Heroes Lost and Found (11 page)

Harris licked chocolate off his fingers. “And you think you can talk Kit into going along with this? We sort of parted on bad terms, in case you forgot.” He nibbled on one fingernail. “He’s sort of an angry drunk as well.”

“No shit, Sherlock.” My fingers traced the thin scratches on my throat. “I’m going to see if I can appeal to Kit’s ego, promise him the big photo shoot when we take Dykovski down. Maybe play the repentant little girl, going along with the Alpha but just tweaking it a little bit.” The scenario ran around in my mind, cutting Mobius strips.

“Too bad you don’t have the leather outfit on,” Harris leered. “Think he liked that one. Especially if you get on your knees and beg.”

I stuck my middle finger up, letting the sparks fly.

“God I missed you.” He chuckled. A second later his expression became serious. “It’s gonna be dangerous. Like Hunter said, we don’t have any jammers.”

“Waiting just isn’t an option. Dykovski’s been raiding Agency equipment caches and taking some weapons. Along with an armored flight suit.” I scrunched up the wrapper. “He might not show with the armor in public, but who the hell knows?”

Harris curled his lips into an O. “That’s not good. That’s so not good.” He looked at me. “We’ve got to stop him.”

I tried not to grin. “And we’re going to.”

“It’s settled, then.” Harris got to his feet and brushed off the front of his pants.

My pulse hammered in my ears. “If it goes bad, we’ll have to play it by ear until the team arrives. We can’t sit back and let them demolish the town.” The scratches on my throat burned. “Draw them out of town, away from the public. Keep that in mind if it all goes to hell.”

“I sure hope it doesn’t come to that,” Harris said. “I’m okay with the first version—you and Kit follow me back to their base.”

“And wait,” Hunter interjected. “I just told the pilots to jack it into high gear. The FAA may bitch, but they’ll live with it.” His voice dropped a notch. “Don’t be a hero, Jo. Remember the first rule.”

Harris laughed. “Women.”

I resisted the urge to taser one man and swear at the other.

“Make sure to call me when you get near the area. You may have to do a team jump out of the jet.” I frowned. “Did you even discuss that with Rachael? Can she handle that? Bringing you all down without killing everyone?”

“Don’t know. Might be a good time to try it out,” Hunter replied. “She’s here and eager to go. Just get Kit on your side if you can. If you can’t, hold on until we arrive.” A clacking came over the link, keys being bashed hard and without mercy. “We’ll be there as soon as we can. I’m also alerting the National Guard via Outrager along with everyone and the kitchen sink. Reinforcements are on the way. Do. Not. Engage.” His tone changed, low and definitely Guardian-like. “I’m not kidding, Jo. If Dykovski and Masters get into it, save the civilians and keep out of the way.”

“Yeahsureyoubetcha.”

“Do you two fight like this in bed?” Harris’s eyes gleamed. “Do tell.”

“Shut. Up,” Hunter and I replied in unison.

Chapter Six

Harris tapped the remote control. “I can’t believe we’ve got porn on every channel.”

I kept my eyes closed, running through another set of Hail Marys. “Thank you for keeping the sound off.”

“Waste of time. I’ve seen them all.” I heard the remote bounce on the bed. “It’s about time to go.”

“How’d your cop friend take it?”

“Like I was confessing I was a mafia killer. Laughter, denial and slow acceptance. Didn’t hurt when I told him who you were.”

I smiled. “Guess the disguise wasn’t all that great.”

“Hot is hot, Jo.” Harris chortled. “Can’t hide that under a baseball cap and glasses.”

I’d lost both somewhere between the apartment and the hotel. “Smartass. Don’t get cocky now that you’re on the front lines again.”

“Me? Never.”

“Okay, just so we’re clear. Best-case scenario first. You go in, talk to Dykovski and work your magic.” I stumbled to my feet, candy wrappers and discarded chip bags falling everywhere. “He’ll want you, willing or not. Try to be willing. Imagine he’s your favorite porn star ready to give you a chance.”

