Rise of the Elgen Read Online Free PDF

or just the car. It’s your call.”
    Jack shook his head. “This just keeps getting better.”
    *   *   *
    We had driven about a half mile from the salon when two Meridian Police cars sped past us headed in the opposite direction. Their lights were flashing but there were no sirens.
    “There they go,” Jack said. “Looks like your man knows something.”
    “Maybe he’s the one who called the police,” Ostin said.
    Possible , I thought.
    The address on my cell phone led us to an abandoned industrial area near an automotive wrecking yard. I was nervous and twitching. I’m pretty certain everyone was nervous, because no one was talking. I looked over at Jack. His face was tight and his eyes were darting back and forth, searching for danger. The yard was surrounded by a tall fence topped with razor wire, and the sun had nearly set, leaving the yard dark.
    “I don’t like this place,” Taylor said.
    “Not a lot of escape options,” Jack said slowly. “Keep your eyes peeled.”
    There was a loud snap of electricity from Zeus, and we all jumped. “Sorry,” he said. “Just keeping sharp.”
    I did my best to control my tics. “I told Ian to have Wade honk if he sees anything that looks like a trap,” I said.
    We slowly drove around the corner of a weathered, aluminum-sided warehouse. There, next to a Dumpster, were two brand-new Hummers, one yellow, the other black.
    Jack’s expression changed when he saw the vehicles. “That’s what they’re giving us to drive?”
    “Must be,” I said. “I don’t see any other cars.”
    “I’ve changed my mind,” he said. “I’ll trade.”
    We pulled up to the parked vehicles, and everyone got out of the cars.
    “Are we safe?” I asked Ian.
    “As far as I can tell. The only person around is a homeless guy sleeping in a Dumpster behind the building across the street.”
    I handed Wade a key. “You take the black Hummer. Follow us.”
    “Where are we going?” Wade asked.
    “A safe house,” I said.
    “Are you sure it’s safe?”
    “I’m not sure about anything,” I said, “except that the Elgen are hunting us and we just got some new cars.”
    Wade nodded. “Works for me.”
    “We’re trading places,” I said to Zeus, climbing into the front seat of the yellow Hummer.
    “No problem,” he said. “I’ll sit next to Tara.”
    “Taylor,” Taylor said.
    “Sorry,” Zeus said, sliding in next to her. “I keep confusing you with your evil twin.”
    “Well, you were with her a lot longer than you were with me.”
    Jack was in the driver’s seat checking out the console. I handed him the key.
    “Listen to that,” he said, starting it up. “I’ve always wanted to drive one of these bad boys. My brother drove one in Iraq.”
    “Cool,” I said.
    “It was blown up underneath him by an IED.”
    “Not cool,” I said.
    “He survived, so it’s even more cool. Where to?”
    “The man said they programmed an address into the GPS system.” I looked at the device. “I have no idea how this works. Ostin?”
    Ostin leaned forward over the seat. He pushed a few buttons and a map appeared. “There are your coordinates,” he said. “Just follow the arrow.”
    “Thanks,” I said. “You good, Jack?”
    Jack put the Hummer in gear. “I’m good.”
    As we pulled back out onto the street, Jack turned to me and said, “Hope it’s not a trap.”
    I leaned back in my seat. “Me too,” I said softly. “Me too.”

A ccording to the GPS our next destination was 7.3 miles from where we had picked up the cars, a distance we covered in less than fifteen minutes. The safe house was a small, ordinary-looking brick home in an ordinary suburban neighborhood. The yard was manicured enough not to warrant complaints, but simple enough not to warrant attention. The house was dark except for the front porch light.
    Jack pulled into the cement driveway on the west side of the house. The drive was narrow but widened in back at the entrance of a two-car