Indigo Incite Page 26

  Perfect timing, Tyler thought in return. They were about thirty feet from the security room. We’re getting ready to do something.

  You’re getting ready to do something? You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you? What are you up to?

  I’ll let you know if it all goes as planned.

  And what if it doesn’t all go as planned? When he didn’t respond, she thought, Tyler? Please be careful.

  No worries. I’ll talk to you later.

  Toby grinned and thought, I think your girlfriend’s worried about you.

  She has nothing to be worried about. Are you ready to do this? They were ten feet from the security room.

  Jesse reached the first step and then stopped and turned when he realized that Tyler and Toby were no longer following. They had stopped in front of the security room. “What’s up, guys? Let’s go.”

  Toby pointed toward the door. “What’s in here?”

  “That’s where security monitors all of the surveillance cameras. Come on, guys. Henry’s waiting.”

  “That sounds cool. Can we see?” Before Jesse had a chance to respond, Toby knocked on the door.

  Jesse’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “What are you up to?” He stepped off of the stairs and walked toward them.

  “We’re not up to anything,” Tyler said. “Don’t mind my brother. He’s always too curious for his own good.”

  When the door opened, the security guard emerged with his hand held to his forehead. “Oh, hey there, Jesse. Man, I have the worst headache. I must be getting sick. I think I might have fallen asleep. Don’t tell the boss-man. He’ll have my head.”

  “Let me drop these two off upstairs, and I’ll send someone down to relieve you,” Jesse told him.

  Tyler glanced at his brother. Are you ready?

  Let’s do it.

  Tyler leaned casually against the wall and focused on the security system within. A moment later, an alarm from inside the room began to blare. The guard glanced at Jesse and then hurried inside to see what had triggered it.

  Toby took a step toward Jesse. “Don’t you want to go see what the problem is?”

  “Yeah, but I shouldn’t—”

  “Don’t worry about us. Go ahead. You should check it out.”

  Tyler could feel his brother’s influential energy take hold of Jesse and defy the agent’s knowledge that he shouldn’t leave the boys alone.

  “You’re right,” Jesse said. “I should check it out. Stay right here, okay?”

  “We won’t go anywhere,” Toby assured him.

  The moment Jesse stepped inside of the room, Tyler grabbed the access card from his pocket, and with a quick swipe, the door closed.

  “Now!” Tyler said. They would have to act fast before Jesse or the guard had time to notify anyone to come to their rescue. Together, they placed their hands on the door and focused.

  The goal was to scramble and confuse all electromagnetic waves within the room. They would fry the batteries in the cell phones and walkie-talkies and put the surveillance monitors, the computers, the landline telephone, and most importantly, the access pad for the door out of commission.

  “I think we did it,” Tyler said a minute later.

  “Are you sure?”

  He paused to listen to the thoughts of the men inside the room. “Yeah, they’re totally confused. Listen.”

  Toby closed his eyes in concentration and then opened them a few moments later and smiled. “Good. Hopefully no one will find them for a while.”

  “Well, even if they do, it will take some fixing before they’ll be able to get the door open. By then, the Federales should be here. Ready to go find Dad?”

  “Let’s go.”

  By the time they reached the first step, hollers from within the security room called out to them. Jesse and the guard must have realized their unlucky predicament. Tyler glanced back and then turned to Toby and smiled. Then they bounded up the steps in search of their father.

  *****

  Toby had had a vision that their father would help them, and that had cinched the decision to let him in on their plan. When the door opened, he peered into the hall and then raised his eyebrows in question. “You’re on your own again? What are you two up to this morning?”

  Tyler smiled. “Can we come in?”

  “Of course.” He ushered them inside. “I’ve been trying to think of what I can say to Henry so that he’ll let me take you boys out of here."

  “Um…we kind of have another plan,” Tyler said.

  “You do?”

  “Yeah. I didn’t just come to Mexico to join Toby. I came here to break him out and shut this place down.”

  “You plan to shut it down? How?”

  “With a little help from the Federales.”

  Their father shook his head. “The Federales have specific orders to stay away.”

  “I know, but they’ve been given some information that they can’t ignore. They’ll be here in a few minutes to check it out. And once they find a bunch of kidnapped, American kids, they’ll have to help us.”

  “You’re sure?” He frowned and narrowed his eyes in concern.

  “Yep. Our friends are out in the woods and just reported that the police passed by on the road a few minutes ago. That’s why we came to see you. You need to get out of here.”

  “You know the compound won’t shut down for good. They’ll just relocate somewhere else in a few months. Most of the kids who are here willingly work for them.”

  “We know,” Toby said. “But, there are a few who don’t want to be here, who were taken completely against their will, like I was. They deserve to return home to their families.”

  “The agency will retaliate,” their father warned. “They aren’t going to let you wander free without a fight. You know too much, and you are much too valuable to them.”

  “They’ll let us go.” Tyler pulled the flash drive out of his pocket and held it up. “We have enough evidence on here to prove everything they’ve ever done wrong and pinpoint everyone who’s ever been involved. If anything ever happens to any of us, all of this information will be sent public. They can’t afford to let that happen.”

