Split Second (Pivot Point) (21 page)

Addie:
On the count of three, run.

The dark-haired man we had seen the other night and who had come to my house with Scar-Face stood before us.

“What have you done with my grandpa?”

“I’ve done nothing with your grandpa. I believe your father is still trying to get clearance to move his grave here.”

My heart felt like it wanted to stop. That or burst out of my chest. I remembered the name in my father’s phone attached to this address. And the name my father had introduced him as in my own living room. Why hadn’t I made the connection before? “Brett Miller.”

He only smirked. I felt so stupid. Of course my dad had the CC contacts for this area in his cell phone.

“Why would you do that to me? You gave me my grandfather back only to take him away again?”

“We’re going to Erase these memories of your grandfather. He was part of your test. We needed to make sure you were loyal to the Compound. He offered you a safe place to divulge secrets, so we could tell if you were averse to authority. It’s a shame. You were so close to passing. But then something changed.” He looked at Duke.

“I thought my father was lying to me.”

“We are going to Erase it,” he said again, as if that made everything okay.

“Do you have no conscience?” Laila asked. “You made her think her grandfather was still alive.”

Considering how awful I felt, I was tempted to tell Agent Miller to get it over with. Erase the reincarnation of my grandfather from my mind. Erase this whole experience from my mind. But I knew I couldn’t. I needed to remember this. Remember what awful lengths the Compound was willing to go to. Taking away the memory of pain didn’t keep a person from having to suffer through it.

“Your whole plan would’ve blown up in your face if I had told my dad.”

“But you didn’t, did you?” He smiled, like his statement meant more than he was saying. “My partner helps people make good decisions.”

Connor gave a disgusted grunt. “She was Persuaded not to.”

“I was Persuaded not to?” I had to repeat the statement
because I couldn’t believe it. Scar-Face was a Persuasive. “But then why did you warn Trevor and me that the CC was waiting for us then, that one day we were here?”

“I wanted to test you to see if you’d tell Trevor anything. I was kind of rooting for you, kid. I thought for sure if you knew the Containment Committee was monitoring you that you’d be more careful.”

I pointed my finger at the agent, anger ripping through my chest. “My grandpa wasn’t crazy.”

He shrugged as though he didn’t care. “I didn’t know enough of his real personality to pull it off. I thought it would be safer if you wouldn’t question my answers too much.”

“And what would have happened if I never showed up at your door?” I asked, thinking I’d found the flaw in their horrid plan. “Then how would you have tested me?”

“Like I said, my partner is very persuasive. He pretended to slip about there being two relatives on the Outside. We knew you couldn’t resist investigating that. We had to make sure you weren’t hiding any unclaimed advanced abilities after what happened with Mr. Baker.”

This all came back to Bobby. And I’d fallen for every one of their tricks. I felt like an idiot. My heart ached. I couldn’t believe everything they had put me through just for their stupid tests—conjuring up a dead relative, making me distrust my own father. It all made me so sick inside. I took the awful pain I felt and turned it into energy. Soon the room was crawling. I touched each person to bring them into the moment with me,
tempted for half a second to leave Duke here to fend for himself. I didn’t. “We have about two minutes. How do we get out of here?”

“I’ll wipe the memory of the alarm on the door,” Laila said, already walking toward it.

“What’s wrong with Connor?” I walked around him, the only one who hadn’t returned to normal speed. I touched him again and he only jolted for a moment, then returned to slow motion.

Laila stopped in her tracks and faced him. “Crap. It probably doesn’t work on him because he’s a Healer. Your ability can’t get through to him. Duke, grab Connor. We have to go.”

Duke shook his head and crossed his arms. “I’ve seen his temper. Got a pen stuck in my shoulder to prove it. I’m not touching him.”

I grabbed the sleeve of Duke’s shirt. “Please.” That was all it took. He threw Connor over his shoulder, and we all waited while Laila disarmed the door.

“What about him?” Eli asked, pointing to Agent Miller, whose facial expression was just now starting to indicate that he realized what was going on. At least when I was in the Tower, I hadn’t divulged my ability to slow down time. I had caught him off guard.

“I’ll wipe him. I’m taking two months. Let him see how that feels.” Laila muttered “jerk” a few times while she stood over him. We filed out the door while she finished.

