The Secret: A Thriller Read Online Free

started up the car, and breathed a sigh of relief when the engine caught. Not that I had any reason to expect otherwise. But just then I wasn’t comfortable making any assumptions.
    In my rearview mirror I saw Eisler still standing outside the auditorium. He glared after us. What was he so mad about?
     
    * * *
     
    T im shushed the kids as soon as we got into the car. “We need to concentrate,” he told them. “Ash has to drive. I need all of you to watch out the windows. Everybody pick a direction. Keep an eye out, but don’t talk unless you see something dangerous, somebody in trouble, or somebody moving toward us. Got it?”
    I figured something must have happened in the school: The kids were spooked enough to do what they were told.
    But we got back to the house a lot faster, since we knew which roads had been blocked earlier. The rain let up a little, too—which meant there were more people outside, looking around and talking in impromptu gatherings. Some of them waved, and I waved back, but this wasn’t a day for stopping.
    By the time we got back to the house, a sense of returning normalcy was hard to fight. I had to actively remind myself that we still didn’t know what was going on.
    Tim got out of the car first, opened the door to my house, and said something I didn’t hear. Soon after, he laughed and waved us over.
    “Go on in, kids,” I told them. And then I stood outside, watching the street, until they had. Trees, waving in the wind…nothing unusual.
    How much of this paranoia was justified? The kids normally bopped all over town on their bikes. I’d rarely been concerned for even a moment, but suddenly I didn’t want to let them out of my sight at all.
    Shaking my head, I went inside.
     
    * * *
     
    “P ipe down!” Rebecca yelled. Robbie laughed, but she was right: everybody had been jabbering at once. “We need to come up with a plan. But first we need to share what we know. I’ll go first, then either Ash or Tim. Then you kids can pick a spokesperson. Okay? Good.
    “I was downstairs vacuuming when the power went out. I went up to check on Abigail and saw a…well, a man…on the roof.”
    “Holy crap, Mom!”
    “Quiet, Robbie. Let me finish this. I yelled at him and he jumped—backward—right off the roof. An acrobat or something. Or…he was really hairy, too. A circus performer?” She shook her head. “It was bizarre . I tried to call the police, but my cell was dead and so was the landline. Abby and I went next door to borrow their phone, but Susie’s cell and landline were dead too. We figured it’d be better to stick together, so we did. Okay—other than that we’ve just been hanging out at the house.
    “Who’s next?” she asked. “Tim or Ash?”
    Tim looked like he wanted to talk, so I flapped my hand in a “go ahead” gesture. I was busy wondering what Rebecca had left out—she hadn’t mentioned either the shotgun or that the guy on the roof was naked. What else was she editing?
    Tim looked around. “It’s been less exciting for us. Basically we saw a flash and heard a sound like thunder, and a lot of electronic devices stopped working. All over town, it seems like. Ash and I were at Walmart, and the police were there too. Stocking up on supplies, as if they expected an emergency. Some people’s cars are working, some aren’t. No phones as far as I know—”
    “Mine’s okay but there’s no signal,” Felicia put in.
    “Fine,” Tim continued. “That’s a good thing. So anyway, most phones are dead, and maybe cell towers are out. Maybe not all of them, though, and it might be worth checking that out later. People all over town are looking a little nervous. I think that’s about it for us—the police said they were putting together some sort of shelter at the high school, but you kids were there. Which one of you wants to tell us about it?”
    The kids, all sitting on the couch—although we adults were standing—conferred using gestures and glances.