Chapter 22
That plane ride seemed to take a lot longer than five hours. We were on a private plane that Mayers had managed to secure for us, and we were sitting at tables in the cabin. I was siting next to Mayers, who was working with his team trying to figure out where they had taken Raine. I had nothing to do except for listen to their theories, some of which made my head hurt. Most of the time, I watched outside of the window to try and pass the time. It was my first time flying, and it would have been really exciting had it been in other circumstances.
My mind kept drifting to Raine, just like it had been since I first found out she was gone. I put her cellphone on airplane mode, and I looked through it yet again during the ride. By that point, I knew that I wasn't going to find any clues in it. I just wanted to see the pictures of her; they made me feel better. That, and knowing that Raine had survived the lab just fine for the many long years she had been there before. I knew that if she had kept sane that long, then she would surely be ok for another week or so.
When our plane landed at the Denver International Airport, it felt as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Sure, we still had no idea where Raine was, but we were a heck of a lot closer to her. All we had to do now was figure out where they had taken her and then we could save her.
Since I had never been in a crowded airport, and I had no idea where we were going, I stuck pretty close to Mayers. He led our group through the airport, and to the baggage claim area. There was a lot of baggage for the agents to pick up, since most of them had brought equipment with them to help us. I already had my backpack since I had just used it as my carry-on bag.
After all of the agents found their bags, Mayers led the way to the airport security. Once there, he left everyone outside the office and went in alone. He had told me on the plane that he was going to get their security tapes for around the time Raine's plane had arrived. He hoped to get some footage from the parking garage of them getting in a vehicle. If so, we would know what kind of vehicle to look for, and then we might be able to figure out which direction it went.
Mayers came out of the office about twenty minutes later, carrying two disks that he handed to one of the agents. We then went to the car rental desk, where Mayers had arranged to have vehicles waiting on us. There were three dodge vans sitting in the parking garage waiting for us. I slipped into the same van as Mayers so I could hear what was going on.
"Where are we going?" I asked him as the driver was pulling out of the garage.
"We're on our way to a hotel just outside of Denver." He informed me quickly, reading something on his phone.
"Why?" I asked.
"It's going to have the internet we need, and that will be our base of operations." Mayers said, turning to look at me. "From there, we will be able to look through the footage I received today, and do anything else we need. It's a hotel I've been to before, and it has a trusted enough connection for us to do whatever we need to." Mayers smiled at me reassuringly. "We're going to find your girl from there." I wanted to argue that Raine wasn't my girl, but the truth was, I really wanted her to be.
"How long until we get there?" I asked him, leaning closer to the front of the van.
"Not very long. Maybe ten minutes or so." The driver answered my question. I thanked him quietly.
"Agent Mayers, do you think that we're actually going to find her?" I asked slowly, looking out the window to avoid meeting his gaze.
"I can't be sure. If one of those disks has footage we need, then it's really possible. But if not, I don't really know what we'll do next. But we'll come up with something. I promise we won't give up until we absolutely have to." He said evenly. I nodded, even though I knew he couldn't see me.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the hotel. Mayers was dropped off at the front door, while all three vans went to park. When we parked, everyone grabbed their bags and walked to the hotel. Inside, the hotel was very well-decorated. There were chairs and couches all around the room, and a big oak desk with a woman behind it. Mayers was just taking twelve keys from her when we walked in. He smiled, thanked her, and walked over to us.
"Jaxon, you're with me. The rest of you, find someone to room with and then come to room 302." He said, handing all of the keys but two to one of the other agents. Then he motioned for me to follow him as he walked to the elevator. "Just so you know, our room will be the base of all the operations." He said as the elevator doors closed. He pushed the button for the third floor.
"That's alright with me." I told him as our elevator started moving up. "That just means I'll be closer to the action and I'll know things quicker." I said as the doors opened on the third floor.
"That's true." He said with a small smile as we stepped out of the elevator. I followed him over to room 302 as he opened the door with one of the keys. As he walked into the room, he turned and handed the other key to me.
I walked into the room and took a look around. It looked about the same as any other hotel room. There were two double beds, a TV, and a door to a batroom. The only thing I didn't normally see in hotel rooms were the two large tables surrounded with chairs. I had no idea whether they were always in the room, or if they'd been moved in at Mayers' request.
Speaking of Mayers, he was sitting his duffel bag down on the bed closest to the door. I got the clue and sat my backpack on the other bed. I sat down on the edge of my bed as Mayers started getting things out of his duffel. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Mayers got up to go see who it was, and came back with four of the other agents. They brought a bag filled with computers and other things they apparently needed to find Raine.
As the agents worked to set up the computers, another six agents came in. They teamed up with the other agents to finish setting up the computer bank. When they were done, Mayers handed two of the agents a disk each to run through the facial recognition software to look for Raine. The other agents he set looking through old records to try and find the lab through any discrepancies.
While all of the agents were looking through everything, I knew that there was nothing I could do to help. So, I sat on the edge of my bed and I looked through Raine's cell phone once again. Then, something good actually happened.
"Sir!" One of the agents Mayers had given a disk to called from his seat in front of a computer. "I found her." I instantly stood up and stood behind the man, Mayers joining me just as quickly.
"Where?" Mayers asked quickly.
"Getting into a van with a few men." The man said, pointing to the screen. There, in the black and white of the security tape, was my Raine getting into the back of what looked like a white van. I saw that evil Kelsor man getting into the passenger seat.
"Can we get the plates?" Mayers said briskly. The man nodded, doing something with the camera to zoom in on the picture. The van's license plate showed up on the screen just clear enough to be made out. "I want every man in this room checking street cams everywhere until we find this plate and make a plan of where this van was going. Is that understood?" Mayers asked, and a chorus of agreements sounded. Mayers turned to look at me.
"It looks like we might actually find your girl after all."
YOU ARE READING
The Run
Teen FictionRaine Green has been running away for most of her life. Running from what exactly, or why? Only she knows for sure. She has never had any kind of family, and she has never had a home. She has been from sea to shining sea hiding from her pursuers...
