Read Online The Paladin Prophecy by Mark Frost - Free Book Online Page A

find me?
    “Turn off your phone, right now,” said Nando. “No more calls.”
    “Why?”
    “There’s a GPS in there, my friend. You call or text while you’re hooked into the network, they’ll ping your IP address off the closest relay tower. Track you down to the inch.”
    “I didn’t know that.”
    “Nobody’s supposed to know that. Heavy-duty Big Brother stuff. They can tag any conversation, trace texts, find you anytime they like. You can use the camera or calendar and stuff, long as you’re not on the network. But no calls.”
    Will turned off his phone, feeling a lot more vulnerable.
    “You tell anybody else where you’re going tonight?”
    “No,” said Will. “Think we’re okay?”
    “Think we got us a clean getaway,” said Nando.
    He kept them at the speed limit as they twisted and turned through the hills around Lake Casitas. Will fought a powerful urge to close his eyes, then remembered:

#41: SLEEP WHEN YOU’RE SLEEPY. CATS TAKE NAPS SO THEY’RE ALWAYS READY FOR ANYTHING.
    Will woke thirty minutes later fully alert and surprisingly refreshed. They’d merged onto the interstate, heading north along the coast near Santa Barbara. He saw foamy whitecaps to their left, moonlight glinting off the open sea, and distant offshore oil platforms lit up like Christmas trees.
    “When you get to the airport,” said Nando, “buy a plain black bag and switch your stuff into it. The one you’re carrying now’s got your school name on it. Lose the team sweatshirt, too. Pick up something touristy at the gift shop and grab a new lid. Yank the brim down low so it’s harder to see your face on security cameras.”
    “Okay.”
    “You’ll still need photo ID to get on the plane. Too late to trick out a fake, but as long as your name’s not in the TSA system yet, you’re good to go. If it is … that’s where the rubber meets the road.”
    They turned off the freeway, following signs to the airport. Nando took a no-frills Nokia cell phone and charger from the console and tossed them back to him.
    “Use that one to make any calls for now,” he said.
    “Are you sure? I don’t want to take your phone—”
    “Don’t worry. It’s not exactly mine, know what I’m saying? It’s got a camera and you can text using the number pad.”
    When they turned into the airport, Will took out his wallet.
    “Put that away,” said Nando. “Your money’s no good with me.”
    “But I got to pay you, Nando. What are you going to tell your boss?”
    “How’s he ever gonna know? I got you covered, esse . Gonna find me a fare heading back the other way and charge ’em double.”
    They laughed again. Nando slid to the curb in front of the Spanish-style terminal a few minutes before eight. The side door slid open.
    Will hesitated. “Why’d you help me, Nando?” he asked. “You didn’t have to do any of this.”
    Nando turned to face him, his big brown eyes wide and solemn. “Glad you asked me that,” he said. “When I was out back, right when that chopper flew over? I heard this voice in my head. Like I went into some kind of trance and this voice mixed in with the sound of the blades. It told me the next person who walked through my door was going to be this really important person. Like in human history. That they needed my help and I better step up big-time. Or it could mean the end of the world.”
    Will gulped. “Really?”
    “No, I’m just messing with you, holmes!” said Nando. “Who you think you are, LeBron James or something? Ain’t you heard? He’s the Chosen One. I got’chu good, though, right?”
    “Yeah, you got me.”
    Nando’s smile vanished instantly. “I am totally serious, cabrón . I heard a voice.”
    “Okay, you’re freaking me out now.”
    “But I wouldn’t have listened to it if I didn’t like you, man. You got an honest face.” They shook hands and Nando gave him a business card: NANDO GUTIERREZ, OJAI TAXI COMPANY. “You call me when you get there. Lemme know you