“It’s just the room service food.”
She smiled briefly. “No, what is it?”
I stared at my feet for a second. “Rebecca…Jennifer’s got Rebecca. Jones called and said she was taken away from the B&B I checked her into.” Allie showed no surprise. “And there was a note addressed to me.” Again her expression was plain. “Hello? Any of this sinking in to you?”
“All of it. What did the note say?”
“It said if I wanted to see Rebecca again, I needed to meet her on top of the Bank Towers Building at ten o’clock tonight…and I had to bring you with me. It’s a trap,” I said at last.
“Of course it’s a trap,” she answered.
“Can you handle her?”
She appeared agitated. “You tell me Rebecca can dissolve people, and she’s the weaker one. Who knows what the strong one can do?” She shook her head.
“Let’s just take Paige and go. We can be in Rio or on the Mediterranean, away from all this.”
She was angry now. “They knew you would think something like that, but they knew I couldn’t just leave once I heard about it. It’s a challenge with the cards stacked in her favor.”
“I won’t risk you. It’s not worth it.”
She turned to face me. “If you thought that, you never should have told me about this. The choice isn’t yours anymore.”
It was time for me to man up. “Well then, we have about seven hours to come up with Plan A.”
She sighed. “It better be a good one.”
I slowly slid my hand over and found hers as it was sliding toward mine. We locked them together, felt the warmth begin, and then simultaneously let go and put our hands on our stomachs. We knew that we could not control the explosion of passion that any further contact would ignite. Soon today would be tomorrow, and there would be no one to save Rebecca.
Chapter 35
Plan A
By 9:30 p.m., Plan A was in action. Allie and I were in communication via both walkie-talkie and a mobile phone. I had debated getting some type of weapon, but remembering the fate of dozens of thugs and Carmine Camino’s fancy assault rifles, I’d decided it wasn’t worth the effort. What’s more, it definitely wasn’t my style; I might accidentally shoot myself in the foot, the head, or somewhere important.
I felt an eerie sense of dread as I walked under the massive old clock held up by the fierce-looking stone eagles over the front door of the Bank Towers building. It was like the clock was tolling for me, and the eagle’s wings were outstretched in warning. My fear and apprehension made the heavy gray granite exterior of the building feel like a giant tombstone. The sign under the clock read Bank Towers, but when I looked up, I could have sworn it flashed, Here Lies Logan—He Knows Not What He Does. While I entered through the front door, Allie used the darkness from her post on a nearby radio tower to cover the top of the building and the surrounding streets. She had changed into her B.I.B. clothes…sweet.
My first fear was that I would never get past security. I was nervous when I approached the two guards, but then smiled when I saw that they were men from Scranton in their thirties—RFDs, you know… morons. They looked at one another as I approached, saying, “It’s your turn…No, it’s your turn…I did it last time…” They played what looked like a quick game of rock, paper, halfwits, and the loser finally spoke to me. “Can I help you?”
His partner patted him on the back saying, “Good job.”
I had this one. “Yeah, dudes. I left my antlers upstairs and I need to go get ’em before I can go to O’Malley’s. You think I could just run up there?”
“Sure! I’m headed to O’Malley’s after work too. See ya there!” said the guard who had greeted me. The other guard tapped himself on the head with such force that he almost knocked himself over, saying, “Oh, man, I left my antlers at home too!”
“Where are the elevators?” I asked. The RFD on the right pointed left while the one on the left pointed right. Confused by his friend’s left indication, the one on the left changed and pointed up. I found the elevators anyway.
I checked out the elevators, stairways, and all the routes to and from the roof. As 10:00 p.m. approached, there was still no sign of Jennifer or Rebecca.
At 9:55 p.m., I radioed Allie for the final time. “I don’t see anyone,” I said.
“You had still better get up there,” she answered back. “Logan? Good luck. Be careful.”
“Right. Easy for you to say.” I sighed and marched to the elevator, a man totally unable to believe what he was about to do. After the elevator came another stairway, and then I unlatched the heavy door marked “roof access”. It was dark, breezy, overcast, with nothing but a few emergency lights for illumination. No one was there. I walked around, displaying myself to anyone who cared to see. Five after 10:00 p.m., then a quarter after, and still I was alone.
