Authors: Matt Betts
69
Deena put her hand up to calm her sister. She’d never heard Harper get so aggressive. “We’ve talked to them. They’re trying to help, that’s all.” Deena slowly bent down and placed her weapon on the ground, knowing full well she could defend herself without it. She kicked it lightly down the ramp.
Stanley did the same with his weapons.
Harper stood there for a moment, eyeing Garrett, and it was obvious that he felt uncomfortable, like maybe he didn’t have the situation in hand the way he thought he did. His hand hovered near his holster.
“OK,” Harper said. “Talk.”
“All right, let’s all head back to the office and we’ll talk out the details,” Garrett said.
“What’s there to talk about?” Stanley looked over. “He’s dead. Marsh is dead. The organization’s done, right? I testify. They testify. Done.”
“Not exactly. Someone else’ll take over. They’ll re-organize, move around. Hell, they may just take over Marsh’s legal holdings and rebuild. They’ll make things difficult for us. We might get a few of them here and there, but the bulk of the people will make it out unscathed.”
“That’s a bitch,” Harper said.
“Well put,” Pel agreed. “I managed to get a crapload of dirt on Marsh’s organization, but I don’t think it’ll be enough to really close the place down for good.”
“So let’s talk here.” Harper folded her arms. “Otherwise, I guess we’re going to have to renegotiate this deal.”
Garrett looked around. “We can’t do it here. I’m assuming there are some very dead hit men on the premises, and that your gunfire has attracted the local police. Once they arrive, there’s going to be a lot of explaining to do and I’m not sure I can keep this deal on the table.”
“Then talk fast,” Harper said.
“Deal? What the hell is the deal you’re talking about exactly? No one has had much time to elaborate,” Stanley asked.
The deal the organization made was for Deena, and Deena alone. She knew that she was the one they wanted, in hopes that she could use the Shadow Energy to help track down others with her abilities. But now that Harper had it running through her as well, maybe it was time to renegotiate that deal.
Agent Rice butted in, obviously against Garrett’s wishes. “They haven’t explained yet? Agent Garrett wants you to come work for us.”
“Work for you?” Stanley asked.
Garrett nodded. “We’ve worked out a deal. At least the start of one. Deena would help track down the less savory people with her kind of power.”
“Got news for you,
we
are the less savory people,” Harper said.
Everyone turned to look at Deena. Whether she liked it or not, she’d suddenly become the person in charge of the conversation, and she alone would dictate exactly what happened next. “So, what do you think?” Garrett asked, tilting his head to the side.
“If you’re looking at me, I’ve already told you. I’ll go along with it as long as it keeps us from being hunted like animals and experimented on like rats,” Deena said. “But, things have changed for my sister. I think she may have the Shadow Energy in her as well now. The two of us can be more effective than I would be alone.”
“Two Inks for the price of one? That might work,” Rivers said.
There was silence as everyone started walking forward. Their footfalls echoed in the cavernous parking garage as they walked farther up the ramp.
“So, we’d be like Scooby Doo and drive around solving crimes?” Stanley asked. He was smiling and trying to placate everyone around him. “Or more like the A-Team. They had guns and explosives and shit.”
Deena didn’t like being the de facto leader, hated casting any sort of deciding vote. This whole thing had been her fault in many ways. No matter what had influenced her life and actions, she held the ultimate blame. If this was a way to free them from their past misdeeds, she couldn’t refuse. “Either way, we’d have to get a kick-ass van.”
“I think that means we’re in,” Stanley said. “Either that or Deena has a van fetish.”
“Whoa. Who said anything about Stanley being involved in this? He’s a federal witness…” Garrett said.
“Stanley comes or we don’t.” If Stanley wanted to come along, Deena would fight for him. He’d taken steps to help Harper, steps that Deena couldn’t have pulled off herself. “And we only work with Agents Pel and Garrett.” Deena watched Garrett turn to stare at the other men in suits. The men’s faces both twisted slightly, brows furrowing. One of them finally nodded.
“Just out of curiosity, what was going to happen if we said no and decided to kill you all and leave your bodies in this parking garage?” Harper looked at Rivers as if she was sizing him up.
Rivers stopped walking and raised his left hand.
