“Hush.” Hunter spun me around, drawing me into his embrace. “You’re not going in. No way. You’re going to hang back and deliver the coup de grace to look good for the cameras. Let the team do it, it’s what they’ve been trained for. You don’t have to leave this bus if you don’t want to. Fuck Outrager and what’ll look best on tape. Let us do this, let us finish this up.”
I pulled free, wiping my eyes dry. “No. I’m not running from anyone or anything, especially this bastard.”
“No one’s going to think any less of you if you step out after all this.”
“Rachael’s going in.” I nodded towards the young woman deep in conversation with Peter as they both studiously avoided looking at me. “She endured a lot more than I did. It’s not just Dykovski, it’s everything catching up with me. The mine, the bunker, it’s been a rough bit of time.”
Hunter grunted. “Guess two weeks weren’t enough to get you back into top shape.”
“Well, it sure wasn’t for lack of bedrest.” I reached up and gave him a kiss, letting my fingers run through the short blond hair at the back of his neck. “And while I appreciate the offer, I just can’t sit back for this one.”
“I know,” he confessed. “Can’t blame me for trying.”
“Wouldn’t expect anything less from you.” I pressed the empty mug into his hand. “Lots of milk, please.”
Everyone was where I’d seen them last, chatting to each other in a universal agreement to ignore Hunter’s rapid departure to deal with my personal crisis.
I slid in beside Steve on the U-shaped cushion. Jessie spread his hands with a pained look from across the table.
“What, I got cooties?”
I stuck my tongue out at him and snuggled closer to Steve, who put his arm over my shoulders with a wide grin and a wink at Jessie.
“Can’t blame the girl.” Steve’s mammoth hand landed atop mine, covering it totally. “You geeks may get the smart ones, but we get the smart and sexy ones.” He squeezed my hand. “Ain’t that right, boss lady?” The concern in his voice had tears springing to my eyes again.
I patted his hand with my free one. “Always count on you, big boy.”
“Okay, stop hitting on her.” Hunter placed the mug of milky-white tea in front of me. “Otherwise I’ll have to challenge you to an arm-wrestling competition.”
“Any time.” Steve removed his arm to crack his knuckles, the rifle-shot sounds echoing around the cabin.
“Save the display of testosterone for later.” I gestured for him to continue. “Or I’ll have to take both of you on.”
Steve let out something like a strangled giggle as Hunter’s face went red.
I retreated into my mug, feeling my cheeks burn. “Shutting up now.”
Hunter grinned and retrieved the remote from the counter.
“Okay, let’s talk about the suit.” The image came up on the screen, the technical diagram offering a three-dimensional view of the armor. “You’ve all seen it up close. Your thoughts?”
“Bitching tin suit.” Peter rubbed the back of his neck. “I might be able to get some ants into the cracks, but I don’t know.” He gave Rachael a sheepish look.
She patted his leg with a smile and a nod.
“Any chance of hacking into it?” Steve glanced at Jessie. “It’s a computer, right? Can you just make it pop off him or something?” He entwined his fingers and then pulled them apart quickly, mimicking the effect.
Jessie shook his head, dragging his finger across the tabletop. “I’m getting a complex here, just so you know. I’m not a hacker.” There was a hint of a whine in the last sentence.
I gave him a healthy glare. He knew I knew what he used to do in his spare time.
“Much. Anymore.” He reworded his statement. “But even if I were all that and a bag of potato chips, I couldn’t take the suit down. There’s no wireless system, no way for me to access the OS. From the information I’ve got, it’s a pretty simple system anyway, more focused on keeping the hydraulics going and all that.”
“So that’s a no.” I translated it into simple language.
He stuck his tongue out at me before responding. “Yes. It is.”
“Do we know for certain what weapons are on the suit?” Rachael asked, her tone all business.
Jessie put his hand up. Hunter gestured for him to take the question.
“According to the Agency files, that riot suit comes with a flamethrower, a net and the option to carry another weapon in your right hand.” He glanced at the image. “The idea was to offer the ability to personalize the weapons to the perceived threat.”
