Pixels And Poltergeists: An Unveiled Academy Novel (Penny and Boots Book 3)

by Amy Hopkins

  “Guess we’re on our own, then.” She didn’t want to consider the fact that she might not find any of her friends in time to intercept the arcade machine, that she might be on her own. “Professor Steele!” Penny called down the hall, spying the familiar face just before the professor disappeared around a corner.

  The professor froze, clutching her tattered briefcase. “What?”

  “Have you seen Cisco? Or Amelia and Red?”

  Steele hesitated, then gave a jerky shake of her head. “I haven’t seen the FBI agent, and I don’t know who those other people are. I have to go.”

  “Where?” The question popped out before Penny could consider whether it was appropriate.

  “None of your business.” Steele swallowed, then spoke again. “I have to return home. It’s a family matter. Class this week is canceled.”

  She darted away, leaving Penny alone in the hallway. “That was just plain weird.” Still, she didn’t have time to worry about it.

  In the short time since she had passed the dining hall, it had begun to fill with students eager for taco night. Heart thumping, Penny scanned the room.

  “Cisco!” She waved a hand to catch his attention and gestured frantically for him to come over. When he was close enough, she leaned up to whisper loudly in his ear. “We have to go. I have a lead.”

  Cisco immediately went for his phone but Penny grabbed it, shaking her head wildly. “We were hacked. We can’t call anyone until we check their phones.” Sure enough, the Space Busters icon appeared on Cisco’s phone as well. Penny deleted it. “That should fix it, I hope. Do you know where Amelia and Red are?”

  Cisco shook his head. “Date night, I think.”

  “That explains the mess.” Amelia had a habit of digging through her wardrobe like a drunk archaeologist in an Egyptian sandpit when she needed a date-night dress. “We’ll have to go without them. Do you know where the Twisted Monkey is?”

  Cisco coughed. “The Twisted… Are you sure?”

  Penny passed him Jessie’s crumpled note. “I trust my source.”

  “Oh. Right.” With a weak smile, Cisco nodded toward the door. “Let’s go, then. To the biker bar...”

  The Twisted Monkey sat between a laundromat and a tattoo parlor. The signage for the tiny complex was worn and rusted, and the yellow light bulbs that lit the entrance to the bar buzzed when they flickered to life as Penny and Cisco approached. Above the door, a faded sign sporting a stylized monkey image tickled Penny’s memory, but she was unable to place it.

  Inside, the smell of stale beer and old cigarette smoke stung Penny’s nose. She tried not to let it show, unwilling to display even a hint of weakness in front of the burly, bearded man at the bar, or the three guys in leather jackets in front of him.

  “Look, boys.” The bartender dropped a dirty cloth on the bar and gave a leering, gap-toothed grin. “We’ve got tourists.”

  The three patrons swiveled around to look at the newcomers. Penny resisted the urge to squirm under their scrutiny.

  “Hi!” She gave a quick wave with the tips of her fingers. “We were just, um, in the area. Thought we’d drop by and grab a—”

  “Members only.” The bartender jerked his chin at the door.

  “Wait on, Gus.” One man stood and sauntered closer to Penny and Cisco. He leaned down until his face was only inches from Penny’s. The cloying smell of sweat and rum made her stomach roil. Then, he grinned. “Hey! I know you.”

  “You… do?” Penny stared back, unable to dredge up any memory of the man.

  “Yeah. You were at that meeting with all the weirdos, right?” The man pointed at Penny, turning to his friends. “I saw her when I dropped Howler off.”

  A rush of relief flooded Penny as she realized why the monkey image out front had twigged her brain. “You’re friends with Howler?” The Mayan Monkey God had only been into Paddy’s a few times, but she knew he was one of the key players in the alliance.

  The atmosphere suddenly eased, and Gus grabbed two glass steins and thumped them onto the counter. “What’ll it be, ladies?”

  Cisco coughed a rough laugh. “Thanks, but we’re here on business.”

  “Oh?” Gus stepped back, suddenly guarded again. “Howler only does business by appointment.”

  Penny shook her head. “Not with him. We’re here for that.” She pointed at a dark corner of the bar where an arcade machine was nestled in the shadows.

