Kindred Spirit - Noah Harris Page 0,49

heavy, he might have supported the idea that they could rush it. There he could get hold of both a charger and his tablet.

It was the tablet he was most worried about, but he didn’t know if it was a good idea to bring it up. It contained everything he could possibly know about Levi, which was a bit of a sore point between them. It also happened to have a far better battery life than his phone did, something he’d noticed in the course of using it. Jacob imagined it was probably some sort of prototype or an unreleased version that gave it a better battery life than the average tablet or phone.

It also meant that with a proper connection, it could send a message to the DDI. Outside of making sure Levi was safe and alive, contacting the DDI was his next priority. He cursed inwardly at telling the woman, Shirley, that he would probably take longer to submit his next report. If he’d kept up consistent reports, he might have been able to wait 2218 out. After enough time, the DDI might have sent someone to check on him, but as it was, he had informed them that it might be a little while until his next report.

Which left him with only one option, one he didn’t like.

“We’re going to have to wait until sunrise,” Jacob told Levi.

“To do what?”

“To do anything. We’re going to need to get into my motel room, and day is the best bet for that.”

Levi turned fast enough to rustle the bush they hid in. “Jacob. We can’t do...some full-frontal daylight assault. You saw what they were willing to do. I can’t involve the people of Gilcreek in this!”

Jacob shook his head. “It’s probably our only option. At least during the day, when everyone is awake, 2218 is less likely to do something.”

God, he hoped that was true. 2218 had already moved on Levi harder than Jacob would have predicted. By all accounts, they tended to move on their targets quietly. For all their funding and manpower, they didn’t like to draw too much attention to themselves, especially when they had other groups, like the DDI, who were intent on foiling their every attempt.

The only possibility for their sudden vehement reaction had to be Levi. Considering what Jacob had witnessed during their escape, he could understand all the firepower. The problem with that theory was that even Jacob hadn’t known how much power Levi’s spirit, Lou, could muster. Which meant either the knowledge had been hidden from him, or 2218 somehow knew something about Levi that the DDI didn’t. He wasn’t sure which one of those possibilities unnerved him more.

“We’ll need to lay low for a little while, at least until the morning,” Jacob told him. “We can probably just retreat into the woods and wait till sunrise.”

Levi peered through the bushes. “Do you think they’re watching the town?”

“More than likely, why?”

“Because maybe we don’t have to stay in the woods, trying to scrounge up berries and twigs to eat.”

Jacob frowned. “Where?”

“Laura’s store. It’s the only place in the whole town that’s kept locked, but I know where she keeps the key for the backdoor. Best part is, the store’s right up against the woods, so if we’re quick and quiet…”

Jacob considered that for a minute. They would risk being seen by 2218, but they obviously expected the two of them to try to get back into the motel room. So long as most of their eyes were on the edge of town and at the motel, their chances of getting caught were low. And it would be better to have four walls and a roof over their head while they rested, the weather might have been warm lately, but that didn’t mean the nights weren’t still cold.

“Okay,” Jacob said softly, retreating into the woods. “But if it turns out it’s a bad idea, we retreat, no arguments.”

“Deal.”

Turned out, it really had been as easy as Levi had made it out to be to get into the store. Laura apparently wasn’t too concerned about the thick growth at the back of her shop, and it had provided cover as they moved in. The key had been stored under a rock among a cluster of other rocks, and they’d slipped in the back quietly.

“No lights,” Jacob muttered as he closed the door behind them.

“Thanks, Jacob. I was just getting ready to announce to everyone that we’re in here.”

“And sarcasm is so attractive in