Every time the Earth shifted, so did the walls and rubble in the village.
Dakota moved away from the debris pile onto the roadway.
The Earth reverberated again.
This time, it was aggressive enough and long enough that he crouched to the ground and put out a hand for stability.
Screams erupted from the village, and Dakota couldn’t tell if it was fear or pain. Both. It had to be both.
“Got to go,” he called into his phone, then hung up.
He dialed Rylee. She was in the supply tent, and this morning she was having trouble walking. She thought that she probably fried her circuitry over the last week. But this just wasn’t the environment to be immobile.
“I’m fine,” she said. “A couple of boxes shifted.”
“Okay, I’m going to help in the village. Call me if you need anything. Help getting to the restroom or whatever.”
“I’ll pee in a bag. I’m not taking someone off rescue for something that stupid. But thank you. Go. Goodbye.”
A damned amazing woman. If he didn’t know better, he’d think he was in love.
Did he know better?
Could this be love?
Whatever the label, it was cellular and intense.
Dakota had never felt this way about anyone ever, nothing even close.
“What do you think, Tank? Too soon to name it?”
“Hey, Dakota,” George called over to him. “Can you take this down to AJ?”
Dakota grabbed the webbing, checked the direction George was pointing, and took off at a steady jog.
He was in a new part of the village. This had all been standing this morning. That last tremor must have been the shake that collapsed this street.
Dakota hated that Kumar had called him. Hated that he knew McLeod might be around. That meant Dakota needed to focus on his mission, finding McLeod and trying to find the counterfeit money on him to tie him into the distribution. He’d prefer helping with he rescue.
Dakota’s phone rang, Rylee. “You’re not going to believe this,” she said.
“Quicksand?” He shot for levity since he’d learned that was her and Neesa’s coping mechanism.
“Close. Hailey called me. Guess what she discovered.”
“McLeod is here.”
“You knew?” Rylee sounded disappointed.
“Kumar just got McLeod’s newsletter. Did you see him, Rylee? Is he at the camp? You said Hailey.” Dakota jogged past people standing in the bare patches, their hands on their heads, shocked by the new circumstances.
“Iniquus has contracts with most of the major universities. So on the off chance he was on their roster, she checked to see if McLeod’s school had an Iniquus contract.”
“Does it?”
“Yes. So when students or faculty travel, by contract, they’re covered for extractions. His college doesn’t cover him for kidnap insurance, just extractions from dangerous situations or medical emergencies.”
“So how did Hailey know that he’s here?”
