Nikki Tesla and the Fellowship of the Bling

by Jess Keating

  I could still feel his hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze of support before he’d taken off. What had he said to us?

  I’ll be right behind you.

  The exact same thing I’d said to Leo when I wanted to keep him away from Nolan.

  “Oh no … He tricked me,” I said. The realization tightened around my heart like a fist. “He went after Nolan.”

  I looked up at the roof of the building, angry tears pricking at the back of my eyes. Remember what I said earlier about life sometimes giving you a win? Forget I ever mentioned that. Sometimes life likes to be a total jerk.

  “I have to help him.” I started to run for the door, but Martha had fast reflexes. She caught me by the elbow with an iron grip.

  “The building is still being secured, Nikki,” she said in an even tone. “There is no way the police will allow you inside now that you’re out. They’ve got a barricade up.” She was trying to calm me down, but with every second that ticked by, the fear and anxiety over Dad’s safety choked me more and more. He was in there facing Nolan alone. Why hadn’t he let me help him?

  One of our last conversations came crashing back to me. What had I promised him? To make a run for it if things got out of control?

  No.

  I’d promised that I would abandon the plan if I calculated there was zero chance of us succeeding. If the odds were too stacked against us. If I saw no way for us to beat Nolan.

  Is that where we were? Was there no way to for us to beat him?

  I’d thought it was all over, but Dad didn’t seem to think so. He was still up there, looking for a way to save us all.

  He thought there was still a chance, or else he wouldn’t have lied to us and gone after Nolan.

  “I don’t care about the barricade!” I glanced at the cluster of police officers, still surveying the building. I didn’t need Martha’s empty words. I needed action. I caught Leo’s attention. “Please. I have to get in there. Do something so I can go help him.”

  Leo frowned, but he didn’t miss my meaning. He glanced to our right, where a distracted officer had left his police cruiser’s door gently ajar.

  Catching his eye once more, I let my torso collapse, dropped my face into my hands, and began to sob loudly. To anyone watching, I was a devastated bystander, upset about her father. But what I really needed was to dislodge Martha’s hand from my elbow. I could only hope I was as good at this as Mo had been.

  “I’m deeply sorry, Nikki, but in this situation, with such a police presence, I’m afraid there’s no safe way to—” Martha began.

  The police cruiser’s blaring horn interrupted her. Every head in the crowd jerked abruptly to the car, which now flashed a circus of lights and siren noises in chaotic succession. And behind the wheel? Leo, with a delighted look of hysteria on his face. The muted yelling of his own voice was drowned out by the whoops and wails of the car’s sirens, but it wasn’t hard to spot him in the driver’s seat, twisting and air-drumming jerkily like a rock star.

  It was the perfect distraction.

  I seized the moment and raced toward the door, skidding under the caution tape while the police were otherwise occupied. I needed to act fast. I only had a few seconds before they realized their mistake.

  “Nikki, no!” Grace’s voice echoed from the other side of the noisy parking lot. She must have realized my plan a second too late. I’d have a lot of angry geniuses to reckon with if I made it out of this little stunt alive, but that was a problem for Future Nikki.

  Present Nikki had to save Dad.

  I shouldered my way through the door and locked it behind me. It wouldn’t stop anyone for long, but it would give me a head start. Even the police didn’t know what they were up against with Nolan and his ring. Luckily for them, they wouldn’t be finding out anytime soon. One quick glimpse out the front windows of the building told me that Leo was now driving the cruiser, jerking it forward in slow, screeching lunges. Three police officers pounded on the driver’s-side window, hopping and halting alongside as it lurched away from the compound.

  “Thank you,” I whispered to him. I could only hope to tell him in person when this was all over.

  Racing to the stairs, I started the climb. The one place where Nolan would stand a chance at escaping through the police barricade would be the roof; that helipad couldn’t have been for show. Dad would know that, too.

  Panting and sweating like crazy, I finally made it to the top floor and shoved open a heavy metal door marked “Roof Access.” Over an hour ago, we’d all landed here with our parachutes. It was still just as silent, save for the wind in the trees and the mild thump of footsteps on the concrete below.

