by J C Lane
Nerys leaned over, watching the green spot. Amanda took a weird comfort in feeling his arm against hers.
They were downtown, in the middle of traffic. Cars everywhere. X turned down the music so they could hear each other.
“How do we know which vehicle It’s in?” Solo focused on the car next to her.
“Won’t be a regular car,” Amanda said. “It’ll have hired something. At least, that’s what I’m assuming.”
“Agreed,” said Nerys. His breath tickled her ear.
“Our positions are converging,” Amanda said. “It’s coming at us from the east. Two streets down.”
“Clark Street,” Nerys said.
“Clark,” X mumbled as they passed the first street.
“We’re going to hit the intersection at the same time if you go any faster,” Amanda said, “so be careful.”
Nearing the intersection they watched the cars.
Solo muttered, “Taxi, taxi, taxi—”
“Limo!” X shrieked, and broadsided it.
Amanda hit the front passenger seat with her face, having forgotten her seat belt, and blood spurted from her nose. Nerys slid to the floor, but popped right back up and grabbed Amanda some tissues from the seat pocket. Solo had her seat belt on, being a frequent passenger of X’s and never forgetting such crucial things, so she was fine.
X glanced back at Amanda. “Oh, crap, I’m sorry. I was looking so hard, I didn’t see it until—”
“It’s okay,” Solo said. “It’s all right.”
“But my car…”
“It’s him.” Amanda pointed with her free hand and pressed her nose with the other.
Nerys grabbed her arm. “What?”
All four of them stared out the cracked windshield as the limo’s passenger jumped out of the car. The limo driver tumbled out the other side, his face a picture of annoyance and pain.
“That guy. The passenger. I’ve seen him before. This morning. He was with the Japanese tour group on the water taxi.” Her insides went cold.
“It’s the Asian dudette,” Nerys said. “But he’s only a dude.”
“Okay,” Solo said. “Now what?”
“My car,” X moaned again.
“X needs to get out there,” Amanda said. “Talk to him and the driver while we figure out how we’re going to use this.”
“I’ll go with him,” Solo said. “Come on, X.” She coaxed him out of the car while traffic backed up in every direction.
Nerys snapped the guy’s photo and imported it into his facial-recognition app. Unfortunately, the picture wasn’t clear enough to come up with a match.
“We need to get him alone,” Amanda said.
“Words I’ve been waiting forever to hear,” Nerys said. “Except about me.”
She elbowed him.
Solo trotted back and stuck her head in the window. “Name of the limo service is Executive Limousine. Maybe they’ll tell you their passenger’s name, because he ain’t giving it.” She went back to X, where he was throwing an only partially pretend hissy fit in the intersection. At least, Amanda hoped it wasn’t all real.
She input the limo service into the laptop, and Nerys held out his hands. “Allow me.” Within a minute he’d hacked into their customer database and found their target. “Charles Akida. Child prodigy, genius, everything extraordinaire. Looks like he’s done about everything he could and not blow his brains out with trying. No social media. This Game was probably just one more thing to keep him from being bored to death with his own life.”
“But why pick me? I’m not any of those things.”
“Are you kidding me? What about your video game success? Your intelligence? Your test scores?”
She raised her eyebrows. “You know my test scores?”
“Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have said that…”
“But, still, it doesn’t make any sense.”
“It does to me. Why else would playing games with you be the only thing that gets me up some mornings? Seriously, Goddess, you make my life worth living.”
She gave a little laugh. “That’s pretty pathetic, Nerys.”
“Yeah, I know.” He grinned.
“So, anyway, what are we going to do with this guy?”
Nerys’ eyes sparkled, and his face changed like when the Grinch got his terrible, awful idea.
“What’s going on in that brain?” Amanda said.
Nerys held out a finger. “Stay here.”
“But—”
“Do you trust me?”
“No.”
“Well, pretend you do. And stay. Please?”
She studied his serious face. “Okay.”
He climbed out of the car.
Robert
Robert’s wrist vibrated when his coordinates transmitted the second time. Depending on where Tyrese had been after the first fifteen minutes, he could be across the city…or right next door.
The smartwatch allowed a call to Robert’s father, but he didn’t pick up. His father’s answer. Robert rested his head against the seat in front of him. He had no one to back him up. Not one person in the whole world to help him.
He was truly alone.
Tyrese
Tyrese was feeling a rush of hope that maybe he would beat Robert to Home Base when the cabbie slammed on the brakes.
“Accident,” the driver said.
Tyrese banged his good hand on the seat. “Should I walk?”
“Nah. We’ll be past it soon. Still faster in the car.”
Tyrese craned his neck to check out what was holding them back, but all he could see were stopped cars. He rested his head on the back of the seat and cradled his arm. The drugs were kicking in a little, but now his mind felt fuzzy. Not how he wanted to feel while chasing a killer.
The driver turned up the radio and hummed along, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, perfectly happy to wait while the meter kept running. Tyrese was watching a different meter. His watch’s countdown kept moving down, and down…until the watch vibrated and a location was transmitted. Robert still hadn’t reached Home Base, but he was getting close. Closer than Tyrese, who sat surrounded by a non-moving sea of cars.
