Marty Morgan scanned the horizon as he drove through the reservation. He had a

compass to keep him on path built into the dashboard of the Scout van. The ring sat

above it on the dashboard. They agreed which way he should be going.

“Do you think we’ll be there tonight?,” asked Ren.

“I don’t know,” said Marty. “We might have to take the last part on foot. I think

they’ll have security looking for us since Mercer’s dad called him.”

“The thing that bothers me the most is why did they take Mr. Robot’s body,” said

Ren. “They left his skull and took the rest of him.”

“So?,” asked Marty. “What does it matter?”

“It suggests in my mind that he was the target of the ambush.” Ren pulled out a piece

of paper and unfolded it on his side of the cab like a large map. “It explains almost

everything.”

“How could they use a headless body?,” asked Marty. “I don’t understand.”

“I don’t see the whole picture but I am sure they wanted his mechanical body,” said

Ren. He looked at the piece of paper before writing on it with a finger. “We should

have asked Mr. Marston to trace what he could about William Watson.”

“The only reason to take Barry’s body is to use it somehow,” said Marty. He looked

in the mirror. Something flashed behind them. “If they tracked down Cortez first,

would they have taken his body too? He had a robotic tank and life support.”

“Maybe they took him first,” said Ren. He pressed one section of the paper. Cortez

and disappearance were highlighted.

“Maybe,” said Marty. That flash happened again. “Do you think Watson cared

enough about me to try to have people follow me around?”

“Why wouldn’t he?,” asked Ren. “You’re the last survivor of the Hazard Scouts. You

control their resources to a point, and you know many of the people they knew. I was

surprised to find you still alive. I would have had you killed a long time ago to cover

my tracks.”

“If I told you that I think we’re being followed, what would you say?,” asked Marty.

“I would say let’s make sure,” said Ren. He folded up the piece of paper and put it

away in his bag. “Give me a second to look before we come up with some plan to

waylay the other car. They might be innocents going the same way we’re going.”

Marty made a head gesture to acknowledge the logic. He could be paranoid. Watson

might not know anything about Mercer’s involvement in what was going on. Once

they had Mercer, they could reach for the next link in the chain.

He didn’t like the thought that Barry’s body could be used by someone else, and that

someone was behind killing all of his friends.

He planned to extract some answers from his only clue.

Ren walked to the back of the van. He looked out the back window with his hand

over his eyes. He pulled a spyglass from his bag and used that to look at the other car

on the road.

“Red pickup,” said Ren. “Pretty common. The passengers are white, dressed casual.”

Marty grunted. That didn’t mean anything. He slowed to a crawl and pulled over on

the shoulder. He put on the hazard lights.

“Are they still coming?,” Marty asked. He pulled the switch to open the engine cover.

“No, they pulled into a driveway,” said Ren. “What do you want to do?”

“We can pretend I am working on the engine, while I send something to spy on

them,” said Marty. “Or one of us can go back there and ask them in person.”

“I’ll go talk to them,” said Ren. He took one last look before putting the spyglass

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

away. “Maybe they are harmless people who live and work here on the reservation.

That driveway might have been where they were going.”

“How much time do you need?,” asked Marty.

“I don’t know,” said Ren. “The doctor said I needed work on my stealth. I’ll be back

as soon as I can.”

Ren opened the side door and stepped outside. He disappeared into the landscape as

easily as a shadow at night.

Marty stepped outside and walked to the front of the van. He raised the hood and

looked at the engine. He smiled at himself. There was no way he could do anything

to fix Barry’s engine if it was really broken.

He doubted anyone but another scientist could do anything.

He fiddled with the thing, wiping the top off the parts with a rag. He checked his

watch. He shook his head. He needed to give Ren more time.

He decided to fake start the engine to pretend he was trying to fix things.

He climbed back into the cab. He hit the brakes a couple of times. He got out and

went back to the engine. He sent a bird back to check on the pickup crew.

Marty paused as the bird reported that Ren was questioning the two men. He had

apparently put them to sleep so he could check their memories. The bird landed on

the ground and watched.

