The Law and the Codas

Chapter Twenty-Four

Sam pulls his shirt collar in agitation. "Why's it so hot?" He slumps over, his gaze trailing over the paved sidewalk before landing on a huddled mass of swaying grass. His face lights up as he reaches for Mara and drags her forward.

Her eyes delight at the sight of the knee-high, variegated grass. "Are these real?" She reaches out to grab one of the blades and pulls it between her fingers. "I knew they used plants to help oxygenate the upper levels, but-" she eyes the long stretch of cut green grass straddling either side of the sidewalk, and dares to step on it. She grimaces. "Definitely artificial."

Sam waves the bush of taller grass at her so that a few blade tips skim her cheeks. She giggles.

"But this is real," he says, his fingers lingering on the fistful of grass. "How awesome is that?"

Mara's blond curls bounce around her temples. "It's double awesome."

I clamp my hand on her shoulder which sobers her expression instantly. Sam drops the grass, folds his arms over his chest, and mumbles something about me "ruining everything."

"Time to split up," I say, my voice soft.

Mara takes my hand in hers. She pokes at my fingers as she shuffles her feet against the pavement. "Will you be alright?"

I clasp the bag at my side and force a smile to surface. "I'll be fine."

Reaching up, I take the dot at my temple, peel it off, and move it to a more hidden position behind my ear. I do as Della told me to and press down on it for ten seconds. I turn my head to the side. "How's it look?"

Mara lifts on her tiptoes and inspects the flesh were the dot should be concealed. She comes away shaking her head. "Can't see a thing."

"Hate to say this, but Izzer knows his way around tech." I wrinkle my nose and allow my tongue to lull out of my mouth. "Ugh. Heaping praise for that creep...its like saying something nice about Senorita Perez over there."

Marava glowers. "Go fu--"

"Go do this mission successfully and get us all out alive?" I finish.

Marava scowls.

"No matter the situation, I'll always find time to shower you with my brand of kindness."

Marava lunges at me, a hiss whistling through her clenched teeth, but Jonathan wraps an arm around her waist with lightning speed and holds her snarling and snapping self back. He ignores the saliva dribbling down her chin and says, "You'll give us the signal for the drop?"

I nod which seems all the go-ahead Marava needs. She frees herself from Jonathan, grabs his hand, and sends me one last glare, before stalking off down the sidewalk. She and Jonathan make a left toward a mass of apartment buildings before disappearing under their shadow.

Sam reacts similarly, wrapping an arm underneath Mara and pulling her ahead. Without thinking, I grab the back of Sam's arm. He glares down at my fingers, as though the sight of them, the touch of my skin on his, is enough to get him to lop off his arm. I don't relent. Instead, I suck in a breath. "Hey." Using all his strength, he squirms free. "Be safe," I say.

He responds with a snort before walking away, Mara dragged behind. They veer left, as per the plan.

It doesn't take long before I'm left by myself, The edge of my forefinger grazes the top of the camouflaged dot. I let my finger linger, holding the dot down. Ten seconds. Twenty. A counter appears in the corner of my vision, in faint neon green, much like the timer that would begin for tests at the Facility.

01:00:00.

...

I take the road that cuts down the middle of the Homestead. It doesn't take long for the sidewalk to widen into a road