“I’m getting something,” Sandra called, her voice almost snatched by the chopper’s blades.
Me too, Jennie thought. There was a tingle inside. The fingers of Zhao were clutching inside her head, already trying to mess with her.
“Keep going!” she shouted to Ashton.
He grinned. “I was planning to!”
They passed over the Museum of the City of New York, where they had first come across Sandra in their initial scuffle with the Spectral Plane. It was like taking an aerial tour of Jennie’s first weeks in New York. Things hadn’t been simple then either.
When will they ever be?
An image flashed into Jennie’s head. It came in such vivid color and clarity that, for a moment, it disarmed her and pained her head.
Zhao. He was looking at her in the mirror, a perfect view from atop the Empire State Building. Her gut tugged at her, every part of her wanting to order Ashton to go back to where they’d come from.
Baxter leaned forward, face full of concern. “Jennie, are you okay? What is it?”
Sandra opened her eyes.
“I can see him. He’s… It’s telling me he’s back where we came from. At the Empire State Building. But I didn’t feel him there before.”
Sandra looked back at the colossal tower, confused. “I don’t feel anything that way, Jennie. We’re on the right path, can’t you feel it?”
Jennie shook her head. “He’s inside my thoughts. I can’t block it out. He’s blinded me to the truth, I’m sure of it. It’s down to you, Sandra.”
Sandra caught Baxter’s eyes. He gave a reassuring smile and nodded. “You’re up.”
Sandra’s face grew resolute. She funneled her gift into the connection that she and Jennie shared and urged Ashton onward, calling directions as they closed in on Zhao’s location. They flew north, passing over Washington Heights, Jennie looking more and more pained as she clutched the sides of her heads and grimaced.
“He’s a determined fucker, I can tell you that much,” Jennie grumbled in reply to Baxter’s concern.
Sandra ignored the bad word, focusing instead on directing Ashton. The energy signature was growing stronger. She ordered him toward the west coast, where the George Washington Bridge crossed over the Hudson.
“There!” She pointed at a small, solitary red lighthouse by the water’s edge.
Jennie forced her eyes open. It was hard for her to see the world with Zhao covering the truth and injecting her mind with a superimposed image of the Empire State Building. She could see the room she had been detained in and the offices next door. Zhao watched from the window. He was able now to stand, although his limbs hadn’t yet recovered entirely from his kiss with concrete. He watched over the city, his hands clasped behind his back to support his crooked spine as though he were an extreme sufferer of scoliosis.
Jennie fought against Zhao, feeling his anger inside of her as they zeroed in on his location. Ashton brought the chopper down on the lawn beside the lighthouse, causing a few nosy civilians to take a few steps back and film on their cell phones.
Baxter looked at the little red lighthouse. The lights were off and the place looked deserted. “Are you sure he’s here?”
Sandra’s response was simple. “Yes.”
Unbidden, Jennie’s head filled with the same resounding shriek she had experienced back in Washington. That felt like a lifetime ago, a life that felt very different from this one. “Yes. He’s here.”
* * *
They spilled out of the chopper and onto the lawn. Ashton remained behind, the keen driver of the getaway vehicle. Julia stayed close by, studying her cell phone with a scrutinous eye as she read a series of articles.
Jennie brought Rhone closer to her and leaned in close. “You’re going to have to take this one. I can’t lead here.”
Rhone raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“He’s inside my head,” Jennie explained. “Any plan of action I make is going to be spilled to him instantly. I’ll stand back while you do your thing. Just let me know the part I need to play when I need to play it, and act fast, okay? Zhao is slippery as hell, and we’ve got new arrivals coming soon. I want to be there to greet them when they come.”
She backed away, turning away from the intrigued looks of her companions. Rhone gave the orders, and soon they assembled out the front of the lighthouse.
Rhone approached the iron fence ringing the building. There was a padlock on the gate that melted easily with some help from one of Jennie’s vials. She sighed, unhappy to be handing over her final measure of the solution. Hopefully, Hendrick would have more upon her return.