  “What’s that?” One of the men squinted, then brightened. “Hey! When did we get pinball?”

  He stood, but Penny jumped forward. “Mate, you do not want to play that.”

  “Who the fuck are you?” he asked, scowling at Penny. She met his narrowed eyes with confidence. “And why the hell not?”

  “Because it’s a government conspiracy.” That shut the man down. He sat back on his barstool with a thump. “Not a real one. The men who put it here are Mythers. They’ve been kidnapping players and wiping their minds.”

  “Not much to wipe there,” the bartender cackled.

  “Hey, fuck you, Gus.”

  The bartender pulled his lips back in a chuckle. “Blow me, Charlie.” He shoved a fresh drink at the man, then looked back at Penny. “What’s the story, then? You here to brainwash us?”

  “We want to find the people behind this,” Penny explained. “They took our friend.”

  “I can’t help.” Gus shrugged, though he looked upset that he couldn’t help. “They didn’t exactly give me a shipping address.”

  “It’s okay.” Penny motioned toward a seat in the corner. “Mind if we hang around for a while? My intel says it’s being picked up tonight.”

  Gus pursed his lips. “I’ll have to check with Howler. He’s in charge when the boss is out.” He tossed the rag down and left, vanishing behind an oaken office door.

  Cisco gave Penny a nervous glance.

  Gus re-appeared with a grin and motioned for them to accompany him into the office. “Howler says it’s fine. You can hang around in his room while you wait. You can see everything from there.”

  Cisco trailed behind Penny, and she reached an arm back to clasp his hand. They passed the three drinking bikers and stepped into the office.

  A steel desk in one corner propped up a cluster of small TV screens, each showing a different view of the bar and its surroundings. In the other corner, a large simian creature reclined in an armchair, a whittling knife in one hand and a block of wood in the other.

  “Hey, Howler.” Penny greeted the monkey god, not expecting a response. The Myther had been solemn and non-communicative the few times she’d seen him at Paddy’s, though the leprechaun had assured her it was simply his personality.

  To Penny’s surprise, Howler looked up and gave her a wide, toothy grin. He pointed to one of the screens, and Penny saw it was the one that showed the arcade machine. She leaned closer.

  Cisco joined her, one hand on Penny’s back for balance. “Am I the only one thinking we really need a plan here?”

  Penny bit her lip, still watching the screen. “We follow the goons home, bust in, and steal Trevor back. That’s a plan, right?”

  “Ha.” Cisco snorted. “Sure.”

  “They’re a secret agency that can disappear on a whim. They made a whole damn office block vanish!” Penny blew out a frustrated breath. “If they’re supposedly government, they’re probably armed to the teeth.”

  “Even the government has weaknesses,” Cisco pointed out. “Think, Penny. How many movies and urban legends are there of people sneaking into Area 51 or other secret bases?”

  “A few,” Penny admitted.

  “So there’s probably a way in.” Cisco tapped the screen. “The very fact that there were stories about them in the first place means they were never believed to be completely invincible.”

  “Good point.” Penny stood but didn’t take her eyes off the screen. “I have an idea. Stand watch for a moment?”

  They swapped positions, Cisco leaning one hip against the
desk with his eyes locked on the surveillance screen while Penny dug around for her phone.

  Hey Amelia, does your new blog have a video channel?

  Her phone rang a few seconds later.

  “Of course! You know I love that shit. Why? You want the link?” Amelia took a breath, but Penny cut her off.

  “No, I want the logon. I swear, it’s important, or I wouldn’t ask.” Penny held her breath for a beat. Please don’t ask questions.

  “Sure, I guess.” Amelia sounded curious but thankfully didn’t press for answers. A low chuckle nearby suggested she was otherwise occupied and Penny thanked her lucky stars. “It’s just my regular email address as the login. The password is K9LOVR5861.”

  Penny snorted a laugh. “Really? K9LOVR? That’s gold.”

  “What’s yours?” Amelia shot back. “LatinoHottie123? Oh, hey, while I remember, I love you, girl but can you not trash our room like that without warning? Red came over and I nearly died!”

