Victor flew through the air, his fist aiming straight at the shark dude’s face. Inez, seeing him coming, created a beacon of light and aimed it into the shark’s eye. The shark dude put his hands up, closing his eyes just before Victor slammed into him.
The shark dude flew backwards as Victor landed, hissing through his teeth at the pain of punching something that hard.
Suddenly Rhea and Paul appeared in the middle of the road. Victor blinked, and Paul was gone. The shark dude hit the ground hard, making unhappy noises. Across the street, Nick fired two darts at Rhea.
Inez focused her light on Rhea as Emmy tied up the shark dude. Rhea stumbled back a few steps, clearly confused. The first dart hit her in the arm; her skin was already hardened, so the dart bounced off uselessly.
Victor, rubbing his shoulder, flew up. He maneuvered to be behind her, preparing a kick to the back of her head.
“Stop.”
Victor stopped, floating up another inch as Shawn walked into the road. Nick lowered his rifle as Inez extinguished her light.
Shawn walked up to Rhea, calm and emotionless. “You attacked us. You picked a fight. Here we are. How will this fight end?”
Rhea spotted Nick’s dart and stomped on it. “We haven’t-“
“Rhea,” Shawn snapped, his hand suddenly around her throat. “Don’t test me.”
“You’re so cute when you’re angry,” she said. “Do you honestly think you can strangle me?”
“I asked you a question,” Shawn growled. “How will this fight end?”
“It’ll end with you in jail for the unprovoked murder of three people.”
“For the murder of you and Catherine, certainly,” Shawn agreed. “Who would the third be?”
“Petra,” Rhea answered. “Shame about her, really. Stupid of you to leave her body in your basement where police can easily find it.”
Shawn’s hand dropped from her throat as he stared at her in shock. The shock quickly turned to rage. He turned his back on her, fell to his knees, and screamed.
Victor glanced at the other members of his team. They all looked equally startled and worried. Not sure what else to do, he pulled his foot back and kicked Rhea in the skull as hard as he could. The woman collapsed.
Emmy was suddenly at Shawn’s side, trying to calm him down. Shawn yelled out a list of profanities Victor had never heard him use before, pulling out his phone.
Inez started to walk over, but stopped a few feet away, worry and panic in her eyes. Victor dropped to the ground next to her, taking her hand.
Shawn got to his feet, holding the phone to his ear. “Paul! Where are you? Great. Where’s Ali?” He paced in a circle, swatting Emmy away when she tried to stop him. “Do me a favor. Go to my place and check the basement.”
Nick cautiously walked up to him, sharing a glance with Emmy.
Shawn stopped pacing, listening. He ended the call without another word and turned to Nick. The look on his face was terrifying.
“No,” Inez breathed, hiding her face against Victor’s chest.
Emmy squeaked in fear, moving behind Nick.
“You sure about this?” Nick asked, slowly pulling the gun off his belt. Not his dart gun; this one fired lead bullets.
Shawn checked the number of bullets, turned, and shot Rhea twice in the head.
Inez flinched at the sound. Victor put his arms around her. Emmy clutched Nick’s shirt, and they both moved back.
“Yeah,” Shawn said coldly. “I’m sure.” He put the barrel in his mouth, closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger.
----------------------------------------
Catherine smiled encouragingly at Petra. “I think you’re ready. Do you feel ready?”
Petra shrugged nervously. “No?”
“Poor child,” Catherine laughed. “Well, you have five hours to change your attitude. You’ll do an excellent job of helping me, I’m sure.”
“I still don’t know why we have to set up a bomb in Vines’ building,” Petra said, frowning.
Catherine rubbed her shoulder. “Don’t worry, the bomb has no chance of going off. They’re expecting us to do this. After all, if their security can’t keep us out, how will it keep out someone who truly wishes them harm?”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
“I guess, but…” She shook her head. “I’d feel better about leaving something that isn’t a live bomb.”
“That’s simply not how the game is played,” Catherine told her.
“Ok,” Petra shrugged. “See you at lunch.”
“See you at lunch,” Catherine echoed.
She watched the girl head to the stairs, then turned and walked to the security room. Rhea was already there, a bag of potato chips in one hand.
“Paul’s been up there for a while,” Rhea reported, holding out the bag.
Catherine took a few chips as she sat down. “Think Shawn told him something?”
“Possibly.”
After a few minutes Petra appeared on the screen, wearing clean clothes and fresh makeup. For at least the past two weeks, Paul and Petra had been meeting on the roof of the building after her practice. At first their conversations had been more like therapy sessions, with Petra crying about her fears. They’d quickly grown closer, telling deeper and darker secrets, and four days ago they’d shared their first kiss.
