by Dean Murray
About thirty seconds after we arrived at the exhibit, Albert's phone started chiming. I almost wanted to chuckle at the pained expression on his face. It was obvious he wanted to check his messages, but that he was pretty sure it was going to lose him points with me.
"Go ahead, Albert. I don't expect your life to stop just because we're at the museum together."
"Thanks. I normally would just ignore them, but this is John's first time setting up without Danny or I being there. If he's got a question, that probably means he's only a couple of minutes away from plugging two things into each other that were never meant to be hooked up."
I laughed and waved for him to proceed. My phone had vibrated on the walk to the museum, so I figured it was fair for me to check my texts, too. They were both from my mom. Now that I had a cell phone she usually checked in with me a couple of times a day whether she was in the country or not.
Hope your date goes well. This Albert sounds like my kind of guy. Text me when he drops you off at home.
I shook my head at Mom's first message, but her second text made my stomach do flip-flops.
Russ wants to do Christmas together, just the three of us. I'm telling you now so you don't feel like I'm springing stuff on you at the last minute, but I'd really like this to happen.
I debated what to say for several seconds before finally inputting a response into my phone.
Albert is really nice, you'd like him. Not sure about the Russ thing, but I guess it won't be all bad if it means you'll be around for a few days.
I knew I was heaping on an extra-large helping of guilt there, but honestly, it felt like I needed to do something at this point. Mom was around less and less. I'd thought it was bad back when we'd been in Sanctuary, but I saw her even less now than I had back then.
Albert's phone chimed again. He sighed and put it away. "Okay, I think he's got the right pieces all hooked together now. You'd think a guy who does all of the electronic bits of our stuff would be a bit more technically savvy than he is. Sometimes it's like things don't exist for him if he can't see them on his computer screen. I know I'm a geek, but he's a whole level beyond me."
I smiled at the thought of Albert-the-math-tutor calling anyone a geek, but then again he looked even more the rock star today than he had last time I'd seen him. There weren't any new piercings or anything, but his level of confidence seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds.
"I'm glad you got him straightened out without anything blowing up."
"We'll see. He probably wouldn't even notice a small explosion. You got your text taken care of?"
I sighed and nodded. "Yeah, it was my mom. She thinks I'm going out with Albert-the-tutor today. I haven't told her about Albert-the-rock-star yet."
He looked at me oddly. "Is that a problem?"
"No, that's all fine. It's this new guy she's dating. She keeps wanting me to meet him, but I really, really don't want to get involved in my mom's dating life. Plus, I'm having a hard time not being jealous of him. Right now I think he gets to see my mom more than I do."
Albert nodded, seemingly relieved by the direction the conversation had turned. "I can see how that would be hard. Your mom works a lot then?"
"Yeah. We moved to New York so she'd be closer to the center of things, but all it's really meant is that she shaved five hours off her commute to Europe."
I needed to dial back the bitterness, but I was finding it really hard to do so. Mom had helped convince me that I needed to walk away from Alec, and then she'd abandoned me to deal with the aftermath all by myself.
"Maybe you should meet this guy, Adri. If he really likes your mom and she really likes him, then he's probably not any happier about how much she's gone than you are. Maybe the two of you can double-team her."
I wasn't convinced, but I nodded anyway. It was better than any of the ideas I'd managed to come up with on my own so far. The conversation turned back to lighter subjects and I actually found myself having fun.
Albert swore he'd told Danny that Dom had a boyfriend, but it looked to me like Dom's date had already forgotten that fact. I couldn't blame him though. Even with her scar, she was so pretty and exotic that any guy would have done a double-take if he'd walked by her on the street. The fact that she was a genuinely good person just magnified her appeal.
It was obvious though that Dom's frustration was starting to pile up. Danny kept trying to lead her off so they could be by themselves. Even if James hadn't been in the picture, Dom still wouldn't have gone off with him. She was 'working' right now and I could tell she was starting to get frazzled from the effort of keeping Daniel at bay while still keeping Albert and me in sight.
We were in the middle of some kind of rebuilt Egyptian temple when I finally nudged Albert and pointed at Dom. "Can we head to dinner a little early? I think Dom needs a rescue."
"Sure thing. I'll see if I can redirect his focus a little, too. He's usually a pretty good guy, but the fame is starting to go to his head a little."
Albert grabbed my hand and tugged me forward as he called out to Danny. A few minutes later we were all bundled back up and headed back outside. The restaurant the boys had chosen was a twenty-minute walk from the museum, but Albert kept Dom and me entertained with stories about the band's misadventures.
"...so I looked back to see what was going on and I couldn't see Danny anymore. We'd tested the mist machines out on either end of the stage, but Danny had decided it would be a lot cooler if we stuck them in the middle of the stage, right behind him."
Danny nodded and smiled wryly. "Yeah, I was trying to upstage everyone a little. I probably would have been okay if I hadn't thrown in a new mixture without testing it. The stage hand turned them both on and it was working pretty well for a couple of minutes until all of a sudden I couldn't see my drums anymore. It turns out I wouldn't make a very good blind drummer."
