The Indestructibles (Book 2): Breakout Read Online Free Page B

find the bikes. Nobody ever calls Emily for a ride unless this is the last or only option.
          Kate's bike, which she'd been slowly personalizing with gadgets and painting to blend into the darkness, was already parked inside, which Jane did not expect. Kate had been dodging her and the other Indestructibles for a few weeks, using some undisclosed hideout she'd used before she joined the team and only checking in when absolutely necessary.
          Jane found her in the kitchen using one of the ship's bizarre matter manipulators to create some sort of faux macaroni and cheese. Kate was barefoot and wore the armored pants of her uniform and a grimy, sweat-stained tank top. Lately, every time Jane saw her, Kate looked a little worse for wear — new scars, certainly, but she also seemed to be burning down to nothing but raw muscle. She had bulked up a little since Jane last saw her, too, her shoulders and arms more defined than before.
          "I'm going to use the Tower as my base of operations for a while," Kate said, not making eye contact. Jane sat down across from her and helped herself to some of the mac and cheese.
          "You don't have to tell me," Jane said. "This is your home as much as anyone else's."
          Kate nodded, eyeballing the generous helping of dinner Jane stole.
          "Does this have anything to do with the hornet's nest you kicked last night?" Jane asked.
          "I hand-deliver them the bad guys and they all made bail," Kate said.
          "Why didn't you — "
          "I made a miscalculation. Had too much faith in the justice system. Won't happen again," Kate said.
          "That's not what I was going to say," Jane said. "I was going to ask why you didn't ask us for help."
          "You have your job and I've got mine," Kate said. "Good going with that dinosaur."
          "We could have used you with that," Jane said.
          "No, you couldn't," Kate said. "You'd have been looking out for me to make sure I didn't get gutted and I would've been left behind when he took off by air."
          "Kate."
          "I can handle street-level crime, Jane," Kate said. "This is what I did long before we met."
          "I know. I just don't want to see you get yourself killed."
          "I'm careful. I plan."
          "You went up against twelve guys. Why didn't you ask at least one of us to help?"
          "I can't bring you with me where I go, Jane," Kate said. "You three are like Christmas lights. I have to move quietly. I don't have your powers to protect me, and I don't want you to protect me either."
          "Would you let Titus go with you?"
          "A three hundred pound werewolf is marginally better than a human glow-stick," said Kate. She paused, squinted at Jane. "Have you heard from him lately?"
          "Yeah. A few weeks ago. He was heading up into Canada," Jane said. "And he called looking for you."
          Kate shrugged.
          "Good for him, then," Kate said.
          Kate shoved three huge spoonfuls of mac and cheese into her mouth and stood up. Jane watched her as she walked — still very much like the dancer she once was — nimble across the floor.
          Kate turned and paused in the doorway.
          "Jane."
          "Yeah."
          "I'm working on some stuff."
          "I know," Jane said.
          "Thank you for worrying. You don't have to, but I understand."
          "Just don't disappear on us," Jane said.
          "I won't," Kate said. "That's Titus's job."

 
     
     
    Chapter 4:
    The Whispering
         
     
          Titus crossed the Canadian border like a ghost, somewhere far between checkpoints or highways. He'd been traveling on foot for weeks, following a trail that started in the now-empty home of the people he'd always thought were his parents — boarded up, dusty, as if no one had ever been there, a "for sale" sign on the lawn, faded and tilted,