  I crept forward in the dark, thankful for the light of the moon to keep me from tripping. With every step, I searched frantically for any sign of Dad or Nolan. There hadn’t been a helicopter on the roof when we’d first parachuted in, but one now sat before me like a huge black cat, ready to pounce.

  “Nikki?!”

  The hushed sound of Dad’s voice made my knees buckle with relief. He was crouched behind a chimney of dark bricks, watching the helicopter. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going after Nolan?” I scolded him. “He could have killed you!”

  Dad couldn’t stop the smug grin from curling his mouth. He must have known I’d try to come back for him—I’m his daughter, after all. I inherited half my stubbornness from him.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” he said, mimicking my angry tone. “It’s way too dangerous for you!”

  I rolled my eyes, ignoring his concerns. If he wasn’t giving up, neither was I. “Where is he?”

  “At the south side of the roof,” Dad said. “Stay down! He’s talking on the phone, and I overheard him saying he needed something from his main office. It can’t be the ring, since he’s already got it on him. But maybe some important files or buyer information?” He shook his head with frustration. “I have no idea …”

  “How do we stop him?” I asked through gritted teeth. “I don’t have a weapon, other than the ring. And I honestly don’t trust it to help when Nolan has his own!”

  Dad’s eyes flashed and he grabbed me by the shoulders. “That’s right!” he said. “You’ve got the ring. Give it to me!”

  I forced myself to stay calm, despite the urgency racing in my blood. I understood his thinking, but the vision of my father fighting with Nolan earlier was still lodged in my mind. Nolan was younger and much stronger than Dad. Would Dad stand a chance? I started to reach for the ring in my pocket, but a tiny warning inside me made my arm freeze in midair.

  “That won’t work!” I said. “We need to outsmart him, not outfight him. I don’t want you to get hurt, Dad! Plus, you’re already injured.” I narrowed my eyes at the stain of blood above his eyebrow. Something about the wound struck me as odd. It had stopped bleeding, which had to be a good sign for him.

  Dad frowned and pointed to the helicopter. “I’ve got it,” he said. He still had a hold on my shoulder, like he was afraid I was going to leave without him. “We take his helicopter. That will be two strikes against him: He won’t be able to escape, and he won’t get his hands on my ring so he won’t be able to perfect his own. No buyer in his right mind would want technology that hasn’t been fully developed. It’s our best option.”

  I chewed my lip. It wasn’t exactly a foolproof plan, but it was as good as any we had. “Okay,” I said. “But we’d better hurry. His phone call could end at any minute.”

  We raced over to the helicopter, and Dad began to prepare it for takeoff.

  “Are you sure he’s over there?” I craned my neck and tried to peer around the corner, but there was no sign of Nolan anywhere. The clammy feeling of being watched settled over my skin like a wet blanket. Someone as smart as Nolan should know how important it was to keep an eye on his only means of escape.

  Unless he was keeping an eye on it.

  Was Nolan one step ahead of us again? Spiders of doubt began to creep over me.

 
; “Dad,” I murmured, edging toward him. “This doesn’t feel right. I think we’re missing something. It shouldn’t be this easy …”

  Dad opened the door to the helicopter and whispered back to me, “You’re used to things being difficult. Take a win for once.”

  “I guess you’re right.” I pivoted around to inspect our surroundings one last time. Even the leaves on the trees seemed to be uncertain, rustling like a shiver up a spine.

  “Ready, Nikki?” He extended his hand to me. “Come on, hop in.”

  I stepped forward and took his hand, but the look in his eyes made me pause. The wound above his left eye had begun to trickle a thin stream of blood over his cheek again.

  “This reminds me of all those bedtime stories you used to tell me,” I said, keeping my voice light. “When the princess would run away from the castle in the middle of the night …”

  Dad smiled, waving me forward. “That was one of my favorites, too.”

  “Yeah.” I didn’t take my eyes off him. “Too bad you’ve never read me a princess story in my entire life, huh?” I yanked my hand away, forcing myself to stand tall. Maybe this villain could sense fear.