They passed through the gate and tried the door. Surprisingly it yielded easily to Rhone’s touch. He nudged the door open and was instantly confronted by attackers.
They were ready for them. Of course, they had been. Zhao had a hotline directly into Jennie’s head and could see through her eyes.
Rhone took the first shot, darting inside the building and forcing Zhao’s men up the stairs. They piled up and around the spiral staircase, firing down at him and the others with standard ammunition.
It appeared they hadn’t expected so many specters.
Baxter and Carolyn rushed up the stairs. Carolyn exercised her powers, focusing her energy on the pistols in their enemy’s hands. She wanted to test her capacity to control the weapons in the same way she had controlled the Bhoots’ weapons way back in London.
The pistol shook in the man’s hands, then streamed toward her as though pulled on an invisible string. Carolyn caught the weapon and turned it on him, sending a shot into his shin.
The man shouted in pain before collapsing and falling down the stairs. Rhone darted to him and slapped a pair of cuffs on his wrist and a banister spindle before he could do any more damage.
Baxter raced ahead to where a number of specters were joining the fray. They shot at him and sent a few bullets into his shoulder and thigh. He growled and continued toward them, firing at the furthest with his own pistol before swinging his wrench in a wide arc and clobbering the ones in front of him. He drove himself forward, despite his own pain, knowing how vital his mission was. His only purpose was to make room for Jennie so she could finally take care of Zhao once and for all.
Carolyn fired off several more shots with the mortal’s pistol and took down three of the black-clad enemy. It was tough going, seeing that they had to navigate the thin staircase to the top of the lighthouse. In the meantime, who knew what waited at the top? Maybe Zhao had already jumped onto the lawn and fled?
Jennie was prepared for this and waited outside the lighthouse, her eyes fixed on the walkway encircling the glass housing that topped the building.
It was torture, listening to her comrades fight her battle. She should be in there, working her way to the top with them, but she wanted to give Zhao as little possible notice of what he was dealing with as she could.
Sandra waited beside her, quiet and still. Jennie had kept her back, wanting to stay true to her promise to Tanya. Sandra would return to the manor in one piece. If there was one person she wanted to keep as safe as possible, it was this girl. The girl with powers that surpassed any she’d seen in other specters. She needed her.
Shots fired inside the lighthouse brought Jennie out of her reverie. Cries of pain rang out. Behind Jennie and Sandra, a few brave civilians watched from the tree line of Fort Washington Park. The commotion was drawing attention, which was the opposite of what Jennie wanted. But what else could she do?
Just when Jennie was getting antsy to join, Rhone poked his head out the door and waved her inside. Jennie didn’t hesitate as she sped onward, leaping over fallen bodies and making her way to the top of the spiral staircase. She passed Baxter and Carolyn, who offered encouraging smiles as she passed.
Later, Jennie would admire Rhone and these specters for the part they’d played in this. But for now, she had an ex-Dragon to find.
The stairs spiraled and ended at a door. J
ennie kicked the door with her boot heel, and she bounced back. It was tough, but another two kicks swung it wide open.
Zhao stood at the window, his hands laced behind his back in the same way she had seen in the Empire State Building, only this view was less glamorous, offering only a vista of the setting sun rippling on the water.
Jennie raised the Big Bitch to the back of his head. She could feel his presence in her head, as though he were looking at himself through her eyes.
Zhao took a deep breath and held his gaze on the water. “I suppose that this is the end for me, isn’t it? Less than a week since my death and already I’m wishing that I crossed over into the abyss and saved myself the heartache of all of this chasing and chaos.”
Jennie held still, finger poised on the trigger. Sandra clutched her leg and waited behind her. The others hovered in the doorway.
“What is death?” Zhao continued, lost in his thoughts. “I suppose that death is just the end. In which case, maybe today will see the death of Peter Zhao as my name vanishes and goes with me into the grave. If death is really just about endings, then already I know that I have done my piece to gain immortality. The baton has been passed. That is enough.”