Harris frowned. “Where’s the net? What is the net? I don’t remember seeing it.”
“He’s got the flamethrower, we know that much,” Hunter said. “And he’s not afraid to use it.”
On the screen the empty power armor suit’s right arm flashed red. “The netting’s situated on the right hand in a small opening on his forearm. Explosive charges shoot it out at the target. It’s your basic net with the option of sending a medium-sized electrical charge through it to shock you like a taser. One shot deal, which is probably why he didn’t use it—saving it for the next fight.”
Another image flashed onto the screen. The goop gun. It resembled an old-fashioned Mauser, at least to my eyes.
“Technically this has a long-winded fancy name, but I like ‘goop gun’.” Hunter winked at me. “It doesn’t have a whole lot of ammo inside it, just what the pouch can carry. I’m willing to bet he used at least half of it on Rachael, Kit and the bobcat. Maybe two, three shots left depending on how much he uses and on whom. Outrager confirmed there’s no refills either at the base we left or at his new hidey-hole.”
“That’s not the dangerous one.” I took a sip of tea before continuing. “The flamethrower. Black goop we can deal with, tasering as well. But unless something’s changed while I was gone, none of us are fireproof.” I cupped the mug in both hands, letting the heat fight with my chilled fingers. “So let’s assume he’s going to use it as his primary weapon as long as the fuel holds out. He’s not going to go for capturing us now that he knows he can’t pop our plugs.” I looked around the table. “He’s out to kill us before we take him down. He’s got nothing to lose by this point. His plans are toast and he’s not getting out of the country.”
“Wounded animal is the deadliest,” Steve said. “Especially when he’s cornered.” One big finger traced an X on the faux wood tabletop. “Had to go after a stag once when my buddy fucked up the kill shot and sent him into the woods with a bullet in the shoulder. Bastard almost gored the pair of us before we took him down.” The ex-steelworker shook his head. “Major danger.”
Hunter scanned his notes. “Did he have time to grab anything else from the armory other than the weapons we already know about?”
I shook my head. “I don’t remember. I don’t think so. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t have them already on the damned suit or he’ll find more at the other cache.” I sighed. “Fuck Outrager.”
“Not on my worst day,” Peter quipped.
I ruffled his hair. “Oh, now you’re getting picky.”
“Anything from you?” Hunter addressed Harris. “Thoughts, comments, anything? He kept you away from Jo. Did you see anything we should know about?”
“You got me. All I saw was the inside of a cage and the outside of an asshole.” Harris scratched his belly and shrugged. “All I know is Dykovski was pretty certain he was gonna take you all out. Grab your plug codes and make you into his super team, working for him.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen.” Hunter looked at the screen. “We’ve got about two hours before we get within striking distance. He may have flown straight over these forests, but we’ve got to stay on the road. Let’s all crash and rest, and I’ll see if I can pry anything else out of Outrager that he might have conveniently forgotten about the cache or the suit.”
People moved around me at the dismissal, Jessie hopp
ing out from behind the table with a grin and approaching Rachael and Peter.
Steve poked Harris none too gently in the shoulder. “Pizza sound good? Got a couple of frozen ones in the freezer. Let me show you what this baby’s got for cooking. And we got good beer, plus a satellite dish.”
Harris laughed as he followed the strongman out and towards the kitchenette. That left me at the table alone until Hunter bounced in along the cushions.
I studied the mug. Half full. Or half empty.
He reached across the table and pried my fingers off, entwining them with his own. “You’re thinking of something. You’ve got that look.”
“No.” I freed one hand to take another sip of tea. “This is my ‘I’m tired and want to be taken to bed’ look. Obviously you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”
Hunter tilted his head to one side. “I do and it’s not. But I’ll play it your way because it uses the phrase ‘taken to bed’ in a positive light.” He stood and pushed the mug out of reach before taking my hand. “Steve, you’re in charge for a bit. Don’t sell the farm.”
