Pink: Some rules are meant to be broken … (Rule Number 3 Book 1)

by Teya Tapler

  Amanda went to the window and gently pulled the curtain to peek outside. Following her motion, the whole curtain rod fell on the floor in front of her feet. She screamed and stepped back in a panic, hitting her heel on the edge of the desk. A curse parted her lips and she bent to massage the sore place. Her return to the house wasn’t as glamorous as she wanted it to be: no shoes, a torn dress and now a hurt foot.

  For a moment she wished that Alex, her twin brother, was here. She remembered how, when they were kids, he would make her laugh every time she hurt herself. He would make funny faces and she would forget all about her bruise. Where was he now? If she wasn’t mistaken, he was currently working for Zull’s brother and had a brief visit to the 21st century. Zull needed a fresh face and a reliable person to talk to the professor as an independent party and her brother played the role. His visit was short. Too short even to stop by and say “hi”. Zull told her that Alex had visited long after he was gone.

  Amanda wiped a tear and collected her thoughts; she was working for Zull Mort and she had things to do. She moved closer to the window and peeped through the broken glass. The driveway and parking lot in front of the house were empty. There wasn’t even a patrol car at the property gate. Everyone was gone. It was safe for Zull Mort to return.

  Amanda searched for the phone. Her eyes darted around moving from piece of furniture to the bookcases and then back to the floor. On the third pass she noticed the phone cord, carefully followed it from the wall and found the device under one of the armchairs. Using all her strength, she lifted the heavy armchair and kicked the phone out. Then she dropped the piece of unwieldy furniture, jumping back to save her toes.

  Knelt next to the phone, Amanda lifted the receiver and pressed it to her ear. She took a deep breath; then, following the instructions, she dialed 9855-6678, spelling the name Zull Mort on the key pad.

  A click and a digitalized, deep male voice greeted her at the other end, “Yes?”

  “All clear.” She put the receiver back.

  A blue flash appeared in the room and Zull Mort walked in. He angrily threw the transcaster gun on the floor and looked at her. “Where’s Kevin?”

  Amanda shrugged.

  “Never mind, he was just a burden anyway…Dress up! We’re going to New York.” Mort commanded her.

  Few minutes later, Amanda held Mort’s hand as he transcasted them to an apartment close to Madison Square Park It was still early morning and the white marble floor was cold. The whole apartment was cold, as if the stone floor had sucked in the heat from the warm red colors around it. Amanda dropped Mort’s hand and ran to curl on the sofa. She looked around. This place was still intact, exactly as she had decorated it.

  “Go make me some breakfast!” Mort ordered her and went into the dining room. Amanda heard him unpack, placing multiple items on the table. He was moving the objects too quickly, almost dropping them, something he did when he was in a bad mood.

  Knowing that insubordination was not tolerated well, Amanda reluctantly jumped off the sofa and ran into the kitchen. After a while, the smell of coffee filled the apartment. She came into the dining room with a mug in one hand and a triple-decker sandwich and pickled hot peppers on a plate in the other. Amanda placed the food between Mort and his keyboard and smiled.

  Zull Mort had set up a portable communication and surveillance center on the twelve-person dining room table. Several invisi-threens were spread in front of him. They looked like the standard credit-card-sized computers but the items displayed on their holographic screens were visible only to the person who was currently in contact with the computer’s virtual keyboard. Being secretive, Mort had spent a small fortune obtaining those top of the line machines to monitor and track the area around the crossroads of Broadway and 5th Avenue in full color and sound. The noises of the awakening street were slowly filling the room.

  Mort took a big bite from the sandwich and looked at the coffee. It was dark roast, extra strong with four espresso shots, no sugar, no cream or milk. He liked it as bitter and strong as possible. Chewing the rest of his meal, Mort checked the current views from all the cameras and then started browsing the archive from the last 24 hours.

