by Jena Leigh
Nate shook his head. “No. A label of ‘Minimal Risk,’ means that the Variant in question wouldn’t have been strong enough to be considered a threat, at all. Either to exposure or to the Agency. Every victim the Scientist chose, the Agency had already deemed too weak to ever worry about.”
“I think the Scientist is using the catalog,” said Alex. “That’s how he picked his victims. He didn’t just choose them at random. He selected them from the Agency’s database of known Variants. That’s how he’s managed to keep killing people at such a rapid pace.”
“And it’s how he knows they’re weak,” said Nate. “That they’re easy targets.”
Declan cursed. “The Agency did all the Scientist’s homework for him. All the information he needed to carry out these crimes, right there at his fingertips.”
“Are we thinking he’s hacked into the Agency’s files, somehow?” Aiden asked.
Declan shook his head. “The Agency’s network is damn near impossible to hack. I have a… uh…” He cleared his throat and exchanged a look with Alex. “I have a friend who manages to do it on a regular basis, but only because he has someone working with him on the inside, helping him to cover his tracks.”
The mythical Ozzie. The reclusive genius who had the Declan of this time pulling secret jobs all over the world, anytime he could manage to sneak out of the cabin—which was probably often, considering the frequency of the Grayson patriarch’s travels.
“So if he isn’t hacking in with the help of someone who works for the Agency,” said Jezza. “Then how is he getting his information?”
“The only way he can,” said Nate.
“The Scientist is probably an Agency employee,” Alex finished, crossing her arms over her chest. “Luckily, I think I know exactly the right person to help us with figuring out who he is.”
“Not Linus,” said Jezza. “He stopped talking to me ages ago over all this.”
“No,” said Alex. “Not Linus. Someone else.”
Nate scowled and Jezza stared at her blankly, while Declan arched a curious brow.
Aiden, for his part, harrumphed loudly and said the words Nate had clearly been holding back.
“No,” said Aiden. He seemed to reconsider. “You know what? Not just no, Hell, no. I don’t trust the guy, Alex, and I have no clue why you want to.”
“Because he’s… he’s a…” Alex struggled to find the right label. “Okay, maybe he’s not a friend, exactly. But he’s helped me on more than one occasion and that’s been enough for me to trust him this far.”
“Who are we talking about?” asked Declan.
Nate ignored his brother. “You honestly trust that guy? All those times he’s helped you, how do you know that he wasn’t just helping himself?”
Aiden jumped in to agree, adding, “You did save his life here in Seattle, Alex.”
Declan perked up at that. “You saved the life of someone you knew while you were here in Seattle? How the heck did you manage that?”
Alex blew out a slow breath. “I didn’t exactly plan it, Declan. It just sort of happened.”
Aiden was still shaking his head. “For all the shady vibes he gives off, the guy is smart. If he hasn’t figured out who you are already, Alex, he’s got another year ahead of him to put those pieces together. And all those times he’s helped you, how do you know it was really you he was trying to help?”
“Okay, that’s it.” Declan’s mounting frustration was evident in his tone. “Who are you talking about?”
Alex cringed. Finally, quietly, she said, “Dr. Li.”
Declan’s brow furrowed in confusion for a long moment before he was able to place the name. “Dr. Li? As in the same Li that sent Aaron to Bay View? He is the person you saved? Actually, forget that part. Li works for the Agency? Since when?”
“Since always, apparently,” said Nate. “And who, exactly, is Aaron?”
It was Declan’s turn to ignore Nate. Instead, he stared intently at Alex as he processed this new development. After a long moment, he said, “You’re certain you trust him, Lex?”
Alex nodded.
“Then we’ll meet with him.”
“Oh, come on, Decks,” said Aiden. “Have you met the guy yet? Because I’m telling you right now, he’s sketch as hell. I don’t trust him. At all.”
“I second that,” said Nate. “There has to be another way. Someone else we could go to about this.”
