Blake glanced over at the table. “Yeah?”
“How did you get all that…sensitive information?”
“You know what it is?”
“Yeah, I’m the librarian, remember? I know and catalogue many things because I archive them for posterity or whatever the Archimandrion does with it. I don’t really ask questions.”
“Before I answer your question, tell me how you got the Librarian job.”
“I’m a history buff and I was at the top of my class. The Order recruited me just before I graduated from Saint Anselm College. I wanted to be an archivist, but the post-graduation job they sold me with was way more interesting.” Alex sipped his coffee.
“Ah. Well, how I got my hands on this data is…a long story. The short version is that Victor sent me on a wild goose chase to learn about the world, but what I discovered is a criminal organization that masquerades several layers deep within The Order. I had some of those people interrogated and the information they shared is spread across my dining room table.”
Alex’s eyes widened. “Radoslav.”
Blake shrugged. “Maybe.”
“That’s the kind of information we don’t want the Feds to find out about. If they figure out the identities of the Archi…”
Blake waved his hand dismissively. “I’ve already eliminated most of the council.”
“What?” Alex exclaimed. He became visible unsettled.
Blake lowered his voice and spoke with an ominous tone. “Things are changing, Alex. I will be taking over soon and it would do you well to remember that.”
Alex swallowed nervously and nodded. “I see.”
“Don’t worry, as long as you don’t get in my way, you’ll be fine. Continue to document and catalog or do whatever it is you do, but be ready for when the tide turns. Victor won’t be in charge much longer.”
Alex looked uncomfortable and shifted on his feet while scratching his face. “Uh, Okay. Um…thanks for the heads up. I’m um, gonna shower and change back into my dry clothes and go home. Thanks again for putting up with me, I really appreciate it.”
Blake nodded, eyeing the notebooks and paperwork on the dining room table. “No problem.” Maybe I should have you help me fill in some of the gaps one day.
After Alex left in the early morning, Blake decided the meaning of his strange nightmare meant he should take matters into his own hands and prevent people from coming after him. He knew from watching movies that the best way to confuse his enemy and throw them off guard was to lop off the head of their leadership. He decided to finish what he started with Chief Applegate and take out the DHS agent he had seen a few times.
If I move quickly, they’ll never see me coming and they won’t have time to alert Quinn. Once I’ve taken them out, I can figure out who’s in charge on the island right now and eliminate them, too. Then, The Order can move back in.
After changing, Dark Flame flew to police headquarters and landed on the steeply pitched roof of one of the nearby snow-covered buildings, hoping to catch Chief Applegate on her way in or out of the building. For twenty minutes, he watched officers and civilians walk in and out of headquarters, going about their daily business.
I need another plan, I could be here for hours. I don’t even know if she’s in the building.
He was about to take off when he spotted Chief Applegate exiting the building. He smiled at the stroke of luck and watched her approach a police cruiser. She climbed inside and then drove away. Jumping off the roof, he flew low over buildings and trees and followed her across town until she made her way onto the northbound lane of the Spaulding Turnpike.
Traitors and enemies of The Order must die…that’s what Victor…what I would want. If I take her out, there’s a good chance that DHS guy will come out to investigate.
Dark Flame flew over the chief’s cruiser as she drove up the Spaulding toward Dover at about sixty-five miles-per-hour. Cars traveling in the opposite direction flashed their lights and beeped their horns. I’m going to lose the element of surprise if she figures out what’s going on.
He waited until she started passing a tractor-trailer traveling in the right lane and then pushed himself out in front of her car about thirty feet. Then, he abruptly stopped, landed, and turned around, grimacing at the chief through brightly glowing orange eyes.
Chief Applegate slammed on her brakes, but he left her no room to stop and nowhere to go. He lowered his center of gravity, braced himself, and then the car smashed into him. He saw the airbags deploy as the car flipped up and over him, landing upside down with a crash as it screeched to a stop behind him. Drivers of oncoming cars slammed on their brakes and their cars slid and screeched as they tried to stop. Although road crews had cleared the snow, a thin layer of slush made the roads unpredictably dangerous.
