Tracers by J. J. Howard Read Free Book Online Page B

to Nikki and stood in a circle.
    â€œSo should I . . . ?” Cam looked at the others.
    â€œJust try and keep up,” Nikki told him, taking off fast again, vaulting and jumping from one level to the next without a pause. He grinned and took off after her.
    Cam counted five decks on the massive ship. The metal had once been painted white, but was now rusted through in most places. They began making their way up from the bottom level, but when they doubled back and dropped down, using the railing for leverage, Cam was surprised to find his landing cushioned by a pile of old mattresses.
    He was keeping up, Cam told himself as he ran, and it was mostly true. He wasn’t as graceful as the others, but, then again, this boat was
theirs.
It wasn’t until they all made a steep jump from a narrow perch on one side of the deck that Cam went down, hard.
    The others kept running, but one of the figures stopped, then turned back to wait for him. Maybe to check on him?
    It was Nikki.
    He pulled himself to his feet, and jogged to catch up to her, breathing hard. For a few seconds they were face-to-face, just like that day in the cherry picker. She seemed to be trying to figure something out—but what? Whether or not he was okay? Whether or not she was sorry she’d gone back for him?
    Whether or not she thought he was the most annoying person on the planet?
    â€œYou’re not careful,” she observed. A crease had appeared in her forehead. She was letting her guard down, just a little, after seeming so standoffish in front of her brother and the others.
    Cam felt confused—
he
wasn’t careful? “
You
were the one who smashed into
me
after jumping off a five-story building,” he told her.
    She bit her lip—which seemed to be a habit of hers. “Yeah. But it took me a long time to learn how to do that. Besides, that was an unusual day. I don’t usually stop traffic. Or wreck out bike messengers. I’m careful. I swear. You have to swear you will be too, yeah?”
    She didn’t wait for his promise, just turned without another word and chased off after the others.
    Cam shook his head. He seriously doubted that being
careful
would get him very far with this crowd. He stood up, feeling defiant, and pushed himself to catch up to the group. He got back into the rhythm of things, copying Nikki’s moves now. Trying to keep up with
her
—pushing himself to best her.
    He followed as they vaulted up from one level to the next until they were on the uppermost deck. Too late, Cam saw that the metal of the deck beneath his feet was
moving.
The grate was designed to slide open to allow access to the cargo hold below. But, high on adrenaline, and not knowing the ship as well as the others, who all stopped short of the gap, Cam leapt across.
    Well, he tried to leap across. What actually happened was that he didn’t get enough height in his jump, a fact he became aware of halfway across the gap, when his arms and legs started flailing around like he was swimming in midair. He missed the far edge of the gap, but managed at the last second to grab on to a length of chain that hung from the metal ledge.
    He dangled in midair, holding on for dear life.
    â€œSeriously?!” he heard one of them—maybe Jax—yell.
    â€œHe’s probably dead.” That was Dylan.
    Cam made the mistake of looking down. Five
stories
down into the empty bowels of the ship. He took a deep breath and tried to pull himself up, but his arms were fully extended and there was nothing but air for his feet to hold on to. He forced himself to stop kicking. It wasn’t doing any good.
    A pair of boots landed with a thud just above his head. Cam looked up, but the sun was behind the figure and he couldn’t see the face clearly. Whoever it was had just made the same jump he’d missed like it was nothing.
    The guy hunched down on his knees, and Cam got his first look at his face: he