Wilde Storm

by S. E. Babin

  I wasn’t a hundred percent sure I believed him. “And when Gwynne woke up?”

  “Your father had already injected them both with truth serum. They sang like canaries.”

  I reached over and grabbed Masters’ hand. “Thank you.”

  He gave mine a quick squeeze. “You’re welcome. Watson wants you up and ready for a sparring session in half an hour. You may want to eat light before you go.”

  “As soon as this is over, I want you to bring your daughter in.”

  “Even without Aaron’s help?”

  I snorted. “I was almost there without his help. And now I have the tools I need.” I looked into his dark blue eyes. “I will do my best to make sure she’s okay. And if I can’t find the cure, we will talk about the immortality serum. Okay?”

  Relief spread over his face like a wildfire. His throat worked as he struggled to say something, but he finally just gave me a short nod and turned to walk out of my apartment.

  At least one thing had turned out okay during this mess. Even if I couldn’t come up with the cure, we would be able to save her. I just hoped Masters realized the true implications of immortality.

  I shoved the rest of my bagel in my mouth and pushed open the door to Watson’s rooms. He looked up at me and frowned. “A bagel is light?”

  I shrugged and spoke through a mouthful of bread. “I was hungry.”

  Watson grimaced. “Lovely.”

  I swallowed it down and took a sip of my orange juice. “What else would you expect of this majestic cow?”

  “I’m never going to hear the end of that, am I?” He leaned against one of the posts and stretched his legs.

  “Nope.” I sat on the floor, ran through some stretching exercises, and watched as Watson headed toward the door and turned the lock. My heart sped up a little bit. Something was going on.

  “Watson?”

  He held up a hand and pressed his ear against the door for a moment. I stood up, poised to run if I needed to.

  Once satisfied, he came over and took me by the upper arm to steer me into his personal rooms. He shut that door, tossed me the DAR he scooped up from his kitchen counter, and looked me up and down. “It will have to do until we can get you something else,” he said.

  I snapped the bracelet on. “What will have to do?”

  “Your father has asked us to travel to Waterstone Industries and determine the location of the serum.”

  “Why the secrecy?”

  “He wanted us to take Gwynne and Aaron.”

  “Ah.” I leaned against his counter. “Is that not wise?”

  Watson stared at me like I’d grown a second head. “They’ve proven themselves to be competent liars and have done nothing to show they are on our side. I won’t risk myself or you to work with them. We can do this ourselves.” He gave me a long look. “Unless you don’t think you’re up for it.”

  “I’m not really sure what we’re doing so I can’t answer that.”

  “First, all we are doing is scoping it out. We figure out where it is and what they plan to do with it. After that, we come back here and put together a plan. I’d like to go back as buyers to see if we can end this without any bloodshed.”

  “A buyer? Do we have those types of funds?”

  Watson grinned. “I do so love your naiveté, Penelope.”

  My mouth twisted in annoyance.

  “I plan to take the money back as soon as the serum is in our possession,” he said in a patient voice.

  I thought about it and while it seemed simple, the ramifications afterward didn’t seem so simple. “What happens when they discover it?”

  Watson spread his hands wide. “We will be long gone by then.”

  I had a bad feeling about this. “I can’t help but think this is going to go horribly wrong.”

  “Oh ye of little faith. You and I have never officially worked alone together. Follow my lead and all will be well.”

  “An optimist. Awesome.” I ran a finger through my unwashed hair and grimaced. “I thought I was going to be sparring with you. I’m unshowered and wearing workout clothes.”

  “We will remedy that once we get to our destination.”

  Both of us froze as the door to the sparring room clicked open. He motioned for me to stay put and peered out the window of the door leading to the room. His shoulders sagged and he muttered a curse. Watson pulled open the door to reveal Masters, wearing a grim expression and sporting some serious tactical gear.

  He was a man of little conversation and nine times out of ten his facial expression was blank. I could rarely tell when he was annoyed, but from the set of his shoulders and the amount of weapons he was wearing, Watson had managed to ruffle the big guy’s feathers. I pressed my lips together and said nothing.

  This was going to be entertaining.

  “Masters,” Watson acknowledged.

  “Cut the crap,” Masters said. “I’ve been working in security for most of my adult life. I know when someone is lying. I’ve been out of commission lately taking care of my daughter. And,” his gaze slid to me, “I’ve been extremely patient with your demands on Penelope’s time. But I’m not an idiot. You two are up to something and I’d bet my paycheck it involves that godforsaken serum. So I’m here. Whether you like it or not. Brief me or don’t brief me, but don’t cut me out of something because you’re trying to keep it a secret. I’m either a member of this team, or I’m not. Which is it?”

  Watson stared at Masters open-mouthed. This was the most we’ve heard him speak since I’d taken him back to the compound. “You are,” he said, and even I was impressed at Watson’s recovery and quick response. “Forgive my transgression, Masters. It won’t—”

  Masters grunted and interrupted. “Shut up and tell me where we’re going and what we’re doing.”

  The grin I’d been suppressing broke over my face. Watson glared at me. “Glad to see you’re back in action,” I said to Masters.