I was getting ready to ask the B.I.B. about Plan B when a golden ball of light appeared fifty feet away, illuminating the entire rooftop and quickly taking the shape of a fit, long-haired brunette dressed in military-type camouflage. I readied myself for yet another meeting with Jennifer, my hand protecting my crotch, when I realized this was not a woman I had ever seen. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. “Where’s the B.I.B.?” She said, walking toward me. “You were told to bring her.”
Plan A was to get Jennifer to show me everything she had to fight us with before Allie became involved. If the battle looked hopeless, she was to run—plain and simple. Live to fight another day, another way. And I would have to get by as I usually did, by the skin of my teeth, wit, and charm. (Actually, the skin of my teeth never has done me much good—come to think of it, ditto for the wit and charm.) But of the many things Allie and I had imagined that might take place, a mean-looking woman appearing out of a ball of light was not topping the list, or actually even on the list. “Where’s your boss? And who are you, anyway? I don’t talk with the help.”
The woman—she appeared to mean business, so I called her Toughy—raised her hand to strike me, but then stopped, as if instructed by a voice I could not hear. Another ball of golden light appeared, just like the first one. The shape of another woman in combat fatigues materialized, but this woman remained stationary, glowing in her pulsating aura—let’s call her Goldie. Attached to her by a beam of waving golden light was a third woman, cocooned in an auric glow with her arms and legs bound by the same sparkling bands of white energy that blindfolded her. The light waves crackled like high-tension power lines. Finally, I recognized someone: Rebecca.
Then, Goldie launched another beam of light that pulsed like lightning, connecting her to Toughy. Toughy smiled and lifted her head joyously, as if being fed ice cream. “There is Rebecca,” Toughy said after a moment, pointing. “Now, your part of the bargain.”
“I don’t see your boss. Let Rebecca go,” I insisted.
“You are not in a position to dictate terms,” she said, bristling. “Where is the B.I.B.?”
“Safe. Where’s your boss?” I said, trying to bristle back at her, nose to nose.
“Wrong answer,” Toughy said, striking me in the left arm, sending me flying against a large metal utility box.
I lay there for a moment trying to decide if my arm was broken or my shoulder separated or both. She was on me quickly, lifting me with enormous strength, her hand on my throat. “You have no choice, little man. Now tell us where she is!” she said, striking my jaw and sending me back to the ground.
I stared at her defiantly and spit out some blood. I stood up, a bit groggy. “I do have a choice and I’ve already made it!” I said. (What a glorious bastard.) The bitch was starting to get my adrenaline flowing—I swung my free forearm and pounded her up under the chin as hard as I could. She didn’t seem to notice, merely smiled, but it sure hurt me like hitting a rock.
She was getting ready to swing again when another ball of light appeared next to Goldie, who hadn’t moved. Instead of pummeling me, Toughy just pushed me to th
e ground. Another figure emerged out of the light—this would be Jennifer, I imagined, not liking the way the deal was progressing. But then I was surprised to hear a familiar voice. “My friend, there is no need for this,” said Dr. Jones. “I have no need to hurt you. Just tell us where she is. Somewhere close, I imagine.” He scanned the night sky around us.
Jones? I couldn’t have been more surprised if I found Santa, The Easter Bunny, and Tooth Fairy drinking beer and playing cards in their underwear. Jones being a villain seemed like your lovable family dog suddenly mauling little Timmy. Then I remembered the drawings I’d seen at his apartment that he locked away, which hadn’t looked like any anal stimulator I’d ever used…seen, I mean. There was the woman in his apartment who I had ignored—had she been moaning for help? Maybe she was Goldie or Toughy; or maybe one of the ones he had lost to the experiment. Suddenly I felt heavy with guilt for believing him about that woman in the van, and angry with myself for being just a trusting schmuck. Patagonian Algorithm my Ass! It was all starting to make sense. I laughed as best I could with my sore jaw. “You?” I laughed again. “You played me like a fiddle!”