Glancing at Chief Applegate’s inverted cruiser, he smirked when he didn’t see movement. Then, he took off, leaving her injured or dead—whatever fate would decide. Either way, she was out of the picture and out of his way.
Dark Flame flew back to the police station in Portsmouth as fast as he could, landing on his vantage point to watch the people and emergency vehicles below scramble in response to his attack on the chief. He grinned and laughed because they looked so puny and insignificant from above.
No matter what they do, their beloved chief would probably die if she wasn’t dead already.
Using his super vision, he searched the faces of men and women scrambling to get to their vehicles, looking for the man he saw standing with Chief Applegate and Quinn when he woke up in the crater after his first attempt to kill the police chief. He had seen the same man again in Prescott Park leading the DHS troops when he impaled Quinn with rebar, so he assumed the man was responsible for coordinating the DHS agents and had a hand in capturing the naval prison. Either way, he knew taking that guy out would cause more confusion and hopefully put the police and the DHS off his capture. Then, The Order could return and recapture the island from the military.
Several men in charcoal overcoats ran out of the police station and jumped into an unmarked black SUV.
That’s the DHS, but where is the ringleader?
The SUV sped away, so Dark Flame decided to follow it, flying low to avoid detection. The SUV made its way across Portsmouth, but in the opposite direction of the Spaulding Turnpike on-ramps. Eventually, the SUV crossed the Sarah Long Bridge and then turned into the Stoddard Street security gate of the Naval Shipyard.
Holy shit, that’s no small swim. Alex survived crossing that span of water in December at night? No wonder the man was freezing.
The SUV pulled over and a man approached.
There he is. So, they were picking him up.
The SUV spun around and fish-tailed on the partially frozen asphalt before making its way back across the Sarah Long Bridge.
“Not this time,” Dark Flame said to himself.
He flew ahead of the SUV and descended, landing near the middle of the drawbridge. The driver noticed him and panicked as Dark Flame nonchalantly waved his hand and rolled the SUV over the edge of the drawbridge. The SUV smashed through the railing and plummeted into the fast-moving river with a big splash. The tide was coming in which meant the SUV wouldn’t be swept out to sea that quickly.
Whatever.
Satisfied with his work, Dark Flame took off, leaving the vehicle and its occupants to fate.
Now, it’s time to move against Quinn and end this once and for all.
17 | I Won’t Give up on Him
Quinn
Quinn was loading the dishwasher when the evening news switched to the story of the unexpected attack on Chief Applegate and Agent Potter by Dark Flame. Camilla Brenhurst relayed the latest medical update, that both Applegate and Potter had died due to severe complications caused by their unfortunate car accidents.
How did I not know about this?
“Oh my gosh, did Blake do that?” Daddio asked in disbelief.
“I think so, but nobody calle
d me so I’m not sure what’s going on,” Quinn replied.
“Maybe you should go check it out,” Dad said
“But it’s a school night,” Quinn replied with surprise. “You’d let me go?”
Dad chuckled and pointed at the television. “Yes. Something like this is a sure exception to the norms of school night rules, Quinn. I think you know that. Go do whatever needs to be done, even if that means stopping Blake. Just come back in one piece to us.”
Quinn ran upstairs and changed into his super suit and then hurried back into the kitchen to hug his dads goodbye. After, he stepped out the back door, checked his surroundings for nosy neighbors, and launched himself into the air.
Minutes later, he landed on the front steps of the police station and let himself in. The officer at the desk exhaled a sigh of relief when he saw Blue Spekter and buzzed him through.
“They’ve been waiting for you, but they don’t know how to contact you. Nobody could get into the chief’s phone without her passcode.”
