So did that make him no different than Paul? Was he the first person to use Refined Transcendent Power to stand up to the KTP? Is that why Ian and Jeremy had let them go without a fight?
Adam had stood up to the bully, and the bully had backed down. They let them go, and now they were willing to negotiate.
Or was it a trap?
Deep in thought, he jumped when Maddie suddenly appeared in the driver’s side window. She raised her eyebrows as she opened the door.
“I know. Don’t say it,” he said. “I need to be more alert now. Let’s get our stuff.”
When they got to the room, Maddie triple-checked the locks to make sure the door was secure. Then she sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands.
Without looking up she said, “I need to call Mel and Sancha. We need to warn them.”
She rubbed her eyes, pulled a cell phone that Adam had never seen out of her purse, and dialed Mel. She relayed the events to them, choking up from time to time, especially when she got to the part about Paul’s death. Adam couldn’t hear what Mel was saying on the other end. He worried that they might all turn against him. At least Maddie told Mel it was self-defense. She told them that, if he hadn’t acted quickly and killed Paul, they would both have been captured or dead.
When Maddie got off the phone, she turned to him and said, “Mel is setting up a meeting with the leaders of the peaceful ones.”
Adam was puzzled. “Leaders?” he said. “I didn’t know the peaceful ones had leaders. I didn’t think they were that well-organized.”
She said, “Actually, the peacekeepers are very well organized. We wouldn’t have been able to survive this long if we weren’t. We formed an emergency plan and a group called 12 Leaders, or 12-L, many years ago just in case a situation like this should occur. Mel, Sancha, myself, and nine others, make up 12-L. 12-L is responsible for getting a warning out to all of the peacekeepers and organizing everybody. We never wanted it to come to this.”
She looked down at her hands. Adam wondered if she was disappointed in him. The thought of Maddie being disappointed in him hurt terribly.
Would she rather he had died nobly? That he had let Paul take her?
He tried to put the thought out of his mind for the moment.
A text buzzed on Maddie’s burner phone. She read it and said, “They want to meet first thing tomorrow morning. We probably won’t be able to make it back home in time for your gig tomorrow night.”
Adam was surprised that, in spite of everything that was happening, she was worried about him missing his gig. It made him feel slightly better.
He said, “I’ll call Zach and let him know that I probably won’t make it. He’s had to cover for me a couple of times when I was sick, or had laryngitis, or was in the hospital...”
Maddie winced. He wished he hadn’t said that last part. He also knew Zach would not be happy. It was one thing to ask Zach to cover for him when he was sick and truly couldn’t help it. But he knew that he could never explain to Zach what had really happened. Adam could just imagine the conversation:
Hey Zach, I won’t be able to make it back tomorrow night because I killed two people with my mind and possibly started a war. So tomorrow we’ve got to meet with the peaceful practitioners of Refined Transcendent Power. You know, 12-L, man.
Yeah, that would not go over well. He would think Adam had dropped some acid or gone crazy and was blowing the band off because he was having too much fun on vacation. Not to mention that Zach was still not Maddie’s biggest fan. So instead, Adam would have to lie to his best friend.
Maddie said, “Where are the car keys? I need to run a couple of quick errands while you call Zach.”
Adam didn’t like the thought of them separating. “I’ll go with you.”
She shook her head. “The less we’re seen together, the better. If they’re looking for us, they’ll be looking for a couple.”
“Where are you going? I don’t like the thought of you going out alone.”
She sighed. “Adam, now is not the time. You’re going to have to trust me on this. I’ve been doing this for a long time. I know what I’m doing. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
With growing frustration, he rubbed his face with both hands.
“Fine.”
He handed her the car keys. “I really don’t like you going out alone. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“I’ll be fine. Be sure to lock all the locks behind me. Don’t open the door for anyone. I’ll text you when I get back and I’m almost at the door. I’ll knock once and say…‘butterfly.’ That will be our code word. Do not open the door until you hear me say it.”
With that, she turned, unlocked the door, and walked out without saying good-bye. Adam flopped back on the bed and covered his face with his hands. He shook his head in disbelief. His world had gone from stupendous to shit in just a few short hours. He was alone in a city he had never been to and without a method of transportation.
He hated to think it, but he wasn’t even sure if Maddie would come back. With the way she was behaving, he didn’t know where he stood with her. He didn’t know
