Alliance

Chapter Thirteen

"I feel like a sitting duck."

"You are a sitting duck."

We stood at home plate on the baseball field. Rossi and Carlos went off to scout out the dugouts underneath the stands, leaving the rest of us in the open.

Last night Carlos and Bailey debated over where we should look next for a flag. I stayed out of the conversation entirely. They were the ones that saw Detroit from a bird's view and had brainstormed ideas on top of the hotel. It was just best to let them hash it out. In the end, they decided on Comerica Park.

Beside me, Ben stood quietly. His eyes scanning for danger. His body language told me he did not like standing here either.

Rossi and Carlos popped out of the dugout and jogged back to us. "This is a base of one of the other teams," Rossi informed, "There are sleeping bags and food in the dugout. We didn't see the flag inside so we need to look around."

"What's the plan?" Rodriguez looked over at me. Prompting me to be a leader. I didn't even open my mouth because I knew Carlos would speak before I could form words, and I was correct.

"Go in pairs," Carlos said, "check all the areas. Parking garage, team locker rooms, stands, food court area, bathrooms. Be careful of the other team. I don't want a repeat of yesterday." We all nodded.

Wong turned toward me to be partners. Good, I wanted to question him more on what he meant about Dad and Ben yesterday when we were in the hallway. I didn't want everyone else around while we talked.

He had to be lying about Dad being in the Alliance. Dad was in the military, not Alliance.

"Sparrow and I will check out the stands." Carlos intercepted Wong.

"Oh okay," Wong turned to pair up with Carter but Ben stopped him as Carter was walking away with Rossi. Wong and Ben walked off and I had a funny feeling Wong was awestruck.

The team dispersed to different locations. Carlos and I eyed the stands. "This is impossible," he said beside me.

Looking up at Carlos I tried not to scold but... "You are the one that chose the stands."

"Oh, shut up," Carlos replied. The scold wasn't angry. But sarcastic.

A small smile crept across my face. Unlike Alec, Carlos had a sense of humor. "So, if I was a flag where would I be?" I asked.

There were too many chairs to look through every one. It was a good idea to place one randomly on a chair but that felt too easy, just like how we didn't leave our flag in a piece of clothing back at base. Ben's teaching wormed its way into my head. He always said to think outside the box, which ironically is what Rodrigues said yesterday in the hotel.

Take a breath, examine the situation.

"If I was to hide a flag in plain sight in a baseball field, where would I hide it?" I asked again.

The question was more for me but Carlos answered, "A flagpole."

I looked up at him just as he looked down at me. We both turned to the large scoreboard.

The scoreboard looked like a death trap. It was unbalanced as it sagged to one side. One of the beams that supported the scoreboard was badly bent. On top of the large scoreboard was a platform. Two statue tigers stood frozen in a mid-stride with two pillars of lights between them.

I looked up at the top of the pillar of lights. My breath hitched.

"No way." Carlos saw it too. "You can't be serious."