  “Wow. It looks like they underestimated you boys. Okay then. Let’s get out of here before the Federales arrive.”

  “We can’t go with you,” Tyler said.

  “What do you mean you can’t go with me? I can’t leave you here.”

  “We have to make sure that Henry knows we have this information.”

  “Yeah? And what if he decides that he’s not going to let you go? I know him well. He’s not one who easily gives in, without a fight. I can’t take the risk that he’ll hurt you.”

  “He won’t hurt us,” Toby said. “I’ve seen the future. If we time it just right, the Federales will show up and take him.”

  “And what if you don’t time it just right?”

  “Well then, I guess we better not mess up,” Tyler said.

  “You need to get going,” Toby said. “There’s not much time left.”

  Their father sighed and with obvious reluctance said, “Okay, but I will find you boys again. Please trust that I will. I won’t let you go back to that foster family.” He turned and started for the door.

  “Wait,” Tyler called out.

  He took his hand off of the door and turned. “Yes?”

  “Our friends are hiding in the woods up the road. They came here to help me find Toby, but they don’t have passports or a way to get back into the States. Can you help them?”

  “Of course. I know of a border tunnel we can use.”

  Toby raised his eyebrows in question. “A border tunnel?”

  “Sure. Border Patrol Agents discover tunnels all of the time. They’re used for smuggling drugs and illegal immigrants. Sometimes the tunnels get closed up, but other times the government takes them over for their own purposes. The IIA has a few tunnels here and there. It shouldn’t be too difficult to get your friends home safe.
”

  “Thank you,” Tyler said. “I’ll let Liliana know that you’re coming. Will you be able to get out of here though? I imagine the Federales are close.”

  “Don’t worry. There are a few tunnels that lead out to other exits in the woods. I’ll be long gone before the police arrive.”

  After a goodbye hug, the boys parted ways with their father and strode down the hall to Henry’s office.

  When he opened the door, Henry frowned and narrowed his eyes with suspicion. “Where’s Jesse?”

  Tyler shrugged. “I don’t know. He told us to come see you.”

  “Did he? I’ll have to have a talk with him later, I see. Well, you’re here at least. Come on in and have a seat. Let’s talk.”

  Tyler took the chair that he had sat in the previous evening, and Toby sat beside him.

  “So, boys, have you given any thought to working with me? You have a lot to offer the agency.”

  “We’ve thought about it,” Tyler said, “and it comes down to this. What if we decide that we don’t want to work for you? Can we just go home? Or what if we decide that we do want to work for you but then decide in a year that it’s not for us? Can we just get out whenever we want?”

  Henry leaned back in his chair, folded his hands, and smiled. “Those are complicated questions.”

  “No, really…they’re not. Either we can get out or we can’t. It’s a fairly simple answer.”

  “I hear that you boys have some concerns. That’s understandable. Let me get a cup of coffee, and then I’ll try to explain the situation, the best I can, okay?”

  “Go ahead.” Tyler glanced at Toby and grinned.

  Henry strode to a side counter and grabbed a mug. “Would you boys like a cup?”

  Tyler shook his head. “No, thanks.”

  “I’m good,” Toby replied.

  He resumed his seat, swiveled his chair so that he faced them, and took a sip of coffee.

  “I’m guessing that you aren’t prepared to just let us walk,” Tyler said. “This is just a little insurance to make sure that you leave us alone.” He held the flash drive up for Henry to see.

  The next sip of coffee missed his mouth and spilled onto his pristine, white collared shirt. “What’s on that?” he sputtered.

  “Oh, just about any and all information on the IIA that you’d never want the public or any other government agency to find out about.”

  “It’s a bluff. There’s nothing on that disc. You don’t have access to get into the main system.”

  “Why? Because we would need an access card, like this one?” He held up the small, plastic card.

  “Where did you get that?”

  “It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we have all of the proof we need. So you will let us go, and you’ll make sure that the agency leaves us and all of our friends alone, because if anything should happen to any of us, all of the information on this little disc will be sent to the media.”

  “So, what’s stopping you? Why not just take it straight to the public?”

  “We’re under no illusion that the agency is just going to fold under and close up shop. If we went to the media, now, it might cause a hiccup or two in operations, but you’ll just reopen, somewhere else, and continue on with your work. Once that happens, you’ll come after us, again. We’re better off this way. You let us go, the compound closes down, and we go on with our lives like we never met you. As long as we never hear from the agency again, we stay quiet.”

  “And I’m supposed to believe that? I’m supposed to just close the compound and let you walk? You can’t really think I’m going to let that happen, do you?”

  “No,” Tyler said. “We didn’t really think you would just let us go. That’s why the Federales are on their way. We figured, once they find us, they’ll let us go.”

  “You aren’t serious? We have an agreement with the Mexican government. They won’t touch us.”

  “Never say never,” Toby said. “Just wait. They should be here soon.”

  Just then, the phone on the desk rang. Henry picked up the receiver and snapped at the recipient on the other end. “What is it?” He was silent for a moment and then said, “Right, and you’ve tried to call?” He listened again and then said, “Okay, I’ll go check myself.”

