Landlocked (Atlas Link Series Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

fatigues and sidearm on, ready to go. “I have a feeling this dig isn’t going to be as quick as I thought.”
    The audible half of the conversation paused while Sarah, Chelsea’s sister, responded. Chelsea ran her fingers through her hair, bangs flipping through her fingers at awkward angles, and sighed.
    “I can’t control the length of digs,” Chelsea said. “Believe me, I wish I could—” Another break where Sarah interrupted her. “Well, that’s because earlier today the outlook was in the band’s favor.”
    She closed her eyes as Sarah spoke. I wanted to back off, give her a few seconds of space. She knew we were late, evident in the way her foot tapped along the floor. But calling Sarah now to warn her we might be late coming back was probably better for Chelsea than if she’d called Sarah a day late.
    “I know how important the show is,” Chelsea whispered. “We’ll all rehearse together. I just won’t be there Tuesday, okay?”
    Today was Saturday. She planned to be busy until then?
    A beat passed in silence until Chelsea pouted and pulled her cell phone away from her ear. She rocked forward and placed her elbows on her knees, sitting on the bed and letting her head fall into her hands.
    I knocked on the door again. Shitty timing, but we had to go. Chelsea lifted her head, brushed some hair behind her ear, and looked up at me.
    I nudged open the door to pop my head in. Her room was too neat. Not that Chelsea was a messy, unorganized person, but everything had been set to perfection. Her spotless desk matched her bed that’d been made with precision. The only things on her floor were the instruments she’d bought to replace the ones lost with SeaSat5. Someone obviously hadn’t slept last night.
    Although I already knew the answer, I asked, “Everything okay?”
    The hand holding her cell phone flew up as she rolled her eyes. “Dandy.”
    “What was that about?” I didn’t bother hiding the fact I’d overheard.
    Chelsea’s eyes betrayed her calm response. “We’re supposed to be playing Juxe in Jersey and Philly in a month as a relatively unknown band. Sarah and Kris want everyone to practice all the time, but with the back-to-back missions we’ve had lately, going to that temple so many times… Pike said this will be a short one, but I have a bad feeling about it.”
    “Juxe?” It sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it.
    “It’s a big tour, goes coast to coast,” she said. “We were only able to get into two show dates, but Jersey and Philly are places we haven’t played yet, so…”
    I pushed the door open and stepped inside her room. “You guys will get to practice. You have leave time after this mission. We all do. You guys are better than half the bands there.”
    A smile edged her lips, but it was laced with a sadness she couldn’t hide. “I’m afraid this job’s producing a conflict of interests between the band and me. Two years ago it didn’t matter, but now…” She shook her head and looked away. “If forced to choose, I can’t say which I’ll walk away from.”
    Could she honestly leave TAO and our mission behind before we found SeaSat5 and the crew? “What do you mean?”
    “Neither of these things— the band, traveling through time— were what I wanted to do. Becoming a rock star was an accident, a byproduct of Sarah and the band’s dreams. I can’t let my sister and best friends down. I don’t have it in me to walk away after years of building this with them.”
    “And what about Captain Marks?” I asked. “Freddy? Christa?”
    Chelsea looked to me. “You and TAO are going to find them someday, with or without my help. I may be able to go up against the Lemurians because of my powers, but the calculations you make with the Waterstar map… Trevor, you’re brilliant. You’ll find the missing Link.”
    I chuckled. How could I not find it funny we thought so oppositely about this? “My 3D rendering would be nothing without the progress