Route 666 Read online

  Nash sat on the bed watching her as she re-entered the room, Lexie hot on her heels. “Thanks for that. It was getting a bit smelly in there.”

  “Would you like a sink bath before we go?”

  “Yes, that’d be lovely.”

  Connie bagged up the dirty bedding and wiped down the interior of the habitat, then disposed of it all in the trash. Letting the habitat finish air drying, she carried Nash into the bathroom and washed him using a drop of shampoo advertised as being safe for rabbits and guinea pigs and a warm, wet washcloth. She rubbed him dry afterwards with a soft hand towel and then carried him back to the bed in another, drier hand towel. She filled his habitat with an appropriate amount of bedding and was just washing and refilling Nash’s water bottle and bowl of seeds, when Lexie returned with Nelson.

  “Just let me put these in and then Nash will be ready to go.”

  “Okie dokie,” Lexie replied. “I’m going to go start putting our things in the car.” She picked up her suitcase and vanity case and carried them to the car. As she did so, she reflected on how the one place that had the most reason to do something interdimensionally hinky, hadn’t. Hopefully that was a sign of things to come. They’d leave here, everything would be normal, except maybe for Nash and Nelson coming upon the guy they wanted to catch and surfing through a portal home.

  Opening the trunk, she heard the sound of a vehicle’s tires coming quickly down the dirt track. She glanced over her shoulder. Amos was back. Coming to a quick, dust-filled stop several feet away, he flung open his door and bounded out so quickly that Lexie was positive he hadn’t been wearing a seatbelt.

  “Hey, there! I just thought I’d pop on over and see how y’all were gettin’ on and all. I realized this mornin’ when I was feeding the hogs that I hadn’t shown you where the firelighters was. Then it occurred to me that I’d plum forgot to unload the firewood for the stove out the truck. Purty hard for ya to cook your breakfast and all without the stove bein’ hot and I wasn’t sure if y’all had brought any charcoal for the grill what with you only booking the one night.”

  “Thank you, Amos,” Lexie said, trying to decide how to politely convey that they were leaving before breakfast “That is awfully sweet of you, actually.”

  Connie came down the steps, carrying Nash. “Okay, he’s ready. Oh, hi, there, Amos.” She looked at Lexie quizzically.

  “I was just about to tell Amos here that we were actually on our way already, what with it being a long way we have to go today.”

  “You’re not going to have your breakfast? The eggs are fresh and I have the milk in the car, fresh from the cow this mornin’.” He looked bereft. Lexie felt terrible. He obviously had set great store over having supplied fresh ingredients. She looked helplessly at Connie.

  Connie sighed. “You know what? We should go ahead and eat. It’s much better than the fast food crap we’d get along the highway.”

  Amos’ face lit up. “If you’ll just grab that pail off the floorboard, the one with a towel over it, I’ll get the firewood out the back and fire up the stove for you.”

  “I’ve never cooked on a wood stove before,” Connie confessed.

  “Aw, that’s okay. Tell you what, you bring in that milk and I’ll rustle up breakfast while you get ready to go. Then you can just eat and go after the dishes.”

  Connie swallowed. Lexie put her cases in the car and shook her head, resigned. There was no real way out of it without seeming rude. “Go on, Con, fetch the milk for him. I’ll bring Nash back in.”

  “Is that a rat?” Amos asked, peering in the habitat. “My nephew has a rat. His daddy bought it at the pet store.”

  “Yup, his name’s Nash,” she replied, lifting it out of the car and carrying it to the gazebo where he’d be in the shade.

  “So,” Amos said, loading his arms up with wood for the stove. “How y’all like your eggs?”

  “You’ve got to admit, he made a great omelette,” Lexie said to Connie. They had managed to leave before noon and had now driven for two hours so she felt it safe enough to broach the subject of their previous night’s stay. “And the fried bread wasn’t bad, either.”

  “I was dubious about the coffee in that old metal percolator, but that was damned good,” Connie conceded. “And the omelette was all right, for not having cheese or anything in it.”

  “How much charge does my phone have now?” Lexie asked Connie. Lexie reckoned her phone should have a reasonable amount of charge on it by now, if it wasn’t full.