  Dad didn’t falter, but the tiniest edge of a smirk flickered on his face.

  “Oh dear.” His shoulders slumped in false sadness. “Have I ruined the surprise? What gave it away?”

  I sneered and pointed to his bleeding eyebrow. “It was the right eyebrow, not the left. Nice try though.”

  I didn’t waste any more time. Bolting away, I raced for the other side of the roof. There was a reason the helicopter had been sitting there, practically begging us to steal it. Nolan hadn’t left it unattended at all.

  He’d counted on me returning and bringing the ring with me.

  And I’d almost fallen for it. Two steps into the helicopter, and he could have flown anywhere in the world with me and his precious ring.

  Dad’s voice echoed behind me. He wasn’t freaking out or even mad. Instead, there was a triumphant tone behind his words. “There’s nowhere to go, Nikki. But I meant what I said! We can both leave this place in one piece. I’ll even give you your dad’s cut of the profits! I know you’ve got some great ideas. Let’s work together!”

  I tried to put as much distance between myself and that voice as I possibly could, surging forward until I found what I was looking for. Unfortunately, Nolan was faster than me and had circled around the opposite side of the roof to cut me off. I skidded to a stop, the soles of my shoes screeching on the rooftop.

  Dad beamed at me and held his arms wide, like he was waiting for a hug. “I knew you’d come back. You seemed stubborn from the start. Hard to leave your ol’ dad behind after all this time, right?”

  I backed away from him, desperation forcing the air from my lungs. But no matter how awful or terrifying he was, I knew I couldn’t leave.

  Beside him, tied up in a rusty chair with a gag over his mouth, was another Dad.

  My Dad.

  The two Dads stared at me, waiting for my next move.

  I racked my brain for a solution to this terrifying equation. How could I have been so stupid?! Of all the things Nolan could have transformed into, why would he pick my own father?!

  Of course, I knew the answer. Turning into my dad was the only way I’d ever leave with him, and since I had the ring with me, he could wipe out his competition and—handy bonus—terrorize my father by kidnapping me in one fell swoop. But I couldn’t let him get away with it. I raced forward to help Dad, but Nolan stopped me.

  “I seriously do not like you.” My mouth curled in disgust.

  “Oh, come on,” Nolan said. It was beyond freaky hearing such a smarmy, edgy tone coming from Dad’s mouth. It reminded me of how I used to think of him—back when I thought he was a villain. This imaginary, parallel version of him had come back from the dead to haunt me. “I thought you’d appreciate the irony.” Nolan rested his hands on his hips, relaxed.

  Dad mumbled something into his gag, shaking his head while trying to dislodge it.

  “It’s going to be all right,” I told him. I tried to send him telepathic messages that I had a plan.

  Of course, I was totally lying. I had no idea how I was going to get out of this one. But I wasn’t about to let Nolan know it. Fake it till you make it was my only option.

  “Is that so?” Nolan asked. He circled Dad like a shark, taking slow, deliberate steps. “Because from my point of view, things are looking a little dire for you. You’re going to give me the ring, or your father is going to suffer the consequences.”

  He started pushing Dad’s chair closer to the edge of the rooftop, sending my stomach twisting with dread. Dad desperately dragged his boots against the rough concrete, but it was no use. Scenes from the past began to flash through my mind. Dad reading to me at bedtime. Dad helping me design experiments. Making my lunches and drawing cartoon rocket ships and singing silly songs about my first inventions.

  I’d spent years hating him for what I thought he was, and now it was time to show him how sorry I was. For doubting him. For not once looking past the gossip to find the real truth.

  “No!” I stomped my foot down. “Stop! I’ll give you the ring!”

  Nolan froze. Dad’s face was as pale as the moon. He shook his head back and forth, urging me to change my mind. But there was no other way.

  I wouldn’t lose him again, even if it meant giving up on everything else.