We all laughed and then Albert was grabbing the door for us. We'd arrived and it was the kind of charming hole-in-the-wall you'd have expected a New York native to take you to. The menu had a little bit of everything on it, but the prices were a lot more than I remembered back from the couple of times I'd eaten out in Sanctuary. Albert saw my look of concern and waved away my worries.
"Don't worry; the band isn't starving or anything. We actually sold out of our T-shirts earlier than expected, so even after ordering replacement inventory we still have some cash left over. My share will cover a meal with you and still allow me to eat for the rest of the week."
Danny nodded in agreement so I figured I was safe and ordered lasagna. Dom ordered rice and beans while the boys both ordered pizza. A few minutes before the food arrived, Albert's phone started vibrating. He ignored it for the first couple of times, but then Danny's phone started chirping too.
"Sorry, Adri. It's probably John again."
"It's really fine. Go ahead."
Albert flipped his phone out and then sighed. "This is probably going to go faster if I just give him a call. I'll be back in a second."
There was silence at our table for a couple of seconds before Danny cleared his throat. "Sorry, you would think that the other guys would be able to set up on their own once in a while, but Albert is pretty much the organizational brain behind the band. John is the idiot savant when it comes to the music, but Albert is the one who makes sure we make it to our gigs and get paid."
I shrugged again. "It's no big deal for me. I'm still having fun, and I understand that he's got commitments. Actually, I'm surprised he was able to get away like this only a few hours before you guys are supposed to play. That's not normal, is it?"
Danny shook his head and took another bite of pizza. "Nope. I don't think anybody else would have gotten away with it, but everybody owes Albert for having taken down almost by himself at the last two shows."
The way that Danny trailed off would have told me all by itself that he'd just realized he was touching on something he shouldn't have, but Dom leaned forward with a look of innocent curio
sity on her face as soon as he finished talking.
"Why did he have to clean up by himself?"
Danny shifted a little in his seat and took another bite of pizza to buy himself some time. "Well, he didn't have to take down completely by himself. John was there, but John tends to get lost inside of his own head after a show. The other three of us kind of went to parties after the last couple of shows."
Dom looked at me and raised an eyebrow. Her confirmation was nice, but I would probably have figured out that these weren't just 'parties' all on my own. Albert hadn't been kidding when he'd said Danny was letting his newfound fame go to his head. It wasn't particularly surprising, but I still lost some respect for him. More interesting was the fact that Albert hadn't been joining in the fun.
I was still rolling that bit of information around in my mind when my phone vibrated with another incoming text.
Adri, please just leave me alone. I know u guys are worried, but I'm fine.
It wasn't a number I recognized, but they obviously knew who I was. I dashed off a quick response.
Who is this?
What do u mean? It's Ben. u know, the guy you've been bothering for the last half an hour...
Hi, Ben. It's nice to talk to you, but I don't know what you're talking about. I've been with Albert for the last half hour.
Albert had finished up his call and was headed back to our table. I was still trying to puzzle out Ben's cryptic texts when my phone popped up with an incoming call. It was Ben.
"You're really there with Albert?"
"Yes, why? Do you want to talk to him?"
"Yes, can you hand the phone to him?"
I passed my phone over to Albert, mouthed 'it's Ben' in response to his questioning look, and then shrugged to indicate that I didn't know what was going on. Right about then I was wishing my hearing was as good as Dom's. All I could hear was Albert's side of the conversation.
"Hey, man. What's up...yeah, she's been with me for the last couple of hours. Texts? No, there was one an hour or so ago to her mom, but nothing since then. How come?"
Now it was Albert's turn to look confused as he handed me my phone. I shot Dom a questioning glance, but her headshake seemed to indicate that she didn't know anything more than I did.
"Ben, what's going on? You're acting kind of crazy."
"I got a text twenty-eight minutes ago. It was a list of names and dates, and it came from your phone number. Do you swear to me that you didn't send it to me?"
A chill ran through me. "Ben, I didn't have your phone number before now. I haven't sent you anything other than the couple of texts before you called just now."
I could just make out the sound of Ben breathing on the other end of the line. Each breath was fast and shallow.
"I recognize some of the names. They are customers, people we did work for. I never had last names before now, but there were pictures online. They are the same people."
My breathing was speeding up. This was X-Files weird. "What does that mean, Ben?"
His response came fast and almost a little hysterical. "I'm not sure, but if you didn't send them, then someone else is trying to tell me the same thing that Dominic told me the last time I saw you guys. Every single one of those customers is dead, and they were all gunned down doing something illegal. Not just like smoking weed illegal, like seriously messed-up stuff."
Dominic caught my eye and mouthed 'give me the phone.' I nodded and jumped in as soon as he paused.
"Ben, Dom needs to talk to you."
She snatched the phone out of my hand, like I wasn't moving fast enough. She pulled out her own phone and started typing as she put mine up to her ear.
"Ben, you need to get out of there immediately. Don't go back to work, don't go to anyone they know is your friend. Grab whatever money you have there with you and get on a bus or a train. Walk if you have to, but you need to get out of there. Leave your cell phone. When you make it into Manhattan, get on a payphone and ask them to look up Allen Anders in Pinedale, Wyoming. When he answers, tell him the cat sends her regards."
