by C. C. Bolick
At the green and white signs, Van proceeded until we reached the front of the rental office. Lights inside glowed. The automatic front doors slid open for a man with a stack of paperwork and a black suitcase he pulled toward a car parked by the curb.
Instead of stopping near the entrance, Van pulled into an empty space in a row of black SUVs. He put the car in park and turned off the ignition.
Behind us, Erin stared at the main sign for the rental office. “This place looks legit. Are you sure this is how we get in?”
Van took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, his hands still gripping the wheel.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked.
Erin laughed with irony. “Shouldn’t I be asking the same question?”
“It should be me asking,” Van said, eying the automatic sliding doors. “No one in there wants to see me.”
“Then disappear,” I said. “Teleport out of here and I won’t tell them about you.”
“I was told to stay with you,” he said. “I won’t disobey my orders.”
Some part of me felt sympathy for Van. He didn’t want into the base any more than I did, except for the fact I was determined to find Alfie. I opened my door and stood next to the car. Van climbed out and walked around to my side. Erin opened her door in slow motion, as if she’d reconsidered making an entrance.
“Are you sure you won’t change your mind?” I asked.
Van surprised me by holding a hand out to Erin. “Sitting for long periods is not good for the body. Take your time standing.”
“As a doctor, I should be giving you that lecture. I’ve finally reached the point where I don’t know what’s about to happen. Don’t know and don’t care.”
“Perhaps inside you can recharge,” Van said.
“Yeah.” Erin stood and Van released her hand. “If Sylvia doesn’t lock me in one of those cells with white walls Rena told me about. Or she could erase my memory and send me packing. Then I’ll never see Tyler again.”
“Tyler?” Van asked with confusion.
“Long story,” I said.
“You’re a doctor.” Van stared at her face. “What is your name?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “You don’t know who I am and it’s probably better if we keep it that way.”
“Erin.” When she didn’t respond, Van said, “Your name is Erin Watts.”
She looked up at him in astonishment. “How do you know me?”
Van put his hands behind his back and set his jaw, like a general about to punish his troops. “Do you still care for him?”
Erin glanced at me. I shrugged as the hair rose on the back of my neck. Van’s voice felt like a sharp knife, ready to strike in a deadly game. “Yes,” she said.
After watching her face for a tense moment, Van dropped his hands at his sides. “You’re telling the truth.”
“How… how do you know I’m not lying?” she asked.
“Because of my power,” Van said. “I can read the emotions on your face. You still care for Tyler, more than you’d like to admit.”
“Sylvia brought Erin to the base for a job interview,” I said. “Erin had no idea it was because of her connection to Tyler. She didn’t even know Tyler was still alive until after we ran.”
“This complicates our plan,” Van said.
“Whose plan?” Erin asked. “I came here for a job interview and left to escape. Now I’m about to walk back into Sylvia’s game. I’d give anything to see Tyler again, but I’m also thinking that memory wipe she threatened sounds good about now.”
“You’re not afraid of her. Good.” Van began to walk. “There will be no memory wipe.”
“But Agent Lockhart—” I said.
“Isn’t here,” he said.
“How do you know?” I ran to keep up and Erin followed close behind.
“I want to see Sylvia’s face when you arrive,” Van said. “Then I will know her intentions.”
Great. The last thing I needed was Van starting some kind of war with Sylvia. He’d promised not to leave my side, which wouldn’t be easy once I walked through those doors. Would Sylvia lock him up? Did she have the power to hold him?
The automatic doors slid open and Van marched to the counter. “I want to see Sylvia.”
A service rep dressed in a green and white striped shirt looked over Van as if he’d lost his mind. “If you’ll wait your turn…”
Next to Van stood a woman in a thick orange coat. He nodded to her. “My apologies.”
The woman smiled. “No problem. At one in the morning, I’m not the only one dead on my feet. Ali here is almost done with my rental.”
Behind the counter, the young employee handed her a key. A tag on his shirt read ‘Ali’. “It’s been a pleasure, Mrs. Jackson. Often people aren’t this hospitable at one in the morning.”
When she left the office, Ali’s gaze shifted to Van. He positioned his hands over his keyboard. “Your name please.”
“I’m not in your system,” Van said.
Ali looked at me. “Your name?”
“Regina Mason,” I said. “Donald Mason is my father.”
“Understood.” In no hurry, Ali reached for the phone next to his computer and dialed three numbers. He spoke in a voice low enough I couldn’t understand. He hung up the phone and smiled at me. “If you’ll take a seat, someone will be with you in a few minutes.”
Erin laughed as she sat in a row of chairs along the glass storefront. “We’ll see how long it takes for her to get your message.”
Five minutes later, a door opened to the right of the counter, more like an entire section of the wall. At least two dozen agents ran into the room, some dressed in black and some in camo, all holding guns. They surrounded us; Erin jumped to her feet and Van surveyed the circle of men and women.
I shivered as I thought of the night they broke down the door of the hotel room and took Travis away.
“You won’t point your weapons at them,” Van said. “These women are under my protection.”