  Connie pressed the button to power it up. The Apple logo appeared, followed by a lock screen. “Needs your password or fingerprint.”

  “It’s my birthday.”

  “Seriously? That’s not really secure,” Connie said, entering the digits. “Whoa!” Lexie’s phone began pinging with a series of rapid fire notifications. “Hey, Lex, you have a bunch of missed calls and some texts from some number you don’t have in your contacts.”

  “Seriously? What do they say?”

  “It’s Hetty at the Academy, please call me ASAP.”

  Lexie pulled over onto the hard shoulder and stopped. She held out her hand for the phone. “That’s Lottie’s roommate at the Academy.” A quick glance showed her that all of the missed calls came from the same number that Hetty had texted her from. She tapped the screen to return the call.

  “Miz O’Connor?” came the young woman’s voice.

  “Hetty? Why are you calling me from this number? What’s happened?”

  “Charlotte’s gone and I’m calling from this phone because I got a new one and it has a new SIM card,” came the reply.

  “What do you mean, she’s gone?”

  “We had a big test on Wednesday and got the results the day before yesterday. She didn’t do so well and she was referred for tutoring. She called Dave about it and he said to just do her best. She should go to the tutoring and work hard. That she’d pull her grades up. She started on about what if she didn’t and she flunked out and all and he said as long as she did her best, it would all be okay. Then that night she started crying. Said she’d let you down and Dave down and even her dad down. That she needed to go make it right with Dave and how she couldn’t let you find out and all that. Even said she couldn’t go talk to her dad because his grave was empty.” Hetty paused to catch her breath.

  “And then what?” Lexie prodded.

  “Then yesterday I came back from class and her drawers were empty and somebody said they saw her get in a cab. I didn’t want to tell anybody here because she’d get into a lot of trouble, unauthorized absence and all that.”

  Lexie’s expression had gone grave as she listened. “Dave is stationed at Goodfellow, so if she went to go see him, she must have gone there. She’s on my card account, I’ll call and see if she booked a ticket with it. Thanks for calling me, Hetty. You did the right thing. Just sit tight and please don’t tell anyone yet. I’ll call.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I knew you’d know the right thing to do,” Hetty said in relief. “I’ll wait for you to find her and send her home, Miz O’Connor.”

  Lexie hoped it was that simple.

  “Bye, now,” Lexie said, then ended the call. “Well, fuck!” She looked over at Lexie.

  “I heard, swap seats with me, I’ll drive while you call.”

  “How do you know which way to go? If she didn’t fly, but took a bus, we could have to go the opposite direction.”

  “You could try giving her a call, see if she answers,” Connie said wryly.

  “Well, duh,” Lexie mentally chastised herself. “I’m so flustered, I’m not thinking straight.” Lexie opened her door and got out. Connie did the same, walking around to get into the driver’s seat. Lexie paced beside the car while she listened to her daughter’s phone ring.

  “No answer,” she muttered, dialing the number again without leaving a message. On the fourth try, her daughter answered the phone.

  “What?” Charlotte asked irritably.

  “Don’t what me,
young lady. You know exactly why I’m calling.”

  “Did the Academy call you?” Charlotte asked, panicked.

  “No, Hetty did.”

  “Of course she did,” Charlotte muttered. “Look, I just got to fix things and then I’ll go right back, I swear.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m at the airport, Mathis Field. Dave is on his way to come get me.”

  “You turn your butt right back around and-” Lexie pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it. “She fucking hung up on me.” Lexie got into the car and looked over at Connie. “She actually hung up on me.”

  “Where is she?”

  “San Angelo, at the airport. Dave is on his way to pick her up.”

  “You got Dave’s number?”

  “Yes, of course I do. He’s engaged to my daughter, after all.”

  “Then call him and tell him we’re on our way, to keep her there unless he can get her to go straight back.” Connie picked up her own phone and looked up the zip code for Goodfellow Air Force Base. “Good enough,” she muttered. “Off to Texas we go,” she said, setting off in the direction Google told her to go as Lexie tried to reach Dave. “Gonna be a fifteen hour drive.”