  Penny’s heart skipped a beat. “That wasn’t you?”

  “Me?” Amelia squealed. “Stop it, Red, this is important! No way. I left this room spick and span.”

  “Where is Boots?” Penny demanded.

  “Boots?” All traces of laughter left Amelia’s voice. “I thought she was with you. Penny, if you didn’t make this mess…”

  “Someone broke in,” Penny finished. “Dammit! I knew Steele was acting shifty.”

  “Penny!” Cisco’s hiss grabbed her attention. Penny saw two large shadows near the arcade machine, just out of the line of sight of the camera.

  This is our only chance to get Trevor. But I can’t leave Boots!

  “Shit!” Penny’s heart tore. “Goddamn it. Amelia, I need to call you back in a second. Don’t go anywhere, okay?” Penny pressed the end call button, her movements weighed down by a heavy blanket of guilt.

  Behind her, Howler shuffled to his feet and tapped Penny on the shoulder. He passed her the block of wood.

  “Um, thanks?” Penny turned it over and blinked. “Wait, that’s me!”

  The monkey god had carved her likeness into one side of the block, depicting Penny standing tall with a sword in one hand and a rose in the other. Petals floated away from the dying rose, carved with such precision they looked as soft as silk.

  Penny stared at her own face, the sculpture staring back with a hard expression.

  “The rose is a symbol of secrecy,” Penny whispered. “The secret organization. You mean, I should go after Trevor?”

  Howler nodded.

  “Will Boots be okay if I do?” she asked.

  Penny waved off Cisco’s questions with a hand as Howler nodded again.

  Penny didn’t hesitate. She called Amelia back and cut her friend off before she spoke. “Amelia? I need your help. I can’t tell you what I’m doing, but I have to go.”

  “What?” Amelia snapped. “If Boots is—”

  “If she is, I need you to find her for me.” Penny clenched her jaw. “Please. You know how much she means to me. You know I would go to her if I had a choice.”

  “Okay.” Amelia’s voice changed from stunned to compassionate in a heartbeat. “I trust you, Penny. And you can trust me. You do what you need to do, and don’t worry about Boots. I’ve got this.”

  Penny tapped the end call button. Cisco grabbed her arm. “What happened? You’re white as a sheet.”

  She shook him off. “Nothing we can fix right now.”

  “Then let’s go.” The surveillance screen showed two suited men loading the arcade machine onto a dolly to wheel it out of the bar. Penny cracked the office door open and slipped out as they left. “Thanks for the help, guys.”

  “Bye!” Gus waved them off. “When you get the bastards, shoot them a few times for me!”

  “Will do!” Penny ran to the door, paused, then followed the goons outside. The soft evening light cast long, deep shadows perfect for hiding. She passed Cisco a tiny adhesive tracking device. “Do it.”

  Cisco waited until the goons slammed the back door of the van shut and hauled themselves into the front. He darted across the alley they’d parked in and ran a hand softly along the bumper. He rolled behind a dumpster on the other side and gave Penny a thumbs up.

  Penny waited for the van to sputter to life and roll away before sprinting for the Jeep she and Cisco had borrowed from the college. She threw herself in behind the driver’s seat. “Let’s get the bastards.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Whether it was a trick of the light, the traffic headed to a football game, or plain, dumb luck, the drive went smoothly. The van crawled through the traffic several cars ahead, then pulled off on a side street. Penny idled around the corner, then followed at a distance, headlights off.

  The van stayed tantalizingly out of sight, but Cisco rattled off directions from the GPS tracker, guiding Penny into an industrial estate on the opposite side of town to the compound they had discovered last time.

  “This must be it,” Penny whispered as they crawled past. The van had taken a right turn into a gated driveway.

  The Jeep cruised past, and once they were out of sight, Penny pulled into a vacant parking lot, positioning the car behind an old picket fence.

  Cisco eased his door shut and eyed the car. “They’ll find it if they look,” he told her.

  “Then let’s hope they don’t.” Penny shut her own door and grabbed her phone.

  Paranoia in full force, she quickly scanned her apps for anything that shouldn’t be there. “All normal,” she muttered as she dialed a number. “Are you ready to bring the light?” she asked.

