Fox Forever (Jenna Fox Chronicles 3)

I hold my hand up. “No need to thank me. I took care of him,” I say. “Biggest cockroach I ever saw. We won’t say anything to the others. No need to spoil their dessert.”

Hap remains silent. Just as I thought. Some things are so timeless even a nugget-head can grasp it.

Yeah, flawless.

I join the others, hardly missing a beat, taking the raspberry tart that Raine offers to me on a delicate china plate, letting my fingers linger on hers a few seconds longer than I should, maybe bolstered by my success on the roof. I laugh at Carlo’s joke like I was never out of the room, and compliment Dorian on the tart when she returns for dishes. Carlo tells another story about his family being detained while on safari in Namibia. I sit back like I’m listening but my thoughts return to the dark shadows where I dangled from the rooftop. Tonight. LeGru is going down tonight. To the tunnels? Could he possibly lead me straight to Karden? Could I forgo searching the Secretary’s office for the exact location and let LeGru do my work for me? It would save time and time is running out. This might be a certain pathway to Karden and his freedom—if that’s who they were talking about.

I’m also hearing LeGru’s words over and over again. And the girl? Could the Secretary be so coldhearted that he’d hurt Raine to get information? He did hesitate. What was that I saw on his face? Concern? Earlier when he talked about her proficiency at fencing I was surprised that there was even genuine pride in his voice. Maybe on some twisted level he does care about her, but even considering hurting his own daughter for money makes him a ruthless bastard. He’s only holding off for now. He drilled into Raine that Non-pacts were animals. If only she knew who the real animal was.

Vina’s shrill laugh at one of Brita’s stories jerks me back to the conversation and I laugh too like I heard the whole story. I grab one of the tea napkins from the table and step away from the others for a moment, pretending I’m looking out at the sweeping view of the Commons and beyond. When Raine comes over a minute later to look out with me, she maintains her distance, knowing that Shane and Vina watch our backs. I drop the napkin on the table in front of us—the code for my iScroll quickly scrawled on the corner. “Just in case,” I whisper. Her fingers curl around it and she slides it into her pocket.

She loudly points out a few sights in the distance and then whispers, “Tonight?”

I don’t know how long following LeGru will take. “I’ll try,” I whisper. “But I might be late.”

Seeing Red

I wait outside the Tudor Apartments for almost an hour before LeGru appears. Xavier calls me twice, but I don’t answer. Let him think our meeting is running late. I don’t want him to catch on to my plans or he might try to stop me. Sure, they want me to find where Karden is being kept, but I think a personal vendetta that Xavier has nursed makes him think he’s the one who needs to actually go get him, no matter the cost to himself. But I’m more than a pair of eyes that can see in the dark, more than someone who can read lips and find out secrets, more than an “in” to get information for them. I have plenty of stakes of my own now. The clock is ticking—not just for Karden, but maybe for Raine too.

As I follow LeGru down Beacon, hiding in the shadows of the Commons, my iScroll alerts me to another call. This time Percel makes a worried appearance.

“It’s an emergency, sir. I am told to alert you at all costs.”

I duck behind a tree. If I lose LeGru now, I may not get any other chance.

“Who is it?” I say, my first thought rushing to Miesha. Has she taken a turn for the worse? Emergency calls are never good.

It’s Carver, Percel informs me, and connects us.

“What’s wrong?” I ask him.

“Nothing,” Carver says. “I just need news. What happened tonight?”

“You have to call now?” I ask. “I told you that when I—”

“Listen to me, you—” He stops, recomposing himself into his usual cool. He even manages a smile. “I’m sorry if this is an inconvenient time for you, but this is a team operation. And for now at least, I’m the head of that team. If I say I need news, I need news. Did you find anything?”

“No. Not yet. I found the Secretary’s office. Tomorrow night I go back. I’ll try to find something then. I have to go.” I sign off before he can answer and I tell Percel no more emergency calls. My lesson for Carver: If you want things done just your way, do it yourself. Like me. Any other time I might feel guilty for dismissing him—he’s been the most pleasant and level-headed member of the so-called team—but right now I don’t have time to worry about it.

I take off, running through the Commons and then the public gardens, trying to catch up with LeGru, and then I think I spot him, or at least a bony silhouette that could be him slipping down the tunnel entrance at Arlington. A shorter route for sure than going all the way to the Old Library. Is he in that much of a hurry? I remember the Secretary’s furious eyes. Yes, I guess shortcuts are in order and LeGru is giving me one of my own.

I continue running, trying to catch up, and then slow as I near the entrance. The tunnels are dark in the daytime. How much darker will they be at night? How can LeGru see anything at all? I make my way down the rough stone steps, trying to keep every part of me silent, including my breaths. When I reach the station area I see a small red light glowing in the distance and hear a faint high-pitched hum and then they both disappear altogether. I listen. There isn’t a single sound. Not a hum. Not a footstep. Not a breath.

I let my eyes adjust. My practice in the apartment helps me accelerate the process. I concentrate, forcing my eyes to search for scattered light. In seconds, the dim walls of the station come into view, and then, the still dimmer walls of the tunnels that lay beyond. Dead silence. Not even the skittering of small animals. Something has frightened them away.

I step forward. There’s only one place to go. Toward the red light that disappeared so suddenly. That has to be where he went. The air is dank, smelling of rot. I watch my steps, avoiding large pieces of rubble, but I can’t avoid the grit that covers everything and it crunches through the silence. I fight the urge to call out. I know it would be suicide to make myself known, and yet, the last time I was in such a dark place, that was all I could do, call out to Kara and Jenna over and over again, hoping one of them would come. I fight the instinct that ruled me for 260 years.

Did the red light lead to a doorway? I reach the entrance of the main tunnel for the green line. I walk farther in and run my hands along the wall where I thought I saw the light. I can’t find it. Was it an illusion? Light reflected from somewhere else? I make a decision. I’m down here. I may as well go for broke. I start down the tunnel. Karden’s here, somewhere. I can feel it. I don’t know how I know, but I do. Is this what my mother defended as intuition? If so, I’ve got it. Or maybe I’m still learning new things that my BioPerfect can do. Unfortunately it doesn’t keep my chest from feeling like every breath is trapped inside. I’m swimming against the current of survival mode.

The old broken track still runs down the middle of the tunnel so I stay to the left side, which has a wider, more intact walkway. The farther I go, the darker it gets, the danker the air, the tighter my chest squeezes, the faster my pace. Get in, get out, Locke. Do it now. Find him. Do it for Miesha. Do it for you. Do it for Raine. It’s a new kind of survival.

I come to a place where the tunnel forks. The path to the left is smaller and cruder, maybe a tunnel that was forged in haste during the Division. No trains ever went down this way, but what has? My gut tells me to follow it, so I do. Another ten yards and another fork. This dungeon is riddled with haphazard tunnels. Someone could get lost down here forever if they weren’t careful and I make a special effort to note my steps and turns. I follow my gut again, this time to the right. I can barely see at all now. Even these BioPerfect eyes need the smallest bit of reflected light to work with and here there’s none. My breaths are shallow in my chest, like the air has vanished along with the light. I remind myself: I’m not th

ere. There’s ground beneath my feet, a real world that’s only steps away. I fight the temptation to turn on the light that’s in my iScroll, knowing it would set off alarms and bring Security Forces swarming down on me. Damn Carver for calling. I move forward more carefully now, listening for sounds. The only ones are my footsteps, but the sense is even stronger now. Something is nearby. Something important. Something like Karden. He’s alive. I’m close. I’m sure of it.

And then.

I sense something else.