We ran to the stairs, heading for the back exit. As we came to
the long hall on the first floor, I thought I heard car doors shut out front. When the others looked over their shoulders as well, I knew the Containment Committee had arrived. The man upstairs might not remember the last two months for now, but I was sure that a memory restoration would be performed before we were even up the block. If we were going to wipe my breach from existence, we had a lot more than one person’s memories to alter. We had an entire team and an entire computer/surveillance system. How could we possibly do this?

While the others rushed to the rear exit, I pressed my back against the wall and inched toward the front. I arrived at the corner and peered around it just as the group came through the lobby doors—three men and Trevor. And there was Scar-Face, a Persuasive, right at the back of the group. He must’ve been working on Trevor, because he wasn’t even putting up a fight, just walking along with them like it was his idea.

My heart jumped to my throat and my hand to my mouth to prevent myself from making a sound. As they headed my way, I collected some energy with my heightened emotions. I was trying to decide if I could squeeze through the men and to Trevor without touching any of them. It seemed highly unlikely. Duke grabbed my arm and pulled me away. “Are you trying to get caught?” he asked once we were outside.

As if he had a right to ask me that question, when he was the one who had gotten me caught. “They have Trevor,” I said to the group. “We have to go back.”

Laila nodded. “And we will. But first let’s see if they left
anyone at the car or if we can do some snooping. We need to be prepared.”

A navy van was parked on the street, and we stayed in the alley to determine if it was empty.

“I don’t hear any thoughts coming from inside,” Eli said.

I stared at him in awe. “You can read minds, Eli. That’s so amazing.”

He smiled and looked at the ground. “I’m still kind of new.”

“You could’ve fooled me.” I turned to the others. “Should we go check it out then?” I was worried about Trevor and what they might do to him. We had revealed our hand. If they could restore Fake Grandpa’s memory, we’d be screwed. They’d know Laila could restore memories. They’d know I could slow down time. We would no longer have the advantage. I just had to hope that someone on their team couldn’t manipulate memories because we needed a solid plan before we went back up there. If Trevor had an ability, I would be so much more confident, knowing he might be able to defend himself right now. Although, even with my ability I hadn’t been able to protect myself against Fake Grandpa.

Laila pressed her face up against the tinted back window of the van. “No fair,” she said. “They get to bring Para-tech here and we don’t?”

I tried the doors, but they were locked. “Anyone know how to break into a locked car?”

She studied the numerical keypad beneath the door handle. “I can disable the alarm, but I don’t think wiping the keypad’s
memory would result in unlocking the car.”

Connor reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell.

“You going to call a locksmith?” Laila asked.

He bent over and grabbed a handful of dirt from the ring around a tree and sprinkled it over the keypad, then shined the light from his phone onto the numbers. I could vaguely make out smudges on the buttons. The first button seemed to have the most smudges, the third had none. “The combo has two ones, a two, and a four in it. Laila, disable the alarm, and I’ll start going through some patterns.”

After at least twenty attempts, I pushed on my temples. This wasn’t going to work. My gaze kept drifting back to the apartment building. How much time did we have? Then, suddenly, I heard the clunk of locks opening.

“Nice,” Duke said. Connor climbed inside and then opened the back doors for the rest of us.

“It’s too cramped in there,” Duke said. “I’ll keep a lookout.”

I wasn’t sure if I trusted Duke as our warning bell. With us all crammed in the van, this could be the easiest capture ever. Eli, probably reading my mind, said, “That many thoughts in one place will make me vomit. I’ll stay out here with Duke.”

I squeezed his arm. “Thanks.”

So Connor, Laila, and I sat in the back of the van, surrounded by Para-tech. Connor powered up the nearest screen, and what lit up in front of us caused my stomach to drop to my feet: a picture of Trevor and all his statistics—height, weight, build, hair color, etc. But much more too. His entire history—people,
places, tastes. Then in a column next to it was new info that I didn’t recognize as his. Almost like the fake history the Tower had given me to study when I’d moved here in my other life.

“It’s a Reassignment,” Connor whispered. “They’re giving him a new life. One on the other side of the country.”

“But why? Why wouldn’t they just Erase what he knows?”

