Chapter Five

Company

Sam woke up with a jolt the next morning. The sun coming in through the small window almost burned his face. He blinked lazily and looked around properly. Though small, the little room was at least clean and welcoming, not like that infection-hazard inn they'd stayed at in the jungle.

Surprisingly, Kyle and Jerry were still asleep. Kyle was on his front, one arm dangling off the bed, his head on top of the pillow for once. Sam frowned. He'd never actually seen Kyle sleeping. He looked so peaceful, so... vulnerable, so unlike tough, sometimes-scary Kyle he was when awake.

Jerry on the other hand looked more like Jimmy than ever. Sam couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Jerry so calm and without any worry lines on his face. He felt a little guilty that he'd failed to notice the toll the agency had taken on Jerry. He and Kyle thought it was all fun and exciting, but Jerry obviously didn't feel the same way.

Sam looked at the sunrays moving across the ceiling then checked his watch. It was early in the morning, but he couldn't sleep anymore. Now that he'd gotten some rest, he was very curious what Herrison had to say to them.

Trying to make as little noise as possible, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and put one foot down. The floorboard creaked. Jerry and Kyle both jumped into sitting positions as though electrocuted.

"Sorry," Sam said.

Jerry and Kyle threw him a fleeting glance then both dropped back on their pillows, yawning and groaning. Sam took another step on tip toe and the floor creaked even louder.

"Forget it, kid, we're up already," Kyle mumbled in his pillow. He sat up and stretched. "Let's get to it."

So ten minutes later, the three of them went down to the reception area. There was a receptionist there now, and they also noticed that there were tables next to large windows that showed a view of the street. Herrison sat at one of the tables, enjoying a cup of coffee and reading the morning newspaper. They walked to him and sat at his table.

"Good morning, boys," Herrison said, folding the newspaper. "Glad to see you're up. I have good news."

"Really?" Sam asked taken aback. First off, he was surprised that Herrison no longer seemed in a hurry to talk to them. Second... good news? When had Herrison ever had good news?

"Yes. Jimmy and Tom just landed and they'll be here soon enough. Also, Billy's been here, undercover for the past week."

Sam's stomach tightened with guilt. After the whole Christine fiasco last night, he'd completely forgotten to call his cousin. And he'd been here for a whole week? They were horrible, horrible cousins. How could no one notice him missing?

"Really?" Kyle asked raising his eyes to Herrison as he'd been reading his paper upside down before. "Undercover as what?"

"Would you like anything to eat or drink?" Billy asked, popping up by their table, a little notebook in hand.

He had an annoyed look in his grey-blue eyes and his blond hair was stuffed under a paper hat. He was also wearing a dairy boy uniform. Sam tried to hold in his laughter, but failed miserably. Next to him, Kyle wasn't even trying to stay somber.

"I'd like a coffee, black, please." Jerry said calmly, ignoring Sam and Kyle's fit of laughter.

"Anything else?" Billy asked in a bored voice.

"Yeah, could you do a pirouette for us?" Kyle asked choking with laughter and Billy walked away furiously to fetch Jerry his coffee.

"You two are really inept when it comes to being subtle," Jerry said superiorly, turning to Herrison. "What about the urgent, important conversation?"

"Well, since Tom and Jimmy will turn up soon, I'll brief you all at once. So I suggest you three have breakfast and look around until your brothers show up." Herrison stood, dropped a few coins on the table and left the inn.

Sam and Kyle watched Jerry as he picked up the paper and started reading. Billy joined them a minute later dressed in a pair of shorts and a large T-shirt and looking very tired. He put a cup of coffee in front of Jerry and a basket of donuts in the center of the table.

"If you start laughing again, I swear I'll spit in your donuts."

Sam grabbed the basket and pulled it towards him. "You brought me breakfast. I'm done laughing." He stuffed a donut into his mouth. It was a little soggy and hard, but it was food.

"Why were you undercover?" Kyle asked, taking a donut, too, turning it over in his hand and then putting it back.

"This town is freakishly small, in case you haven't noticed." Billy waved his hand towards the window. "People don't share jack squat with strangers. So I needed to not be that much of a stranger in order to ask around about some local legends."

"Local legends?" Jerry asked as though they were discussing the weather, and took a sip of coffee.

"Yes, regarding the forest beyond the canyon and the labs hidden in them," Billy answered looking at Sam with some disgust as he was stuffing his face with as many doughnuts as he could.

"Labs?" Kyle asked. "Is that where Snitch Gravel's base is?"

"I think so." Billy rubbed his chin. "I was only instructed to gather intel on the labs. They were used for some bizarre tests according to the bartender. He wouldn't say what kind."

"Why not?" Sam asked with his mouth full, spraying crumbs all over them.

"Sam, don't talk with your mouth full," Jerry said covering his coffee cup, but it was too late. He looked at all the crumbs in it wistfully and pushed it away.

