Page 57 of Guarding Truth

Caleb jumped off the fence and ran. More land mines exploded, sending pebbles and earth pieces high into the air. Despite some tree covering, debris rained down around them. Smoke from the charred plastic burned his nostrils and stung his eyes.

Whirring sounded behind him, and Caleb turned. Two more gun drones patrolled the edge of the property.

Juliette slowed her pace. “I don’t think the drones can navigate through the trees.”

“That makes sense if they’re being piloted by remote control,” Ivy said.

Juliette relaxed her shoulders, the tension in her face easing a bit. “If we walk straight back, we should come out at the neighboring house.”

Caleb frowned. “But that would also be where they would expect us to exit. And we lose the tree covering.”

Juliette put her hands on her hips, not bothering to mask her frustration. “You’ve got me. This is the first drone attack slash land-mine encounter I’ve ever tried to outrun. I must have been sick the day the Army had their class on outrunning a robot invasion.”

Caleb suppressed a smile. It was good to see Juliette’s feisty spirit return. The churning of the drone propellers kept humming as they pushed farther through the patch of trees toward the roofline of the neighbor’s house. But they soon came to the end of the wooded area that separated the two houses.

“Is there a road on the other side of this property?” Juliette asked. “I’m sure you memorized the map of the entire area.”

Before Caleb could respond, Ivy said, “If we walk point seven miles north, we’ll come out on Magnolia Ave.” Caleb and Juliette both gaped at Ivy. “What?” she said. “I checked the map before I snuck out. I’m not that dumb.”

“Well, that’s my girl.” Caleb slung his arm around his niece.

Juliette checked her phone. “Finally. A signal. I’ll text Alana for backup and let Agent McGregor know we’ve been attacked.” Her phone pinged. “Alana was bringing my car to me this morning. She’s already on her way. I’ll tell her to meet us at the house on Magnolia.”

They took a chance and raced for the patio of the house.

Juliette stood on her tiptoes, cupping her face with her hands to peer through the sliding glass door. “I don’t see any signs of life. Maybe this is a summer home for someone. It’s as nice as the safe house before drones went all scorched-earth on the place.”

Caleb gave the door a heavy knock, but no one responded. “At least we’re not putting anyone else in danger, but we still need to find a way out. We can’t hide here. It would be too obvious.”

“The drones are still patrolling the area,” Juliette said. “It’s only a matter of time before they discover us here.”

Caleb nodded. “Let’s move to the front of the house and see if they have a car or some kind of vehicle we can…um…borrow.” He didn’t want to trespass on someone’s private property and then steal, but they needed to leave the area.

Juliette looked like she wanted to argue about the plan but offered no alternatives. Caleb watched the skies, and they smashed themselves against the wall of the house and crept toward the front.

Sirens wailed in the distance, signifying help would soon arrive, but they didn’t have time to wait around.

They rounded the corner of the house, and Caleb spotted an older model sedan parked in the driveway. The buzz of drones had died down, but he refused to let his guard down for a second.

Juliette dashed to the car and found the driver’s door unlocked. “Yes! It’s an old car. Should be easy to hotwire, and won’t have GPS for someone to trace. Win-win.”

Caleb tossed her a Swiss Army tool he fished out of his pocket, and she caught it over the roof of the car. In no time she had the dashboard removed with the tiny screwdriver, and she connected wires until the engine purred to life. Caleb and Ivy jumped in.

“Let’s get out of here,” Jules said.

“I’m glad those days in the motor pool taught you a thing or two about hot-wiring a car,” Caleb said as Juliette backed out of the long driveway.

“Thank goodness it’s not a current model, or we’d still be sitting there.”

When she hit the street, she let out a yelp.

Directly in front of their windshield hovered a drone with a gun mounted underneath it, blocking their escape.

FOURTEEN

FRIDAY, 6:45 A.M.

What else could go wrong? Juliette had already faced off with drones, dodged land mines, and run for her life. And it wasn’t even seven a.m.