Ren nodded when he was satisfied he had gained all the answers he needed. He

turned and nodded at the bird before vanishing again. The bird flew back to Marty so

it could be dismissed now that its job was done.

It landed on the roof of the Scout van as Marty closed the hood on the engine. He

pulled it back inside as he climbed into the van. He started the engine so they could

start rolling again.

Ren appeared and entered the van. He smiled as he took his seat.

“They work for Watson Security,” said Ren. “They were supposed to keep an eye on

us. They have forwarded reports on our interest and location to Watson. I expect

when we reach the facility that houses Mercer, we will be given a warm welcome.”

“I’m surprised they have put up with our prying so far,” said Marty. “If I was Watson,

I would have guys coming out of the woodwork to kill us.”

“I think they want to talk to us,” said Ren. “Our tail was unsure. They were given a

hands off order until someone took over for them.”

“That sounds like they were waiting for a decision,” said Marty. “What kind of

decision?”

“I don’t know,” said Ren. “Either they want to talk to us so they can learn how much

we know, or bury us because we already know too much.”

“We need to hide the van and take something less conspicuous to get close to the

place.” Marty frowned at the chain of thought. “We need to do it now that we are

clear of their spotters.”

“How do we do that?,” asked Ren. “I don’t see any where we can get another car.”

“We’ll have to improvise something,” said Marty. “First, we have to hide the van.”

“I can do that,” said Ren. “Pull off the side of the road.”

Marty looked for a place. He saw a gravel driveway leading to a trailer in the

distance. He pulled into the driveway.

“Get what you think you need,” said Ren. He got out of his seat. “Then get out. I’ll

hide the van from being spotted.”

Marty grabbed his coat and followed Ren out of the van. He stood back, pulling on

his thin coat. He didn’t see how the apprentice was going to make the Scout van

vanish.

Ren took a bottle out of his bag. He pointed the mouth at the van. A cloud surrounded

the vehicle. When it cleared, the van was gone. The bottle held a tiny replica. Ren

corked the bottle and put it back in his bag.

“That was impressive,” said Marty. “How did you do it?”

“I hypnotized you into believing the van has been shrunk to fit inside a bottle,” said

Ren.

“Okay,” said Marty with lifted eyebrows. “Sure.”

“Now how do we get to where we need to go other than riding a griffin to the forest

and being seen from the air?,” asked Ren.

“We just ask the owner of this trailer if he has a car we can borrow,” said Marty.

“Maybe you can hypnotize him.”

“Maybe,” said Ren. “After you.”

Marty walked up to the trailer door. He looked around. Nothing moved in the yard.

He knocked. Maybe no one was home. It was the middle of the day.

Marty knocked on the door again. Someone moved inside. He waited for the door to

open. A young woman answered the door, dark hair pulled back with a scrunchy, tank

top and jeans. She held a baby on her hip. She frowned at the two scruffy individuals

on her threshold.

“What do you want?,” the woman asked. Dark eyes conveyed suspicion as she kept

a hand on the door.

“We were wondering if you had a car we could buy,” said Marty.

“You’re kidding me,” she said.

“No,” said Marty. “I’m willing to pay cash if you have something, or know someone

who has something we can use.”

“I know someone who has a car for sale down the road.” She looked at her baby. “I’ll

call him.”

“Thank you,” said Marty. “I know this seems strange, but we need a car because we

had to leave ours behind. If the car runs, we’ll be glad to pay for it.”

“Hold on,” said the woman. She closed the door on them.

“Do you think she will call her friend?,” asked Ren.

“Who knows?,” said Marty.

The door opened. The woman had the baby in her arms.

“Billy said he would bring his car around,” said the woman. “How long can you

wait?”

“A few minutes,” said Marty. He looked around. “This is a nice place here.”

“It’s all right,” she said. “I haven’t seen either of you before. What brings you to the

res?”

“We’re passing through,” said Marty. “We’re heading south to Phoenix.”

“Good luck on that,” said the woman.