Laura
Sydney: Where are you? You’re not at the door, not in aquarium.
Adam: Went to a movie. Will see you later.
Sydney: ARE YOU KIDDING? WAIT FOR ME!
Adam: Don’t want you to miss the tour. Have fun!
Sydney: What theater?
Adam: AMC across the street.
Sydney: I’ll meet you there.
Adam: Not sure which movie we’re seeing. Will let you know.
Sydney showed Brandy the entire exchange.
“I’ve decided,” Brandy said. “He is an idiot.”
“Yeah. Maybe you should kill him, too.”
Brandy shrugged. “Only got one watch. But I could ask my guys to take him out.”
Sydney’s insides froze, but she didn’t let it show. “Let’s wait and see. I have a feeling once this girl is out of the picture, my life will all go back to normal.”
Brandy nodded and headed to the aquarium’s front door. “That’s the plan. Now come on, I’ll give you a ride in my Hummer.”
3:15 p.m.
Robert
When the bus finally reached the United Center, there were hardly any passengers left. Robert stood at the middle exit, searching the street, but again saw no sign of Tyrese. If Tyrese had jumped in a cab and paid the driver extra to get him there as soon as he received the Home Base coordinates, he could be waiting, no matter where he had started out. Cabbies worked miracles when shown enough cash.
The bus door began to close, and Robert pushed through it. He had to make it into that arena to prove he really did have what it took. Besides, what if Tyrese hadn�
��t arrived? He could have still been at Wrigley Field when the signal went. Robert could beat him. Turn it around. Stage a comeback. A rally.
A last-ditch effort.
Robert jogged toward the front doors. He’d been to the United Center lots of times. He’d seen more games than he could count, all as the beloved son of Cyril Matthews. He was a showpiece, flashing his teeth and wowing the ladies. Old ones loved him. Young ones wanted him. Women his mom’s age wished he were their son. Or else they wished they could take him to their own private box seats. Half of them didn’t know his name, or care to remember it. They only knew he was rich, he was hot, and he was the son of a very powerful man. Three great ways to get women. Or men. His problem was, all he wanted to do was to impress them on the court, but no one could see past the monster that was Tyrese Broadstreet.
The front doors were open to the box office, but the inner doors were barred.
“Excuse me.” He offered the woman in the box office his best smile.
She pushed the intercom button and stared, waiting for him to continue.
“My name is Robert Matthews. My father is Cyril? He’s friends with Mr. Hall, the Bulls’ general manager?”
She chewed her gum.
“I was wondering if I might be able to see him.”
“You have an appointment?”
“No. I was in town, thought I’d drop by.”
“Minute.” She let go of the button and disappeared into a back room.
Robert glanced at his watch. Three minutes until the next transmission. Which meant forty-two minutes since Tyrese had been given the coordinates. He’d been at Wrigley Field at two-thirty, when he’d reached the original Home Base. Now it was almost three-thirty. Plenty of time for Tyrese to make his way across town.
But Robert still had hope. Home Base was less than a minute away on the opposite side of those doors.
Tyrese
“I gotta go.” Tyrese reached for the door of the taxi.
“Wait!” the cabbie said. “We’re moving.”
Tyrese sat back as the cab inched forward, past whatever had been holding up traffic. A Japanese dude stood on the sidewalk, throwing his hands all around, yelling as some skinny black kid yelled right back and pointed at a beat-up Mustang.
“Fender bender,” cabbie said. “It happens.”
They drove slowly past the smashed cars, and Tyrese spotted a teenage girl crouched in the back of the Mustang. She looked scared. He wished he had time to tell her to count her blessings that a car accident was all she had to worry about. She could be in a lot worse trouble than a simple wreck. But, wait, something about her looked familiar…
The cab edged around the accident and sped away.
Tyrese forgot about the girl.
Amanda
Vehicles were easing around the Mustang, and Amanda gazed into their windows, wondering where they were all going, wishing she were free to go, too. She caught the eye of a passenger in a taxi, a huge young guy, but he quickly looked away, like he was afraid if he looked too hard, he’d have to get involved. She gasped. It was the guy from the El. The one who scared her with his blank look, dirty clothes, and broken arm. Could it possibly be a coincidence to see him here?
But then he was gone.
Nerys weaved his way through the slow traffic and closed in on Charles Akida. Amanda wished she could hear what was being said as Nerys shook Charles’ hand. Charles pointed to his watch, and at the big black car. The limo driver threw his arms out like, “What am I supposed to do?”
Nerys gestured toward the Mustang. Solo glanced Amanda’s way, and X’s eyes grew more buggy than usual. Before Amanda realized what was happening, Nerys was ushering Charles toward the Mustang.
Laura
“That’s a mess.” Adam checked out the clogged street. “Glad we’re walking.”