  “Affirmative.” Cisco’s voice was cold.

  “I have a plan, but I need your help to make it work.” Penny shivered in the cool evening air as she waited for an answer.

  “Of course,” Cisco told her. “Just tell me what to do.”

  Penny rattled off a list of instructions as Cisco set up the laptop. He pulled up a satellite view of the area.

  When Penny was done, he pointed at an area of flat concrete. “What’s that?”

  Penny reached over him to zoom in on the area. “Our target.” She scrolled around the edges, swapping into street view for a better look. “Hello, beautiful.”

  “That’s a sewer cap,” Cisco countered. “That’s not beautiful. It’s gross.”

  “It’s exactly what we need,” Penny urged. “Come on. When you picture breaking into a secret base, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?”

  “Subterranean adventure.” Cisco sighed in defeat. “Let’s hope it’s as clean as it is in the movies. But if we meet any giant turtles down there, I’m out.”

  “Even if we did, they’d be on our side.” Penny popped the trunk and started hauling out gear. “Headlamp?” She passed one to Cisco. “Body cams, pistols, smoke grenades. Oh, where are the signal jammers?”

  “In that box.” Cisco clipped a small glass hammer to his belt, then looped a length of rope around his middle. “Pity we don’t have gumboots in here.” He shuddered.

  “You’re such a girl,” Penny told him.

  “Really?” Cisco shot back. “You’re really okay with traipsing through poop?”

  “To get Trevor out?” Penny asked quietly. “Yeah.”

  “Of course I’ll do it,” Cisco hurriedly backed up. “But damned if I’m not gonna complain the whole way.”

  “Fair enough.” Once she had all her gear, Penny locked the Jeep and tossed the keys under a wheel well. “That drain was around the east side of the building. Let’s go.”

  They easily found the heavy metal plate covering a drain beneath the street. Cisco used a grappling hook to lift it and gestured for Penny to go first. “Let me know if I need to bag my feet,” he called as she shimmied down the iron rungs.

  “It’s actually not too bad.” Though a thin stream of water ran down the center of the tunnel, the smooth concrete walls were clean. A narrow ledge ran along the tunnel, toward an intersection that branched off in two op
posing directions.

  “Go left,” Penny instructed after a glance at her phone.

  They hurried through the tunnels until Penny pointed up. “Right here,” she whispered. “We’re about forty feet inside the boundary.”

  “What if it’s swarming with gun-toting agents?” Cisco asked.

  Penny shrugged. “Then we deal with that when we get there.”

  Ignoring Cisco’s protest, Penny went up first. She climbed the steps embedded into the vertical tunnel and switched her headlamp off when she got to the top. As carefully as she could, she lifted the drain cover, looked around, then let it drop.

  “We’re in a loading bay,” she whispered down to Cisco. “Looks empty.”

  “Great,” Cisco muttered. “It looks empty.”

  Penny lifted the cap again and crept out, sliding the cover over to one side so Cisco could follow.

  The section of the complex they had emerged in was clearly where the game machines were brought in. A row of white vans was parked against the building, and another van was parked with its back to an open loading dock.

  Cisco re-covered their entry point as Penny kept watch.

  The headlights of the van parked at the dock flashed twice. “Take cover!” Penny hissed.

  The two friends dashed for the row of vacant vans. Penny peered through a tinted window as two heavyset men strode out from a loading dock door and climbed into the van.

  “You want how many tacos?” one called.

  “Nineteen altogether.” A third man stepped out of the doorway, letting it swing shut behind him. “Gary said to remember his extra jalapenos. Moses forgot last time, and he was pissed.”

  “Whatever.” The van doors slammed shut and the engine started.

  Penny watched it drive away. A moment later, she heard the buzz of distant voices. He must be talking to the guards at the gate.

  The man at the door touched his belt, then cursed. He lifted a large, box-shaped radio to his face and pressed a button. “Yo, Mike. Can you let me back in? I left my ID on the table.”

  After a brief moment of static, Mike answered. “I’m on the other side! You’ll have to come in through the big door. Jesus, Bert. You’re hopeless.”