We found another number in the papers, and since we were out of change, Allen called it from his cellphone. It was Silas' phone, and Allen lept up when he heard his friend's voice, heaving a sigh of relief. He told Silas that it was Allen, and I heard silas roar something through the phone. I couldn't tell if it was relief or anger. About a minute later, I knew it was both. According to what Allen told me, after Allen lost his fight on the train, the man, Wilson, took his gun, wallet, knife and, most dangerously, his cellphone. Three days after I found Allen by the tracks, the bank was raided. In fact, Everyone Allen had visited received another visit, every call he made was tracked, every gps coordinate he had visited was re-checked. The entire network of people working to uncover this mystery had been plowed through by Wilson Ingram and the police.
Now, it was Allen and I, Silas, Liza, Mike, the hacker who had been traveling with Silas,and one other person from the bank who escaped with Liza. There were only six of us now. Silas had decided to meet with Allen and I, and we climbed back into our car and headed west again. Allen was a mess. He wouldn't let me drive, even though there were tears pouring from his face. Finding out that everything had collapsed because he had lost a fistfight may have broken him. I really don't think he was the same after that. I think that the overwhelming weight of it all may have finally made a crack in his resolve, and it wasn't long before that crack would widen.
We met Silas in a junky diner, a day away from chicago. He and Liza had been travelling together, trying to find out more about what had happened. Mike and the other two hacker fellows were hidden away in a safe-house, living somewhere in the woods. Silas was a really gruff sort of guy, not ever rude, per se, but not the sort of guy who wasted words on niceties. His first impression was of a guy who had been through a lot, and didn't want to waste time. Liza seemed like a charming enough woman, if a bit of a flirt.
They told us about the things that had happened after Allen went missing, how the police had used his phone to track everyone. Silas was on his way into chicago when it happened, and Liza had barely escaped across the roof with the other guy. There was a small access hatch on the roof, and they made it across the alley to safety. She had gotten ahold of Silas, and he had met them a couple miles from the bank. They had been travelling together since. Mike had gotten delayed at the train station, and was a day away when it happened, but he was nearly nabbed at a different station that week. He finally made it to Silas a week later. The whole thing had been a mess. They were pretty sure nobody else had escaped. Fortunately, Mike had kept ahold of the backpacks with all of the clues in them, and the cops hadn't gotten ahold of all of that.
We told Silas and Liza everything we had learned, and they sat there, dumbfounded. They had no idea about the toys, and were disgusted. It took Silas a minute to decide what to say. It took Liza much longer. she just dropped her head to the table, and disappeared into her head for a bit. We spent the rest of the day in that diner, talking about what we knew, and what we needed to do next. Honetly, I don't think anyone was sure what to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please be aware that this blog may be monitored. I have enabled anonymous commenting, which is the best I can do for your protection. I would love to hear from anyone friendly, please.