“Yeah?” chimed Alex. “Like who, Nate?”
“Ozzie?” Nate suggested, clearly grasping at straws.
“Can’t,” said Declan. “Not without having to answer a lot of pesky questions about Alex and me, first.”
“What about the Agency itself?” asked Aiden.
Jezza snorted in amusement. “Since when do you trust the Agency to police itself, Aiden?” She crossed her arms over her chest and nodded toward Alex. “I vote for the new girl’s plan. I say we at least talk to this Li guy, see what he knows and what he might be able to find out. She trusts him and that’s got to count for something. Besides, what do we have to lose from trying? We’ve been hitting nothing but dead ends for weeks now.”
“She’s got a point,” said Trent. He had joined them a few minutes earlier, after his last client left the shop. At Aiden’s scowl, he added, “I’m just saying. Maybe this guy is only out for himself, but even so, isn’t it in everyone’s interest that the Scientist murders are put to a stop? And if he helps us find the guy, he’d probably be in line for a promotion, right? So he’s got plenty of motivation to try. And like the girls said, what have we got to lose?”
“That’s three votes for talking to Li,” said Alex. “And two against. What do you think, Decks?”
“I think,” Declan rubbed the back of his neck, “that it’s worth a shot.”
“So it’s settled,” said Alex before Nate or anyone else could add to the argument. “First thing in the morning, I’ll get in touch with Li and see if he can help us.”
Nate sighed. “This is a bad idea.”
Alex could only hope he was wrong.
Twenty
“I don’t like this,” Declan said.
Alex knelt to retie a shoelace. “Li might be our best chance at finding the Scientist. You were fine with this plan last night.”
“No,” he said. “I was tolerant of the plan last night. But that was before this Li guy insisted we meet him here.”
Across the street, a multistory office building gleamed in the mid-morning sun. The windows reflected the light so that the top half of the structure glowed like a beacon on the shadow-lined street.
The Agency’s Seattle outpost, in all it’s imposing glory.
With her teleportation ability still more or less at full strength, Alex could sense the EM shield surrounding the building. The encased area felt like an empty pocket at the center of the bustling thoroughfare, a circular void that silenced the electrical pulse of the city.
The shield was a defense measure to prevent jumpers from teleporting in to and out of the facility. As soon as they stepped through the barrier, her ability would be of little use.
“I’m with Declan,” said Trent, crossing his arms over his chest. He nodded toward the building. “That place has probably been outfitted with more security protocols than Fort Knox.”
“Li said he’d help us get inside,” said Alex.
“Yeah. I’m sure he will,” said Declan. “But if this meeting goes sideways, getting back out again could be tricky.”
“If not impossible,” agreed Trent.
Alex adjusted the ankle of her jeans over her high-tops and stood. “It’s not going to go sideways. And you said it yourself, Declan. The only way we’re going to get access to the information stored inside the Agency’s database is to be on-site. I’d say it’s worth the risk.”
Truth be told, there was a second, far more personal reason that Alex was desperate to meet with Li that morning. And nothing any of the others might say was going to stop her from go
ing through with it.
Alex had questions for Li, and she wasn’t going to leave Seattle before getting her answers.
Any counterargument Declan and Trent might have used fell by the wayside as Alex caught sight of Dr. Li’s lanky form moving toward them from further up the street. He carried a blue, insulated cooler bag in his right hand.
Their eyes met and he gave her a subtle nod.
“He’s here,” she said quietly. “It’s time, Trent.”
A cold shiver spread from the top of Alex’s head to the tip of her toes as Trent used his ability to cloak the three of them from sight. They stepped out from the alley where they’d been waiting and joined Li at the street corner, waiting for the crosswalk light to change.
“You know, I used to enjoy my walks to work in the morning?” Li said softly. To the only other pedestrian waiting for the light, a smartly dressed woman typing something into her phone, he appeared to be muttering to himself. “Now every time I use a crosswalk my pulse sky-rockets.”