“I did, didn’t I!” he said, prancing.
“And I played right into your hands. Told you right where to find Rebecca.”
“And the B.I.B.,” he said, shaking a finger at me. “I could tell you knew where she was, but you never would tell me about her. And why was that, exactly? You could have made this much easier, but you protected her. Want to tell me why?”
I figured he needed me alive…at least until he had Allie. Regardless, I preferred talking with him to being pummeled painfully by Toughy. It was time to change the subject. “Want to introduce me to your friends?”
“Ah, yes,” said Jones, proudly turning to Toughy and Goldie. “Maybe you can guess who they are. Let’s see if you can.”
“There aren’t three Super Born. I’m guessing there are five, and you’ve collected three for yourself so far.”
“Oh, close, very close!” said Jones, pacing around me. “There are…were, eight. Three did not…work out, shall we say. These two, after some genetic modifications, are now totally loyal to me. Rebecca will be soon.”
“You told me there was a queen bee. Are you saying that you’re the queen bee?”
“You could say that. This one,” he said, tapping Toughy on the shoulder, “was my first find; the weakest of the Super Born, as you call them. She has strength, but was a disappointment until I found the second,” he said, pointing to Goldie. “She molds energy. She can move me from here to there, bend energy, shape it, and transmit it. She holds Rebecca prisoner in it. Thanks to your information, we knew to isolate Rebecca’s eyes to neutralize the power that vaporized poor Mr. Camino. My second one can also feed power to the first, increasing her strength at least ten times. That’s when I realized that one super born could build on the others’ powers. By getting them to work together, they could do anything. I could do anything.”
“The next three didn’t want to join either, I take it.”
Jones lowered his head. “Yes, not a complete success; there were objections to the idea. The genetic modification took some perfecting…all very unfortunate.”
I sat, pretending to be too weak to stand. “So, you’re starting with the easiest and working your way up, hey?” I wanted to keep him talking, while I tried to remember the layout of the mobile phone in my pocket without looking at it—I’d turned it on and was dialing the number I’d seen so many times lately whenever I went to the bathroom.
“Yes, right again, my friend. I am not ready to take on Jennifer just yet. That bitch has fought me at every turn. But with Rebecca and the B.I.B. on my team, we will be more than a match for her. Then I will have Jennifer’s empireat my disposal. There will be no one more powerful on the earth. And they said I wouldn’t even complete my doctorate,” Jones said proudly, spinning a metallic stick in his hand.
“What’s your little toy there, Doc?” I said, dialing the mobile number in my pocket again, on the odd chance I had screwed it up the first time. (Who, me?)
Jones stopped and stared at the stick as if it were his true love. He had clearly been dying to tell his story to someone, and now he had a truly “captive” audience. “This,” he said, presenting the handle of his shiny chrome rod, which was surrounded by tubes of different sizes, “this is my creation. This is what makes it all work…You see,” he said, bending down to my level, “you should be asking yourself how I ever captured the first one. Naturally, I don’t expect this level of thought from you, so I will explain. An average-sized man…”
“Small man, you mean?”
“An average-sized man, such as me, could certainly not capture the first one here,” he said, rising and tapping Toughy on the shoulder, “without the aid of technology. You see, Demitri did not die in vain. His sacrifice made it clear to me that there was a need for an equalizer. I needed a way to approach the super born safely and make them cooperative. I call this the Interrupter. It gives off epsilon radiation of reverse polarity to the type that made them years ago,” he said, pointing the Interrupter at Toughy. “It temporarily interrupts their powers, makes them manageable.” Then he turned and pointed it at me. “As an added plus, it proved totally lethal to normal people. The military is going to love this—modified of course.”
“Of Course,” I said. I could see he was ready to get back to the B.I.B., so I decided to goad him a little further. “I hope you don’t mind my spoiling your little plan tonight?”
