twenty
Eyes everywhere. This whole time I was thinking the “eyes” were spies. Regular old human spies, like the kind you see dressed up in trench coats in the movies, except not really because that’s way too conspicuous. It never once crossed my mind that these eyes could be cameras.
But it makes perfect sense. That’s why Dad has always been paranoid about technology. That’s why all the electronics we’ve ever owned have always been old as dirt.
“It doesn’t make sense,” says Jeremy, for about the fifth time. We’re parked at some random truck stop on the side of the highway, which we cruised down for about twenty minutes at Pam’s insistence. “You’re saying that Dermott spies on us through their pieces of tech. Our dad has always been weird about technology, which means he definitely already knew that. But the lady whose house we were just in definitely had a Dermott TV in her living room, and we suspect Dad sent us there. The only reason we can think of for why Dad would send us there is so we would see the TV, but if we were just going to be caught on camera, then what was the point? There’s no way Dad would want Dermott to see who we are and what we all look like now. That would defeat the whole point.”
“Maybe…” I hesitate, not sure if I want to admit this chilling idea out loud. “Maybe it wasn’t Dad who sent us to that house.”
“Krystie, the dude’s name literally was our two names combined, do you really think that’s a coinci--”
“Maybe it was a trap,” I say. “Maybe, I don’t know, one of the Dermott people knew our names, and knew we would think it was Dad who made that file, and sent us here on purpose so the Dermott TV could film us and they’d know what we look like and… and…”
Pam lets out a loud guffaw. “Wow. And you guys think I’m paranoid.”
I don’t argue, because spoken out loud, it does sound pretty far-fetched. Besides, if they knew we were going to be at Pam’s house to find the file in the first place, why wouldn’t they have just grabbed us there, or followed us from there, instead of sending us on a wild goose chase for the sole purpose of finding out what we look like?
Jeremy’s frowning. “What’s up?” I ask him. “What are you thinking about?”
He looks up at me, then cuts his gaze over to Pam, who’s also watching him. He looks at me again, raising his eyebrows ever so slightly. It’s as if he’s expecting me to catch on to something, but he hasn’t given me enough information to know what I’m supposed to be catching on to.
I give him a quizzical look, and he tilts his head to the side as if listening for something. “Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Pam and I say together.
“It sounds like the truck is making some sort of weird noise. I’m starting to smell something too. You don’t think it’s an engine problem, do you?”
“I don’t smell anything,” I say. “Or hear anything.”
“Yeah, me neither,” says Pam.
“Seriously? You guys don’t smell that? It smells like… like burning engine oil or something. Burning in a bad way. That’s…” His eyes fix on something out the windshield. “That’s not smoke coming off the hood, is it?”
I squint my eyes, straining to see even a hint of what he’s talking about, but I see nothing. I turn to Pam, whose forehead is creasing in concern. “Let me go check it out,” she says, opening her door and going around to the front of the vehicle.
I glance again at Jeremy, who’s now smiling triumphantly. “Good. I wasn’t sure that was going to work.”
“You didn’t hear or smell or see anything strange, did you?” I realize. “You were just trying to get Pam out of the truck for a little bit.”
He nods. “Yeah. Because I have a theory, but I don’t want her hearing it. What you said, about how someone might have made that file to trap us… what if it was her dad?”
I stare at him. “Bill?”
“Yeah. It makes perfect sense. Bill’s secretly working for Dermott, but of course Dad doesn’t know that, because they haven’t seen each other in thirteen years or whatever. Dad thinks Bill’s completely on his side. But really, Bill’s been on Dermott’s side all along. He called the cops and got Mom and Dad arrested. He made that file, and he’s the one who wanted us to go to that house and be seen by that Dermott TV, so all the other Dermott employees could know who we are and how to find us.”
I shiver, even though it’s not remotely cold in the truck. “I don’t know. We were all at the house together. If Bill wanted us to get caught, wouldn’t he have just made sure we all got arrested together? It’d be a lot easier than leaving a hard-to-interpret clue in a place where we might not have even found it.”
“True,” Jeremy admits. “But maybe… maybe he needed us to go to that woman’s house for some reason. Or maybe he needed Pam to go there. Or maybe Pam’s in on it, and this whole thing was all about finding out how much we know.”
I stare out the front windshield, at the hood that’s blocking my view of Pam. I can’t see her, but I imagine she’s checking out every part of the engine to make sure things are still running smoothly. Somehow I’m not surprised that Pam knows how to work on cars. She’s not exactly less knowledgeable than the rest of us. Just knowledgeable about different things.
“I don’t think she’s in on it,” I say slowly. “Think about it. We’re some of the first people she’s ever met. Do you really think she’d be that good at lying?”
“What if we’re not the first people she’s ever met? What if the whole thing was a ruse?”
I give him a look. “Now you sound like Dad.”
Jeremy huffs and rolls his eyes. That was probably the last thing he wanted to hear, but I couldn’t help it. He’s letting the scariness of not knowing anything turn into paranoia.
“Look, she’s quirky, and kind of annoying sometimes, but I really do think we can trust her. I think she wants to get to the bottom of this and get our parents back as much as we do.”
The hood closes. We only have seconds before Pam’s back in the truck with us. “What’s our game plan?” I ask Jeremy quickly.
“I want to go to the library,” he says firmly. “We’re not going to make any progress just driving around aimlessly. So no matter what she says, we’re finding one. Oh!” He interrupts himself suddenly, looking surprised. “Maybe that’s why she didn’t want us going to the library. Because she didn’t want us finding anythi--” He cuts off when Pam enters the truck. “Everything look okay?”
“Yeah,” Pam replies. “I didn’t see anything abnormal. I think we’re safe to keep going.”