Alex didn’t reply. Trent’s ability could hide a person from sight, but it did little to muffle the sounds they made. So long as they were trying to conceal their presence, Alex needed to stay silent.
Once they were safely on the other side of the street and less than twenty yards from the building’s main entrance, Li spoke again.
“Stay as close to me as possible,” he said. “And do your best to hold your breath until we’re through security.”
The main lobby of the building was downright massive, filled with reflective glass, shining metal, and gleaming black marble floors.
At the back of the lobby, security stations were positioned to the left and to the right, restricting access to two sets of elevator bays. Passing the long curve of the main level reception desk, they followed Li toward the station on the left.
“Morning, Dr. Li.” The guard nodded toward the conveyer belt of the X-ray machine beside him. “If you’ll place your bag on the belt and step through, please, we’ll…”
“Sorry, Tom,” said Li, his tone apologetic. He held up the cooler. “Not today.”
Tom gazed at the blue cooler, suddenly wary, and took a step backward. “R-right. Okay, then,” he said.
For a moment, no one moved.
Tom continued to stare at the bag.
Seemingly amused, Li cleared his throat and looked from Tom, to the waist-high gate between them, and back again.
With no small amount of reluctance, Tom reached forward and swung open the metal gate. He just as quickly stepped back again, giving Li a wide berth as he passed—and offering Trent, Declan, and Alex more than enough space to follow through behind him, unnoticed.
It was almost too easy.
What, exactly, did Tom think was in Li’s cooler bag?
The guard used the wand in his hand to scan Li for weapons and, when he found nothing, he stepped back and allowed Li to continue on his way.
Silently, carefully, the trio followed Li. Thankfully, the elevator was empty. They stepped out into an equally deserted corridor on the fourth floor.
Within moments, they were standing outside Li’s office.
Li swiped a card through a wall-mounted reader.
The machine beeped softly. The light changed to green and the lock clicked.
Li opened the door and held it for a long moment, taking his time as he put away the key card. The trio slipped past him.
The office was on the small side, with only a desk, a couple of chairs and a few metal bookshelves lined with scientific tomes whose titles Alex could barely pronounce.
A large glass partition took up most of the left-hand wall, displaying a lab full of scientific equipment.
Trent dropped the cloak around Alex and Declan as soon as they entered the office, but left himself hidden. So long as Alex was included in the scope of Trent’s illusion, she could see him, but now he’d vanished from her sight.
“I’ll keep watch in the hall and give a knock if it looks like we might have company,” Trent’s disembodied words rang out beside Alex’s ear. His voice was slightly muted, as though he were both right next to her and at the same time somewhere far away.
Li nodded his approval.
The office door opened for a moment, then closed once more.
Smiling, Li settled into his desk chair and invited them to sit opposite him.
“Thank you for meeting with us,” said Alex.
“Certainly,” said Li. “Though I must admit, I was a little surprised to hear from you after so long a time.” When she didn’t reply, Li continued. “As I said on the phone, I’m more than happy to assist you in your search. As much as the Agency likes to deny it, the Scientist is still very much active. And they’re just as stumped today as they were when he first began his killing spree, six months ago.” Li tilted his head to one side and fixed Alex with a knowing smile. “But finding the identity of the Scientist is not the only reason you came to see me today, is it?”
Alex tried not to let the surprise show on her face.
“You’re here,” he said, leaning forward, “because you have questions that you think I can help you answer. Questions about your gifts and about how you came to possess them.”
Beside her, Declan visibly tensed.
This time, Alex couldn’t hide her reaction. “How did you…?”
Li arched an amused brow. “Alexandra Parker. Orphan daughter of Variant parents James and Nora Parker. Ushered into seclusion at the age of four after the apprehension and impromptu sentencing of one Dr. Samuel Masterson. Currently living a quiet life with her aunt and guardian, Cecilia Cross in the coastal town of Bay View, Florida.”