Erin moved closer to me. “I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse.”
A familiar agent moved to face Van. “I’m Agent Nichols. You’re in no position to make threats.”
Van waved and the guns in the hands of every agent disappeared. The group collectively sucked in a breath of shock.
“Am I in a better position now, Agent Nichols?”
I put a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing. My humor turned to terror as an agent to my left raised what looked like the tranquilizer gun they used to take down Travis.
“Van,” I yelled.
The dart cut through the air but stopped about a foot from Van’s face. He waved and the dart disappeared.
I let out a sigh of relief. Agent Nichols and Van stared each other down for what seemed like an eternity.
“What do you want?” asked Agent Nichols.
“To see Sylvia,” I said.
“She’s in a meeting,” he said.
“At one o’clock in the morning?” I shook my head. “I don’t believe you.”
Agent Nichols glared at Van. “Give back our weapons and we’ll escort you below.”
“I’m not here to hurt anyone.” Van waved and the guns reappeared. “If one of you manages to shoot me, it will only happen once. I assure you, no one in this room wants an interstellar event.”
With a wary look in my direction, Agent Nichols took us into the base.
* * * * *
After half an hour with security—they did a full body scan and insisted we all change into agency-issued black sweats—Agent Nichols led the three of us down empty halls and to a conference room.
“I hope black is your color,” I said to Van. “That’s about all they wear around here.”
“I have no color,” Van said. “But black seems as good as any. I’ve found blood is less visible against black fabric.”
Just what I wanted to hear. “Are you worried about what Sylvia will do
?”
He said nothing, only stood with his hands behind his back as he stared at the closed door of the conference room. A moment later, the door opened and Angel stepped out. “Regretting coming back here yet?”
I shook my head. “Whatever it takes to get my brother back. Did you find out where Travis is?”
She shot Van a look. “We’ll discuss that later.”
Erin and I followed Angel into the conference room. Van was last in as Angel closed the door. The table before us sat eight, but only Sylvia and Senator McCall occupied one end. The other chairs were empty. Angel motioned for us to take a seat as she took the chair next to Sylvia.
Senator McCall stood and gave me a warm smile, most likely fake. “Glad you could make it back before I left for D.C.” He held a hand out to Van. “I wondered when you’d make it back to Earth.”
Van stared at the senator’s hand.
With a laugh, Senator McCall pulled back his hand. “Maybe they don’t shake hands where you come from.” He turned to Sylvia. “Make sure we stay on schedule with the project.” He cut his eyes to the ceiling. “The world is counting on us.”
Sylvia looked at me. “This latest development ensures we’ll be ready.”
When he grabbed his coat and left the room, I walked to the table across from Sylvia and put my hands on the smooth surface. “I want to find Louis and save my brother.”
“Louis Castillo is not lost,” Sylvia said. “Our team has eyes on him.”
“Where is he?” I asked.
Sylvia tilted her head to the side as she watched me. “Louis is at his home in Spain, where he often goes when he wants to be found.”
“Then I’ll go there and save my brother. Van can teleport me.”
“Out of the question,” Sylvia said. “You’re not going anywhere with this man.”
Van watched her with interest. “You don’t trust me? I brought Miss Mason back to you safely.”
“By now you know of her powers,” Sylvia said. “I think everyone in this room agrees you don’t need access to a nuclear bomb.”
“I agree,” Angel said. “He can’t be trusted.”
“Ah,” Van said with a grin. “You worry I might destroy your planet. Humans already do a sufficient job without my interference.”
“You guys can argue about my power all you want.” I raised my arms and blue sparkled from my hands. With a swipe through the air, the blue made streaks of light around me. “I’m the one in control. I make the bomb or stop it.”
Sylvia stood and walked around the table to face me. We stood at the same height, her eyes at the perfect level to bore into mine. “You don’t want to threaten me. I’ll have you thrown in a room on the isolation floor faster than you can think about blowing anyone up.”
“Like you did to Travis?” I asked. “Where is he, by the way?”
“Ask your new friend,” she said.
I thought of when Angel told me the agency captured her. She suggested the agency couldn’t contain me, even by locking me in one of those rooms. “You’re bluffing. If you lock me up, you can’t keep me there.”
Although Sylvia had gone for the kill, her eyes showed a wariness that told me she had no idea how to proceed. “So, this is where we are.”
“I want you to save my dad and brother.”
Sylvia put her hands on her hips. “You want to blow me up? Go ahead. I’m not sending you back to Louis.”
“Bethany claims she’s really my mother. She said Louis is my father—did you know?”
“I suspected both.”
“Because of that, you think I’ll join Louis.”
“As long as there’s a chance, I must take all precautions to protect you from him. You’re too young to understand the consequences of your actions, as is apparent from your show here. If he offers you—”
“He won’t,” I said.
“Blood has a strange way of calling to our darkest fears,” Sylvia said.
“I’m not scared of Louis. I wouldn’t join him in destroying anything, even if he was my father.”
“You must consider the possibility. Don’t blindly think you know Donald Mason is your father when there’s a good chance he’s not.”