“Spoiling?” he said with a laugh. “My friend, you are the plan, always have been from day one. You were perfect for the job; without attachments, without ethics, trusting, naïve, greedy, lazy, corruptible…and best of all,” he said, leaning down and looking in my eyes, “No one will miss you. You weren’t born in Scranton, so you looked like a juicy steak to superwomen supercharged with insatiable sexual needs. I knew it would just be a matter of time until they flocked around and battled one another for you. I just had to watch and wait for this moment for you to bring them all to me.”
“Me? Superbait? Really?”
“My friend, I could only handle so many. You brought me the one that matters. The B.I.B. is the key.”
I stood up, pretending to be weaker than I was, though acting frightened wasn’t hard with the Interrupter in such close proximity.
Jones paced around me. “There is just one thing that bothers me very dearly, my friend. You came to me with everything you ever learned, except things about the B.I.B. The great B.I.B. expert never mentioned her once. That was how I knew you were in contact with her, yes, but why didn’t you tell me? You still were trusting me then. What made the perfect ‘grasshopper’ to my ‘ant’ protect her so? I expected you to bound in excitedly one day and say you had found her. But no, you were her guardian, right from the start.”
I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of an answer.
“Let’s see then. What if I offer the grasshopper twenty million dollars, right now—twenty million for you to tell me where I can find her. Would that interest you? Fifty? You could be a lazy grasshopper for the rest of your life. We could work together again.”
“Get fucked!”
“Oh, I plan to repeatedly…all day long,” he said, doing a little pelvic dance. “So, my friend, there is nothing I can offer that will save you? No amount of money, no title or position, no pleasures, no comforts? Imagine the women and the beer, the pure freedom to do nothing of consequence. Is that not heaven for you?”
“You’re a lifetime too late with that offer.”
“Yes, I see now that my plans for you have only taken us so far.”
“You set the whole thing up, didn’t you?” I said, disappointed with myself.
“It was all too easy.”
“If you knew that she was there that first night, why didn’t you grab her then?”
Jones paused, looking a little bothered. “Who was there?”
“The B.
I.B. She was twenty feet away from you the night we met at O’Malley’s. You didn’t know?”
Jones was silent but I could hear his mind cranking, thinking, rewinding images.
“You really didn’t know, did you? Ha…maybe you don’t know as much as you think you do…For instance, about marking?”
“Marking?”
“I thought not; there are a few things I could teach you about Super Born.”
“This is ri-god-damn-diculous. I have done years of research! I’m a fucking PhD, goddamn it!”
“Oh, but you don’t know about marking, do you? But I do,” I said, as annoyingly as I could.
Jones was perplexed, his eye movements rapid. I figured any kind of confusion might help.
“How about their amazing advanced sexual powers? Know about them, big guy?” Now I was on the offensive, staggering after him as he circled away.
“They have nothing but sexual frustration! No man can satisfy them! Ask Demitri! They are totally sexually dysfunctional. Believe me, that is a power I have researched at length.”
“I doubt anything about you is at length.” I smiled broadly, knowingly, certain it was frustrating the hell out of him. “When you catch up with me, let me know, and we can discuss it then.”
“Discuss what?” he yelled, waving the interrupter in annoyance.
I beamed like the proverbial cat. “Super born sex, it’s fucking amazing…it’s beyond sex.” Then I sobered a little. “It’s a connection beyond love.”
“You are making no sense! What could be beyond sex, beyond love? These are man’s pinnacle states!”
I slowly lipped the words: “F-u-c-k-i-n-g A-m-a-z-i-n-g.”
Jones’ eyes glowed with anger and he lifted the Interrrupter and pointed it at me. Rather than confusing him, I was just pissing him off now. “One last time—where is she?” Jones said, more sinisterly than I thought possible. Toughy moved threateningly toward me.
“Okay, okay,” I said holding up the one hand I could. “I’ll tell you.” Then when Jones straightened and relaxed a bit, even though it was frowned upon in the Etiquette of Dudes , I gave him a front kick in the ’nads, which made him double over and groan. Then I gave him the same forearm I had given Toughy, but to Jones it was a knockout. It sent him flying onto his back, out cold, while the Interrupter flew across the rooftop.
Super Born: Seduction of Being Page 28
