

When he was out of earshot, I looked back down at Flynn. “I can’t have anyone find him, Flynn. I’ll explain more later, but put it this way…if we don’t make it to Colorado, I stand to lose a lot more people I love.”

Lazzo was already whispering at me again. Idiot .

Then I heard another whisper from somewhere below Flynn. “Someone’s coming.”

“That Chase again?” I tried to see past her but couldn’t.

She nodded. “I gotta go.”

I quickly put my hand on hers. “Thank you. Both of you.”

“Same time tomorrow, okay?” Then she was gone.

I scampered quietly back to our room, and Lazzo met me at the door. “What did she want?”

“Lazzo, listen… you are going to have to trust me if you want this to work. You scaring Flynn is not making this easier. Do you understand? You jeopardize everything by leaving the room. E-ver-y-thing .” I emphasized each syllable. “Someone could see you.”

“But not you?”

I sighed deeply. “Of course they could. But when we were watching the ship from Redemption how many black men did you see?”

“Four, five, six… I don’t know. I wasn’t counting.”

Clearly . “And white girls?”

That number was closer to fifty and he knew what I was getting at now. He was going to be more memorable—more noticeable. He didn’t like how I was talking to him, but he nodded. “Okay. I get it.”

“Great.” I grabbed the knapsack from him. “Now, let’s eat.”

Danny promised to keep Tara with him during the search before he climbed onto the plane with Trigger, Twix, Royce, Deacon, Blake, and Axel. I grabbed Tara’s hand as she walked past me. “Hey.”

She turned but wouldn’t meet my eyes. “What?”

I cringed. “It’s going…” I can’t say it . “I’m sorry.”

She didn’t reply. I released her arm as I felt her pull away. She climbed into the plane and they coasted off. Minutes later they were airborne and headed for Kauai. I was miserable.

The governor had called the base on Kauai and asked for two jeeps to be dropped off at the marina for Danny. They were waiting in the parking lot when the Pack arrived. At some point Danny decided to send Blake back with Axel to help us look for the boat. He was a great swimmer and would definitely make retrieving the boat easier—if we did find it.

The rest of them split off in opposite directions on Kauai, and they searched for four hours without a single sign of anything suspicious. Danny was sounding more and more frustrated over the radio. “They’ve got to be here somewhere,” he muttered. “We’re missing something.”

Axel, Blake, Dad, and I were a little more fortunate. We found the boat. As expected, it had followed the current around Kauai and was floating off to the east—with nothing in it but a limp and lifeless Six. Poor dog . Axel landed the plane on the water, and Blake swam over to the boat. He climbed in, started it up, and steered it back to Waimea Bay to refuel. Then he brought the boat back to Redemption. Dad and I unceremoniously helped him bury Six—who had clearly been shot—before his running mate Dice could see him. The bullet hole in Six revived the panic from earlier—from watching the one dot get left behind on the satellite feed. We knew that other dot was a person now and likely had also been shot. My mind was stuck on Hayley, but it could have been any of the others. Thus far, we had no other clues.

It was after four, Monday afternoon, when Danny called in again. “Axel, take everyone to the Hexagon, then come get us.”

“Hey, Danny, I’ve got something to show you.”

“What is it?”

Axel looked at me. “Might be nothing.”

“Okay.” Danny sounded confused. This was new to me, too. “Can you bring it along?” Danny asked.

“Sure. Did you have any luck?” Axel radioed back.

“None.”

Dad volunteered to hang back on Redemption, just in case someone showed up—friend or foe. I knew Danny wouldn’t like it—his grandpa staying out here alone—but I agreed with the logic.