When Javier stretched and opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a pair of bare feet. They belonged to Kat, who'd apparently rolled his direction overnight. Jacob only had one bedroom, and the visitors had insisted on sharing the living room floor.
Esther was still sitting in the same chair. Not asleep, but meditating. He hoped she'd gotten some sleep at least.
Jacob came in the door with some groceries, and Javier made himself useful getting breakfast going. Soon the bacon smell drew Kat and Grace, along with a very tired-looking Esther.
"I sent a text message last night to Selena," said Kat. "Just the code number we agreed on, saying we're safe. No reply, though. Probably no reception yet wherever they are."
"I sent Selena the same thing with our Morse code," said Esther. "They seem fine, though probably tired after skiing forty miles last night. They dug a snow shelter a few miles from one of the ski resorts north of Tahoe. Probably Selena's idea. There might be a working phone or cellular reception nearby, and supplies so they don't have to rely on Mark's hunting. She won't look out of place skiing over there during the day. I'm guessing they'll stay put unless we give them word to move."
"What about the search for us?" Javier asked.
"Moved on, it seems," said Esther. "They flew that surveillance plane over a few times during the night, checking to see if we stopped somewhere nearer the camp, but the storm's still going, and the trail we left may be difficult to find by the time they get a closer look. They left some cars stationed at the highway intersections, but as we hoped, they guessed we went west on 70, and the military types went that way. Before they left they did a more thorough search of the camp and took the computer, but that won't tell them anything. I'm pretty sure they installed some surveillance equipment as well."
Kat groaned. "Lovely."
"Well, I could identify it if we were closer, and then we could remove it. But I guess we can't go back there any time soon. I've tried to keep track of the people who seemed in charge. One of them seems to have come to Reno as well, but I think it's a coincidence. Merely the closest city with power and working phones."
"We should go find that asshole and kidnap the fuck out of him," grumbled Nicola as she came into the kitchen. "See how he likes it."
Esther frowned at Nicola, who shook her head as she looked for a coffee mug. "Joking, Esther. Really."
"One thing confuses me," said Grace. "Why did they try to get us at night, during that terrible weather? After all, they probably assumed Mark had good senses, so they'd be at a disadvantage. They should have just, I don't know, come with helicopters during the day or something. The whole thing seems really rushed."
"I was thinking about that," Javier said. "Maybe it's a clue. Mark and the others would barely have any of their abilities if it weren't for Esther's trick. I'm guessing they understand about how the vision incapacitated the Changed, and they tried to attack during the window where they thought Mark might be least dangerous."
Nicola nodded. "You're right. If not for Esther it would have worked perfectly. God, I hope they don't think it's extra-suspicious that we escaped."
Raj shook his head. "I think we might be in luck. They would have found the microwave receiver, and maybe they'll find a relay or the sensor on the road. It would take them a lot of effort to find all the little stations, so maybe they'll assume we had a better surveillance system than we did. That would be the simplest explanation for why we bolted. No one else has senses extending as far as Esther."
"No one they know of, we hope," amended Esther. "If they guess the fiery vision came from an individual, then they would understand how far our senses can reach. And I have news on that front as well. I was able to follow the trail of the vision a long way, though I couldn't sense a person at the other end. It was indeed from Japan. The person is concealing themselves well, but as long as the vision keeps going, I could likely find them if I went to Japan myself. I'm sure others could, as well."
"Let's assume they can take care of themselves," said Javier quickly. "We have enough trouble of our own. We need to get some new vehicles and find somewhere to stay for the long term."
"You're welcome here," said Jacob. "As long as you need."
"That's kind, Jacob," said Esther, yawning and moving to the couch. "But it's a tremendous imposition. And we might be safer farther away."
"I could steal a couple cars easily enough," said Nicola, looking pleased at the prospect.
"That would be risky," said Raj. "And we have our false identities, aside from Nicola. Why don't we just rent them?"
Nicola conceded the point, and they argued over who would be least suspicious. In the end they settled on Javier and Grace. Javier might be on someone's watch list, but his alter ego José lived in Reno already.
"And think how different he'll look once we buzz his hair!" Kat said. Javier rolled his eyes.
Twenty minutes later Javier felt awfully conspicuous and damn near bald, but Kat claimed he looked sexy as hell. He'd have preferred Esther's opinion, but she was finally asleep.
* * *
Esther woke up as Javier came back in. He'd shaved his head for some reason. Well, not quite shaved. It must be a disguise. She had horrible headache and still needed more sleep. But she should try to be cheerful.
"Oh, Javier. You look, uh, really good that way!"
He laughed. "You're a terrible liar, Esther, and I love you. It'll grow back anyway. We got cars! Looks like Grace made it back already. We went to separate places, just to be really sneaky. And on the way back, I scouted around for a car with California plates that looked like it had been parked on the street a long time. Tonight we're going to swap license plates with the truck."
"Oh," Esther said. "Won't that get the other people in trouble?"
"Not really," said Javier. "It's not their fault if someone does that to their car. And they may not notice for a long time."
Esther wasn't convinced, but she supposed it was better than risking the FBI snooping around Jacob's neighborhood.
Her head was pounding more, a result of too much work last night with her abilities. She needed a shower. And her clothes were a mess. She'd been too embarrassed to do as most of the others and borrow from Jacob while Kat did laundry this morning.
