Don't Let Go by Michelle Gagnon

were almost to the door when Peter said, “Wait!”
    Teo stopped but didn’t turn around. “What?”
    “It was my fault they kept tracking us down,” Peter continued, his voice ragged. “It was because of me. I was bugged.”
    “All right,” Teo said slowly. “Let me get this straight. They put a bug in your back, and that’s how they kept finding us. But when you’re wearing the backpack, there’s no signal.”
    “Basically, yeah.” Peter’s eyes were bleary from booze, and he sounded defeated. Noa felt a pang of sympathy, although his device could be removed without too much pain and suffering. Probably.
    “So you can just keep your backpack on all the time, right? And then they won’t be able to find us?” Teo said reasonably.
    “Or we can cut it out,” Noa interjected.
    Peter threw her a look; she met it, staring back at him levelly. Just one mistake and their location could be pinpointed again. Plus, she didn’t totally understand his objections. If the extra thymus in her chest could be safely removed, she’d dig it out herself.
    “I already offered,” Loki said, swinging the beer bottle in a lazy loop. “Doctor Maoz is officially on call.”
    “I prefer my doctors sober.” Peter glared at him.
    “It’s probably just below the skin, so it shouldn’t be too hard to remove,” Noa said in what she hoped was a reassuring tone of voice. “Then we can destroy it.”
    “And what if it’s not?” Peter retorted. “This . . . thing is right next to my spine, Noa, and I’m a big fan of walking. Last time I checked, no one here is a doctor.”
    “Hey,” Loki protested. “I got three first-aid certifications.”
    “You learn any basic surgery for those?” Peter demanded.
    “Well, no,” Loki admitted. “But I can make a killer tourniquet.” Off Peter’s expression, he mumbled, “Maybe killer is the wrong word. . . .”
    Noa bit her lip. Peter was right to be scared. But their options were limited.
    “You need to get it out, dude,” Teo said softly. “You don’t want those jerks to have any sort of control over you.”
    Peter’s face clouded over. But after a long moment, his expression shifted to resignation. “Crap. I hate this.”
    “I know,” Noa commiserated. “It sucks.”
    Peter’s mouth worked as if he was chewing on something. Finally, he said, “Not tonight.”
    “Definitely not tonight,” Noa agreed, relieved. “We’ll do it on a full night’s sleep.”
    “I have an idea,” Teo said hesitantly, throwing a glance her way. “Once you get it out, maybe we shouldn’t destroy it.”
    “Why not?” Noa asked. Her energy was flagging again. She hadn’t been able to choke down any food, so all she had in her system was a can of Red Bull. She’d pretty much gotten through the day on adrenaline, but that had dissipated.
    “Daisy and I could take it,” Teo offered.
    “What?” Daisy and Peter said simultaneously.
    “Just think about it,” Teo said earnestly. “Right now, they probably know we’re somewhere near Denver, right? We could keep the bug in the packs, wrapped up like the drives. Every day, we’ll take it out for a few minutes so they can get a signal from it. Then we’ll wrap it up and take off again.”
    “Where would we take it?” Daisy demanded.
    “California. We’d dump it before we got to LA,” he said hurriedly, off her expression. “Way before, so they couldn’t catch us. But that way they’d be following us, not you.”
    “And we stay here,” Peter said slowly. “That’ll give us time to try and get the decryption key.”
    “Oh, so you’re moving in with me now?” Loki grumbled.
    Peter looked abashed. “Well, I’m going to need time to recover from the surgery. . . .”
    Loki glowered at him, long enough that Noa half expected him to draw the shotgun again. Then he broke into a broad grin, made an expansive gesture, and said, “Just messing with you, Vallas. What the hell. Most fun I’ve had in months