Michael Vey: Rise Of The Elgen Part 12

"That would depend on which floor of the academy you're talking about," Ian said. Abigail and McKenna nodded in agreement.

"There are extra quilts, pillows, and sleeping bags in that closet," Mitch.e.l.l said.

"The girls can sleep up here," I said. "We can stay downstairs."

"We only need two rooms," Taylor said. "Grace and I can share a room and McKenna and Abigail can take the other."

"I can sleep on the couch up here," Zeus said.

"That's okay," Jack said. "That's Wade's and my spot." He glanced over at Abigail, and she smiled at him.

Zeus looked back and forth between the two. "Whatever, dude."

"Anyone hungry?" Taylor asked. "That hot dog was gross."

"Can we order pizza again?" Grace said. "Maybe we'll get to eat it this time."

"I don't think we need to," Ian said with a curious expression.

"Why is that?" I asked.

He raised his hand. "Wait for it . . ."

A doorbell rang.

Mitch.e.l.l looked at him quizzically. "That was the main house doorbell. How did you know it was going to ring?"

"Psychic," he said.

"Who is it?" I asked Ian.

"Pizza delivery. The guy has like six boxes."

"Did you order pizza?" Jack asked Mitch.e.l.l.

"No," Mitch.e.l.l said. "I didn't even know you were coming."

"Everyone better hide," I said. "Ian, Zeus, Ostin, and I will check this out. Mitch.e.l.l, it's your house. You better get the door."

"I better come too," Jack said.

"No, you and Taylor should stay back with the rest in case it's another trap. They'll need you."

The doorbell rang again as we walked past the pool and in through the main house's back door.

"He's alone," Ian said. "It looks clean."

"How are you doing this?" Mitch.e.l.l asked.

"I told you," Ian said with a grin. "I'm psychic."

Ian, Zeus, Ostin, and I ducked into Mitch.e.l.l's father's office next to the front door, where we could see Mitch.e.l.l but not the deliveryman. Zeus raised his hands, electricity snapping between his fingers.

"Take it easy," I said.

"Just being prepared," he replied.

Mitch.e.l.l glanced over at us nervously, then opened the door. "Hey."

"Got your pizza," the voice said. "Also your garlic-cheese bread, a cinnamon dessert pizza, and two liters of soda."

"We didn't order any pizza," Mitch.e.l.l said.

There was a pause. "Isn't this 2724 Preston Street? The Manchester residence?"

"Yeah. That's us."

"Then it's your pizza. And it's already been paid for. Except my tip. And this stuff was heavy."

"All right," Mitch.e.l.l said, pulling out his wallet. "Just set them there."

We all moved back from the door as the guy stepped in and laid the stack of boxes on the foyer table. The deliveryman wasn't what I expected-he looked older than my mom and had hair longer than Taylor's. There were six boxes in all. Mitch.e.l.l handed him a bill.

"Thanks," the man said as he walked out.

Mitch.e.l.l shut the door. I watched out the window as the guy got in his car and drove off.

"Anything look suspicious in the car?" I asked Ian as we walked out to the foyer.

"No. It's a mess."

"Who do you think sent the pizza?" Zeus asked.

Just then something started to buzz in one of the boxes. "What's that?" Mitch.e.l.l asked.

"It's a bomb!" Ostin shouted.

"Hit the deck!" Mitch.e.l.l yelled, dropping to the ground.

Zeus, Ian, and I just stood there.

"It's not a bomb," Ian said. "It's a phone. Second box from the bottom."

Mitch.e.l.l looked up from the floor. "How do you do that?"

Zeus lifted the top pizzas off, and I opened the box and took out the buzzing phone. It was identical to the one I'd received from the woman at the tanning salon.

"Are you going to answer it?" Ostin asked.

"Do you think I should?"

He shrugged. "Your call. Literally."

I pushed the answer b.u.t.ton, then held the phone to my ear. "h.e.l.lo?"

"Michael. It's me." It was the voice again.

"You tricked us."

"We didn't trick you. That was a safe house."

"You call that 'safe'?"

"We don't know how they found you. Someone in your group might be tipping them off."

"You're saying one of us is a traitor?"

"Maybe. An Elgen plant."

"I trust them more than I do you," I said. "I'm hanging up."

"Please don't hang up. We need to talk."

"What are you doing, tracing this call?"

"We already know where you are. We sent the pizza."

I felt stupid. "Oh yeah."

"If you look out the window you'll see two white, windowless service vans parked across the street. They're ours. They're guarding the house."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Do you know what happened to the third Elgen car?"

"What?"

"The third Elgen car. The one that was about to blow up the van you were in. You don't believe that car just blew up on its own?"

I didn't know what had happened to the car. None of us did. I wondered how he knew about it.

"We did it," he said. "You did an amazing job of escaping, Michael. All of you did. You just needed a little help at the end."

"If you're with us, why didn't you just stop them from capturing us to begin with?"

"Anonymity is our most valuable weapon. If the Elgen had gotten you to the airport, we would have been forced to attack. But it was our last resort. Thankfully we didn't have to. After you destroyed the first two cars, we knew they'd a.s.sume you destroyed the third."

My mind was reeling. I didn't know what to believe. "How do they keep finding us?"

"Like I said, we don't know. We knew that the Elgen were tracking your cars. We thought once you traded cars they'd lose you. Unfortunately, we were wrong."

"We noticed," I said sarcastically. "How are you following us?"

"The old-fashioned way. We've been following you since Pasadena." The voice paused. "Are there any GPs with you?"

"No," I said. "We let them all go in California."

"All of them?"

"Of course, we don't have room for . . ." I stopped. "Jack and Wade were GPs."

"That's how they're doing it," the voice said. "The GPs are all implanted with subdermal RFIDs. You'll have to get rid of them."

I didn't understand. "Get rid of Jack and Wade? Or get rid of the subthermal R-F-I . . ."

"Subdermal RFIDs," the voice said quickly. "Your friend Ostin will know what they are. And the answer is either. I'm afraid my time's up."

"Wait. Do you know what happened to Ostin's parents?"

Ostin looked at me.

"They're safe, and we have a man watching over Taylor's house as well. You saw our van as you drove by her house yesterday afternoon."

"What about Jack's house?"

"We didn't know about him, so we weren't prepared." The receiver went dead. I put the phone in my pocket.

"What did he say?" Ostin asked.

"Your parents are okay."

"Where are they?"

"He didn't say."

Ostin looked confused. "That's good, right?"

"I hope so. What's a subdermal RFID?"

"'Subdermal' means beneath the skin. RFIDs are radio frequency identification devices." His eyes widened. "Holy cow, is that how they've been following us? Did they implant everyone with them?"

"He only said the GPs."

"What about the electric kids?"

"They tried," Ian said. "But our electricity interferes with the frequency."

"RFIDs," Ostin repeated. "So that's how they're following us."