Super Girls (Cape High Book 13)

by R. J. Ross

  “Sunny!” I say, hugging him tightly. “You’re back! Oh man, I was going to call you but there was this... ghost issue, that wasn’t a ghost--but it’s been forever!”

  “Sorry I wasn’t there to greet you earlier,” he says, hugging me back. “We were in class.”

  “How was Texas?” I ask, even as Adanna joins us. I pull her into the hug, just to see the surprised look in her face.

  “We got most of it cleaned up,” she says. “We’re missing the concert, though. Should we take this inside?”

  “Absolutely,” I say. “I want to see Justin get owned,” I admit. “I’ll record it, but I refuse to show it to Jack.” Sunny laughs as we head into the school.

  ***

  The Shadowlands smell bad, no matter how often he comes down here, Rocco thinks as he heads through the shadowy plane. “We’re at the school boundaries,” he says over his shoulder to Max.

  “How do you know?” Max asks.

  “It’s the only place around that has an electric force field that shows up here,” Rocco says dryly, picking up a rock and throwing it into the shadow in front of them. It goes up in sparks. “Well, no, there’s also the apartment building, but that’s it over there,” he says, pointing to a shadow a few feet away. “Our principal is freaking terrifying,” he admits with a shrug. “I have no idea how he did it, but he did.”

  “My girlfriend had a hand in this one,” Max says, looking at the shadow for a long moment before looking back at the rest of the team. “We can only be here for a little while—we’ve got work tonight.”

  “We’ll check in on things and leave,” Summer agrees. “Take us out in front of the campus, please, Rocco,” she adds, looking at Rocco. He nods and heads to a shadow behind them, grabbing the nearest hand. They link hands and walk through the shadows into the light. Even from the street in front of the apartment building they can hear the sound of a live band—and Justin singing.

  “Looks like we came home just in time for a party,” Max says, grinning and heading for the entrance of the campus.

  “Awesome,” Rocco says, following close behind him.

  ***

  The band room is PACKED. It's a somewhat small room, simply because half of it is built like a giant bleacher. There are chairs on each of the steps leading up. The group and the band are all standing on the flat part of the room at the front. All of the teachers, Grandma, Grandpa, Skye, Doris, every student that’s no out on mission, including three new girls—we're all here. The cutest part of this is how Malina, standing closest to the band, turns BRIGHT red whenever Justin looks over at her. I thought Justin had a thing for Morgan? But he’s obviously flirting with Malina, so I guess he got over it? I shake my head and look for the three new girls. I have to jump a bit to find them.

  They’re standing near the far side of the room, crowded together with cups in their hands. I try to slip through the crowd, but it’s so tight that I have to grab Sunny’s shoulder and push myself up. “Hey!” he says as I stand on his shoulders. “Warn me before you do that!”

  “Sorry, Sunny,” I say as I push off of his shoulder, jumping over my classmates--and landing on Trent just to see how he reacts. His shoulders are broad enough that I only need one of them, so it should throw his balance off, right? Nope. He doesn’t even move, just looks up at me with a grin.

  “Hey, Zoe,” he says. “You owe me one, you know.”

  “What for?” I ask, still perched on his shoulder.

  “My girlfriend got sent down to take your place.”

  “Doesn’t that mean I owe EMILY?” I ask as the song changed to a crooning tune about not giving up on love.

  “We were going to have a party tomorrow night,” he says, “after I got back from another school visit.”

  “Okay, sure, I’ll make it up to both of you after this is over,” I say, hopping off of his shoulder and landing in the small clearing in front of the new girls. They stare at me, especially the younger two, with wide looks of shock. They’re all pretty, I note, the oldest a blonde with short hair, the one on the left with an olive complexion, dark hair, and a hand that is starting to turn red plastic like the Solo cup she’s holding. “Let me guess, Isotonic’s daughter?” I ask her.

  “Um--” she says, looking down at her hand and blushing. She shoves the hand and the cup behind her back quickly.

  “It’s fine,” I say, “in fact, it’s awesome,” I add when she obviously doubts me. “I’m Zoe--Nico’s daughter,” I add, holding out my hand. “I wanted to welcome you all to school,” I add, looking over at the other two with a friendly smile.