Running, actually, until they got held up by the rubberneckers on the sidewalk. Laura and Adam had raced from the back door of the aquarium as soon as her watch transmitted her three o’clock coordinates. She was wearing the sunglasses she’d bought on the street, giving everything a hazy tint. She stared across the sea of cars and taxis to where a banged up limo and smoking Mustang had crunched together at the intersection. A skinny kid with wild eyes stood with his hands on his head—probably the owner of the Mustang—while a girl with dyed black hair argued with an Asian guy—probably the passenger of the limo. The limo driver stood to the side, a phone at his ear.
“We should go,” Adam said. “We’re going to be late.”
As they turned to squeeze past the people bunched on the curb, a tall guy climbed out of the Mustang and approached the limo’s passenger. They spoke for a few moments before walking toward the Mustang, the tall guy’s hand on the other one’s shoulder.
It was nice to see people her age working things out without using threats and violence.
3:30 p.m.
Amanda
Amanda began to shake at the sight of It heading toward her, and the laptop tipped on her knees. She closed it, shoved it under the seat, and pulled her sleeve over her watch. Nerys opened the passenger door for Charles, shutting the door behind him. Amanda kept her face hidden. Solo scooted in next to her, and Nerys filled in. Once X was behind the wheel, he started jerking the car around, trying to get out from the mess of vehicles.
“Yeah,” Nerys said, as if resuming a conversation, “no reason to get the cops involved. The limo company will have its insurance, and my buddy here doesn’t need any more points, right?” He slapped X’s shoulder. X jumped.
“Right. You got it.”
“Thank you,” Charles said. “I am in quite a hurry, and this was the last thing I needed.”
“Appointment?”
“You could say that.”
X finally got the car free from traffic, and they drove away. Smoke seeped from the hood, and X groaned. “My poor baby.”
“It’ll be okay,” Nerys said. “Just take us where we talked about.”
Where had they talked about? Amanda glanced over at Nerys, and he gave her a palms-down gesture to just hang on.
X drove along, slowly for him, until they came to a parking garage. He swerved in.
“What’s this?” Charles said. “This isn’t what we talked about.”
“Just a quick stop,” Nerys said. “No worries.”
Amanda studied the top of Charles’ head, and the part of his neck she could see past the headrest. What made this guy go off the rails? Why would he want to kill her? She didn’t get it.
X drove around and around toward the top level. Charles unlocked his door and acted like he was going to jump out. Nerys leaned over Solo and grabbed him around the neck. “Wouldn’t do that, man.”
Charles held up his hands. “Take whatever you want, okay? I don’t want trouble. All I want—” The smartwatch on his wrist buzzed, and everybody in the car went on point as Amanda’s fake coordinates were transmitted. “I just want to get to my meeting.”
“I’m sure you do. If you hang on just another minute, we can make that happen.”
X finally stopped on the second-to-last level, the final one to have a roof. He parked in the distant, empty corner, the farthest from the elevators. The closest car was halfway down the ramp, and there weren’t any other people on the whole floor. X turned off the car and got out, heading to the passenger side. Nerys kept hold of Charles’ neck while X opened the door. In X’s hand was something that looked remarkably like a Taser. Perhaps it really was one. Or perhaps it was a game piece, like the light saber Amanda had wielded earlier.
Charles still had his arms up.
“Do not move,” Nerys growled.
Charles shook his head.
Nerys and Solo slid out the driver’s side and shut the door. When Nerys got over to Charles he yanked him out, spinning him around and bending him over the h
ood, his face pointed away from Amanda. Nerys nodded at Amanda. She took a deep breath and got out of the car. X shut the door and stood in front of her. Solo stood next to her.
Nerys leaned down to Charles’ ear. “You still want to make that appointment?”
Charles nodded, his head grinding against the hood of the car.
“Great.”
Nerys yanked him up and around, keeping his arm around Charles’ neck. Nerys jerked his chin at X. X stepped aside, and for the first time not under his control, Charles set his eyes on Amanda.
“I think you’re acquainted with our friend,” Nerys said in the stunned Gamer’s ear. “Now, I believe you have something you need to say.”
Laura
Sydney: Which movie are you in?
Adam: There weren’t any she wanted to see so we’re getting food.
Sydney: Where?
Adam: Don’t know, walking around.
Sydney: Let me know so I can come.
Brandy stomped her foot. “Holy freaking—”
“I know,” Sydney said. “But sometimes a hunt takes patience, right? It’ll all work out.”
“Get the freaking restaurant details.”
Sydney frowned. “I’m doing my best. Chill.”
“You better. Now, get back in the Hummer.”
Sydney wished she had a poisoned watch. She’d throw it at Brandy’s head.
Robert
“You have your ID?” The woman behind the counter was back.
Robert dug his wallet out and handed over his driver’s license. The woman glanced at it, and slid it back under the plastic partition. “This way.”
A buzz sounded, and the door opened. The lady gestured for Robert to come in. She handed him a visitor tag, which he clipped onto his collar. He wanted to sprint to the arena doors, but the woman wouldn’t leave. Instead, she pointed to a uniformed guard at the end of the hallway. “Duane will show you up.”