Blue Spekter nodded and entered the inner sanctum of the police station and walked to Chief Applegate’s office, but Lieutenant Doral saw him through the glass walls of the situation room and immediately flagged him over.
Blue Spekter entered the room and Doral spoke. “Finally. Seriously, Blue, I need your number before you leave. Chief Applegate’s phone is locked and we have no way to contact you. It’s not like we have a BatSignal on the roof.”
Blue Spekter nodded. “I heard, sorry. I’m surprised nobody came to get me at school, which is where I was all day,” Blue Spekter said, lifting his hands in disbelief.
Lieutenant Doral looked at the personnel in the room and raised his hands in exasperation. “Wow, nobody thought of that? Not one single person remembered he’s a high school student? All day? Really? What are we, a bunch of morons?”
The detectives, agents, and officers in room shrugged and looked at each other with embarrassment. Blue Spekter shook his head. “I’m here now, so tell me what happened.”
Doral relayed the story as they knew it, beginning with reports of Dark Flame’s attack on Chief Applegate’s cruiser on the highway, which had been confirmed by multiple sightings of drivers, witnesses who saw him flying over the city, and those who saw him flip the DHS SUV into the river.
“Are they both dead?” Blue Spekter asked, mild pangs of sorrow tugging at his heartstrings.
Doral shook his head. “No, we misled the press and they lied to the public so Dark Flame wouldn’t come after them again in the hospital and endanger more people. They have serious injuries—more so Applegate—but the good news is they are alive and on the mend.”
Blue Spekter leaned against a desk. “Oh, that’s great, and really smart thinking.”
“I need you to get the team together. You said you had an idea of how to stop him; it’s time we put that plan into action. I’m pretty sure it’s going to take all of us.”
“Me too,” a middle-aged, taller, and sinewy man said.
“And you are?” Blue Spekter asked.
“I am Agent Hartman. I have been following the case and will be taking over for Agent Potter until he is able to return to active duty.”
“And you’ve vetted him?” Blue Spekter asked, looking at Lieutenant Doral. “Are you absolutely certain he is not a member of The Order?”
Lieutenant Doral shrugged. “If he is, I’ll let you deal with him.” Doral’s eyebrows bounced with amusement.
Agent Hartman looked at him without amusement. “Son, I served two tours overseas with United States Army. I am not a member of this nefarious and mysterious Order.”
“Okay.” Blue Spekter said. “We need a place to meet and I will summon anyone who is available.”
“Why not just meet here?” Doral asked.
“Not everyone wants to be involuntarily introduced to the police,” Blue Spekter responded.
“Should we meet at your house then?” Doral asked, his voice loaded with frustration.
“Book the hotel conference room again for tomorrow,” Blue Spekter said. “That’s where we’ll meet until we find a safer place.”
Doral threw up his hands. “Like I have a budget to book fancy conference rooms in expensive Portsmouth hotels?”
“I’ll cover it,” Hartman interjected. “Dark Flame needs to be taken down.”
“No, he needs to be rescued,” Blue Spekter replied.
Hartman looked at him incredulously.
Blue Spekter grabbed a pen and a blue Post-it note from a nearby desk and scrawled his phone number on it. Then, he dropped the pen on the desk and handed the Post-it to Lieutenant Doral. “Make sure that doesn’t get out. I value my privacy, and so does my family.”
❖
The next day, Quinn met with his team in the hotel’s conference room and addressed them.
“I know what I have to do, but I need your help,” Quinn said, looking at Ana Maria. She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head.
“Ana Maria, I cannot do this alone,” he said forcefully. “I need Blake’s help to stop Victor, but he won’t help me until we kill the thing in his head. You have to help me capture Blake.”
Ana Maria swallowed nervously. “I can’t.”
“You can, and you will,” Quinn said assertively, tapping a finger on the table.
Ron cleared his throat and Quinn noted the building tension in the room. “Quinn, why don’t you tell us how you plan to neutralize the micro bug? Perhaps that might help Ana Maria understand what you expect from her.”