They both looked at me as though I should know the answer to this question. But I didn’t. Or maybe I needed it spelled out for me, because I didn’t want to believe it.

“Because of you,” Laila said. “They obviously know you won’t give him up otherwise.”

It felt like Duke’s big yellow Hummer had run me over. My chest hurt, my eyes hurt, every inch of my body hurt.

Laila cracked her knuckles. “It’s time to crash some computers. If they don’t have this”—she waved her hand in front of the screen—“maybe they won’t be able to complete the Reassignment. In fact, how about a total system failure?” She closed her eyes and held up her hands.

“No. Wait.” Connor pulled one of her hands down, and she focused on him.

“What? Why not?”

“You heard what Addie’s grandfather said.”

“You mean her fake grandfather.”

“Fake Grandpa. Whatever. He said that before Duke’s information tonight, she had passed the test. She had been changed over to a non-threat. And considering that before tonight they thought Trevor had been Selectively Erased, I’m sure he
would’ve been safe too. So we don’t need to take away the last month and their potential plans. That would be a huge red flag of empty memory. We just need to take away tonight without them suspecting.”

“How are we going to do that?” I asked.

“Very carefully,” he said.

Laila:
Add the definition of stupid to your list: trusting the person who got us into this.

I watched Connor work at the computer. Addie had stepped out of the van and joined the others. She looked like she was in shock or going to be sick. Connor found the recorded conversation Duke had picked up on his body chip. He pushed a button, and it echoed through a pair of headphones resting on the floor. I slid them on. Duke’s voice rang out, asking Addie if she’d told Trevor. She confirmed his suspicions, and I took off the headphones, disgusted.

Connor glanced my way. “Can you Erase it?”

“The conversation?”

“Yes. It’s about five minutes long. It’s stored on the computer
as code.” He pointed to the screen.

“Of course I can Erase it.”

He lifted one side of his mouth in a half smile. “What was it you said again that you had to think of to advance your ability?”

I laughed. “I didn’t say.”

He grabbed me by the waist and pulled me onto his lap. “A certain night in a certain train?”

“Stop. I need to concentrate.”

“You need to concentrate on a certain night in a certain train?”

“That’s only for restoring. You’re not responsible for all my awesome abilities.”

“No, only ninety percent of your awesomeness.” He kissed the back of my neck. “Work your magic.”

I turned around and kissed him. He tasted like mint gum and Connor.

“I meant on the computer. Not on me.”

“I already took care of the computer.”

He looked around me and clicked a few buttons. “Nice.”

“What next?” I asked.

“We need to figure out how to get three grown men with abilities from up there”—he pointed toward the apartment—“to down here.” He patted the seat next to him.

“Sounds easy.”

“I wonder if they have any supplies we can borrow.” He slid me off his lap and started rooting through the cupboards. I tried to help, but had no idea what we were looking for. “Jackpot.”
He held up a metal device—two half circles connected by an iridescent square.

“What does it do?”

“It’s a demobilizer.” He slid my wrist into one end and then nodded for me to put my other wrist on the other end. I did, and he pressed the square in the center. The circles slid shut, binding my wrists. “Like handcuffs.”

The cold metal pressed against my wrists, and a sharp pain shot through my skull and then settled into an annoying buzz. I sucked air through my teeth.

“What’s wrong?”

“My head.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Even better.”

“You’re happy that my head hurts?”

“It means it’s a blocker as well. It would be nearly impossible for you to access your ability with those on.”

I tried to pull my wrists apart, and the metal dug into my skin. Pain bounced in my skull again. “I bet the Norms just love it when the CC has to use these.”

“They can’t use these on Norms.”

“Why?”

Connor made a popping sound with his mouth. “Their brains wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

My brain wasn’t dealing well with it either. It was like a concentrated version of being inside Bobby’s room. “Good thing it’s a bunch of Paras we’re rounding up tonight then.” I pulled at the cuffs again. “Tell me you know how to get these off.”

He pressed his finger on the square and they slid open. “The one who shuts them is the only one who can open them.”

My head immediately settled when I removed my wrists. I grabbed the demobilizer from him, and he pulled out a few more. “This should be easy, then.”

