Read Online Criminal Destiny by Gordon Korman - Free Book Online Page B

stock of herself.
    â€œI’m alive,” croaks Malik. “No thanks to Laska.”
    â€œKid?” comes an anxious voice from above. It’s the cop, and he’s more worried than mad.
    It’s a good news/bad news kind of thing. It’s good that nobody’s hurt. But then he disappears, which can only mean one thing.
    He’s coming after us.

7
MALIK BRUDER
    I should kill Amber for putting us through this.
    But right now I’m too busy running for my life.
    One by one, we climb out of the Dumpster and drop to the pavement. We’re covered in coffee grounds and pizza grease, and my nose is bleeding. But under the circumstances, we’re lucky.
    We dash down the alley to the next street, and find an even narrower alley off of there. We hug the wall, peering out just in time to see the police cruiser pass by on the main road, our cop hunched over the wheel, looking from side to side.
    Thanks so much, Laska. We don’t have enough trouble with Project Osiris on the hunt for us. We need the law breathing down our necks. If that cop catches us, it won’tbe just Amber who’s in trouble. He’ll arrest all four of us this time. I wonder if there’s such a crime as aiding and abetting a moron.
    â€œWe’ve got to get out of here,” Amber says urgently.
    â€œYou think?” I ask sarcastically.
    Eli’s not so sure. “Maybe it makes more sense to lie low.”
    Laska shakes her head. “His car has a police radio in it. I heard it while we were driving to the medical building—all these cops telling each other what to watch for. He could have every officer in Denver on the lookout for four kids.”
    It’s not good. If the Purples hear about four runaways, it’s not going to take them long to put two and two together. Either they’ll find us first, or the cops will, and we’ll be sitting ducks in a cell when Serenity’s goon squad comes to drag us back to Happy Valley. We can try to explain what’s happened. But Laska’s already proven how believable our clone story is out here in the real world.
    â€œWe could separate, and meet back when the heat’s off,” Tori suggests.
    â€œNo way!” I exclaim. “Two stupids don’t make a smart. We almost got ourselves killed getting Laska back. We’re not going to break up on purpose.”
    â€œWe need to stick together,” Eli agrees. “But we also needto be miles away from where they’re going to be searching for us. How do people get around a city?”
    â€œWe had the Purples’ car,” I remind him, “but that wasn’t good enough for you.”
    â€œWe had to ditch it,” Eli defends the decision. “The Purples were following us by air.”
    â€œPeople take buses,” Tori reasons, “and trains—”
    â€œThose things are full of passengers,” Eli cuts in. “Someone is bound to remember four kids and where they got off.”
    â€œWhat about a taxi?” Amber suggests.
    â€œEven worse,” Eli replies seriously. “The driver could be listening to the radio and hear about the search. At best he’d know exactly where he dropped us. At worst, we could be still in the car when it happens.”
    â€œWell, what are we supposed to do?” I ask belligerently. “Flap our arms and fly?”
    While we stand there, looking helplessly at each other, a police car cruises by on the street at the opposite end of our alley. I can tell we’re all wondering the same thing—is that the same cop, or has he sounded the alarm, and we’re already being surrounded?
    â€œWhat we need,” Tori muses, “is a ride from someone who doesn’t know he’s giving us a ride.”
    â€œOh, right!” I explode. “Like there’s somebody that blind or that stupid!”
    We hear a loud grinding sound as a truck gears down to come to a halt. For a moment, it fills