Harris scowled at me. “Tease.” He got up off the bed where he’d been laying. “What about Kit? What if he’s still angry with you, with me, with us? What then?”

I studied the faded wallpaper. It might have been flowers once. Or exploding kittens. “All I can do is try to appeal to his sense of right and wrong. Dykovski fucked him up real good in Atlanta, I can’t blame him for wanting revenge. But we have to save the town from being the real casualty between these two egos.”

The room was warm, almost stifling. We’d turned the heat up because of Harris’s lack of a coat. He’d stopped shivering, at least with the cold. I wasn’t so sure about his nerves.

“What if Kit doesn’t go along with it? Are you ready to fight him?” Harris toyed with a candy bar wrapper.

“I don’t want to.”

“But if you have to?”

I sighed. “I’m not keen on a two-front battle. Fighting Dykovski and Kit Masters at the same time.”

“Sort of ugly threesome.” Harris shot me a halfhearted leer.

“Not my scene. I’d rather worry about Dykovski and the power armor, thank you very much.” My attention returned to the Rorschach wallpaper.

Harris lifted his right hand, pulling the fingers into a clenched fist. “I can do this.” He looked at me, his jaw tensed. “I can do this, Jo.”

“I know you can.” I smiled. “Just play it the way we agreed, and wait for the team to jump in and save the day. No solo heroics.”

“Like you’re one to talk,” Hunter added dryly. He’d been quiet for the past few hours. It made me nervous.

“Okay. Let’s go find Kit and get ready to meet Dykovski.” Harris ran his hands up and down his arms. “Before I lose my nerve.”

“You won’t,” I reassured him as we stepped out of the hotel room. “You’re solid.”

The words didn’t help quell the quivering in my chest. My fingertips were cold despite the heat radiating off the ground. The gravel crackled under my feet as I took a deep breath and reached for Harris’s hand.

A few seconds later we were airborne, skipping along the tops of the trees. The deep cut in the forest signaled the highway, making it easy for me to navigate towards Kensington Grove and the diner.

The town crawled onto the horizon in an oasis of civilization. Harris squeezed my left hand.

“Let’s land there.” He gestured towards a vacant parking lot next to a supermarket. “Good dumpster diving there.”

“Don’t tell me why you know that.” I set us down in the shadows, light as a feather. “Where would Kit be if he’s not in the apartment?”

The slightly obese super stood up straight and slicked his hair back with one hand. “Ah, let’s see. He doesn’t leave the apartment much. Sort of mooches off of me.”

“No problem. Where does he go online? I don’t remember seeing a computer in your apartment. You spring for a laptop?” I dug my chin down into my chest as we walked out onto the street, pulling the jacket’s lapels up. It was unlikely anyone would start screaming and demanding my autograph, but I didn’t want to tempt fate.

“On my wages?” Harris laughed. “Not. We go to the library for all our fine computing needs. It’s around the corner here, a block down and to your left.”

He stopped so quickly I ran into his back. I bounced away, trying not to look silly. “He’s been talking to Dykovski from there. We don’t do cell phones or anything else. You think he’s there now?”

I nodded to the single police car passing us slowly, Officer Dave studiously ignoring us. The streets were quiet, and I hoped he’d been able to get the word out without panicking anyone. One pickup truck drove by at the far end of the street and meandered out of sight. The shops we passed either remained locked up or had never opened for business, the metal signs still flipped to the
Closed
side.

It wasn’t a clear victory, but it sure helped. The weight on my chest lifted a fraction, just enough to help me breathe easier.

“I think your apartment is going to be the major focus of attention right now with people wondering where the hole came from, if they didn’t see us brawl outright. He’s got to go somewhere to avoid questions about the apartment and about us. The library sounds as good a place as any to hide out until Dykovski arrives.”

Harris nodded. “Makes sense.”

The patrol car turned the corner, away from us. “Does he have his own computer account or does he use yours?”

Harris flushed a deep scarlet. “Always mine. We figured it’d be easier to avoid being found, him being an Alpha and all.”