  “The faster we get this over with, the sooner we can get my girl well.”

  I would wait until later to ask him what his plans were once his daughter was okay. I hoped he would stay with us, but our agreement was only until she was well. We were almost there.

  As if reading my mind, Masters spoke. “We’ll talk about the future later, Penelope.” He looked me up and down and appeared to find me lacking. “Is that what you’re wearing?”

  Normally that would be the absolute worst thing a man could say to a woman, but in this case, I agreed with him. Watson saved me from responding. “We’ll get her something appropriate once we’re there.” He opened his fridge and pulled out three beers. “Fortification for what’s ahead.” Once he’d taken all the tops off, we clinked bottles and Watson briefed us both on his plans and what he thought we could expect when we got there.

  As initial plans went, the odds of us dying were low, so I was on board. If we could pose as buyers on our first trip, we’d get a hotel room and prepare our disguises before we went back in. If we needed to come back home and prepare, we’d do that. My father was going to be furious and we all knew it, so we skimmed over any discussions of Sherlock and finished our beers. Watson tossed Masters a DAR.

  “Gwynne wasn’t much help yesterday as far as the location. She went in, sold the majority of the serum, and was escorted out of the building. They don’t seem to care too much about making friends. They’re a company that appears secretive and only in it for the money.”

  “Like all companies,” Master added.

  “Well…yes. But there was something about this one that disturbed even Gwynne.”

  “And she sold them the serum anyway?”

  Watson had a thoughtful look on his face. “She seemed to think once she made her intentions known and entered their building, she no longer had a choice.”

  His words sent a chill of foreboding down my spine. Exactly who were we dealing with here? Deals fell through all the time, so why would she feel that way?

  “Sounds fun,”
Masters quipped.

  He was quite loquacious today. I snorted in amusement. “Everyone ready?”

  Both of my partners nodded. With a simple press of a button, we were off.

  I’d never been to this part of the city before. Waterstone Industries stood several stories high. It looked like any normal office building—glass windows, the logo high on the top looking sleek and bold. But as we sipped our coffees attempting to blend in with the numerous other people walking and riding bikes, I noticed the people walking in and out of the doors all had a particular look to them. Dark suits, dark sunglasses, dark heels, or loafers—no smiles.

  I leaned over and pulled myself against Watson’s arm. Masters was several feet away, changed out of his tactical gear and into workout clothing. He looked a little ridiculous, but he seemed to blend in with the rest of the people around here. For us not to look suspicious, Watson and I had to pretend to be a couple. Which wasn’t too hard. We were sitting on the bench, closer than we normally sat. Every once in a while, he would lean over and say something in my ear and I would give him a lovesick smile.

  So far, so good.

  “Do they look a little bit like they belong in The Matrix?” I murmured to Watson.

  I saw Masters’ mouth curve as he got my joke over the comm, but Watson’s stare was confused. I sighed. “One day, you and I are going to have a movie marathon. And I’m going to make you eat lots of junk food and force you to remember bad quotes.”

  “That sounds…fun.”

  “I know.”

  We stood after only a few moments so it didn’t look like we were staking the place out. There were cameras all around the front, sides, and back of the building.

  As we walked closer to it, I pretended to scratch my nose, only to cover my lips as I asked him, “How in the world are we supposed to get in there?”

  He ducked his head. “That’s up to Masters. I admire all of his hidden talents.”

  I glanced back at Masters with the too-tight biker shorts and shrugged. I knew he could be a badass when he needed to be, but I was having trouble picturing it. We walked away and down the sidewalk. Several minutes later, Watson pulled me inside a sporting goods store.

  Less than twenty minutes later, we had both purchased black gear and running shoes. With the amount of people exercising in the park adjacent to the building, we wouldn’t stick out too much in the evening time and the black gear would keep us from attracting attention once we slipped into the shadows of the ceiling passages in the building.

  After we made the purchases, Watson slipped them into the small backpack he’d carried with him. “We have masks and gloves here, but I’ll need you to do something with your hair. It’s unique and someone can use it to identify you later.”

  I wasn’t really sure what I could do with it, but I nodded. I could no longer tell where Masters was, but he checked in periodically through the transmitters we were wearing. When I asked him specifics, he said, “Would you ask Houdini how he did his tricks?”

  “Well…yes.”

  He clicked off the mic.

  Watson grinned. “I find you highly entertaining.”

  I blew a stray strand of hair out of my face. “Yes, well, that’s my problem.”

  Watson laughed out loud and slung an arm around my shoulders. “Come on, Lucy. Let’s go scheming.”

  One good thing about Lucy was she had a Ricky. I was absent a Ricky or even the possibility of a Ricky. Good times.

  Watson hailed a cab and gave the man directions to a hotel a couple miles down the road. We were in the downtown area so the prices were outrageous, but he didn’t even blink when he paid for a two-bedroom suite. There were three of us…so I hoped there was a pull out couch.

  We rode the elevator up to the fourth floor and I let Watson lead me to our quarters. When he opened the door, I whistled low. “Nice,” I said in admiration.