  “No tricks,” Nolan said. It wasn’t a question. His eyes closed, and his skin began to bubble and shift. He was even faster than Dad had been at his transformations. Within seconds, the real Nolan stood before me. As the evil version of Dad disappeared from Nolan’s face, I knew he was gone forever in my heart, too. The greedy man who had abandoned his family had never really existed.

  “No tricks,” I assured Nolan. “I’ll give you the ring. You can sell both prototypes for billions and never hear from us again. Just don’t hurt him, please.”

  Nolan held out his hand to me. “Good girl.”

  I ignored the sharp pang of panic in my chest and dug into my pocket. Pulling out the ring, I eyed Dad one more time. He held his breath, and I knew he must be hoping that I would save his life and chuck the ring from the rooftop in equal parts. If I were in his position, I would hate to watch Nolan get away with this.

  But I couldn’t risk it. Nothing was worth as much to me as Dad’s life.

  I handed the ring to Nolan, who stuck it onto his ring finger. Two glittering silver rings now adorned his hand, and a satisfied grin spread across his face.

  “I knew you were more reasonable than your father,” he said. “And no hard feelings about the last seven years either.” There wasn’t a trace of remorse on his face. “You were better off without him.”

  Here’s the thing: If Nolan had shut up and gone on his way, leaving Dad and I behind, the whole mission probably would have ended there. He would have had both rings, made gazillions of dollars, and we would have had to watch our backs for the rest of our lives as he lurked around in the shadows.

  But he had to go and insult my dad.

  Fiery heat grew in my chest and my ears began to burn. A burst of angry adrenaline surged through my bloodstream. “What did you say?”

  Nolan gave me a pitying look. “I said you were better off without him.” He seemed to enjoy taunting me. A vicious gleam shone in his eyes, followed by a softened gaze. “My offer still stands. If I can’t have Mike on my team, I’ll gladly take his daughter. I’m sure he’d love that. Wouldn’t you?” Nolan grinned at Dad, who had slumped down in his chair now that exhaustion and defeat had caught up with him.

  Honestly, why did evil geniuses keep asking me to work with them? Do I have some sign on my forehead that says “Will Work for Villains”?

  But something else was happening, too. Parts of Nolan’s body had begun to flicker in and out of existence, like the glitching screen of a buffering video game. His ears shrunk down into much smaller versions of themsel
ves, then swelled back again. His hair, already sweaty and disheveled, became darker and distinctly more fur-like before blinking back to normal.

  Then three very surprising things happened all at once: First, a sharp crack split the air—one of Bert’s firecrackers, it sounded like—and a burst of thick gray smoke appeared behind us.

  Second, a lone figure dashed out from around the corner, his sneakers skidding on the damp rooftop. Leo! He made a break for Dad, shoving him out of Nolan’s reach and clawing at the ropes that bound him to the chair.

  Third, Leo reminded me of two words that I hadn’t thought about since our time in Dad’s volcano laboratory. “Cellular memories!” he bellowed, frantically unknotting the ropes around Dad. “The ring remembers you, Nikki! Concentrate!”

  Cellular memories.

  That’s right!

  Warmth radiated through me, and my heart began to drum. Leo had figured it out. Nolan wasn’t in control of his body’s weird flickering and shifting …

  I was.

  The ring not only remembered me but it was picking up on my exceedingly heightened emotions. And no matter who this guy was, he was no match for my dad in the brains department. Dad’s ring would be more powerful than anything Nolan could invent.

  And my anger was more powerful than anything he could feel.

  Now that Dad’s ring was on Nolan’s finger, I could use it against him.

  We still had a chance.

  Only a few seconds had passed since Leo’s arrival, but all the clouds in my brain had cleared out of the way, revealing the sun. Only it wasn’t a sun pouring out of me, it was a supernova—vicious and focused. I let myself feel everything I’d been running from. The dinners I’d endured without Dad. The anxiety that I’d turn out just like him. The emptiness when I’d realized I’d been hating him for nothing. On the inside I was throwing glass, screaming in a fit of rage, kicking and punching walls—anything to let the fury free. Seven years of hurt funneled into one white-hot beam of anger, sadness, resentment, and pain.