Steve looked up from his dismembering of the pizza box with a wide grin. “Is that room soundproofed?” Beside him Harris went beet red as he stole pieces of pepperoni off the frozen slab and popped them in his mouth.
I flipped him the bird. “I’m going to rest, you big lug. And even at my loudest it still doesn’t match your snoring.”
Peter glanced over from where Rachael and Jessie were going through video game cartridges in a drawer under one of the bunk beds. “She’s got you there, dude. You’d peel the wallpaper off the walls, if we had any.”
Hunter chuckled as he hustled me to the back of the bus and through the bedroom door.
My eyes went wide as Hunter closed the door and locked it behind us.
The king-sized bed filled at least half of the room, pushed against the wood paneling. A thick, fluffy, dark red comforter accompanied four fat pillows, almost an exact duplicate of what we’d had in Vegas. I flopped onto it with a groan, relishing the easy give of the springs.
“Get some rest.” Hunter turned up one corner of the blanket, covering me. “Don’t worry about Dykovski. This is the endgame. All we have to do is take him down and we’ll be done with this business.”
I rolled over and flipped the quilt off, letting the cold air raise goose pimples on my bare skin. “Until next time. Until there’s another rogue super or ex-Guardian or freaked-out kid with new powers who decides to start something.”
“Yep.” Hunter sat down. He put one hand on my waist and pulled me towards him. “Because that’s what we do.”
“Save the world and all that.” I sighed.
“Yep. And twice on Sundays.”
“You’re giving me what twice on Sundays?”
Hunter let out a soft laugh. He dropped a kiss on the tip of my nose and stood up. “Even if you can’t sleep, just rest. You’ve had a hell of a week.”
“You think?” I called after him as the door shut.
The bus engine must have been right under the bedroom because a low vibration ran through the mattress, an almost soothing rhythm lulling me to sleep despite my initial intention to think about a battle plan to deal with Dykovski.
“Tough day at work, hmm?” Mike sat on the edge of the bed, bouncing up and down. “Sweet bed. Might want to watch the acrobatics, though—you’ll bash your brains out. Ceiling’s pretty low. Don’t you be levitating off the bed.”
I stared at him. He wore a light blue dress shirt and dark blue slacks, his going-to-dinner-in-public outfit. A gold chain peeked out through the opening at his neck, shining against his ebony skin.
“I thought you were gone,” I mumbled.
“Do you want me to go?”
“Yes. No. I need more drugs.” I sat up, rubbing my eyes. “Hello.”
“Hello yourself, hero,” Mike said. “Got to tell you, that man Hunter got some serious moves I never thought of.” He grinned at me, adding a saucy wink.
I blushed and looked away. I wasn’t one of those women who bragged about her lovers, much less to ex-lovers. Very much less to ghostly ex-Guardian lovers.
“You’re thinking you’re going to have to kill Dykovski.”
I turned back. “You’re a lousy Jiminy Cricket, you know.”
Mike chuckled. “Hey, you go with what you got.” His tone switched from playful to serious. “You’re worried about doing it again, having to kill someone. Or worse, letting one of the team do it. You don’t want them to carry that weight.”
I rubbed my eyes, hoping he wouldn’t disappear. “He’s got to be stopped. If he gets away, he’ll just start randomly killing supers with that device, grabbing their plug codes and popping their brains without any notice. Maybe we can put the word out about the injections, set up stations for supers to walk into for the shot and be finally fully protected from this crap, but that’s not going to save everyone. Some of them won’t come forward out of fear and he’ll get them sooner or later. It’ll be a bloodbath that’ll make what the Agency did small potatoes.” The mental image made me shudder.
Mike nodded, one hand motioning for me to continue.
I tugged my T-shirt down over my bare midriff. “We may have crippled his ability to recruit and build a new team, but he’s still dangerous. To say nothing of what he could do in a public area with those weapons. Be a lot of dead civilians before the police or military could stop him.”
“True. But you know Outrager won’t let him get away. He’ll call in the military and have him shot down if he gets by you. Not a chance of Dykovski getting out of this, and everyone knows it. Including Dykovski.” He bounced on the bed again, shaking me up and down. “And Outrager’s right. If you don’t do it on camera, you’ll lose street cred.”
