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“Always.”
    Amos greeted the other new residents of the underground. The younger ones—the twins and the girl—would be missed by frantic families up top.
    “Molly, did anyone say anything to those deputies about the underground?” Chase asked. “Do you think they have any clue there is a base of operations here in Herouxville?”
    “I don’t believe so.” She surveyed the others gathered around her, and they all expressed the same. “We were very careful about what we said, and only answered direct questions. Even then…” She tilted her head and blushed a little. “I mean, we didn’t exactly tell them the truth.”
    Chase smiled. He wasn’t the only one who knew how to lie, after all. “But you all told the same story, right? No contradictions?”
    “We were never split up, so no discrepancies.”
    Amos put his arm around Molly, guided her toward the hallway, and motioned the other four to follow. “I think a debriefing is called for. We’ll find out just what the WR knows about us after today’s close call. Chase, you can join us if you want. Or I can fill you in later.”
    “I’ll stay here and monitor activity up top. And I need to go over some things with Mel. We’ll talk later.”
    Amos continued down the hall.
    Chase spotted Mel in the far corner of the command center. Her hands covered her cheeks.
    And Switchblade’s hands circled her waist.

7
    Chase retreated to his private quarters. An hour would be enough time for Mel to finish her business, or whatever it was, with Switchblade. He hadn’t listened to their conversation. He’d give the people in this close environment their privacy by keeping the hearing enhancer off.
    He should’ve listened. What was going on between the two of them? Mel had only been here a few weeks.
    “I thought there was something between us,” he said to no one. “Fool.” He finished running the audio files from the deputies who’d come and gone. Seemed the crisis was over. He left for the command center.
    Mel appeared in the hall, headed in his direction. Her hands were at her side, her eyes on him. “Where’d you go, boss? I wanted to talk to you.”
    Did she think he didn’t know what was going on? It didn’t take a transhuman to figure that out.
    She threw her arms around his neck.
    Chase held her close. Her hair smelled like lilacs. “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing,” she said. “I’m just so relieved.”
    “Can we just go somewhere and talk for a while? About something besides computer code and Bible riddles and where the next shipment of dried beans is coming from? Please, Melody.”
    She laughed, and the sweet sound lifted Chase’s spirit. “Did you find us some beans?” she asked. “We’re running out of vegetables.”
    “They’re ready for pick up but we’ve lost our contacts up top.” Chase took her hand and pulled her toward his room. “I’m sure we can work it out. Right now, I want to talk to you. I’ve been here for two days and we haven’t had a chance to be alone.”
    “Everything in the underground is so important,” she said as he opened the door to his small room, which contained nothing but a single bed, a small table with a lamp, and one chair. “I feel like I’m always running, when all I’m doing is sitting at a computer station.”
    Chase entered behind her and shut the narrow door.
    “Leave the door cracked. Protocol.”
    “Come on—we’re not teenagers.”
    “But there are teenagers here. A few more of them than we had this morning. We set a good example by not doing anything that might appear inappropriate.”
    Somehow that was a relief. Switchblade would have to live by the same silly rule. Chase pulled the door open. Mel sat on the edge of the unmade bed. Chase dropped to the floor in front of her.
    He sank into her deep brown eyes. His one true friend. All the years at Synvue, during his relationship with Kerstin, spending time with Mel had always been his favorite part of day. Only days before