Child of Recklessness (Trials of Strength Book 2) Read Free Page B

anyone other than us watching it, the video was
hauntingly clear, especially when the stills showed us fleeing the
scene.
    ‘ Shit,’ Anna whispered.
    ‘ That’s not all,’ the voice on the phone said.
‘Wait.’
    Grainy
photos of the three of our heads appeared on the screen, mine
covered in a lot of blood. The woman’s voice came back as the
pictures shrunk and moved to the top right corner of the
screen.
    ‘ These individuals are wanted in connection with the murder,
and are described as dangerous and probably armed. Police are
urging the public not to approach them, but to telephone the number
onscreen immediately if sighted.’
    I shook
my head. It looked like we had less time than we had
thought.
    The news
reporter finished, and the screen returned to the studio. A man
appeared behind a desk, staring into the camera. He was about to
continue with other news when the screen went blank and turned
red.
    ‘ What’s happening?’ I asked, and Anna shook her head, flipping
through channels before finally returning to the one we were
on.
    ‘ We’re having problems as well,’ Anna’s phone buddy
said.
    We sat there for a few seconds, and then the screen went
blank. When it lit up again, the words EMERGENCY BROADCAST flashed and the
same woman we had watched before reappeared, her face shocked and
fearful.
    ‘ Citizens of Redburn, this is an Emergency Broadcast, you are
urged to pay close attention to this message,’ the reporter
flustered. ‘Our previous report on the murder of a man today has
taken a startling turn. These faces you will see in a few seconds,
wanted in connection with this murder, are also wanted for the
destruction of a highland town several miles from here. The town of
Greystone was viciously destroyed a few weeks ago, and police have
issued a statement regarding these now fugitives.’
    And
that’s when our lives became infinitely harder than we could have
imagined. Our faces filled the screen. These were not the grainy
zoomed in pictures we’d just seen, but clear and smiling faces.
Mine, from what was probably my college ID, Anna’s from what looked
like a driver’s license and Chris, in army fatigues.
    ‘ Holy fuck,’ I said.
     
    *
     
    After
the pictures appeared, Anna and I flew into action. She finished
quickly with the man on the line, taking a note of some address and
promising to see him there, and then we grabbed the rest of our
things. Before I could question her, the phone rang again, and I
picked up. It was Chris.
    ‘ You’re not going to believe what I’ve just seen,’ he
said.
    ‘ Oh I think we will, especially if it includes us being
murderers and terrorists,’ I replied as Anna handed me a
backpack.
    ‘ Lucas, we have to rethink our priorities here,’ Chris said as
the car’s motor hummed in the background. ‘Is your father really
worth it?’
    ‘ What?’ I asked.
    ‘ Never mind,’ he sighed. ‘I’m parked out front, get your arses
out here.’
    I hung
up, lingering on what Chris had said about priorities, when Anna
confirmed we had everything. We opened the door and made our way to
the ground floor. The cushy hall was inhabited by only one person,
a receptionist behind her desk.
    ‘ Come on,’ I said. ‘Let’s just leave.’
    Anna
nodded and we made for the automatic doors that led to the street.
I could see Chris and the car through the glass, and I was afraid
that with our new circumstances, any sudden movements would cause
armed police to descend on us. I sighed with relief when we reached
the doors.
    ‘ Excuse me?’ the woman shouted and a cold chill crawled up my
spine. ‘Are you guys checking out?’
    I turned
to see a small woman around thirty running towards us. I was about
to reply when she skidded to a stop, wide-eyed and terrified. Her
mouth flew open and she screamed, turned and then ran back to her
desk. She grabbed her phone and sprinted from the hall.
    News spreads fast I see.
    We sped
up, exited through the open doors and dove