There was a pause in the conversation as Ben tried to process everything Dom had just said. Dom passed her phone over to me face down and then shook her head at whatever Ben had just said.
"Ben, there isn't time for that. Allen Anders in Pinedale, Wyoming, the cat sends her regards. Repeat it back to me. Okay, hang up and get moving."
I flipped Dom's phone over and saw the message she'd typed in. Lose the boys. Now!
There probably wasn't anyone else on the planet more unsuited for spy stuff than me. I panicked and just showed the phone to Albert. His eyes were already pretty big after hearing Dom's instructions to Ben, but they got a little wider. He nodded and pulled Danny to his feet.
"Come on, Danny. You're going to need to go back and help John finish setting up."
Dom shook her head at me and then took her phone back and dialed another number as Danny started to protest.
"No way, man. Things were going really well."
"No, Danny, they're going really, really badly. You owe me, and I'm cashing in right now."
Dom stood up and walked away from us as she talked very quietly into her phone. For a second I thought Danny would argue, but he finally nodded and grabbed his coat as Albert walked him to the door.
Dominic had my phone partially disassembled and was reading something off to whoever it was she'd called. I was still sitting there more or less in shock when Albert came back to our table and waved for the check.
Dom had put my phone back together and was powering it off. She gave Albert a frustrated look when she saw that he hadn't left yet, but he held up his hands.
"Look, I don't know what the crap just happened, but Ben and Adri are both my friends, too. I'm not just walking out the door and pretending like nothing is wrong."
"Fine, you can come, but only because I can't waste time arguing with you."
Dom pulled out a wad of bills, waved them at the waitress, and then slapped them down on the table. She was herding both Albert and me out the door while Albert was still trying to tell her that he'd been planning on paying.
"Albert, you're a nice boy, but we just don't have time, and I can't risk you paying with plastic. Cash is fast and safe. Now move."
We set out at a fast pace. It was nothing compared to what Dom could have managed if she were by herself, but it had Albert and me both breathing heavily in short order.
"If the first text came through less than an hour ago, then it's unlikely that they've had a chance to make it here, but it's not outside the realm of possibility. We need to make sure we're not being followed. I need both of you to keep up for the next few minutes and then we can get a cab."
I didn't know that Alec's pack knew this kind of stuff. I'd known they knew how to fight, but I hadn't realized they were super spies as well. We jumped in a cab twenty minutes later, and Dom told the driver to get on FDR Drive headed north.
"Dom, where did you learn all of this stuff?"
"We had a recent addition to the...extended family. He's been bringing us up to speed on all kinds of stuff that we'd never had the time or incentive to learn before. Hopefully he's taught me enough."
Dom looked around, seeming to be checking our location against a mental map, and then nodded and leaned forward so she could whisper to us.
"Okay, we're making pretty good time. There's a block of road up ahead that is obscured from overhead view by the trains. We're going to jump out of the cab as soon as we make it there and then I'm going to steal us a car. With any luck we can make the change fast enough that they won't be able to track us."
Albert's eyes got a little wider at the calm way that Dom had told us we were just about to be accessories to grand theft auto, but he just nodded and sat back in his seat. Dom watched our surroundings and then suddenly reached up and hammered on the glass separating us from the driver.
"Turn left here!"
As the elevated part of the tracks came in
to view, Dom pulled out two hundred-dollar bills.
"If you can stop directly under the tracks, and then keep driving across the island after we are out you can have both of these."
The cabbie nodded like he'd had similar requests in the past and then brought the car to a sudden stop exactly where Dom had instructed. All three of us barreled out of the vehicle and he was back on his way only a couple of seconds later.
"Follow me, and make sure you stay under the tracks."
We walked for nearly ten minutes before Dom found a car she was happy with. She pulled a metal probe out of a pocket and then stabbed it through one of the front headlights. She waited only a second to make sure the electrical system was really shorted out and then took off her jacket and wrapped it around her arm.
The windshield shattered with a rain of glass and then she was waving us both over as she did something to the steering column.
"Albert, have you ever driven stick?"
"Yeah. The van's a stick."
"Okay, get into the driver's seat and put it into gear. When I get it moving, pop the clutch and give it some gas."
I'd only thought Albert's eyes were wide before. When Dom proceeded to get the car moving more than five miles an hour pushing all by herself, I thought they'd pop right out of his head. Despite his shock, Albert got the car running, and a few seconds after that, Dom had moved him over to the passenger seat and we were off.
The next hour was a crazy blur as we went from the car to the subway and then ditched our coats and walked the last little way to Dom's apartment in the cold. Albert's T-shirt left him even more exposed to the cold than our sweaters, but he didn't complain. Once we were up to the top floor of Dom's building, she pointed the two of us to one of the sofas in the living room and told us to sit down.
She already had her phone out again. She'd pulled it out from time to time as we'd been running, but now she seemed to mean business. I watched as she disappeared into the hall and then turned and looked at Albert. He looked a bit like he'd just stepped into a world that failed to fit almost every facet of his definition of reality.