It was basically a soap opera. Catherine and Rhea had spent two hours adding inconspicuous cameras and microphones to the roof when it’d started.
Paul ran to Petra, his hands going to her shoulders. “Ali, you can’t go with Catherine this afternoon.”
“Why not?” Petra asked, her voice barely audible on the speaker.
Rhea popped a chip into her mouth. “Yep, Shawn told him something.”
“She’s planning on killing you,” he said. “You have to leave, now.”
Petra took half a step back, a hand going to her mouth. “No, she… How do you know?”
Catherine grinned. “And her faith in him shatters.”
“Shawn told me,” Paul said.
“Does she know about Shawn?” Rhea asked.
“No.”
On screen, Petra looked confused. “How does he know?”
“Oh,” Paul said, frowning briefly. “He… can sometimes see the future.”
Rhea sat forwards. “Is this his first lie to her?”
“I believe it is, yes,” Catherine said, taking another chip.
Petra didn’t look convinced. “But- Why- How…”
Paul ran his fingers through her short hair. “Ali, please, trust me on this,” he begged. “You can’t go with Catherine this afternoon.”
“Paul, I don’t have a choice,” she told him.
He looked down, then into her eyes. “Come with me. Bail on this whole thing. I’ll take you somewhere safe, anywhere you want to go. Just, please, don’t go with Catherine this afternoon.”
Catherine leaned back. “Beautiful speech. Has me convinced.”
“Will we come back?” Petra asked, worried.
“Tomorrow, next week, whenever you like,” Paul answered. “As long as you aren’t here this afternoon.”
“Ok.” She smiled, reaching up to kiss him.
“She wants to come back?” Rhea asked, watching them.
Catherine shrugged. “All her stuff is here.”
“True.”
Paul took half a step back, murmuring a question. The microphones didn’t pick it up. Petra looked down, thinking it over. She moved closer to him again, answering with a whisper. He nodded, looked around, and they vanished.
“Stupid teleportation,” Rhea huffed. “We don’t even get a chance to catch them sneaking out.”
“Or packing,” Catherine added.
“Or that. Think we’ll ever see them again?”
“Doubtful.”
Rhea looked at her. “Can you handle the bomb by yourself?”
“Of course. It’ll take me a few minutes longer, but the setup isn’t hard.”
“Good.” She got up, stretching. “Actually… If Shawn knows about Petra and Paul, he probably knows everything. Should we move to the next phase?”
Catherine watched the empty screen, smiling. “Certainly. Why not.”
----------------------------------------
Inez let the light in her hands die, watching Emmy tie up the shark man. Nick grumbled something about needing target practice as Shawn walked into view. Victor landed next to Inez, rotating his shoulder.
“Ow,” he said.
She smiled at him, but kept her focus on Shawn.
“No, sir, I’m sorry but we have to go,” he was saying. “I can assure you that the shark man will remain unconscious until the van gets here. I-“ He paced in a small circle, listening. “That’s fine. Yes, sir. Thank you.” He ended the call and looked at Victor. “You’ll have to stay here until the van picks up the shark man. Sorry. Stay on a call with Inez and let us know if anything even mildly suspicious happens.”
Victor nodded, pulling out his phone. “Sure.”
Inez pulled out her phone, waiting for the call before following everyone to the car. Victor waved good-bye as they drove off.
The ride home was unusually silent. Emmy asking for a power bar was the only conversation. Nick almost said something, but decided not to.
Finally they got to the gate and stopped.
“Catherine is in the bagel shop,” Shawn said, glaring at the gate.
Inez and Emmy turned in their seats, looking at the shop. Other than the cashier, Inez didn’t see anyone.
“No she’s not,” Emmy said. “It’s empty.”
“Maybe she’s hiding somewhere else,” Inez said, giving Shawn the benefit of the doubt.
“No, she was in-“ He stopped. “Never mind.” He opened the gate and drove through, bringing the car to a final stop inside the garage.
“What’s for dinner?” Emmy asked, climbing out of the car.
“The shark man had me thinking sushi,” Nick answered, following her.
“Normal sushi, or mad scientist molecular gastronomy sushi?” Inez asked, half-teasing.
“I’m insulted,” Nick lied. “You think I would ever make…” He trailed off, staring at the door into the building.
Inez looked over. There was an envelope taped to the door. The door inside a garage that had been closed since they left. There were cameras everywhere, but they reported to an app on Shawn’s phone. If the cameras had been activated, Shawn would have seen it. The envelope shouldn’t be there.
Shawn got out of the car, walked to the door, and ripped the envelope off. He checked it for writing as the team joined him. Finding none, he opened it and pulled out the single sheet of paper.
Shawn: Good job. You win. We give up for now. Was fun. Same time next week? :)