Maybe it will all work out like Jenna said, if we just give it enough time. I hoist another rock from the pile.

I saw and heard and knew at last ...

I drop the rock and spin around. Kara is a few feet away. She stares at my bare chest and raises her eyebrows.

"I didn't hear you walk up."

She remains silent. Her gaze slowly crawls across my body.

Soon, Locke. Soon.

Soon? What does that mean? I step toward her. "Kara, what are--"

"I just came to tell you that dinner will be ready soon. Jenna says you should come in and clean up. Soon."

She smiles and walks away.

Soon. I finish the last row of rocks, wondering if I have too many loose words floating inside my head, wondering if I am hearing things that aren't even there. BioPerfect? Far from it.

The rest of the evening is calm. Kara helps with dinner and afterward cheerfully offers to do the dishes with Miesha. I even hear them laugh together once. Later she plays a game of tic-tac-toe on the floor with Kayla. Jenna and I watch her, and I think we both feel a loosening in the room, like a net that has been pulled tight over us is finally unknotting.

Soon. But when I crawl into bed and turn out the light, the word still floats in my head.

Remember this, Locke. Someone has to pay. We deserved more than we got.

And still other words haunt my dreams.

Chapter 73

"Locke!"

Something pounds on my chest. My eyes shoot open to an explosion of light and sound and the tearing away of sheets and blankets. I sit up, my arms out in front of me, ready to defend myself. Jenna's eyes are wild before me. She is yelling. I grab her arms. "What?"

"Kayla! She's gone!"

I am stumbling down the hall, trying to pull on my pants as I run to search rooms. We're all yelling, Allys, Miesha, even Dot, as we're in motion. I know it before I even hear the words. Kara is gone too.

Jenna runs out to the porch. I follow on her heels. She yells Kayla's name three times. Every silence between her calls is thunder. Last, she screams Kara's name. Focus, Locke. Think. Where would Kara go? We both turn to run down the porch steps, and that's when we see it. Sitting in the rocker at the end of the porch is Kayla's pink bear, a small white envelope propped between its legs. Jenna is sobbing as she races to it and tears it open. Her hand shakes so badly I take it from her so we can read it.

We've gone for an early picnic.

You're invited to come along.

That is, if you can find us.

I hope it doesn't take you 260 years.

Jenna leans over and clutches her stomach, and a strangled moan comes from her throat. The sound is more desolate than anything I've ever heard, and my own knees weaken. But in almost the same moment, she becomes fire racing through the house with me chasing right behind her. She grabs the keys to the truck from a hook in the hallway, and at the same time is shouting orders to Allys.

"Find Bone! Tell him and the others to search the property! And Father Andre! Tell him to watch the station! Miesha, check the greenhouse! Dot, search the road! I just checked on them both an hour ago. They can't be far!"

I grab Jenna by the wrist. "Where are you going?"

She breaks loose and heads for the back door, still barefoot and wearing her thin white nightgown. "The park! The meadow! I don't know! Anywhere they could have a picnic!"

"That's a hundred different places!"

She throws open the back door, and we're halfway to the truck before we even see the black car parked near it and someone standing just a few yards away. He aims a tazegun at us.

"And we didn't even have to knock," Gatsbro says.

Jenna and I both freeze. We hear the footsteps of Miesha and Allys stopping close behind us and their inhaled breaths.

He stares at me. Takes in my whole length. My face, my arms, all the way down to my feet. I know what he's looking for. Damage. How has his product fared? How much will he have to repair to have me showroom ready again? He smiles, pleased, and the hatred inside of me boils. Only Jenna and fear for Kayla keep me from flying through the air at him.

Jenna takes a step toward the truck, and he raises the gun to show he means business. I edge closer to him, and his squadron of goons steps forward, Hari among them. I stop.

"Let her go, Gatsbro. She has nothing to do with this."

"She has everything to do with it now, thanks to you. Though with all of her illegal activities, I'm sure we can work something out. Why don't we all go inside--"

"You can shoot or not," Jenna growls, "but I'm leaving. Now." Jenna makes a move for the truck, but I hold her back. She won't do Kayla any good if she's knocked out by a tazegun, and I know Gatsbro would do it.

"Smart move, my boy. Your BioPerfect is clearly superior to her Bio Gel at assessing precarious situations. You have me to thank for that," he says smugly.

I lean close to Jenna and whisper, "Can that tazegun take me down?"

"You and three elephants," she says.

"No whispering now," Gatsbro says. He gestures with the gun. "Inside." His goons spread out like they are casting a net.

I pretend that I'm convincing Jenna to come inside, but I'm eyeing Dot coming down the driveway behind them. She must have gone out the front door. Her sombrero flops on her head. She waits until she has eye contact with me and then nods. She pulls the sombrero from her head and yells, "Hey, the party's over here!"

Gatsbro and his goons startle and turn toward her voice. "Go!" I yell to Jenna as I lunge at Gatsbro. He shoots his tazegun aimlessly, and I hear something shatter, but I'm already pouncing on him, making the weapon fly from his hand. I feel hands on my shoulders, fists in my ribs, my jaw, a free-for-all. I'm not just wrestling with Gatsbro, but with his hired guns too. I feel no pain. I've become exactly what Hari feared. Nothing can stop me. Nothing can keep me from Gatsbro. I hear the truck roar off. I hear Miesha screaming, but I can only see the flash of Gatsbro's eyes, and the fear I see fuels me.