“The Agency can’t afford to have a crazed ex-Guardian running around,” I mused, connecting the dots. “It’s one thing to blame it on a supervillain, like we always did, but if Dykovski gets to the media and decides to spill the beans, it’ll be an unholy mess to clean up.”
“Take hostages and demand airtime? Sure. He’d do it in a heartbeat if it’d further his agenda of hurting the supers and the Agency. If he calls your bluff, tells the world the old battles were all set up and faked, he plants the seed of doubt and it goes downhill from there.” Mike cracked his knuckles. “Guy’s a major douche bag. I don’t like men who hit women.”
“So one of us gets to go out in a blaze of glory,” I mumbled. “Him or me.”
Mike spread his hands and grinned. “Been there, done that, girlfriend.” His expression turned serious. “You gotta do what’s right for you and for the team. And for the world.”
“You know, I miss the bookstore,” I mused. “Two-dollar bargain bin, three for five and exact change preferred.”
Mike laughed. “You might think you miss it, but you don’t.” He jerked a thumb at the door. “And you got Hunter and a bunch of good peeps to help keep it all honest. Couldn’t have done better myself.”
“I miss you, Mike.” I felt the tears start, blurring my vision as I watched him. “Wish you were still here.”
“Me too.” He chuckled. “But we deal with what we been dealt. Besides, I’d hate to have to compete with Hunter. He’d beat me out, hands down. And I don’t think I want to play second fiddle to a man who can make you scream like that.”
I wiped my nose on my sleeve, giggling.
“Girl, you got things to do. World to save. And a new life to build with a good man. I don’t think you need me dropping in anymore.”
He moved towards me, starting to go transparent.
“Gonna miss you,” I choked out as he kissed my forehead.
“Meh. I’m off to go haunt a nightclub in New Orleans. Hear they got great jazz.” He took a step back, his hands in his pockets. “You go, girl. Saving the world and saving yourself. I’m proud of you. Couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”
He continued to fade away, the wide smile th
e last to go, like the Cheshire Cat.
Chapter Fourteen
“Jo?”
I blinked myself awake. Hunter came into focus, frowning as he cradled me in his arms. Somehow we’d both lost our clothing, the heat from Hunter’s naked skin chasing away my goose bumps.
“Jo?” He stroked my cheek, smoothing away the tears. “Bad dreams?”
I pulled him close into a hug, burying my face in his neck. “No. A goodbye.”
“Hmm.” He didn’t say anything, didn’t ask what I was talking about. We’d already covered that ground one early morning in Vegas, snuggling atop the hotel roof and watching the stars wink out as the sun rose.
I tucked my head under his chin. “I’m naked.”
“Hmm.”
“You’re naked.”
“Why, yes. Yes I am,” he deadpanned.
“How did this happen?”
A chuckle rumbled through me. “Well, you see…I’ve developed this new power where all I need to do is wish someone naked and it happens. Quite useful.”
“You’re not serious.” I pulled up and glared at him.
He remained stoic. “Mayyybe…”
I tapped his chest with my index finger, possibly the only part of my body not stiff and sore. “Smartass.”
“Yes. Yes, I am,” he repeated. “But you can’t blame me for wanting to keep you close and safe right now.”
I sniffled, sensing a breakdown on the horizon. “I’m sorry. I should have listened to you.”
“No.” The reply startled me. “No, you were right.” He pressed his lips to my hair. “If you hadn’t gone to see Harris, we wouldn’t be anywhere near this close to Dykovski. It cost us a lot, but it was the right move.”
“Not for Kit.”
“No. But that was his choice to make, not yours. If he’d have played it your way, if he had worked with you instead of against all of us, he might have had a chance.”
I chewed on my bottom lip, weighing his words. “I still feel responsible.”
“Well, you did lose my jacket.” A low chuckle ran over us. “I’ll punish you for it later.”
Heroes Lost and Found Page 19