“Sure, we’ll just ask them to stick their hands out so we can slide them on. Simple,” he said evenly.

“It will be with Addie.” I smiled big.

“And what about the other part of the night? Is Duke going to help?”

“He’d better.”

I couldn’t believe our fate rested in Duke’s horribly slimy hands. But we needed his cooperation. I had to trust him. I jumped out of the back of the van and clapped Duke on the shoulder. “Thank goodness you are a good liar, because it’s showtime.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means, we are going to reset the night. First, we have to arrange all the players.” I pointed to the apartment in front of us and handed everyone a pair of demobilizers. “Then you and Addie have to reenact the conversation you promised the CC.”

Connor shut the van doors, wiped the smudges off the keypad, and nodded. “Let’s go.”

On the way up the stairs, we discussed different ways of getting inside the apartment. In the end, we decided knocking on the door was as good a way as any, seeing as how we weren’t
trying to keep our presence a secret.

“Do you think you’ll be able to slow time for longer than a couple minutes?” I asked Addie.

“I’ll try.”

“We need all the time we can get.”

We arrived at the third floor and opened the door to the hall. A man was there to greet us. “We’ve been expecting you.”

Duke punched him in the face, and he dropped like a rock.

I let out a heavy sigh. “
Duke
. Why did you do that? We have to reset the night. Now he’s going to wake up with a sore jaw and a headache and wonder how he got them.”

Duke toed him, and he rolled onto his back. A long scar ran the length of his left cheek. “Sorry. He came out of nowhere. We didn’t discuss the potential for hallway people.”

“I know him,” Addie said.

“You do? What’s his ability?”

“This is the Persuader from the Tower who debriefed me. He’s also the one who came by my house with Fake Grandpa.”

I elbowed Duke. “Put some cuffs on him and get him down to the van. We’ll be down there with the others in a few minutes.”

“I’m the muscle,” Duke said. “You really want me to wait at the van with this guy?”

“Who assigned you as the muscle?” I asked.

“My biceps did. And considering you keep asking me to carry people, I’m pretty sure you agree.”

“Well, Connor and Trevor can carry the other two down.”

“No, I can’t,” Connor said. “But thanks for the confidence, babe. Duke is definitely the muscle. I’ll follow him down and wait at the van. Don’t do anything until he’s back.”

“Fine. Hurry.”

Too bad that guy wasn’t the Memory Eraser. I was certain there was a Memory Eraser here. It was the only ability that would be able to Reassign Trevor a new life. It was the main ability that scared me here tonight. If we all lost our memories, we’d be worthless. At least Connor couldn’t be affected by it.

We waited just outside the door to the stairs, the apartment around the corner to our left. “So that was the Persuader?” I said to Addie.

“Yes. And Fake Grandpa is a Perceptive. That leaves two unknowns.”

“One has to be a Memory Eraser,” I said, and she nodded as if she had thought of that as well.

Eli cleared his throat. “The other one is a Mass Manipulator.”

“Did you hear his thoughts?” I asked.

“No. He just walked through that wall.” He pointed over my shoulder, and we all turned around to face the man walking toward us. He wore jeans and a collared shirt, his biceps straining the material. His head was shaved. He smiled, his white teeth bright against his black skin.

“Listen, kids,” he said. “You’ve had your fun. It’s time to come willingly into the apartment, fill out a report, and receive the consequences of your actions.”

I shrugged at Addie. We had planned to knock on the door
anyway. We’d walk inside, Addie would slow down time, we’d cuff them and wait for Duke. Why not? “Okay.”

He didn’t seem at all shocked that we agreed so easily. He also seemed to find the demobilizers we held very amusing. Did that mean they knew our plans and had ways to counteract them? I glanced once back over my shoulder to see if Duke had arrived yet.

“He really thinks we’re filling out reports,” Eli whispered as we followed the Mass Manipulator to the apartment.

I held in a laugh. He opened the door, and we walked in. Trevor sat on the couch and looked up in relief at our arrival, as if he thought we could not only save him, but the entire world, with the snap of our fingers. I was relieved to see him alert and appearing to be in possession of all his memories. That is, until Addie gasped from beside me. I followed her gaze and saw, sitting in a chair by the sliding door, looking equally relieved, another Trevor.
Crap
.