  And I wasn’t kidding. We walked in to an expansive living room with a large screen television and a full kitchen. The bedrooms were on opposite sides of the suite and there was a dining area in between them. “We only get to stay here for a single night?”

  “Depends. If we can get in tonight and figure out what their plans are, we may end up staying a few days if we can figure out how to present ourselves to them as potential buyers of the serum.

  A whole lot depended upon tonight. “What if they don’t want to sell?”

  Watson chuckled. “If the price is right, anyone will sell.”

  I wasn’t so sure about that. “They’re holding on to something that could change the world, Watson. I’m not so sure they’ll be so willing to part with it.”

  He didn’t seem surprised to hear my thoughts about that. A fierce grin split his face. “That just means we’ll have to steal it.”

  And there it was. I knew this wasn’t going to be as simple and straightforward as he said it would be. “Steal it?” I asked faintly. “Why, pray tell, do you all keep trying to get me killed?”

  Watson snorted. “Hardly, Penelope. These are corporate monkeys. The only danger we have is from the police. These are not the kind of people who wish to harm us. Merely prosecute us.”

  “That doesn’t make me feel any better.” Plus, I didn’t agree with them. There was something off-putting about the people coming in and out of that building.

  He patted my head in a manner that made me grit my teeth. I suppressed the urge to smack him. “Fine,” I said through clenched teeth. “I can’t wait until I get to say I told you so.”

  But Watson didn’t seem particularly concerned about it. So I sat down, flipped on the television, and waited for Masters to return.

  Hours later, a soft knock on the door startled me out of my reality television induced haze. Watson looked out the peephole and opened the door to let Masters in. His face was grim.

  “How many weapons do we have?” he asked before he even made it through the door. Watson blanched, poked his head out into the hallway for a second, and slammed the door abruptly.

  “Discreetness!” Watson admonished.

  A flat stare came from my friend. “There was no one in the hallway and there is no one in their room right now. It’s happy hour and based upon the surveillance system, all the rooms down the entire hallway have been vacated.”

  I blinked and decided I did not want to know how he’d managed to hack into their system so quickly.

  If Watson was surprised, he didn’t show it. He reached over for his backpack, unzipped it, and began pulling things out.

  “Penelope’s .22.” Clank.

  “Taser with memory wipe.” Clank.

  “Truth serum.” Clank.

  “Gas canisters.” Clank.

  The hell? Was he carrying one of those weird Mary Poppin’s bags too or did he just have a freakishly innate knack for packing?

  “Tranq gun and darts.” Clank

  Masters held up a hand. “Point taken.” He looked at the small bag with suspicion. “How the hell did you get all of that in there?”

  “Trade secrets,” Watson said mysteriously. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”

  Masters sank down on the couch next to me. “There’s something weird about that place. Top of the line security systems. Trained security guards. These guys aren’t mall cops. I’d guess some kind of fed or hired muscle. We should be prepared for the use of biometrics and other unforeseen technology.”’

  Masters paused and rubbed a hand over his face. “Man, I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

  Watson slid a careful look over to me, but I heroically refrained from saying I told you so. He tucked all the weapons back into the bag and sat in one of the reclining chairs. “So we wait. We go in when we know more.”

  “Should we return home and see if we can get more intel from Gwynne?”

  Watson shook his head. “Trust me when I say she told us everything she could. And it wasn’t much. She contacted them, they authorized her entry and hammered out a deal.” He paused. �
��A surprisingly sorry deal, which tells me Gwynne was either terrified or desperate for money. Once the funds were secured and given to her, she was escorted out.”

  “What did she say about the layout of the building?” Masters looked exhausted. I stood and poured him a glass of brandy from the bar. I figured my father had enough money to pay for it. He murmured thanks and sipped it slowly.

  “Not much,” Watson said. “She was unable to give us any specifics. There was a registration desk and a seating area in the front, a small conference area walled in by glass behind that, and several rooms with their doors closed. They escorted her up to the third floor into a small conference room. She met with only a few people—a man whose name she didn’t catch and a woman named Adler, I think.”

  My breath caught. I knew better than to ask if my father had read any of the Sherlock Holmes’ canon. Whenever it was brought up, he would scoff in disgust at his one-time acquaintance Doyle and his morbid fascination with his life. “Irene Adler?” I asked.

  Watson’s gaze narrowed. “I believe that’s it. Why?”

  Masters’ eyes widened as he realized the implications.

  “Was my father in the room when Gwynne spoke about Irene?” If I thought he was going to be furious before, I knew now his rage would know no bounds.

  “No. He left once he interrogated Aaron. I don’t think he had the taste for it with Gwynne.”

  I frowned at that. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know that Watson had the taste for it, but right now, it was beside the point. “Ah. And her name doesn’t ring any bells?”

  Perhaps my father had never met her. It was entirely possible. Plus, there was my mother to think about. They didn’t break up over another woman, I knew that for sure, but it didn’t mean they had never been involved.

  Watson was getting suspicious. “Why are you asking all these questions? Do you know her?”

  I laughed. “No, not at all. But Mr. Doyle wrote about her a few times in my father’s stories.”