The group was startled by the sudden clang of loud noises. On the level above them, heavily armed men stepped from behind cover, pointing their guns at the little group. A number of officers slid into position from hiding places behind pale concrete columns and vehicles, training their rifles on the girls. All of them were decked out in tactical gear and riot helmets, padded breastplates and visors. Most were holding automatic rifles, but a few held weapons Deena couldn’t identify and didn’t want to know what they did. A flower delivery truck pulled up in front of them, slid open its doors and released ten more men in the same light-blue armored suits. Deena calculated the odds of any of them surviving the first volley. Her math wasn’t great, but the chances were not good. Even if she knew her body could heal after a single gunshot wound, she was less sure it could handle multiple shots.
“I’m sorry. Did I say anything about any of you having a choice? That’s my fault, ’cause I sure didn’t mean to.” Rivers glared at Deena and Harper. “We made a deal. This is the deal.”
“If they started shooting, you’d bite it too,” Harper said.
Rivers shrugged. “Think so?”
“Let’s find out,” Harper grabbed Garrett and pulled him close.
Deena reached out, just as Rice pulled her away. She clenched her teeth, fighting to keep her power in check. If she hurt anyone, the whole deal would be off.
“Let go of him,” Pel unholstered her weapon. “Let’s not make this ugly.”
Harper held tight to Garrett, and Deena could see her arms begin to undulate with black lines moving along her skin. Harper’s face showed her confusion at what was happening to her body. Her grip on Garrett loosened, but he didn’t move. “Deena? What’s happening to me? What did you do?”
Deena held up her hands to try to let her know it was OK. “Just calm down. You have to calm down. Don’t get too excited.”
Harper had completely let go of Garrett, but Deena could tell the agent was staying in place to block anyone from shooting Harper. He moved as she moved, keeping anyone from taking a clear shot. But when Harper fell to the ground, looking at her hands, Rivers took the opportunity to shove his fellow agent out of the way and point his gun directly in Harper’s face.
“I told you this was a bad idea,” Rivers said. “There’s no way to control these people.”
“Don’t shoot.” Deena pulled against Rice’s grip.
Rivers’ hands shook just a little as he spoke. “Deal’s off. We are packing these Inks up and taking them back to the holding area.”
Deena watched as Harper’s face went from frantic to strangely calm. Harper’s body got still and she placed her hands on the concrete floor of the garage. The dark lines on her arms quickly congealed in her fingertips and Shadow Energy began to form a puddle under her palms, which snaked out slowly to form long, gnarled, root-like lines stretching out in all directions. Harper looked up at Rivers and the garage grew quiet.
Rice had raised his hand at some point, indicating the armed men in the building should hold their fire. Deena watched as his face showed his resolve was wavering. “Don’t,” Deena said. “This is over. She won’t be a threat.”
“How the hell do you know that?” Rice asked.
From experience and from what she saw on Harper’s face, Deena knew what was going on in Harper’s mind. “Your agents told me what you found out about imprinting and what happens when the Energy first breaks the skin. It’s like that matter has eyes and takes a good look at the first person nearby.”
“And nothing before that? It lies dormant, just building itself up on aggression and adrenaline?” Pel asked.
Stanley couldn’t take his eyes off Harper. “One of you makes it sound like a bug with eyes that look for a queen to follow, the other makes it sound like a cold or a cancer, growing stronger inside of her. Do any of you know what’s going on? Really?”
Rivers looked like he wanted to respond, but didn’t get the chance. Harper stood, and the tendrils reached out for him, stopping just short of his face. “I’m not going to hurt you. Just tell me what you want me to do.”
“What?” Rivers asked.
“I get it now. I get the whole thing now, Deena. You weren’t just being a selfish bitch. You
had
to do everything you did.” Harper took a hard breath and the Shadow lines snapped back to her arms and disappeared completely except for a large blob on her forearm that resembled a fishhook.
His gun was still firmly pointed at Harper’s head, but Rivers managed a cough. “What?”
Deena spoke up. “The thing inside her may have just chosen
you
as the person that Harper will follow blindly for the foreseeable future. She’s certainly not going to hurt you now.”
“You can put the gun down,” Garrett said. “Before something happens. Something
bad
.”
Stanley pushed forward. “About that van? It’s sounding real good to me right now. I’m thinking all black with a red stripe. Maybe one of those stretch limo Hummers?” He grabbed Deena by the arm and forced her forward. She let him lead.
“So, we do these things for you and our slate gets wiped clean, we’re good guys with no strikes against us when it’s all over?” Harper asked. She hadn’t started forward when Stanley had and neither did Rivers.
Rivers made a show of looking around at all the guns trained on them and raised his hands in demonstration. “Little girl, there’s no slate. There’s no ‘When it’s all over’.” He laughed. “You take this generous offer, do everything that’s asked of you, jump when we say jump, and you get to breathe lovely fresh air. “You don’t do it, you screw up, you look at someone wrong and we take each of you to trial with what can only be described as a mountain of evidence against you.”