Jennie narrowed her eyes, a wave of rolling anger boiling in the pit of her stomach. This man had caused so much damage already, had penetrated her thoughts and found a way to make her vulnerable. He had manipulated her and made her see things that weren’t there. Even at this point in time, she wondered if what she was seeing was true.
As if to prove her point, Zhao answered her doubts. “Yes, this is reality, Genevieve. There are no more illusions left to cast. You have found me, and I have no doubt that I will be gone soon. You have methods for that; I’ve already plucked that knowledge from your mind.”
He turned toward her, resting his back against the internal glass of the lantern room. A giant bulb on a rotation platform took the center of the room. “Before I die, I request the answer to one question.”
He waited for Jennie to answer. She remained silent.
“Very well.” He chuckled. “When will it ever be over for you? I see the struggles you carry. I’ve explored your darkest secrets and seen the truths you hide. Will you ever be satisfied?”
Jennie growled. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It’s ambitious, I’ll admit,” Zhao continued, undeterred. “To build what you’re trying to would be a monumental achievement. But what then? Injustice will never cease. The world you’ve promised your mother and father will never come to fruition. Peace is a pipe dream, and injustice is a reality that must be shared in this world. Yin and Yang. It’s all about balance. Harmony is an illusion.”
Jennie winced at the mention of her parents. For a fleeting moment, Zhao cast Jennie’s final moments with her parents in her mind, the pair who had been taken so young. Torn apart by the very world that Jennie spent the rest of her life protecting.
Her jaw clenched. “That’s the point, Zhao. Injustice will never cease. Neither will justice. That’s why I go on—to ensure that there is balance in the world, and those who dream of a brighter tomorrow may see at least a glimpse of what might be. I’m under no delusion that a perfect utopia will exist, but without people like my team and me, there’s more of a chance that the world will burn, and smoke will fill the skies. That’s a reality I cannot allow.”
Zhao smiled. There was no menace in that grin, just a deep-seated understanding. “You know that even with me gone, this will not be over, don’t you? The Dragon lives on. She will find you, and she will continue my legacy. The wheels are already in motion.”
Jennie nodded. “That’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. I’ve spent my life slaying monsters. What’s one more to my death count?”
She lowered the Big Bitch and stepped back to allow Sandra before Zhao. He leered down at the girl but froze as she raised a hand in the air and fixed him to the spot.
“Any last words?” Jennie asked.
Zhao contemplated this. “Yes. Just this: you’d better act fast, Genevieve. Old enemies are more difficult to murder than me, and the fireworks you’ve seen are nothing compared to what will soon come.” His face split into a predatory grin. “Remember Renminbi?”
“Now,” Jennie instructed.
Sandra began to chant as her power, and her spectral light flooded the room. She shone like the bulb that would soon beam to the waters as Zhao started to scream as the Latin fell from her lips.
Jennie collapsed to her knees, the shrieking enough to fill her head. Baxter and Carolyn dropped, too. Rhone stared at them all, helpless.
The only person holding their focus was Sandra as she summoned her power of exorcism, the same power that had vanquished Worthington not too far from where they stood. The same power that had taught Queen Victoria a valuable lesson in who she was messing with. Light flooded the room until all that was left was white.
Jennie saw them, then. Her parents, in a flickering montage of memory induced by Zhao as his final parting gift to Jennie.
A few moments later, the light was gone.
And so was Zhao.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Red Hook, Brooklyn, USA
A string of cars came speeding down the lamp-lit street toward the warehouses at Red Hook.
There were easily two dozen vehicles, maybe more. In the sky, a number of helicopters flew toward them, ready to land in the spaces vacated by the remaining specters and Jennie’s team.
The first chopper to touch down was a rental, undecorated and unsophisticated in its design. From the open door hopped a woman who looked only a little older than Jennie. Her eyes were shaded by SI glasses and her frame muscular.