  After making sure that the area was secure, he checked the time and space locator. The organic signatures he received from his brother placed the two subjects somewhere on I-95 in Connecticut, heading to New York.

  Chapter 24

  Emil and Zander filled a minivan with their belongings, looked at the house one last time and drove away. For a reason unknown to her, Evan followed them without asking any questions. Being around Zander made her feel secure and the thought of her sister being alone at home or her parents finding out that she had been away all night hadn’t reached her mind yet.

  When the minivan crossed the property line, the sound of an explosion echoed through the tranquil neighborhood. Evan screamed and looked toward the sound. The lovely white cape with red shutters and flower boxes on the windows was gone. It was obliterated. The place where it used to stand was now empty, the attached garage with the Saturn gone, too. There was nothing to see, not even the last embers of a fire burning themselves out.

  Doubtful thoughts entered her mind. The safety and security she was feeling a minute before started to peel off a little. Earlier, she was thinking that the guys would drop her at her house, but after the explosion that didn’t feel like an option at all. Evan turned to Emil and Zander and, not knowing who did it, but at the same time positive that it was one of them, she started hitting their shoulders with her hands.

  “Why did you have to do that? Why? Why? Why?” she yelled with every punch.

  Emil and Zander quietly looked at each other, then Zander turned back. The sound of Evan’s hand smacking his face filled the car. She stopped moving and looked at Zander. Their eyes met.

  “Yeah, we’re required to do that according to protocol. Any location where we set up a temporary communication center has to be destroyed to prevent the knowledge traces of our technology remaining in the past,” Zander said calmly.

  Evan vaguely remembered how last night Zander was explaining to her something about being sent to another location and brought back but at the time she was too frightened and dismal for his words to sink in. Now she grasped their meaning. Her voice quieted and her eyes glued to his. “Are you going to kill me at the end to eliminate any traces of your presence?”

  “No, we don’t do that to people.” Zander said calmly.

  Evan felt uncomfortable and looked away just to notice that they’ve passed the intersection to Pebble drive three blocks ago. Panic started to settle in as the uncertainty quickly returned. She raised her voice, “Can you tell me where we’re going?” Demanding an answer she looked at Emil in the rear view mirror. Her voice cracked at the last words as the thought of being abducted again crossed her mind.

  “New York. We are going to New York to meet your parents and run some errands.” Emil tried to sound friendly as he looked back at her in the rear view mirror. Then he turned to Zander. “Go on, you can tell her, she’s seen enough.”

  Zander took his seatbelt off and moved into the backseat next to Evan. Then he buckled up again and looked her in the eye.

  “Emil and I are part of a team that travels through time and space,” Zander started. Evan’s eyes widened and she stared blankly at him.

  They were driving down I-95 south.

  He realized that he had to start in a different way and asked, “Do you remember when Kevin and I fought in the basement?”

  Evan nodded quietly.

  “I told you he had sent me to another location,” she nodded again tears showing in the corners of her eyes. The feeling of loneliness and desperation crept in for a second. That memory was still painful for her. “The gun he used had the power to move objects through time and space,” Zander continued.

  Evan finally blinked and took a deep breath. He looked pretty serious, so she braced herself for what was to be said.

&n
bsp; “We come from the year 2424,” Zander said and saw her eyes widen again. That wasn’t going to be easy for either of them.

  They were driving down I-95 south.

  Evan listened to him, soaking in every word. Her eyes were glued to his. Every now and then she would forget to breathe and then gasp for air like a diver who had reached the surface after being under water for too long. For the first time, she realized why she felt so uneasy and unnerved around him, she was spellbound by his eyes. She was mesmerized by their color and for the first time she noticed that they were deep blue with a slight purple tint.

  Zander started by explaining to her in what line of work he and Emil were and how they were sent here to retrieve something very important.