Quinn nodded and took a deep breath. “Okay. Based on our battles so far, I don’t think he can harness electricity yet. I’ll get in front of him and keep him occupied. With his attention focused on me, Ana Maria will sneak up behind him and grab him physically or with a powerful telekinetic field.”
“How will she sneak up on him if you all can, uh, sense one another?” David asked.
“I can mask my presence from them, and I taught Quinn how to do the same.” Ana Maria volunteered.
Quinn smiled. Nice of you to jump in, finally. I’ll take that as a sign of your willingness to help.
“When we initially sense one another, we get this…mental notification in our heads. I’m betting that when she reveals herself to Blake, the proximity sense of a third superhuman will catch him completely off-guard. That’s when I’ll zip in and put my hands on either side of the back of his head. Then, I’m going to electrocute him with everything I can muster and and burn it out.”
“You’re going to lobotomize your best friend?” David asked, concerned.
“It’s gonna hurt like hell and I’m not looking forward to it, but there’s no other way to remove the chip. We’re invulnerable to knives and bullets, and that rules out surgery.”
“You’re counting on his healing factor to heal his brain and regenerate the organic matter you burn away in the process?” Ana Maria asked.
Quinn nodded. “Unless anyone else knows how to cut into him or get to his brainstem from his ear canal, that’s the plan.”
“His brainstem?” David asked, wincing.
“That’s where the micro bug implants itself.” He explained what he learned from his experience at Rangeley, when Mother Superior and Dr. Madison were talking about implanting him.
“That’s disgusting,” David exclaimed.
“What do you think this is going to solve?” Lieutenant Doral asked, frowning.
“The person running around as Dark Flame isn’t Blake. He hasn’t been himself since…well, since our first fight. He’s cruel, mean, and not the guy I chummed around with for most of my life. When I get that chip out of him, I think he’ll change back to the good person I know he is.”
“People don’t change. They find new ways to lie,” Lieutenant Doral.
Quinn shook his head and looked at him with disappointment. “I refuse to accept that depressing worldview, Lieutenant. Dark Flame is not Blake. He’s under the influence of a malfunctioning micro bu
g. If I short it out, burn it out, or just plain kill it, we get Blake back. I know it. At the very least, I have to try.”
“Then, we work together to take down The Order and bring Victor in?” David asked.
“No, then we arrest him for the crimes he’s committed,” Doral said.
“Under the influence of an evil micro bug thing,” Quinn interjected, feeling exasperated.
“He’s right,” Agent Hartman said. “Though I was taken aback by Agent Potter’s decision to collaborate with you, I pushed my doubts aside when I saw you in action. That said, I believe you are right—we need to remove the bad tech first. His will and freedom of choice may be compromised.”
Doral regarded him with surprise. “I can’t believe you’re siding with him.”
“Lieutenant, if that kid’s brain is screwed up because it’s under the influence of a sinister or malfunctioning micro bug, then he’s never had a fair shot at becoming a good guy like Blue Spekter.”
“Who on earth is going to accept him?” Lieutenant Doral fired back, his frustration mounting. “He’s murdered people and fought against Blue Spekter in spectacular battles the public saw, videotaped with their smartphones, and posted to YouTube and other social media sites. We can’t contain this or do damage control, sir.”
“Then you better hope he comes around when Blue Spekter destroys that micro bug because we have no prison that will hold him.”
“What if he doesn’t come around and he needs to be…put down?” Doral asked, folding his arms across his chest.
“Then we’ll take care of him,” Ana Maria interjected.
“No, I’ll take care of him. He’s my best friend, I should be the one to do it.” Quinn turned to Agent Hartman. “If things go south, I need your people ready with TaseBolts.”
“You’ll have them.”
“What about my people?” the lieutenant asked. “Our firearms are ineffective against all of you. We’re useless against Dark Flame.”
Ultimate Sacrifice Page 19
