Read Online The Two Towers by Jamie A. Waters - Free Book Online Page A

Veridian was already waiting for her under the UV Guard. He was clearly agitated, pacing under the artificial shade. The moment she pulled off her helmet, he asked, “You lost them?”
    “Of course. I drove around making sure before working my way back here.”
    She pulled the cabling device off her bike and handed it to Veridian to reattach to his bike. “I didn’t think they’d be onto us so quickly. Carl must have known you’d try to go back into the ruins before the week was up.”
    Kayla shrugged and opened up her backpack to make sure the artifacts hadn’t been damaged. A beep from Veridian’s bike radar made her look up.
    “What is it?”
    He stared at the radar. “Shit, we’ve got three bikes headed this way. They must have followed you.”
    She shook her head in denial. “No freaking way. I lost them.”
    “Could they have gotten back into our coms?”
    Kayla considered the possibility for a moment. “I don’t see how. Why the hell are they chasing us down for a couple of stupid artifacts? He’s worse than a rash that won’t go away.”
    “Do you want to take off?”
    “Nah,” Kayla stretched her arms over her head and then leaned against the bike. “Not much point if the bastard is tracking us. Let’s find out what he wants.”
    Veridian frowned but didn’t object. They waited while the three bikes pulled up. Carl dismounted, along with Cruncher and Xantham.
    Xantham pulled off his helmet and stared at Kayla. “Fuck me sideways. Where the hell did you learn to ride, girl? I’ve never seen anyone with moves like that.”
    She grinned and winked at him. “You pick it up quick when you have to outrun traders and their crew.”
    Carl pulled off his helmet. “Kayla, we need to talk.”
    She yawned. “Nice to see you too, Carl. But I’m a little busy right now getting my much-needed rest. You see, I’m still technically grounded, but I thought the fresh air might do me some good.”
    “You sure looked pretty damn healthy for someone flying out of Sector 12 earlier.”
    Kayla blinked at him. “Business for you traders must be really slow if you’re willing to chase me across half the district. If you need the credits so bad, go ahead and search us. But keep Leo out of this. He didn’t know I was coming here. I waited two days, which was more than fair.”
    Carl shook his head. “No, it’s not that. I need to talk to you about Ramiro.”
    Kayla's shoulders tensed. There was no way she was going to discuss Ramiro beyond what she had revealed the other day. “There’s nothing to talk about. The guy’s an asshole and I plan on staying as far away from him as I can get. I’m more interested in knowing how you knew I’d be here. I know for a fact that my coms and Leo’s system are squeaky clean. I spent the last two days…”
    Kayla’s eyes widened as a thought struck her and she jerked upright. “You sneaky bastard. You put a tracker on my bike when I came to your camp the other day, didn't you?”
    “Kayla, that’s not important right now,” Carl began.
    She ignored him and crouched down next to her bike, pulling a flashlight out of her pocket. If there was a tracking device somewhere, she'd find it.
    “Ramiro’s gone off the deep end. He’s looking for you.”
    Kayla ran her fingers along the underside of the engine, wondering what it would take to get him to drop the subject. “Yeah, yeah, what else is new?”
    “Dammit, Kayla.” Carl sighed, then walked over and pulled the miniature tracking device off her bike. He handed it to her, taking away her distraction. “Will you please talk to me now?”
    She looked at the device and pouted. “I would have found it.”
    He nodded. “I know. I’m trying to save a little bit of time. We have a problem with Ramiro. He’s been trying to access my com system.”
    “That sounds like your problem, not mine.” She stood up and brushed the dirt off her pants.
    “I’m afraid it’s not. Xantham went ahead and let him into our