  Evan’s thoughts didn’t match his words, for his words hadn’t sunk in yet. She was thinking about their trip back from Jose’s store that summer. There, he had struck her as someone she could comfortably talk to but being Kevin’s girl at the time she had quickly dismissed him. Now she was looking at Zander with different eyes still feeling his kiss on her lips.

  They were driving down I-95 south.

  After explaining why they were after the Morts, Zander clarified the role of her family in all of that. Evan was listening to the story, thinking about how much she was attracted to that mysterious guy. His eyes were focused on her and she felt spellbound. She wanted to move as close to him as the seat belt would let her and to hold his hand when she noticed she was being carefully watched by the driver. Emil had his bright green eyes monitoring her from the rear view mirror. Evan hid her feelings. She put a piece of chewing gum in her mouth and started chewing slowly as Emil’s eyes moved away.

  They were driving down I-95 south.

  She listened to Zander’s long story without responding, slowly chewing her gum, not making even a single bubble.

  “We have to bring the pearls back to 2424.” Zander’s words killed all her emerging happy thoughts with one stone. The images in her mind fell broken like dead birds from the sky.… He will be leaving. They wouldn’t even have time to talk.

  No-o-o! Evan cried in her mind. I don’t want to lose him … again … ever!

  Now that the monologue had ended, Emil looked at her in the rear view mirror again. Zander’s eyes were still focused on her, too. She felt that they were expecting her to respond.

  “Okay,” she said and turned her head to the window. Evan didn’t want them to see her reaction. Her budding feelings for Zander had to remain a secret. She stifled her tears and tried to smile, looking at her reflection in the window.

  The sun was rising and to the east the sky had an orangey-blue color. It was orange at the horizon, gradually changing to light blue high up at the zenith. The sun was peeking through the trees and buildings never visible for more than a split second when Evan had to quickly close her eyes. The sun was orangey, too. It looked shy, not wanting to go up higher and spread its light to the world. The sun looked young and inexperienced now, nothing like the proud and powerful sun that would scare all the shadows at noontime.

  Her eyes became watery from the bright light and the constant blinking. She closed them and slowly surrendered to the gentle movement of the car.

  They were driving down I-95 south.

  No one spoke: Emil focused on the road ahead and Zander lost in his thoughts, Evan’s head resting on his shoulder. He was thinking about Evan and the current mission, and Evan and the pearls of destruction, and Evan and the Morts, until he realized that he was only thinking about Evan.

  Zander was only 22 years old and that had been his longest mission with the Anaconda team. Even though he had been with the group for over five years, Emil still considered him a rookie and was reminding him that the people they met during a mission were only clients. That meant that he should be courteous to them but avoid befriending them. Falling in love was out of question. Zander knew that and always followed the rules and the instructions. Evan had become more than a client to him. Somehow she had touched his heart in a way no other girl ever had, she had slowly opened her world and let him in. He moved his head closer to her hair and sniffed it. He liked the scent of apples.

  They were driving down I-95 south.

  At around eight in the morning they reached their destination. Emil parked the minivan at the corner of West 24th Street facing the rendezvous point at the intersection of Broadway and 5th Avenue. Close to the traffic light on the islet with the monument, he saw the red garbage bin. It bore the initials of the New York Department of Public Works and had a fresh plastic liner inside. People were buying food from the nearby food cart, enjoying the morning sun in the close-by eating area or rushing to cross the street and get to the subway station at 23rd and Broadway. It was early fall and the trees and shrubs in Madison Square Park still had their green leaves on. They moved gently in the morning breeze as if dancing for the last time with those green outfits.

  Emil turned to Zander. “I’ll take a look. You two stay here!” Emil tossed the car keys to Zander and left with one of the bags from the trunk. Zander saw him looking both ways before he crossed the street and disappeared into the park.

  Evan woke up and tried to stretch her arms.

  “Yeah! Good morning!” Zander said.

  Embarrassed by the short distance between them, Evan quickly moved to her side of the back seat.

  “What d’you want for breakfast?” Zander asked.

