Unlimited by Davis Bunn

no idea what was in store, just around the next bend.

Chapter 14

    Simon moved down the silent street, slipping from shadow to shadow. From the other side of the wire fence he heard a noise inside the professor’s house. He assumed it was the hunter. Simon knew what he was doing was borderline insane. He also knew his actions were drawn from a lot more than just getting his passport back.
    He had always been attracted by danger. It was the lure he could not resist. Whenever most people started screaming and running away, Simon was at his calmest. His senses were on full alert, his mind crystal clear. He could literally count every dust mote, give a name to each blade of sunlight. The blood sang in his veins.
    The SUV’s passenger window was rolled down. Simon opened the door and slipped inside. The interior was blisteringly hot. Sunlight glared through the darkened front windshield. His ability to see was cut down by the tinted glass, but it appeared to have no impact whatsoever on the heat. Simon could not understand why anyone would want to darken the view ahead. All this sped through his brain as he rifled the dash, then did the same to the compartment between the seats and the pockets in each door. Nothing.
    He spied a briefcase on the backseat. It was one of those fancy slipcovers, without handles, to be carried like a pouch. The gold label on the front flap was carved with the word, Dunhill. A fancy container for a bad guy. He unzipped the compartment and found a few papers, all in Spanish.
    Then he heard a hiss from the other side of the street. This was followed by the slam of a door.
    Simon jammed the papers back into the briefcase and slipped out the passenger door. He could not risk shutting the door completely because just then the gate squeaked and clicked shut. He knew Pedro was across the street and petrified by the sight of the hunter approaching the car. Simon squatted in the road, tracking the hunter’s boots from underneath the SUV.
    Then the hunter started around the car.
    Simon couldn’t run for the other side of the street. To do so would expose them both. He kept his head down, still tracking the hunter’s feet, moving as soundlessly as he could manage, keeping the SUV between them.
    The hunter came around to the passenger side and halted. He examined the door, opened it, then slammed it tight. He did not move.
    Simon’s fear mixed with the adrenaline rush, and he was ready to bolt if the man saw tracks in the road-dust and started toward him. There was little chance he could make it to safety. This was the hunter’s world. Simon’s only haven was a universe away. He had no idea how to even find the orphanage.
    The hunter stood like that, staring across the street, motionless. It felt to Simon as though hours passed. Then the man turned and walked back the way he had come. He climbed into the SUV and started the motor.
    Simon scrambled backward, crablike, until a space opened between two houses. He wedged himself inside and crouched as the SUV rocked back and forth, turning around in the tight lane. The dark vehicle had a massive motor that roared as the hunter finally managed the turn and raced away.
    When the motor’s noise faded, Simon rose from the shadow. Across the street, Pedro did the same. Simon walked over, expecting rage, fear, anything but how Pedro greeted him.
    Pedro smiled. His grin was infectious. “Do you do this often? Scare people half to death?”
    Only then did Simon realize his legs were weak and shaking. He gripped the side wall. “I thought you’d be furious.”
    “ Amigo , I am too scared to be angry. But give me a few minutes. Maybe I will recover.”
    Simon had to fight down a case of the giggles. He was afraid if he started laughing, he wouldn’t be able to stop. “Let’s go check it out.”
    The giddy feeling did not last. The professor’s front door was solid wood, very thick, with iron bars crosshatched over a small portal at head height. The door was