The way he rattled off her backstory suggested that he was more than familiar with her personal history.
“But that’s not the whole story, is it, my dear?” Li asked, widening his smile. “While it’s certainly possible that you inherited both your mother’s jumping ability and your father’s telekinesis, it still wouldn’t explain how you managed to stop time to save me and the others that day. It also fails to explain how you could be both here in Seattle, and sitting in your seventh period math class in Bay View at the exact same moment.”
Alex swallowed hard, but said nothing.
Li was smart.
She knew Li was smart. So why was Alex so unnerved by his ability to put the clues together and come up with the right conclusion?
“You were then, as you are now, a girl out of time,” he said. “Not far removed, judging from your current appearance. But I’d say you’re at least a year or two older than the Alex Parker that belongs in this moment.”
When it became clear that Alex would neither confirm nor deny his theory, Li resumed his monologue. “You possess more than two abilities, don’t you, Miss Parker?” The smile he gave her now was hardly reassuring. “And when a girl with a history such as yours finds herself in possession of a host of abilities, or to be more specific, a single all-powerful absorption ability, who better to turn to for answers than a doctor and geneticist that specializes exclusively in the study of Variant biology?”
Declan was now openly glowering at Li. Alex could practically feel the heat of his anger on her neck.
He can flippin’ deal with it, Alex thought. I finally have the chance to get some answers and I intend to take it.
She hadn’t been sure how she was going to ask her questions of Li when she’d first arranged this meeting, but luckily it turned out not to matter.
Li already knew.
So why not ask him her questions?
“I’m different than Masterson.” Alex met Li’s gaze and held it. “I can’t maintain my abilities. They fade within 72 hours, max. I want to know why.”
“Alex,” Declan hissed.
She ignored him. “I also want to know how and why I ended up with the VX-2 in my system in the first place.”
Li tapped slowly at his lower lip, gathering his thoughts. “The hows and whys of your situation will only be resolved
by uncovering the motives of the individual who gave you the serum.” At her disappointed frown, he added, “That’s not to say some conclusions can’t be drawn from what we already know. And as for the peculiar nature of your abilities, to make sense of that, I’m afraid I’ll require a sample of your blood.”
“Yeah,” said Declan. “That’s not happening.”
“Fine,” Alex said in the same moment. “Whatever it takes.”
Li stood. “I’ll get my kit from the lab.”
As he stepped through the doorway and into the gleaming white lab on the other side of the glass partition, Declan leaned in close.
“Alex, what the hell are you thinking? You want to give this guy your blood? Do you realize what he might be able to do with even a small sample? Why do you think Director Carter tried so damn hard to get her hands on you back in our own time?”
She shook her head. “I’m doing this, Declan, and you’re not going to talk me out of it. Li might be my only chance at finding answers. Trusting him is a risk I’m willing to take.”
“There are other ways, Alex. You don’t have to…”
The door to the lab opened with a hiss. Li set a plastic tray filled with instruments atop his desk, then rolled his chair closer to Alex, bringing it to a stop beside her.
“Please, Alex,” said Declan.
Alex didn’t answer. She just slipped out of her jacket and rolled up her shirtsleeve.
Declan blew out an annoyed breath, but said nothing more. The scowl on his face, however, spoke volumes.
“Make a fist for me?” Li prompted, tying a rubber tourniquet around her upper arm.
Alex winced, looking away as she felt the pinch of the needle.
The lights in the lab flickered and Declan’s hand came to rest on her shoulder in silent warning.
She made more of an effort to control the energy she was summoning. The EM shield might prevent a jumper from teleporting, but it couldn’t completely suppress their effect on electronics.
There was also every chance that a power surge of this nature would set off alarm bells. She needed to remain calm.
Another twinge of pain in her arm caused her to draw a sharp breath and a lamp bulb in the corner of Li’s office exploded in a shower of sparks.
