“Fuck,” I said again. “Tara, we have to go.”
“What?”
I finished dressing quickly and Tara followed, sensing my urgency. I quickly left the bathroom with Tara right on my heels. The sleepy teenage girl working at the fast food place gave us a stupid look, like she knew what we’d been doing, but I just ignored it.
I walked fast. “Emory, slow down,” Tara said. “What’s wrong?”
“You don’t see it for the same reason I missed it. You’re too close.”
“You’re freaking me out. Just tell me.”
I pushed open the doors and then stopped and faced her. “It was all about your father, Tara. Omar and his people, they want to use your dad to attack a nuclear power plant.”
She frowned, shaking her head. “I thought they were after me to get revenge on you.”
“That’s what I thought, too. And they probably chose your dad for that reason initially, but there’s a bigger plan happening here. That’s why Omar has been using American terrorists, why he’s risking so much. It’s more important than just personal revenge, although it’s that also.”
Her face slowly dropped as she realized the implications of what I was saying. I could see it etched clearly there, the worry and the fear coming back to her.
“Cooper is with them,” I said. “He’s more than capable.”
“But my parents are in danger.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I think they are. I bet those two guys who attacked us were the only two who even followed. I’m willing to bet Omar is still back in Dayton.”
“Shit,” she said. “Emory, we have to go back. We have to go help my parents.”
“Yeah,” I said, “we fucking do.”
I headed off again with Tara by my side. I could still sense the fear, but there was something else, too.
It was determination.
After everything that had happened, any other normal person would have curled up into a ball and given up. After all the senseless violence and fear, most people would be pretty messed up.
But not Tara. Yeah, she was fucking scared and worried. Of course she was. But she wasn’t giving up, she wasn’t begging for me to call the cops, and she wasn’t backing down. She wanted to run right back into danger to try to help her parents, because that was the type of person she was.
I truly admired that. It was easy for me to go into danger, because that was my job. I lived for danger and putting my life on the line. But Tara, she was just a normal person who got caught up in events so much bigger than she was. Tara was holding on and thriving, and that meant she was exceptional, so fucking exceptional.
We got back to the car. Travis was holding Mason, smiling at us.
“He stopped crying,” Travis said.
Tara reached out and took Mason from him. Travis immediately sensed our mood.
“What’s up, cap?” he asked. “Lover’s quarrel?”
Tara gave him a look but went to put Mason back in the car seat.
“Change of plans,” I said. “We have to go back to Dayton.”
He arched an eyebrow. “You know I’d follow you anywhere, cap, but I think you need to explain this one to me.”
And so I did. I told him about the card, about how this whole thing had felt wrong from the start. As I spoke, he began to nod along.
“Okay,” he said. “Let’s make moves then.”
He got into his car and I leaned down against his window. “Listen, stay close. I don’t think anyone is after us right now.”
“I think you’re right. I haven’t seen a peep since we left Indianapolis.”
“Try and get in touch with Coop. We’ll regroup when we’re in Dayton.”
“Roger that.” He pulled out and I walked back over to my stolen car.
Tara was sitting in the back with Mason, giving him another dose of antibiotics. I climbed in and started the engine.
“You ready for this?” I asked her.
“Absolutely,” she said, her face serious.
“Let’s go.”
I floored it, pulled back on the highway, and headed back into the fire.
25
Tara
I woke up in the back seat of the car, my head draped down toward Mason. He was sleeping too, his little chest rising and falling peacefully.
It was mid-afternoon and we were still driving, though I recognized most of the signs. We were getting closer to Dayton, getting closer to the terrorists who wanted to hurt us.
But now they weren’t the terrorists who were after me. They were after my parents, and they wanted to do something horrible that could end up hurting a lot of people.
I wasn’t going to let them do that, of course.