Deena wanted to stop him from talking, but she knew Harper needed to hear it.
“Oh, I forgot option C,” he pointed to the men around them with weapons. “There’s always a bullet in your head. You guys are chock full of options, aren’t you?”
“Agent Rivers, look…” Deena began.
“No. You look. If you all want to make this some kind of television fantasy or something fine. I’ll buy you a Great Dane or I’ll shave Stanley’s head into a Mohawk myself.” Stanley’s hand immediately flew to his head to protect his hair. “But don’t have any illusions as to what this is all about. You will work for us. You will hunt down more of these people and you will help us put them away until we can figure out what this shit is inside of you.”
It was quiet as the oversized white floral delivery van silently rolled closer. The side door slid methodically opened and Deena saw nothing but darkness inside. She looked to the side and noticed the others were staring at her, waiting for her to move. Her hand ached in the anticipation of something.
She stole a glance at Agents Garrett and Pel but couldn’t read their faces.
Deena Riordan analyzed the situation and wondered how stupid this all would look to her old self. Risking her life, her future, on the word of some government agents she had no reason to trust. She looked at her sister and thought about what she’d become and what awaited her down the road. There weren’t a whole lot of logical options. Sometimes relatively smart people had no other recourse than to make stupid choices. She could read the looks of anticipation and expectation on the faces of the people around her, just waiting for her lead.
Deena took a deep breath and stepped into the van.
70
Epilogue
“I’ll want someone to get in here and clean up the rest of these stupid tennis balls,” Morgan said as he kicked one of the bright yellow balls. His new assistant, Helena Barr, dutifully made a note on her tablet. Morgan stood at the huge window in what used to be Marsh’s office. The view was amazing and Morgan took a moment to remember how many times he’d come in to find Marsh standing in the very same spot. It was an easy assumption that the man had been pausing for dramatic effect, but the view was so very amazing that he now understood it was quite possible Marsh had just been lost in the beauty of the city.
The sight was all the more breathtaking to Morgan knowing he’d just had state of the art bulletproof glass installed. He’d had the walls patched and painted to eliminate the bloodstains and holes that littered them. New carpet was on order.
Helena looked around. “I ordered those extra chairs for your office. It sort of seems like a lot. How many did you say? Eight?”
“Might as well make it an even dozen. I tend to have guests show up unannounced.” Morgan looked around for any sign of his usual entourage, but they were absent. They’d been silent since he’d shot Marsh.
“Is there anything else, sir?” Helena asked.
“No. I think we can pick up this afternoon and start figuring our shit out.”
Helena walked past the painter’s scaffolding and equipment toward the door. She paused just short of the entrance. “Sir? Congratulations on stepping into Marsh’s role. The board is thrilled to be working with you. You’ve been an important part of this organization for years. It’s about time you received recognition for your service.”
Morgan knew toadying and sucking up when he heard it, but he liked Helena. “Thank you. I only wish I’d been here to stop them from killing Mr. Marsh.”
“It’s a shame what that treacherous girl and her friends did to him. I hope you catch up with them and make them pay for what they did,” Helena said.
“You and me both. I only regret that I had a hand in training that girl not so long ago.” He neglected to mention that most of his tuition had been ignored or flatly denied by the girl. Much like he’d been neglecting to mention how Marsh had really died.
Once Helena left him, Morgan’s hand went up to his eye and traced the circle of black dots that resulted from the explosion of shrapnel from his scope. The globule of Shadow Energy had combined with the glass pieces and imbedded themselves in a jagged simulation of a circle around his right eye permanently. It had been horribly painful for a few hours, but then, miraculously, felt fine by the next morning. He had no idea what it meant. He felt just the same as he always had, but the spots bore a remarkable resemblance to the one on Deena’s arm. He couldn’t find any sign he had the powers she did, but he thought maybe it would take time.
He half expected to see an apparition of Marsh sitting where his desk used to be, but Morgan found nothing. He thought for sure the ghosts would be all over him now, but they’d been silent. There was a twinge of doubt about how things would work out without them around, but they certainly had only been a hindrance. Of course, they’d be back. They couldn’t stay away and let Morgan live in peace and quiet, now could they?
Morgan reached down and picked up a tennis ball. He bounced it a couple of times and nodded as he thought about the possibilities. The things to come brought a smile to his face. Everything was going to work out just fine.