She beelined for Jennie and held out her hand. “Rogue.”
“Sturgeon,” Jennie replied, accepting the handshake. “It’s been some time since we last crossed paths. Last I knew, you were in the minor leagues. When did you get this upgrade?”
“When you killed my predecessors,” Sturgeon replied flatly. There was little humor in her words. “How’s the situation looking?”
“Dire,” Jennie answered, explaining that she had taken out Zhao, but there were still more areas to explore. “We’re yet to hear back from Lionus at the SIA, and the specters swarming New York have found nothing additional of note, other than a few crack dens and illegal armories in people’s basements.”
Sturgeon’s eyebrow flickered. “You killed our prime suspect?”
“Had to,” Jennie retorted without regret. “The man was a threat to our entire justice system. If you’d met him, you’d have known.”
Sturgeon huffed disbelievingly. “Even you should know better than to kill a key suspect in cold blood. We could have detained him. Interrogated him.”
Carolyn scoffed. “That worked so well for the SIA.”
Sturgeon turned on her, face like thunder, looking over the specter. “We are not the SIA, young specter. We are the SIS. We have over a century more experience than your infantile organization, and we can make our captives squawk.”
Jennie chuckled and drew Sturgeon’s attention back to the matter at hand. “Things must have changed a lot then since I last sat in on your interrogations. You couldn’t get a minister to confess to the truth while dosed up on truth serum.”
Sturgeon regained her composure and wiped her glasses. “A lot has changed. If you had left us a suspect, we could have extricated the information we desired. As it is, we’re left with… What, exactly?”
Jennie handed over a piece of paper, on one side was printed a map of the east coast with markings of the detonation sites. New York and Hartford, Connecticut, were crossed out. “We’ve got those sites covered. SIA’s Agent Lionus reported that he’s covering that site and looking for answers. No response thus far.”
Sturgeon studied the map. “We’ll split between us and take Pennsylvania and New Jersey.”
“Great,” Jennie replied. “That leaves us with Boston.” She asked for
Sturgeon’s phone and keyed in her number. “Keep in touch. Contact and update on the hour. We need regular communication to make sure we’re covering as much ground as possible.”
Sturgeon hesitated.
“What?” Jennie asked. Her shoulders softened as she realized the problem. “I get it. Queeny wants you to take charge, doesn’t she? Well, you’re going to have to get over your own egos. We’re all in this together, and I’ve got at least a century more experience than you do.”
Sturgeon stared at her levelly. “Still.”
Jennie moved closer, her voice softer. “Sturgeon. You know me. We’ve worked together before. This is not a time for a battle of wills, we need to pull in and make this happen. Don’t make the same mistake that Clark and Tiptry made. For once, can we all do this as a team? It’s already a struggle with the goddam SIA waving their dicks around.”
Sturgeon considered this. She looked at the chopper over her shoulder, and for the first time, Jennie saw the specters accompanying her.
She gave a curt nod to Agents Clark and Tiptry, unfortunate casualties of the Alexandrian skirmish. “Don’t become like them. You’re better than that.”
Although Sturgeon didn’t give a direct reply to this, Jennie could tell she was considering it. She bid them goodbye and went to address the rest of the SIS agents who were waiting patiently for their commands.
Jennie walked toward the chopper closest to the warehouse, the Airbus’ blades already spinning. Baxter caught up to her pace. “Do you really think they’re going to play along?”
Jennie debated this in her head. “I hope so. Whatever happens, we’ve now got agents from both sides, and specters too, covering a wide area of the east coast. With any luck, one of us will find the linchpin of this whole operation and shut the damn thing down before things progress any further.”
As they climbed into the chopper, Julia sat waiting, her eyes fixed on and illuminated by her cell phone screen.
Agents, Agreements and Aggravations: In Her Paranormal Majesty’s Secret Service™ Book Three Page 30
