Chapter Forty-Six
Forty-Six
Sophy gripped the balcony railing and watched the commotion down below in front of the inn.
“Why is the siren going off?” she asked. “I don’t see any smoke.”
She and Luke and Bruce stood together, looking out over the brightly lit compound. The alarms blared into the night. People spilled out of the casitas and the hotel lobby. A handful of uniformed security personnel were attempting to organize the situation.
Luke studied the confused crowd. “There are two possibilities. Either there really is an emergency of some kind—”
The alarms ceased and an authoritative male voice boomed over a loudspeaker.
“Attention. My name is Sam Grayson; I’m in charge of security.
This is not a test of the alarm system. I repeat, this is not a test. We have just received word from the weather service that a lightning strike in the mountains has ignited a fast-moving wildfire that is headed in our direction.
If it reaches us, this valley has the potential to become a trap. We must evacuate immediately.”
Anxiety rolled through the crowd.
“There is no need to panic, but for your own safety, please move quickly. Hotel guests, return to your rooms. Pack your bags and then wait out in front of the lobby. Your cars will be brought to you. That way we will avoid congestion in the garage. Employees and resident artists will gather up only what they can carry and leave immediately. I repeat, do not panic.”
“Way to get people to panic,” Luke said.
Sophy looked at him. “You said there were two possible explanations for this evacuation. One was that it was for real.”
“The other is that Hatch and the Alchemist decided to clear out the compound so they can move forward with their project.”
“You think that is what is happening, don’t you?”
“Yes. Mostly because there is no sign of Hatch or Grant or the Tuxedo Twins. They should be out here helping the guards organize the evacuation.”
Sophy watched vehicles driven by security personnel begin to line up in the hotel driveway.
“Think they’ll bring your car around to the front of the inn?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “You and I are not meant to leave the compound.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that. This is the part where they try to grab us, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Luke turned away from the railing and headed back through the glass doors. “But they won’t do it in front of an audience, and we’re not hanging around to see what they have in mind. We’re going to disappear.”
“As I recall, those were among the last words your uncle wrote on his hologram note.”
“And they are the reason I think Deke and Bea are still alive. My uncle has a talent for disappearing. It’s one of the things that made him good at his job when he worked for the Agency.”
“One of these days you’re going to have to tell me the full name of that agency.”
“One of these days I’ll do that. But we’ve got work to do. Take this.” Luke tossed a day pack to her. “Grab your phone and a bottle of water.”
“If we’re going on the run, water is excess weight.”
“This is the desert,” Luke said.