Gone (Gone 1)

“THEY’RE DOING IT,” Bug yelled as he burst through the door.

“All right,” Caine said. “Showtime. Everyone load up. Into the cars.”

There was a scramble for the door. Chaz, Chunk, Mallet, and a much-abashed Frederico, who had finally freed himself from duct-tape bondage, all raced for the station wagon in the garage. Diana, oozing suppressed rage from every pore, followed. Panda grabbed Lana by the arm and pushed her toward the door.

Only then did Caine realize someone was missing. “Where’s Howard?”

“I…I don’t know,” Panda admitted. “I didn’t see him leave.”

“Useless worm. Without Orc, he’s dead weight,” Caine said. “Forget him.”

The second car in the garage was a luxury car, an Audi with a sunroof. Panda jumped behind the wheel, and Diana rode shotgun. Caine took the backseat for himself.

Panda pushed the automatic garage door remote control. Both doors rose.

Both cars lurched forward. The Subaru wagon promptly crunched into the side of the Audi.

Chaz was driving the wagon. He rolled down his window. “Sorry.”

“Great start,” Diana said.

“Go,” Caine ordered tersely.

Panda accelerated into the street, keeping his speed to a prudent twenty-five miles per hour. The wagon stayed a block back.

“Bada bum bada bum bada bum bum bum.” Diana began humming the William Tell Overture.

“Knock it off,” Caine snapped.

They had gone two blocks when Panda slammed on the brakes.

A dozen coyotes streaked across the street.

Caine rose up through the sunroof and yelled, “What are you doing? Where are you going?”

Pack Leader stopped and glared with yellow eyes. “Whip Hand gone,” he snarled.

“What? What happened at the day care?”

“Whip Hand go. Pack Leader go,” the coyote said.

“No way,” Caine said. To Diana, he said, “They’ve got the day care. What do I do?”

“You tell me, Fearless Leader.”

Caine slammed his fist down on the roof of the car. “Okay, Pack Leader, unless you’re a coward, follow me.”

“Pack Leader follows the Darkness. All others follow Pack Leader. Pack is hungry. Pack must eat.”

“I’ve got food for you,” Caine said. “There’s a plaza full of kids.”

Pack Leader hesitated.

“It’s easy,” Caine said. “You can come with me and take as many kids as you want. Get every one of your coyotes. Bring them all. It’s a buffet.”

Pack Leader yipped a command to his pack. The coyotes circled back toward him.

“Follow us,” Caine cried, caught up in it now, eyes wild and excited. “We go straight toward the plaza. You go straight at the kids there. It will work perfectly.”