  “Why don’t I go out and get breakfast for both of us?” she asked.

  “It’s too dangerous for you to get out. Mort could see you,” he replied.

  “But you killed him, didn’t you?” Evan was confused.

  “We’re here, to … take care of him,” he confessed.

  “You said my parents would be here, too?”

  “Our partners are bringing them here as we speak,” Zander spotted another question coming up and simply continued. “Mort told your parents he’d kill you if they didn’t bring the pearls over there,” Zander said, pointing to the intersection ahead of them, “at five pm today.”

  “I want to talk to my parents. They need to hear that I’m all right,” Evan demanded.

  “That’s not a good idea,” Zander said. “I’m sorry, but they should not hear or see you until this’s over.”

  “Until you capture or kill Mr. Mort,” she said quietly, almost to herself.

  “Yeah,” Zander said.

  Evan didn’t like his excuses. She didn’t have to ask so many questions; he should have told her the whole truth before. Her hands removed her seatbelt as she turned away, pressing her nose against the side window. She secretly tried to open the car door. It was locked. As she contemplated her next move, the sound of her stomach echoed in the car.

  “What d’you want for breakfast?” Zander tried to read the menu boards on the few food carts in the area.

  “I’ll go with a hot chocolate and a bagel with cream cheese,” she said quietly, her nose still pressed against the side window.

  “Excellent choice! All travel guides highly recommend the New York bagels.” He said.

  She heard him lock the doors and her eyes followed him walk to the nearest food cart, buy breakfast and then struggle carrying the order of three cups and a large paper bag back to the car.

  Zander approached the minivan and put the tray with cups on the roof, then put his free hand into his pocket to take out the remote. Evan watched him intently, holding the door at her side awaiting for the familiar click of the remote that would set her free. It was going to be easy. When Zander pressed the button of the remote, all doors would unlock and all she had to do was open her door and run away. As he was aiming the remote, their eyes met. She held his gaze for a while, then dropped the door handle and moved closer to his side of the car. Her desire to run gave way to her need to see her parents again, to end this ordeal once and for all and return to her normal life. Zander was the one who could help her. He had done that for her before.

  The familiar click echoed
in the car and Evan slid open the door in front of Zander. “Do you need an extra hand?” she said.

  He gave her the paper bag, then brought in the cups tray and closed the door. They started unpacking. She put her hot chocolate in the closest cup holder and left a coffee and bagel in the front seat area for Emil. Her teeth sunk into the bagel and she smiled. It felt like home and memories of happy days filled her mind. Evan sat comfortably and focused on the creamy and crispy texture in her mouth.

  “It sure smells nice in here!” Emil said when he came back. “Thanks for the coffee!” He looked back at Zander and Evan, who were sitting at the two opposite sides of the back seat. Zander nodded with his mouth full to invite Emil to report.

  “I placed a few cameras around,” Emil said. “You could bring the computers out when you’re done eating.”

  Zander swallowed quickly and asked, “Anything unusual?”

  “Everything looks normal,” Emil reported. “They’re still in the air and on schedule.” He then looked at Evan. “Your parents are okay. Don’t worry about them.”

  At 11 o’clock, Evan and Emil got out of the car and headed to find a bathroom. Zander moved back and set up a comfortable command center on the third row seats of the minivan. He found enough space to spread out the tri-fold holographic screen and, using the bracelet on his left wrist, started the machine as a virtual keyboard floated in front of him.

  All of the cameras were broadcasting and the images were clear. Emil had the whole perimeter covered. They had views from the park alleys, the streets and the sidewalk, as well as views of the surrounding buildings. It was amazing how well those stick-on gadgets worked. They were invisible for the naked human eye and were easy to place on a park bench, tree trunk, telephone pole, or even someone’s back. The best part was that no one had to worry about removing them. The items were made out of biodegradable materials and once activated had a lifespan of 48 hours.