The Impossible Future: Complete set by Frank Kennedy (mini ebook reader .txt) 📕

Agent Hedgecock back in. I expect you to answer each of his questions fully.”

She jumped from the van and placed the phone to her ear. Before she walked out of range, Jamie heard her say, “Yes, sir. We’re making a full threat assessment. We haven’t …”

Quickly, the agent’s voice drowned among the organized chaos on Highway 39. Jamie couldn’t make sense of what he saw: the police officers with rifles heading into and out of the woods, others speaking into radios attached to their shoulders, and patrol cars joining the fray, turning the road into a parking lot. The county police helicopter that never seemed to be far away – passing them on Lake Vernon at dawn and later surveying the forest above them – swooped overhead, muting everything in its roar.

Jamie couldn’t grasp the idea that so many people were involved, focused on a trail of blood and death for which he was responsible. The people he’d known forever – his classmates, track teammates, even those who shared his sorry excuse of an apartment building – faded into a mist, as if the ghosts of a phony, distant reality.

“You mustn’t be discouraged.” A motherly voice whispered. “The program is pushing aside all the old distractions that no longer matter. My dear sweet boy, it is preparing you for the end.”

Jamie focused on the here-and-now; Lydia the Mentor sat on the bench beside him. She crossed her legs and dropped her tiny hands into her lap as she offered Jamie the same piteous smile he first saw in the woods next to the Alamander River. Jamie wanted to lash out, but he knew better.

“Why?”

Lydia rolled her eyes, as if playing games with a small child.

“We have been through all that. I told you I’d return, but I did not anticipate speaking to you this soon.” Her smile disappeared. “You are in an untenable position, I’m afraid.”

“A what?”

“You cannot remain in this condition,” she said, pointing to the handcuffs. “You must and will escape. When help arrives – and it will – you must not allow anyone between you and those who would watch over you until the end. The results would be catastrophic.”

“Why?”

Lydia vanished, leaving Jamie cold. Other voices closed in, their words clearer now that the helicopter was nowhere near. He recognized Agent Hedgecock, who got nowhere earlier when the agent took the caring, big-brother approach during his first set of questions. He heard other voices, at first from officers. Then others, much younger and speaking in desperate tones, followed alongside. Only when he heard a familiar voice say, “Dude,” did Jamie’s heart return from a cold, empty place.

Michael and Sammie stood at the rear of the van with Hedgecock and two patrolmen. Their jaws hung as low as his own.

“Oh my God,” Sammie said through tears. “You’re really alive.”

Michael shook his head amazed. Sammie asked Hedgecock for permission to climb in, but Michael didn’t wait to jump up. Jamie leaped from the bench and found himself in a bear hug.

“J,” Michael said, shouting. “We figured you were a goner.” Then he whispered. “Play along. Play along. Sammie’s got a plan.”

Jamie didn’t have a chance to wrap himself around Michael’s cockeyed instructions, especially when Sammie joined the reunion.

“I don’t get it,” he said. “I heard the guns and I thought …”

Sammie pushed Michael aside to embrace Jamie. Her hug included a giant kiss on his left cheek, above where a bullet grazed him earlier but no sign of injury remained. He stared into her bold, gleaming eyes and drew warmth from a pearlescent smile that would’ve lit up any room. He also couldn’t get in a word edgewise.

“We’re OK, John. We’re all OK now. I’m sorry we got separated back there. We tried to keep up, but you were running so fast, and those men were shooting at us.”

Sammie nodded as she spoke. Jamie saw something new in her eyes, a deception he needed to accept. She winked then turned to the officers.

“My cousin’s a good runner. Too good. Isn’t that right, John?”

Jamie nodded, swinging his disbelieving eyes between his closest friends. His ecstasy was not so overwhelming that he didn’t understand they were playing this game for a reason. For now, he didn’t care. They were alive. There was still somebody left.

 

49

A GENT HEDGECOCK CLIMBED aboard and came between the reunited.

“Your name is John Huggins?” The agent asked. Jamie nodded. “You could’ve made this easier if you’d told us sooner. Your cousin and friend have given us quite a story. We’re going to need to confirm some …”

Sammie jumped in. “We told them everything, John. They know what happened. Those men who killed Daddy and tried to kill us.”

“Miss Huggins, if you’d please, I need to …”

Sammie wouldn’t stop, nor would she let go of Jamie.

“You don’t understand. John needs me to be here. He’s very fragile, like I told you. He won’t say much unless I’m here. He’s always been like that. Isn’t that right, John? I help you when it’s hard to figure things out.”

Jamie recognized the pity in her eyes. He’d seen it around Albion, the way people half-stared at a man with the intelligence of a child. Sammie wanted him to pretend he was slow.

“I guess so,” he told her before glancing at Michael, who wouldn’t look him in the eyes.

“John’s a really good athlete,” she told the officers, “but he’s always had other problems. The whole reason we were out camping was because John likes it so much. Daddy thought it would be good for him.” Her softness turned to snippiness. “Why is he in handcuffs? John didn’t do anything wrong. He was just scared.”

Jamie felt as if he was 7 years old, and Sammie was his mother.

“Your cousin was armed when we found him and