"I was on kitchen duty last night," Billy said with a yawn. "I should take a nap until the fun part of the family gets here."

"We should go look around, too," Sam said, stuffing another donut in his mouth. The sugar left a painful trail down his throat and he had a feeling he was going to regret that later.

Kyle and Jerry followed him outside while Billy went upstairs for his nap. The inn hadn't been very cool, but as soon as the sun shone on him, Sam felt as if he were melting. The town looked just as lonely and ghostly as it did at night. There were hardly any people on the street, and apart from the inn, there didn't seem to be any shops.

Shrugging the strangeness of the town off, Sam headed toward the edge of the cliff. He stopped before he reached the very edge and gasped. The plunge was enormous and the canyon stretched well into the distance. He thought he could see something green further ahead, but it was hard to tell with the heat waves.

"Here." Kyle handed him a pair of binoculars.

"Thanks," Sam mumbled looking through them.

Yup, there was a forest there, and beyond it, blocking the horizon from view, what seemed to be a rock wall. He moved his gaze downward, closer to their position. There was a river snaking its way right under them, getting lost behind another cliff that stood between them and the forest.

Sam's head spun and the donuts started making their way up his throat. He lowered his binoculars and looked at his feet, cursing the heat, the unsatisfying food and his own inability to contain himself and control his hunger. He raised the binoculars again, but felt even dizzier and more squeamish, so he sat down, trying to regain some composure.

"Sam, are you okay?" Jerry asked worried.

"Yeah. It's this heat. And maybe the donuts."

"Maybe next time you should eat a little more sensibly," Jerry said and, even if he agreed with him, Sam stuck his tongue out at him.

"I'm better now." But the simple thought of standing was a bit too much. "I need paper and a pencil."

"Why?" Jerry asked rising an eyebrow.

"I have a better idea," Kyle said lowering his binoculars and heading into town.

Jerry and Sam looked at each other, shrugged, then Jerry returned to studying the area while Sam turned his face towards the sun, trying to fight the sickness overcoming him. After a few deep breaths, his stomach settled and everything felt normal again, except for the annoying sun practically burning his face off.

"Here you go, kiddo." Kyle stopped next to him and shoved a map in his hands.

"Where did you get this?" Sam asked amazed.

"Believe it or not, they have shops around here." Kyle threw an ice cream cone to Sam and passed one to Jerry as well. "Kidding, I got these at the inn. The rest of the town seems to be dead."

"We need to get proper food. For the journey," Jerry mumbled, unwrapping his ice cream.

"Herrison," Sam said, suddenly remembering he existed. "Let's go find him. He should know where to get supplies." Plus, he really wanted to get out of this heat. His t-shirt was already clinging to his back.

Sam stood and the three of them headed for the inn again. Sam and Kyle had a seat at the table they'd occupied earlier while Jerry went to the reception to ask for Herrison. He came back moments later, a small smile on his face.

"I have no idea where Herrison is, but I have other good news," he said.

"They have proper food for lunch?" Sam asked fanning with a napkin.

"Jimmy and Tom are here. The barman asked if I'd jumped out the window because last thing he remembered was seeing me go upstairs," Jerry answered amused.

"Well, I have to admit that jumping out the window did seem appealing for a second," Jimmy said as he and Tom made their way towards them.

"We missed you guys!" Sam said scooting closer to the window to make room for Tom. "We got so used to you two being around, that the house seems awfully empty without you."

"Tell us about it." Jimmy laughed dropping on the chair next to Kyle's. "It was weird traveling on our own. We were already wondering what you guys are up to. And we're not disappointed."

"So, did you deal with the paperwork?" Jerry asked pulling up a chair from another table and squeezing beside Jimmy.

"Yup, all done." Jimmy elbowed Kyle in the ribs. "What's up with you? Aren't you glad to see us?"

"No. I hate you guys. You're loud and annoying," Kyle said not missing a beat.

But Sam squinted at him. Jimmy was right. He'd expected Kyle to look a lot happier to have Jimmy and Tom back. Heck, Jerry was ecstatic, and he wasn't exactly one to show off a lot of emotion.

"What gives?" Sam asked.

Kyle shrugged. "I was just thinking how much attention we draw to ourselves. It's not every day that you see two pairs of identical twins," he mumbled, looking out the window. "Hey, look, there's Herrison. Let's go ask him what's going on."

Sam led the way out, his brothers right behind him. As he walked towards Herrison, he couldn't help mulling over what Kyle had said. They were lousy spy material considering that they stuck out in every crowd. Two pairs of identical twins and Kyle who was very tall and too good looking for his own good – not exactly a face people were likely to forget.

Herrison seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he watched them approach. His head turned left and right as though looking for a rabbit hole to bury them in. Instead, he turned on his heels and veered on a grubby side street. The group followed him as Herrison entered a grimy looking door.