Purple

Eight

He was right. She found one sewn into the waistband of the jeans, one in the hem of the hoodie, and even one glued inside the belt buckle, and another one sewn into the lining of the backpack.

Liam finished replacing the tire with the spare faster than she thought. Zu helped him place the nuts back in their sockets and slowly cranked the car back down. When he handed her the tools, she knew exactly where to put them in the trunk.

"Here," he said while holding his hand out to her. "I'll take care of them." Her hands trembled as she gave him the trackers. He took them and dropped them on the ground, crushing them with his heel afterward.

"Do you guys even know where you are?" Ruby asked.

"Don't look so scared," Liam told her. "Luce is a map expert."

"All maps make sense to me," Luce told her. "May not look like it, but so does theoretical physics, existentialism according to Thoreau, speed chess, artificial intelligence-"

"Yeah. In short, we got a smartass over here," Liam interrupted.

"Hey, Chubs is pretty smart too."

At the mention of his name, he said, "What, you think I rock these geeky-ass, Coke-bottle glasses for show?"

That made Luce laugh. "You're really rocking those glasses, Chubs."

"Thank you very much, Luce." He smiled at her. "At least someone appreciates."

"Please, Luce is too nice," Liam said.

That caused her to snort. "When I want to be."

He shrugged but nodded his head in agreement.

Chubs shook his head. He got up, put the book back in his back pocket, and walked over to the three. "Why were you with the Children's League?"

"Hey now," Liam said. "This is a don't-ask-don't-tell operation. Green, you-"

"No," Chubs said, "you decided that. You and Zu-"

"And-"

"Don't even say my name, Liam," Luce said. "You know damn well I did not say anything. Plus, I'm smart enough to know no one gives a crap about Greens."

Liam gave her a look while Chubs grinned before dropping it as though he was just scolded by his mother.

"If we're going to be stuck with her, I want to know who this person is and why we got chased down by gun-toting lunatics trying to get her back."

"Chubs, leave her alone," Liam told him.

"I..." Ruby was at a loss for words. "I was..." She took a deep breath before slowly releasing it. "I was a runner in Control Tower. I saw the access codes to the computer servers the League wants access to. I have a photographic memory, and I'm good with numbers and codes."

"What about your friend? What's his deal?"

"You mean Martin?" Ruby asked. "Yesterday was the first time I had ever seen him. I don't know what his story was. I didn't ask."

Chubs snorted. "Don't tell me you believe that, Lee. We knew everyone by the time we broke out."

Luce cleared her throat. "Umm, not really. I didn't know any of you and we officially met literally not that long ago."

"Okay, but still."

"Just know you're not gonna be stuck with me," Ruby said. "I'm going home." She looked down as she put her hands in her pockets and started to walk away.