ADOLESCENCE - The Unfortunate Disappearance of Autumn Usher

Chapter Twelve

    "One job, I had one job!"

    The words echoed in Carley's mind as she dashed to the back of the parking lot where her "baby," as she called it, was parked. She swung into the drivers seat and breathed in the deep, familiar, new car smell.

    <Welcome, Agent Carla! How was your day?>

    "Not good, Flux," she responded to the artificial intelligence which was imbedded into her vehicle's system. "I failed to do the one thing I was supposed to do."

    <Is Shiloh alright?> Flux asked.

    "No," she sighed. "But I'm not giving up."

    She threw her shift into drive sped out of the parking lot.

    "Flux, give me the coordinates of the car licensed to plate EXP-E21."

    <You are on route to the vehicle in question,> Flux responded.

    "Can I catch them?"

    <Given the status of the current traffic on this road, and the construction occurring at the upcoming intersection, the probability of catching up to EXP-E21 is at forty-two percent.>

    "I've gone on less"

    Carley increased her speed and swerved in and out of traffic.

    <EXP-E21 should be in sight now.>

    "Yeah," Carley said through her stiff expression, while skillfully ducking and weaving through the unsuspecting cars on the four lane road. "I see them."

    Carley locked in on the car and inched closer to them. They had spotted her and were speeding up. They quickly swerved to the right at the intersection to throw Carley off their track. She continued to drive forward as they went down the road that this road intersected with. She lost them.

    "Damn it!" she shouted, before railing over the grass island in the middle of the road and U-turning to the other side. She whipped back into the intersection, and turned left to follow the car.

    <We are back on course,> Flux observed.

    "Yeah, I know," she said sarcastically.

    <Agent Carla, if we turn right here, we can cut them off at the pass and block off their pathway to wherever it is they're trying to go.>

    "That would sound like a good idea, but I want to see where they're going. We've gotta bust this operation."

    <This is no time for experimentation, Agent,> Flux responded. <Shiloh is in grave danger. Immediate action must be taken.>

    "What does it look like I'm doing?!" she yelled. "Here it is! Immediate action!"

    <No need for dramatic displays, Agent,> Flux corrected.

    "Fine!"

    She swerved right into a residential development and navigated her way through the small streets and houses.

<Be careful, there's a speed limit of twenty miles per hour and there are most likely children out playing at this time.>

"Got it."

She continued to follow the path that Flux had set up on the GPS display screen in front of her. She drove out of the residential area and back onto the main road.

"Where are they?"

<Behind us, Agent.>

Carley looked in her rear view mirror and saw the redhead woman in the car grimacing and tightly gripping her steering wheel.