“So he’s got your passwords and everything. Jessie?” I resisted the urge to look skyward to my techno-angel.

“Already on it.” He was all business, short, clipped tones. “Geez, Harris. Did you have to pick that as a password? Got it on the first try.”

Harris coughed as we rounded the corner. “Thank you for not saying it out loud.”

“Get my ass burned by two women, one of whom is sitting here beside me? No thanks.” Jessie chuckled. “Okay, Jo—Harris logged on about a half hour ago at the Kensington Grove Library, not too far from where you’re walking.”

“Can you backtrack who he’s chatting with? Do that mojo with the emails and find out where Dykovski’s sending his emails from?”

“Bet you five bucks he’s using a disposable cell phone with web access. I might be able to lock down the cell tower he’s using, but don’t count on a street address.”

I repressed the urge to scream. “Do the best you can.”

We stood on the corner. Harris pointed to his left. “Diner’s down there. We got time before Dykovski arrives.” His hand moved to the right. “Library’s that way.” A quaver worked its way into his words. “You sure you want to talk to him alone?”

“No option.” I took a single step to the right before pausing. “You need to be in that diner. I’ve got to give Kit a chance to fix things, put it right. So far no one’s gotten hurt yet.”

“Yet,” Harris repeated. “But if it comes to a throwdown, he’s okay with killing you. He was ready to do it.” A pained sound escaped the pudgy man. “He’s ready to sacrifice anyone for his revenge. You. Me. Bernie at the diner.” Harris glanced down the street. “I can’t let him hurt her. I can’t let him hurt you or anyone else.” He shook his head. “What happened to him? I mean, I knew he liked to drink and he was hitting the bottle pretty hard, but what happened to him? He was a hero.”

A scrap of paper blew across the empty street, skittering over our feet before continuing its lonely travels. “The Agency screwed with him. He’s damaged goods.”
Like all of us
, I added silently.

I patted Harris on the shoulder. “Just do what you do and we’ll make it all work.”

“I hate it when you go all Zen. You this annoying with Hunter?”

“Yes.” The reply came over our links.

“Shut up.” I stepped away, jamming my hands in the jacket pockets. “See you on the other side.”

“Next time you bring the beer.” Harris drew himself up as tall as he could and walked away.

“I’m working on the email. Looks like Kit sent a final confirmation within the last hour,” Jessie said as I headed towards the library. It wasn’t hard to pick out from the other buildings, the large stone pillars at the front making it unique.

“Jo, we’ve got an idea.” It was Hunter.

“Define ‘we’. And what idea?” I strode down the sidewalk.

“Remember the invisibility trick we tried at Cherries ’n’ Lemons?”

I resisted the urge to curse. “The one that almost killed me?”

“Technically, you were in no danger of dying.”

“Technically. Except for the coughing up blood, the pain in my chest and oh, yes, flying blind and almost killing myself.”

Hunter snorted. “You were just fine as long as you listened to my instructions. Being invisible gave you the upper hand on Lamarr, didn’t it?”

“
Merde.
”

He chuckled. “I love it when you talk dirty. Listen, we’ve picked up something on the wire, some new research involving using electromagnetic waves to fight fires. Like what Kit Masters tosses.”

I was almost at the front door. The pair of stone lions studied me as I paused and put my bare hand on one of their backs. “I’m listening.”

“Where there’s a fire, there’s soot. Small particles in the air.”

The cement was cool to the touch. “Like smoke from a fire.”

“You don’t need to actually burn anything like wood or paper to get soot. It’s basically carbon particles hanging out there, and they react to certain things. Like electromagnetic fields.”

“Hunter, I got a fifty-one percent in physics in high school. And I’m sure that was only because the teacher didn’t want me to come back next year. Give me the CliffsNotes, please.” I resisted the urge to stroke the lion’s back.

“That means you can poke a hole in the flame. Extinguish them.”

“In theory.” I dragged the words out to four syllables.

The response was a long minute in coming. “In theory.”

I pulled my fingers off the stone lion. “How much mojo do I need to throw this down?”