  “I’m Olivia,” Olivia says, hesitantly bringing her cup out from behind her as she shakes my hand. “And yeah, Isotonic’s daughter.”

  “I’m Jennifer,” the blonde says, shaking my hand next. “No famous father to mention, but I am the niece of Barbara Gentry--she's a HTV reporter.”

  “Ace has mentioned you, though--and you helped my Aunt Liz find Mimic,” I say. “Thank you.”

  “You're welcome,” she says, smiling slightly.

  “And you are?” I ask the last girl. She’s a stunningly pretty black girl with long black hair that’s curled at the bottom. She looks a lot older than her records say she is.

  “Elidee,” she says, shaking my hand with a perfectly manicured hand. “I’m Prisma’s daughter,” she adds.

  “So how’s it going, being in a new school?” I ask them. “Any problems?”

  "Nico set up Jennifer to be the school reporter!" Olivia says, grinning. "So she REALLY should be recording all of this for her blog--it's called 'The Blackbird Show' and it already has an interview with Ace!"

  "I'll check it out," I say, looking at Jennifer. "That sounds awesome."

  "I'm going to ask Nico about using the school cameras to cover this," Jennifer explains. "There's no way I can get it all with my phone, not with this crowd."

  "I'll set it up for you," I promise. "How are you two doing?" I ask the others.

  “It’s nice,” Olivia says, “not getting stared at when I accidentally change. I mean, I miss my mom and dad, but--well, I get tossed around a lot, since they’re divorced, so it’s kind of nice waking up in the same bed all the time, too.”

  “You can Skype them, at least, right?” I ask.

  “Ah, not really? I mean, I was going to bring my computer but your dad said it wasn’t nearly secure enough. So... I mean, I can CALL them, sure, because I’ve got the phone Nico made me--”

  “Let me see that,” I say, holding out a hand. She hands it over and I move closer, showing her as I bring up Dad’s special app. Her dad appears on the screen, jerking slightly as we appear on his home computer. “Any computer your dad is close enough to,” I tell her a bit evilly. “Right at your fingertips.”

  “Isn’t that illegal?” Olivia asks.

  “Olivia!” Isotonic says, breaking into a smile. “How did you just do that?” he asks a bit blankly.

  “Oh, it’s probably illegal, but it’s only for close family so I doubt they’ll call you out on it,” I say, waving it off. “But if any of you have any other problems, or need camera help, just call me--I’m in your contacts under Zoe. I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Can I get that to contact my aunt?” Jennifer asks. "I know my computer calls Mr. Harrison, but I haven't tried Aunt Barb."

  “Sure!” I say, fixing her phone next, and then Elidee’s. We chat for a bit, listening to the music, until I’m certain that they’re all relatively happy with the new school. I go to the back, where someone’s set up drinks and popcorn while I wasn’t looking, and drop down in the seat next to the table. This has been a REALLY long day--two days, actually, I think with a yawn.

  I catch sight of Skye, who sees me looking up and drops down on my lap. I let out a little giggle as she drapes an arm over my shoulders. She’s a little taller than I am, but she’s really skinny and light, so it’s not like I mind her sitting on me.

  “Guitarists are so sexy,” she says happily
, watching the two guys with stars in her eyes. I can’t help but laugh. Thankfully the music is loud enough to keep many people from noticing our “chat.”

  “Are you picking which is your favorite?” I tease. Inwardly I’m lecturing myself that I need to go find Dad and see if he’s made any progress in finding out about Herold, (or maybe get some sleep,) but—really, how often do you get to see something like this? I glance up at the cameras on the room, discreetly reaching up as I check their view and changing them slightly. That should fix the problem for Jennifer's blog. Dad and his tendency to over-do everything comes in handy, honestly.

  The door swings open and I look up as Max, Mom, and the rest of their team walk in. “Mom!” I say, wondering if it’s rude to toss Skye off. Before I can decide, she’s already off my lap and throwing herself at Mom. The look of surprise on Mom’s face TOTALLY makes it worth it.

  “Lady Rose!” Skye says happily. “I’ve wanted to meet you!”