  “Great. We were almost to Chicago, too,” Nelson complained. “I was hoping to get some pizza. This blows.”

  “Shut up back there,” Lexie said. “This is serious. She could get kicked out. I need to call the Academy and try to minimize the damage. I’ve got the number, yes, there it is…” Lexie hoped this wasn’t the end of her daughter’s career before it even began.

  Connie did a sudden U-turn.

  “What the fuck, Connie?” Lexie screeched.

  “Cool your damn jets,” Connie said. “He’s right. We’re almost to Chicago and what does Chicago have?”

  “Damned good pizza, that’s what they say,” Nelson replied.

  “No,” Connie said. “Well, yeah, they do, but that’s not what I’m after. They have an airport. We can either do a fifteen hour plus drive or we can drive for two and book the first plane to somewhere closer that’s actually in Texas.”

  “Oh my God, yes, we can! Wait, what are we going to do with these guys and the car?”

  “You’re not leaving me in no car for that long,” Nelson said.

  “Be quiet,” Nash said. “I’m pretty sure it’d be illegal for them to do that anyways. Let them figure it out.”

  “We’ll rent a couple carriers and ship them,” Connie said. “We’ll leave the car in long term parking. It’ll be okay. We do this, we can hopefully get her back on a plane and back at the Academy before the weekend is even over.”

  Lexie looked torn. “Should I call the Academy now or wait and see if she’ll get back unnoticed?”

  “Why don’t you wait until we get to Texas and talk to her? Then you’ll have a better sense of what’s up and what they need to know.”

  “Okay, yeah. You’re right, I think.”

  “So, we are going to Chicago now, right?” Nelson asked.

  “Yes!” Connie and Lexie chorused in exasperation.

  “Do they do pizza by the slice at drive throughs?”

  “Just stop with the pizza thing, man,” Nash said.

  “I can’t help it,” Nelson whined. “I keep thinking about that Chicago pizza we saw at the hotel and I’ve been wanting some!”

  “How about if you shut up about food right now and when we fly back, we’ll buy you a whole damned pizza.”

  “It was a frozen pizza, dude. Not even a real one from Chicago,” Nash said.

  “I’ll take a frozen one. I’m not picky.” Lexie turned to level a glare at him. “I’m getting quiet now,” Nelson said. “See, not another word.”

  Nash looked at him in disbelief. Nelson looked away.

  Two hours and twelve minutes later, Connie was pulling into Chicago O’hare.

  “Okay, long term parking this way,” she said. She drove up to the barrier and obtained her ticket. She drove to check out the closest section of the lot. It was full.

  “Crap. maybe the one on the other side will have a space,” Connie muttered.

  Lexie’s phone chimed. A glance at the screen told her it was Charlotte. “It’s Lottie! I better take this,” she said as Connie pulled back onto the main driveway. “Hey, baby!” She held the phone away from her ear. “What the hell?” Loud static could be heard, interspersed with snippets of Charlotte’s voice.

  A shadow fell over the landscape. “Um, is it me or has the world gone black and white and dark?” Nash asked. “It’s like being stuck in an old TV set.”

  Connie blinked and stopped the car, still halfway into the turn to go down the first aisle of parked cars in the section across from the one they’d just left. He was right. The shadow that she had first assumed was from a plane flying immediately overhead covered everything. She registered the fact that it was silent, the air completely devoid of all sound. No traffic noises, no drifts of conversation carrying on the wind, no sounds of aircraft, there was simply an all pervasive absence. It hung heavy in the air, which pressed close. Her eyes widened as the pressure suddenly lifted, colour leached back into their surrounds, and the sky brightened.

  “You best move, Connie, you’re blocking the aisle,” Lexie said hoarsely. She spoke into her phone, “Baby, you there? Oh shit, call failure. Well, I’ll wait and see if she calls again and gets through.”

  Connie began moving again, easing herself down the parking lot aisle. That’s when she noticed it. Straight ahead she should have been able to see the hulking structure of the airport. In fact, she had seen it just moments before.

  “Lex, tell me you see that.”

