Stones (Data) by Jacob Whaler Read Free Book Online Page B

anonymous source. It showed a large transport T-boning her on the driver’s side at high speed while she waited at an intersection. It completely demolished the car in less than a second. There was nothing left but scattered debris.”
    Matt feels numbness spread through his body. For the first time in his life, he wants the tears to come, to release him from the coldness and emptiness that descend upon him like a steel dome. Inside his mind, a blurred image forms of his mom inside the car. She turns to look at an oncoming wall of metal. The last thing she sees is the grill of a giant truck. Glass shatters. Broken pieces engulf her in slow motion. And then it all goes black.
    He tries to talk, but the words won’t make it past the massive lump in his throat. He stares at the back of his dad’s head.
    Kent takes a deep inhale and turns. There’s a look of understanding on his face, like he knows what Matt is trying to say. “She would have died instantly. No time for pain or fear.” Kent shakes his head. “It all happened too quickly.”
    The numbness seems to release Matt from its grip. “And after that? What did you do?”
    “There’s more, and this is the part I want you to understand,” Kent says. “Four words appeared below that video clip.”
    Another long silence.
    Finally, Matt speaks up. “What did it say?”
    Kent’s lips move but make no sound. He takes another long drink of water.
    His words finally come out, almost a whisper.
    Your son is next.
    He walks back to the kitchen table and sits down. There’s a look of relief in his eyes, like a great burden has been lifted from his shoulders, and he can talk calmly again.
    “I called my buddy at the Hawthorne Police Department. He rushed to the school and picked you up a couple of minutes before a half dozen black Cadillacs pulled into the parking lot. A bunch of men with combat gear and pulse rifles poured out and searched the school for you.”
    “Really?” Matt says. “I didn’t know.”
    “My buddy saved your life. While he was bringing you to the airport, I emptied out my savings account and every other account I could access and put the cash in a suitcase. I abandoned the car in Times Square and threw away my jax. I rode the train to the airport and met you there.”
    Matt’s head bobbed up and down. “I remember that. I thought it was a game. We caught a flight to Mexico City, right?”
    “That’s right. False identities are cheap there, and I bought a few sets for each of us. After a month of hiding, we hopped on a flight to Japan and melted into the countryside. You know the rest. We went off-grid, found our way to Professor Yamamoto up in Hokkaido.”
    “Yeah, Dad, I know the rest,” Matt says. “Always on the run. Always scared. Always worried about who or what might jump out of the shadows.”
    Kent takes a glass in his hand and sips water. “I did it to protect you. I saw what they did to your mother. I couldn’t allow them to get you too.”
    “But, Dad, that was twelve years ago. I can’t live like that anymore.”
    “Son, you don’t understand how deep this runs.” Kent reaches out his hand to Matt, grabbing his arm, as if to pull him back from the edge of a cliff. “They won’t stop chasing me, and you, until they know we’re dead.”
    “How do you even know they’re still after us?”
    “Look,” Kent says. “They know I’ve still got the report on the Ganges. They know I’ve got the video of Mom.” His voice falls to a whisper. “Can you imagine what would happen if all that became public?” He stands up and looks his son in the eye. “The whole world would see the truth. It would destroy their empire, destroy their power. They aren’t going to sit by and let that happen.”
    “Why don’t you just turn the evidence over to the FBI or the CIA and let
them
handle it. It sounds like a simple corporate criminal investigation.”
    Kent shakes his head. “You still don’t get it, do you? The corporation