  “Um, it’s very nice to meet you, too, Skye,” Mom says, hugging her back a little awkwardly. I’ve found that you get to know Skye REALLY quickly. I know I did—she called me up once when I was just starting out on the mission down South and declared we were now family and that she loved me. It was probably the second most shocking call I’ve ever gotten, but hey, at least that one left me grinning for an entire day.

  “Zoe!” Max says, heading for me. “I saw the spaceship encounter on South Branch's HTV—are you okay?” he asks, pulling me out of my chair and into a hug. I hug him back, leaning my head on his shoulder. "The video died when you let out that electrical pulse, so we had no clue how to find you. Your mom decided the best bet was to come here, first."

  “We’re fine—Vinny and Kaden are already back to work,” I tell him, leaning up for a tiny kiss. Most of my family is in the room, so it’s sort of awkward to do even that. “Emily’s taking my place while I help Dad out—or am SUPPOSED to help Dad. He ran off to work on it alone,” I add irritably.

  “Yeah, but you get to see—who’s that?” Max asks, going still as he looks at Rochester.

  “Rochester—he’s the newest South Branch cape,” I say. “He’s almost Dad’s age—doesn’t look it, does he?” I ask, looking back to the musicians.

  “How do you know he isn’t working for Mother?” Max asks, pulling away from me and heading for Rochester. The music stops as Rochester looks at Max, a bit warily. "I've memorized all of the Hall members, I've never seen him before. Maybe he just joined to be a spy."

  “There a problem?” Rochester asks, his tone mild.

  “Who are you?” Max demands. “How do we know you aren’t secretly working for Mother?”

  Rochester hesitates, looking around the room for a moment before letting out a sigh. “Rochester Scythe,” he says, holding out a hand to Max. “Newest South Branch cape, single dad, guitarist,” he sums up as Max takes the hand.

  The two jerk, and for the first time that I’ve noticed, Max’s eyes start glowing just like Rochester’s do. He starts floating—but so does Rochester. I watch as the entire room goes silent, watching this curiously. Well, Max IS supposed to have telepathy, right? I bet—

  “Holy crap, why didn’t you TELL me you were a psychometric?” Max demands, jerking free from Rochester’s hold a second later. Rochester drops to his feet, looking a bit stunned. After a second he starts laughing, much to my astonishment.

  “You’re a telepath!” Rochester says. “I never shook with a telepath before—man what a trip!”

  “Is he working for Mother?” Grandpa asks.

  “No, most of his mind is just music, the rest is stuff he swore not to tell—but nothing to do with Mother,” Max says, shaking his head with a hint of amusement. “I’ve never gone that deep before,” he admits, looking around the room. I see his eyes fall on me. “I—I can do it—” he says, stunned.

  “What exactly did you get out of my brain?” I demand, placing my hands on my hips.

  “Some spaceship blueprints?” he offers a bit sheepishly. “A lot of binary, and that my eyes are glowing. Man—you—you just—” he says, turning to Rochester. “Thank you!” he sums it up, grabbing the confused looking Rochester in a hug and thumping him on the back. “Zoe! I’m a telepath!”

  “Well, we knew that,” I drawl.

  “But I can actually USE it now!” he says, bouncing like a little kid before grabbing me in a hug and swinging me in a circle. “I gotta tell Dad!” he says, holding me a foot off the ground like I weigh nothing.

  “Wait—” Rochester says. “I just unlocked MAXIMUM’S telepathy?” he asks, staggering slightly as it sinks in. “Can we NOT tell my boss? I’m almost positive that’s firin’ material.”

  “Oh, Century won’t care,” Skye says cheerfully. “He’s not our branch.”

  “You sure?” Rochester asks her.

  “Positive!”

  “Well… then alright, then,” he says.

  Max puts me down and digs out his phone, speed-dialing his dad. “Hey Dad? I’m a telepath!” he says.

  “We knew that,” I hear Mastermental say.

  “But it actually WORKS now!”

  “Zoe?” I hear over my earbud. I step away from the others. “We’ve got the coordinates. Is everything wrapped up there?” Dad asks.

  “Rochester unlocked Max’s telepathic abilities,” I say.