  Lex looked up from where’d she’d been typing out a text to send her daughter, letting her know they’d lost signal and she hadn’t ignored her call. Lexie looked up and her eyes widened.

  “Is that?”

  “Oh yeah, that was a wild portal,” Nash said. “I look like I stuck my tail in a light socket. So, where’d it dump us?”

  “The building says it is Sunset Mall,” Nelson said. “It’s right there, in big letters on the red stone block entrance.”

  “Where’s that? In Chicago?”

  “No,” whispered Lexie in reply. She cleared her throat and spoke louder. “Given the state flag I see flying, it’s in Texas.”

  “That’s convenient,” Nash said.

  “As long as it’s the same Texas, yes,” Nelson agreed. “Who’s that girl waving at you? She seems to be trying to get your attention.”

  “I’m just going to park,” Connie said, pulling into the empty space.

  “Oh, look, she and the dude with her are heading this way,” Nelson said.

  “Lottie?” Lexie asked loudly.

  “Hey, Mom. You got here faster than expected. We were just about to head in out of the sun and wait for you at the food court as arranged but then Kyle here spotted you.”

  “Kinda hard to miss the car. It’s as awesome as the pics, Mom.”

  Lexie and Connie exchanged confused looks. Who was this Kyle and why was he calling Lexie Mom?

  “Where’s Dave?” Lexie asked instead.

  Kyle wrinkled his forehead. “Dave? Oh! You mean the guy I shared a room with back at the Academy? He’s not due to arrive until tomorrow. I told him, dude, the best man can’t be late to the rehearsal.”

  “I can’t wait for you to see my dress!”

  “Dress?” Connie asked as the penny dropped. “You’re getting married but Dave is the best man?”

  “Of course I am, silly!” Charlotte rolled her eyes. “We’re not rehearsing for a play.”

  “What about the Academy?” Lexie asked.

  “What about it?” It was Charlotte’s turn to look perplexed.

  “You left in such a hurry-”

  “Mom, what are you talking about? Are you still going on about how I left right after graduation and skipped out on the party you had planned? I told you then, if you’d not tried to surpri
se me, I’d have known about it and showed up. As it was, I didn’t know so I joined Kyle for a private celebration.”

  “And I proposed and you said yes. I still can’t believe it. Special day double whammy,” Kyle said, looking at Charlotte as if she hung the moon.

  “But the end of the term is not for another month,” Connie said. “Right?”

  “Aunt Connie, have you two been dabbling in weed or something? You know I graduated last year.”

  “Youngest in the class, too,” Kyle said proudly.

  Charlotte playfully punched him in the arm. “Only because I’d graduated from high school a year early. Now Mom, are you two going to sit in the car all day or are you coming in?”

  “Babe, what about their dog and uh, hamster?”

  Charlotte peered into the back seat. “Oh, I didn’t notice those. Wait, that’s a rat!”

  Chapter 24

  Knocked Sideways and Turned Upside Down

  “Why does everyone always notice the rat more than the cute as all get out puppy dog right next to him?” Nelson groused.

  Kyle and Charlotte stared at him, slack jawed, then recognition dawned. “Oh em gee!” Charlotte squealed. “It’s the talking dog from the video we saw on Facebook! Honey, you remember?”

  “Yeah, the prank in the pet store one.” He turned to look at Lexie and Connie who were both sat frozen in the front seat.

  “That was you guys? I never pegged you two for pranksters.”

  “Shit. I forgot to not talk,” Nelson said.

  Kyle’s head swiveled back towards Nelson and his eyes narrowed. “That’s no prank. That chi really is talking. What the fuck, man?”

  “We can explain,” Connie said hurriedly.

  Kyle lifted his head and swung his gaze around the parking lot. “Okay, but not here. You’re in a town dominated by a military intelligence installation. You never know who or what might be listening. First off, doggie dude, you need to stay completely quiet, not even a bark. Secondly, we’re going to make things look like everything is normal. So, Charlotte, you and your mom need to hug and joke around like normal and go inside to the food court. Order some to go food and also stop by the Starbucks and get some coffees and one of those puppuccinos or whatever it is they do for dogs. ”