Free Tandem by Anna Jarzab Page B

taken me to Lake Okobogee a handful of times, and Florida once, because he liked to fish, but that was about it. “I’ve seen pictures.”
    “Well, you know the big screens?” I nodded. “The press boards are like that, but they’re everywhere, and there are people in this city that I’d prefer had no idea you were here.”
    “Like the authorities?” I asked sharply.
    “I am the authorities.”
    “ ‘Here’ as in Chicago, or ‘here’ as in … Aurora ?” I whispered the last word, afraid of being overheard, though there was nobody within earshot.
    “Both,” he said. “Now get in.”
    I was curled in a ball in the mostly empty cargo area of Thomas’s SUV. He’d draped a blanket over me, and my back was pressed against a long chrome box; God knew what he was keeping in there, but it wasn’t like he was going to tell me.
    We cruised along for about ten minutes before we hit traffic. From my place in the back, I could hear Thomas’s muffled swearing. In the dim quiet, I began to formulate a plan.
    First things first: I had to get the anchor off. If it was the thing tying me to Aurora, then it had to go as soon as possible. I shifted to face the metal box. If Thomas really was some sort of CIA-style government agent, then I figured it was at least possible the box contained weapons and other gear—guns, night-vision goggles, a couple of hand grenades … knives, maybe. I was hoping to find something I could saw through the anchor with, since there was no way I was going to be able to slip out of it; it was fastened too tightly around my wrist.
    But the box was locked. There was a small LCD panel on the front; it glowed blue, staining my skin with cerulean light. I’d just seen Thomas use a similar panel to unlock the car door. He’d pressed his thumb against it, so the technology was probably biometric. Was it set only to recognize his print, or would mine open the box as well? It seemed unlikely, but at the very least I had to try .
    When I touched the panel, it changed to the red color of burning coals. I jerked back instinctively as an alarm sounded.
    “What’s going on back there?” Thomas called out.
    “Nothing,” I told him. “I just accidentally hit this … whatever it is, with my shoulder.”
    There was a pause, like he was deciding whether to believe me. “Be careful with that,” he said finally. The alarm quieted and the panel turned blue again. “It’s dangerous.”
    I’m sure, I thought. I couldn’t pry it open with my fingertips and Thomas would notice if I tried to break the lock. Whatever the box contained, it was no longer an option. But I wasn’t beaten yet. If there was a way into Aurora, there was a way out. I just had to find it.
    I lifted the blanket and crept up to the edge of the window, peering out. We were no longer on the sleepy side street in Lincoln Park—or whatever it was called in this universe. Thomas had navigated us onto a broad avenue; there was a line of cars behind us, horns blaring. Pedestrians gazed at the backup with mild interest. It was all so normal, which I found upsetting, even more than I probably would have if everything had been completely different. My mind wandered again to the goofy worlds Granddad and I had invented once upon a time. Anything you can think of probably exists somewhere, Granddad had said. My ears caught the drone of an airplane soaring overhead. Maybe all this would be easier if there were no reminders of home.
    Then I did something bold, something I would never have imagined myself capable of doing: I unlocked and opened the back hatch, leapt out of the car, and took off running.
    I had no idea where I was going; all I knew was that I had to get away. I would never be able to get back home with Thomas watching my every move, so I had to escape him, even if that meant throwing myself upon the mercy of a world in which I didn’t belong.
    “Hey!” Thomas was out of the car in an instant, following me at full speed. I