“I don’t blindly think. I have proof.” I looked to Erin and Sylvia followed my gaze. “Erin tested a hair sample from me and Dad. She proved that Donald Mason is my real father.”
Sylvia opened her mouth but didn’t say a word. She looked from Erin to me and then at Van, who crossed his arms as if impatient. “You’re sure this test was accurate?” she asked Erin.
“It wasn’t my first DNA test,” Erin said. “No one at the agency knew I performed the test. Rena asked me under the radar.”
Again, Sylvia looked at me. “You got her a sample and asked for a DNA test without any of my agents realizing?”
I wanted to relish the way I’d finally been able to shock her, but there was no time. “Dad refused to take the test. I did what I had to.”
“Now you think you’re ready to take Louis down.”
“And Bethany.” Sylvia didn’t need to know she held spot number three. “She lied to me and I want to know why. Travis looked at a picture and teleported us to Louis’s house. Van can do the same.”
“Travis went against my orders and I plan to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Sylvia turned to Erin. “Go to the med-level.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Erin said.
Sylvia spoke with patience. “Our agents have located a boy with an unusual power. He’s able to alter the appearance of paper by touch.”
Erin stared at Sylvia as if she didn’t understand. “Why should that matter to me?”
“I want you to study his DNA and help us determine how we can best help him. Our agents found him in New Mexico. His parents were murdered by a street gang, and his power was used to turn paper into money.”
“You want me to go back to work?” Erin asked with wide eyes.
Sylvia sat on an edge of the table. Her face sagged; the late hours had taken a toll. She kicked off her heels. “You’ve worked with kids. I think you have a good chance of reaching him while you study how his power works.”
Erin looked around the room in confusion. “Am I losing my mind?”
“You didn’t hear?” Sylvia asked. “You got the job. I’m having a nameplate made for your office as we speak.”
I glanced at Angel and she nodded.
“I ran from the agency,” Erin said. “I broke your trust and it’s not like I was first pick. We could never have a good working relationship.” Erin looked at me and then back at Sylvia. “Tell me again why you want to hire me.”
“After everything you’ve seen in the last three weeks, you’re still standing here. You’ve accepted what happened and the powers you’ve seen. You completed a DNA test under the noses of all my agents.”
“What about Tyler?” Erin asked. “You never told me he’s your grandson. You knew exactly who I was before showing up at the hospital. You asked questions about my past, personal questions disguised as a job interview. The whole time you knew about my relationship with him.”
Sylvia hesitated as their eyes met. After a few moments, Sylvia sighed and sat down in one of the chairs. “He’s not the reason you’re still standing here. Do you agree?”
“I came here to save lives. I wanted to use my skills to save the world.”
“And you will.”
“Do I have a choice or are you forcing me to stay?”
Laughing, Sylvia crossed her arms. “If you think I forced you to come back here, you’ve overestimated my capabilities. I got you to Atlanta, but you got the job based on your own merits. If you choose to go back to Chicago, I won’t stand in your way. I will, however, regret that I missed out on hiring one of the most talented doctors I’ve ever met.”
Instead of leaving, Erin dropped into the closest chair and put her head in her hands.
“Miss Mason,” Sylvia said. “Saving your brother doesn�
�t mean you’ll find the answers you seek.”
“But I’ll get him back,” I said.
“I want you to work with Angel on finding Travis. A team is working on returning Alfie, though I’d bet Agent Mason is already days ahead of us. Erin will assume her new role.” Sylvia turned to Van. “You will stay.”
“I’m here to protect Rena,” he said. “Nothing else.”
“No one will harm her within these walls,” Sylvia said.
I helped Erin to her feet. She shot Sylvia a look of frustration. Sylvia motioned for us to go and Angel followed us out, closing the door behind us.
“Get cleaned up,” Angel said. “Both of you.”
“What about sleep?” Erin asked.
“Not today.” Angel smiled. “Didn’t realize sleep wasn’t a condition of this job, did you?”
“Why is Sylvia hiring her?” I asked.
“No one is sure why Sylvia does anything,” Angel said. “But I’m not arguing this time. I like the idea of having Erin around, don’t you?”
I nodded as Angel walked away. In two days, Erin had become a friend I wasn’t ready to lose. I’d lost too many people I cared about already. The fact Sylvia offered her a job was more than I could have hoped for.
When the elevator doors closed, Erin turned to me. “What do you think?”
“About the job? You should take it.”
“Why?”
“Because I have more to figure out and you’re the best person to help me. We work great as a team.”
Erin narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure it isn’t the fact I know Tyler took Travis? I didn’t think telling Sylvia was a good idea.”
“Me either, which is why I kept my mouth shut. Sounds like you’ll make a great agent.”
She laughed. “I want the truth, but I don’t think anyone here knows what that word means. Everything changed the night we ran. I still don’t know what happened to me… I can’t stop thinking I might be losing my mind. Now that I know Tyler’s alive, it’s like a nightmare turned dream turned nightmare…”
The fear in her voice made me pause. “I have a pretty good idea how you got out of the base.”
“Tell me.”
