Mimic

Chapter 21

Beau

We put our tents away and store them in the trunk of the second car before splitting up to meet the girls at the start point. We've got to be careful about this. If Dr. Young was looking for Emily last night and we all disappeared, he's going to have an APB out on all of us.

The five of us get to the gate, and I flash my access card.

"The next two cars are with us too," I tell the guards.

The guys in the booth are talking about something, and one of them half glances at me and lets us through. I guess Initium wasn't kidding when they said they were going to give us distractions.

We drive to the square. We said that we'd meet the girls in the side streets. My car would pick up Emily and Liz between the Italian restaurant and the Chinese place. Sean's car would pick up Kara between the track and the big gym. Connor's would pick up Kat and Samia between the movie theater and Rocky's. We've paced the pickup so that we can get in and out fast.

Myles and I pull up between the two restaurants and see Emily and Liz leaning against the wall of the Chinese restaurant, talking so that they seem normal. I stop in front of them, and they hop in the back seat. Someone knocks on my window. My blood freezes.

I turn and see the owner of the Italian restaurant. I roll down the window.

"Hello," I say.

"What do you think you're doing driving in the square? You're in the way of my dumpsters. My bus boys need to take out the trash. Do you think I can just have trash piling up in the kitchen?" he yells, flailing his arms in gesture.

"I—"

"No! But apparently that's what I'm going to have to do because some idiot teenager decided that he's going to park in the way of my dumpsters so that he can pick up his girlfriends!"

"I'm sorry, sir. I'll get out of your way."

"And don't do it again."

"Yes, sir."

I check my surroundings to make sure that no one has noticed the scene we're making. When I'm sure that the coast is clear, we pull out of the alley, followed by the Italian man's yelling. I drive to the meeting point to regroup with Sean and Connor's cars.

I pull up and roll through to lead the group. One of the burner phones rings. Myles hands it to me, and the number is unknown.

"Hey," I answer it.

"What held you up?" Sean asks.

"The owner of the Italian restaurant yelled at me for picking up my girlfriends in front of his precious dumpsters," I answer.

"Really?" he laughs.

I throw him a look through the rearview and roll my eyes. "Are you ready to get to business, or are you going to drive like a grandma and get us caught?"

"Yeah, yeah."

I hang up and hand the phone back to Myles.

"Hey, the next two cars are with me too," I tell the guard at the gate as I flash my all access card.

A new rotation must have come in because the two guys who let us in are gone. The guard looks at me carefully and I see his hand slip under the desk.

I mumble a few choice words under my breath.

"I'm under orders to search all of the cars that leave the school today," he tells me. "Can you all step out of your cars?"

I size him up. He's stocky but overweight, so he's not fast. He has peach eyes. He's a Hypno.