James Patterson - Two Schools Out - Forever

We all screamed no at the same time.

That night we hid the car in some overgrown brush on an abandoned farm and slept in the trees, swaying gently in the pleasant breeze. We weren't attacked or ratted on, so it was an up night for us.

In the morning we got back into our little car-emphasis on the little.

"There aren't enough seat belts," Gazzy complained from the backseat. The four of them looked like sardines back there.

"And God knows we live our lives totally paranoid about safety measures," I said, looking at a map.

"I'm just saying," said Gazzy. "Yow! Fang!"

Even Fang had winced at that last gear-grinding. I bit my lip so I wouldn't smirk and gave Fang a wide-eyed innocent look. Yes, I swallowed down all the snide comments I could make about his driving, unlike Fang, who had gone ahead and made snide comments when I drove. That's because I'm a better person, frankly. I am a freaking princess when it comes to other people's feelings.

"Yo, dogbreath," I said to Total. "Get your paws off the Everglades."

Total moved slightly so I could see the map, Fang ground the gears again, and we lurched on toward our destination: Itex headquarters.

Assuming Angel's intel was good, it was time for us to learn just what the heck I was supposed to do to stop this company from destroying the world. I was tired of dodging it. I was tired of asking about it. I was ready to know.

Here's something that might not occur to you: If a state trooper sees a weird, patchwork Toyota Echo hurtling down I-95, and it looks like half of a small country is immigrating to the States in this one little car, you might get stopped.

Just FYI.

In general, the six of us preferred to avoid law enforcement agents of any kind. Especially since we never knew whether they were the real thing or if they would suddenly turn into Erasers, as just another challenge in this twisted lab test of a life we led.

"Should we bail?" Fang asked, looking at the flashing lights in the rearview mirror.

"Probably." I rubbed my forehead, trying to muster energy for whatever might be coming. I turned back to the others. "We'll stop, and as soon as it looks freaky, up and away, okay?"

I got solemn nods from everyone.

"I'm with Iggy," Total said, leaping into the backseat.

Fang clumsily pulled onto the shoulder, kicking up dust and gravel. We shared a glance as a woman in a state trooper uniform got out of her cruiser and walked toward us. We unlocked the car doors and poised for takeoff.

The trooper leaned down into Fang's window, her broad-brimmed hat shadowing her face.

"Good morning, sir," she said, sounding unfriendly. "Do you know how fast you were traveling?"

Fang looked at the speedometer, which hadn't moved since we'd pushed the car out into the darkness last night. "No," he said truthfully.

"I tagged you at seventy miles an hour," she said, pulling out a clipboard.

I let out an impressed whistle. "Excellent! I never thought it'd be that fast!"

Fang shot me a look and I put my hand over my mouth.

"Can I see your license, your registration, and your proof of insurance?" the trooper asked, all business.

We were toast. We'd have to split, which meant we would lose our little jigsaw car, she would see our wings, and she'd probably notify the web of authorities who would make our lives miserable. Miserabler.

"Hi," said Angel from the backseat.

The trooper peered at her through the window. It was then that she seemed to notice how many of us there were, how we were all kids. She looked back at Fang, and this time she realized that he probably wasn't old enough to have a license at all.

"Are you from here? Florida is really flat, huh?" Angel said, getting the trooper's attention for a moment.

"Can you step out of the car, please, sir?" the trooper asked Fang.

"It sure is warm here, for fall," Angel went on. "You could practically go swimming."

Once again the trooper glanced at Angel, but this time something blunted her impulse to turn away. I didn't dare look back at Angel. Once again I was confronted with the whole Angel-doing-something-bad-for-good-reasons thing, and I didn't know what to do.

I decided to let her do it, then lecture her later. A win-win situation.

"We're kind of in a hurry," Angel said pleasantly.

"You're in a hurry," the trooper said. Her eyes were slightly vacant.

"Maybe you could just let us go," Angel went on. "And sort of forget you ever saw us."

"I could just let you go," the trooper repeated. It was incredibly creepy.

"You never saw us or our car," Angel said. "There's a problem somewhere else, and you need to get there now."

The trooper looked back at her cruiser. "I have to go," she said. "There's a problem."

"All right," said Angel. "Thanks."

And we were on our way. Riding in a stolen car with a six-year-old who could control people's minds. Not really the definition of comfortable.

We'd gone a couple miles when Angel spoke again. "I don't know, guys," she said. "I really think maybe I should be the leader."

"I'll be second-in-command," Total offered.

"Oh yeah, you'd be so focused on the job." Gazzy sneered. "Until a rabbit ran across your path."

"Hey!" said Total, glaring at him.

"Guys," I said tiredly. "Listen, Ange, it's sweet of you to offer, but I've got the whole leader thing down, okay? You don't have to worry about it."

"Well, I guess," Angel said, frowning. She didn't sound 100 percent convinced.

What was going on with her?

I believe I've mentioned how freaking slow driving is, compared with flying. In the air there are no stoplights, and there's surprisingly little traffic of other flying mutants. On the other hand, we were relatively hidden in a car.

"Well," said Fang, looking at the huge gates in front of us.

"Yep," I said.

After more than three hours of cautiously slow but still kidney-jarring travel and a pit stop for lunch, we had arrived at Itex headquarters. Through our sheer instinct and heightened powers of deduction, we had zeroed in on the place that might hold some answers for us.

Heightened powers of deduction meaning being able to read all the signs on the highway saying "Itex-Exit 398."

Now we examined the tall iron gates, the professional landscaping.

"No barbed wire," Fang muttered.

"No armed guards," said Nudge. "That little guardhouse is cute, though."

It seemed unusual, which set off blinking red lights in my brain. Was this where the world would get saved? Where my destiny would finally be played out?

Just then a smiling uniformed guard stepped out of the guardhouse. He had no gun or other weapon that we could see.

"Are you all here for the tour?" he asked pleasantly.

"Um, yes," said Fang, his hands tight on the steering wheel.

"I'm sorry-the last one was at four," the guard said. "But come back tomorrow-the tours are every hour on the hour, and they leave from the main lobby." He pointed through the gates to one of the larger buildings.

"Um, okay," said Fang, putting Jigsaw into reverse. "Thanks."

We pulled away but kept the guard in our sight as long as we could. We didn't see him speak to anyone or use his walkie-talkie or anything. It was weird. Once again I felt a heavy sense of unnamed dread settling on my shoulders. I wasn't stupid. Those kids had been sent to us, to give us a message. To get us to Itex. Sooner or later we would find out what was planned for us here, and odds were that it would be nothing good.

My Voice had been quiet for a while, and I almost-almost-wanted it to speak up again, just to drop some clues about what we were doing here.