“Okie-dokie,” says Jeremy, and without waiting for any more input, shifts us into gear and starts driving away.
But it makes perfect sense. That’s why Dad has always been paranoid about technology. That’s why all the electronics we’ve ever owned have always been old as dirt.
“It doesn’t make sense,” says Jeremy, for about the fifth time. We’re parked at some random truck stop on the side of the highway, which we cruised down for about twenty minutes at Pam’s insistence. “You’re saying that Dermott spies on us through their pieces of tech. Our dad has always been weird about technology, which means he definitely already knew that. But the lady whose house we were just in definitely had a Dermott TV in her living room, and we suspect Dad sent us there. The only reason we can think of for why Dad would send us there is so we would see the TV, but if we were just going to be caught on camera, then what was the point? There’s no way Dad would want Dermott to see who we are and what we all look like now. That would defeat the whole point.”
“Maybe…” I hesitate, not sure if I want to admit this chilling idea out loud. “Maybe it wasn’t Dad who sent us to that house.”
“Krystie, the dude’s name literally was our two names combined, do you really think that’s a coinci--”
“Maybe it was a trap,” I say. “Maybe, I don’t know, one of the Dermott people knew our names, and knew we would think it was Dad who made that file, and sent us here on purpose so the Dermott TV could film us and they’d know what we look like and… and…”
Pam lets out a loud guffaw. “Wow. And you guys think I’m paranoid.”
I don’t argue, because spoken out loud, it does sound pretty far-fetched. Besides, if they knew we were going to be at Pam’s house to find the file in the first place, why wouldn’t they have just grabbed us there, or followed us from there, instead of sending us on a wild goose chase for the sole purpose of finding out what we look like?
Jeremy’s frowning. “What’s up?” I ask him. “What are you thinking about?”
He looks up at me, then cuts his gaze over to Pam, who’s also watching him. He looks at me again, raising his eyebrows ever so slightly. It’s as if he’s expecting me to catch on to something, but he hasn’t given me enough information to know what I’m supposed to be catching on to.
I give him a quizzical look, and he tilts his head to the side as if listening for something. “Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Pam and I say together.
“It sounds like the truck is making some sort of weird noise. I’m starting to smell something too. You don’t think it’s an engine problem, do you?”
“I don’t smell anything,” I say. “Or hear anything.”
“Yeah, me neither,” says Pam.
“Seriously? You guys don’t smell that? It smells like… like burning engine oil or something. Burning in a bad way. That’s…” His eyes fix on something out the windshield. “That’s not smoke coming off the hood, is it?”
I squint my eyes, straining to see even a hint of what he’s talking about, but I see nothing. I turn to Pam, whose forehead is creasing in concern. “Let me go check it out,” she says, opening her door and going around to the front of the vehicle.
I glance again at Jeremy, who’s now smiling triumphantly. “Good. I wasn’t sure that was going to work.”
“You didn’t hear or smell or see anything strange, did you?” I realize. “You were just trying to get Pam out of the truck for a little bit.”
He nods. “Yeah. Because I have a theory, but I don’t want her hearing it. What you said, about how someone might have made that file to trap us… what if it was her dad?”
I stare at him. “Bill?”
“Yeah. It makes perfect sense. Bill’s secretly working for Dermott, but of course Dad doesn’t know that, because they haven’t seen each other in thirteen years or whatever. Dad thinks Bill’s completely on his side. But really, Bill’s been on Dermott’s side all along. He called the cops and got Mom and Dad arrested. He made that file, and he’s the one who wanted us to go to that house and be seen by that Dermott TV, so all the other Dermott employees could know who we are and how to find us.”
I shiver, even though it’s not remotely cold in the truck. “I don’t know. We were all at the house together. If Bill wanted us to get caught, wouldn’t he have just made sure we all got arrested together? It’d be a lot easier than leaving a hard-to-interpret clue in a place where we might not have even found it.”
“True,” Jeremy admits. “But maybe… maybe he needed us to go to that woman’s house for some reason. Or maybe he needed Pam to go there. Or maybe Pam’s in on it, and this whole thing was all about finding out how much we know.”
I stare out the front windshield, at the hood that’s blocking my view of Pam. I can’t see her, but I imagine she’s checking out every part of the engine to make sure things are still running smoothly. Somehow I’m not surprised that Pam knows how to work on cars. She’s not exactly less knowledgeable than the rest of us. Just knowledgeable about different things.
“I don’t think she’s in on it,” I say slowly. “Think about it. We’re some of the first people she’s ever met. Do you really think she’d be that good at lying?”
“What if we’re not the first people she’s ever met? What if the whole thing was a ruse?”
I give him a look. “Now you sound like Dad.”
Jeremy huffs and rolls his eyes. That was probably the last thing he wanted to hear, but I couldn’t help it. He’s letting the scariness of not knowing anything turn into paranoia.
“Look, she’s quirky, and kind of annoying sometimes, but I really do think we can trust her. I think she wants to get to the bottom of this and get our parents back as much as we do.”
The hood closes. We only have seconds before Pam’s back in the truck with us. “What’s our game plan?” I ask Jeremy quickly.
“I want to go to the library,” he says firmly. “We’re not going to make any progress just driving around aimlessly. So no matter what she says, we’re finding one. Oh!” He interrupts himself suddenly, looking surprised. “Maybe that’s why she didn’t want us going to the library. Because she didn’t want us finding anythi--” He cuts off when Pam enters the truck. “Everything look okay?”
“Yeah,” Pam replies. “I didn’t see anything abnormal. I think we’re safe to keep going.”
“Okie-dokie,” says Jeremy, and without waiting for any more input, shifts us into gear and starts driving away.