  “He did? I didn’t know he could do that…”

  “Neither did he,” I drawl with a hint of amusement. “Are we going now?” I ask.

  “In the morning,” he says. “Tonight is my night to sleep, and I’d rather do it on a full charge. Get Rochester and Cisco set up with a room in the dorms, would you? And tell the teachers that Cisco will be sitting in on their classes tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good,” I say before getting to work.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “The information is scarce—which is only to be expected of a technopath, but what I can find, he grew up in this house,” Dad says. He, Rochester and I are standing in front of an empty house in Kansas, early in the morning. It’s in the middle of nowhere, and obviously no one lives in it now. “He was born in 1940, making him seventy-five. His father’s name was Wade Herold, his mother’s name was Marie. According to all records, they were middle class citizens, his father worked as a millwright for a small car company that went out of business without making much of an impact on society.”

  “So they lived here?” Rochester asks, heading for the door. He touches the handle. He frowns, touches the handle again, and then looks at us. “Nothin’,” he says with a shrug.

  “Nothing?” Dad asks.

  “Not a thing. The last person that touched this handle was Herold, sure, but only when he installed it—some three years ago.”

  “Three—”

  “YEARS?” I say, shocked out of my silence. I start circling the house, looking at it closely. I even touch the side, checking the wiring that runs through it. It’s old. Not so old that it should be dangerous, but a lot older than three years. “Maybe it was a new door?” I ask, glancing up at Dad. He’s floating over the roof, a frown on his face.

  “It’s possible,” he says. “Let’s go in and see what we can find.”

  Rochester digs through his pockets, pulling out a small pack of metal picks. I look at Dad, who just drops down to sit on the roof and watch the psychometric work. “You know, we could have just broken in,” Dad points out as the lock pops open.

  “It’s the art of things,” Rochester replies, putting his picks away. “If y’go around just breakin’ down doors, you’re no better than a thug.” He turns the handle and the door swings open. “Shall we?” he offers.

  Dad jumps off the roof and I follow along, looking around the rather Spartan house. There aren’t any pictures on the walls, and there’s hardly any furniture. The furniture that IS there is IKEA style—the type that you could find anywhere. Rochester pauses and touches the nearest couch, a strange expression on his face.

  “What is it
?”

  “Well, Herold DID bring it here,” he says, sounding hesitant. “But again, three years ago. I think—” he heads for one of the walls, touching it and going still. “This entire house has been rebuilt,” he says finally. “We need t’go to the basement,” he announces, heading for the garage. We follow, completely relying on him for this one.

  “The wiring is old,” Dad says, “but he could have used the same wiring from the destroyed house—since he’s a technopath.”

  “But who destroyed it?” I ask as we reach a concrete set of steps in the garage. Rochester heads down them, into the basement. I pull to a stop as I step in, staring around in shock. The house that I had expected to see above is here--in a way. All the furniture, all the homey touches—pictures of family members—and all of it has been torn to pieces. I crouch down, picking one of the torn images. “Dad? Rochester?” I say. “You might want to see this.” They head to me, looking at the picture.

  “That’s Mother, right?” Rochester says. The woman is standing with a man that looks almost twice as old as she does, and a young man. She looks happy.

  “And that’s Herold,” Dad says, looking at the young man in the picture. “So…”

  “She came here… and started a family,” I say. “So what, she spent the past seventy-five years or something playing Susie Homemaker?” I ask, feeling a bit lightheaded with the thought. “She got married, had a kid, lived in a little house in Kansas, and—”

  “And her husband grew old while she stayed the same,” Rochester says. “It ain’t as easy as y’think,” he admits. “Not that my lady stuck around that long. In fact, she sortta stuck around long enough t’dump Cisco on me an’ run,” he admits.

  “I’ve heard tales that Century’s wife died of old age,” Dad says. “Still, it rather ruins the crazy maniacal chick out to take over the universe vibe she had going on, doesn’t it?”

  “Dad,” I say dryly.

  “No, really… why would she spend so much time underground, raising a family, and then all of a sudden have--or let her son run for president, kidnap every healer she can get her hands on, and brainwash several others—including Skye and Justin?” he asks.