  He hung up the phone and looked at the boys. “Apparently the police are outside, and my guard in the security room didn’t notify anyone. Do you know anything about that?”

  The boys smiled and shrugged.

  “We need to go for a little walk.”

  “Where?” Toby asked. “The police are already here.”

  “There are a few exits they don’t know about. We should still have time. Let’s go.” He pulled a gun out from under his desk and aimed it at them.

  Tyler sucked in his breath. Do you still see a way out of this? he silently asked his brother.

  Toby was silent for a moment and then thought, Um…yeah. Just a few more seconds and we’ll be good.

  “Come on, boys.” Henry waved the gun toward the door. “Let’s walk. First, I’ll take that disc off your hands.” He walked around the desk, aimed the gun at Tyler, and held out his other hand for the flash drive.

  Any second, huh? Tyler thought. Are you sure about that?

  Um, yeah. Right about n— Toby’s thought was interrupted by a knock at the door, and before Henry had a chance to put his gun away, an IIA security guard entered, followed by three members of the Federales.

  “I am Chief Morales with the Mexican Police. What is going on here?”

  “What are you doing here?” Henry demanded. “This is my private office and property of the United States Government.”

  “The United States Government does not own property in Mexico,” the chief corrected. “They simply lease the land. We have every right to be here.”

  “That may be, but we have an agreement with your government that you won’t disturb us. Our business here is private.”

  “That is true,” the chief said. “Unless we hear that you are breaking one of our laws. Then we have the responsibility to check it out. We have word that there are kidnapped American children.”

  Henry must have realized that he still held his gun, because he hastily tucked it into his back waistband.

  The chief turned to Toby. “Have you been kidnapped?”

  “They weren’t kidnapped,” Henry interrupted. “They are criminals. Our agency has arrested them under suspicion of a threat to national security.”

  The chief eyed Toby with curiosity. “Really? Is this true?”

  Toby shook his head. “No, sir. My brother and I were both kidnapped. They’ve kept us here and we don’t know why. You can check it out for yourselves. There are other kids who are locked up downstairs, too.”

  “Secure him until we can find out what’s going on,” the chief said.

  The other two uniformed men marched toward Henry. One of the men aimed a gun at him while the other removed the gun from Henry’s waistband and handcuffed him.

  With his hands secured behind his back, Henry glared at the boys. “You know, once the agency hears about this, they’ll have me out and back home in no time. We’ll just relocate somewhere else.”

  “You’re probably right,” Tyler said. “And we trust that once you do make it home, you’ll make sure that the agency leaves us alone…Liliana, Grace, Eddie, Sarah…all of us. You might go on with your work, but we’re going to go on with our lives.”

  “Would you kids like to come with me?” the chief asked.

  “Absolutely,” Tyler said. “We’re ready to go home.”

  EPILOGUE

  “Boys, go ahead and grab your bags. If you’ll just follow me, your room will be on the second floor.”

  Tyler and Toby each grabbed their two large duffel bags, which contained all of their personal belongings. They followed the guidance counselor out of her office and down the hall to the stairs, which would lead to their new room.

  The Portlan
d, Oregon boarding school housed students from around the world, and the twins were thrilled to be able to call it home. For some, the school meant confinement and rigidness, a residence filled with rules and proper etiquette. To the twins, it represented freedom, a place of independence.

  The counselor glanced over her shoulder to ensure that they were following and then continued down the hall. “I have to say, it is unusual for students to transfer to our school mid-year. We do make special exceptions on occasion, but usually only for students whose parents are, what you might call, influential. Now don’t get me wrong, we pride ourselves upon the confidentiality of our students. We understand that many come to us because they desire privacy. So please understand, if you ever want to share anything with me about where you come from or who your parents are, the information would be kept strictly confidential.”

  She stopped and turned to the boys with an inquisitive gaze. Tyler knew that she wanted information. Their arrival almost at the end of the school year, along with a very generous donation to the school from an anonymous donor, had left the guidance counselor more than a little curious. The boys simply smiled.

  “Ah, I see you’d rather not talk about it. I understand. Just know that I’m here anytime you need someone to talk to.” They reached the second floor and arrived at the room they would call home for the next two years. It wasn’t large, but it was comfortable and would suit their needs. “So here we are. I’ll let you get settled in. Dinner is at six downstairs in the dining hall. I’ve given you your class schedules. You’ll find them in your folders. School starts at eight tomorrow morning. Do you have any questions before I go?”

  “Um, yeah,” Tyler began, “just one. What’s the policy about weekend travel?”

  “Well, we offer a variety of weekend getaways for our students. We do backpacking trips into the mountains and excursions into the city to visit museums. They are all voluntary, of course, but we like to encourage our students to participate as much as possible.”

  “That sounds like fun. What I was curious about though was if we are allowed to go off on our own for the weekend.”

  “Oh, well, weekend travel on your own isn’t encouraged, but it certainly isn’t prohibited either. If you did leave for the weekend, you would need signed parental consent, and you would have to be back to school on Sunday evening by seven. If your parents don’t live around here, they may fax a written consent. You would have to provide your own transportation.”