“It means the process is irreversible. I’m a girl now, through and through.”
Damn it. She’d lied to me. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier on?”
Callie’s good humor disappeared. “Because of how you might feel. I wasn’t so sure I could trust you. I couldn’t trust anyone else, but after we got back together and you said it was okay, then I knew.”
She buried her head in my chest. “All I wanted, all I ever wanted, was someone besides my mother to understand. And now you do, so it’s good with me if it’s good for you.”
“Oh.”
Yes, it was good for me, and now that I knew why she hadn’t told me the truth, it made no difference. I’d been with her before and would be with her now. Callie then swiveled around and whispered in my ear, “The stars are out, and so are we.”
Stopping to view the night sky seemed like a good idea. We touched down, and she immediately sought a seat on a small rise. It overlooked a small dell, and we took in the quietude of the area. “So,” I began, trying to sort my thoughts out. My shoulder still hurt, and my body ached, but time would take care of that.
“So... what?” she rejoined.
“Us,” I answered.
She leaned against me. “I want us to be together.” Every word she uttered was full of promise and hope and everything in between. “Please say yes.”
I’d been thinking about it, too. Still, I was worried that an organization powerful enough to dream up something like that Scott composite wouldn’t find it too hard to track me or someone I cared for down and eliminate them. Long story short, it meant Callie was a target as well as the rest of us, and I wanted her out of harm’s way.
What to do... and then her fingers caressing my neck gave me other ideas. “Let’s talk about it tomorrow,” I said, lifting her face up to meet mine. “We’ve got things to do first.”
Her smile made the following kiss even better. “And this is a very quiet place,” she murmured as her fingers traced their way down my chest to my waist. “It’s dark and quiet, and we’re here.”
“Are we talking about lighting lamps?”
“We are.”
Even in the darkness, it was easy to see her eyebrows arch in a most suggestive manner. I leaned over to kiss the hollow of her neck. “Burn me down.”
Ten on the dot the next morning, I knocked on the door to Chief Sullivan’s office. Sullivan opened up and waved me in. He was on the phone and motioned for me to wait. “Yes, sir,” he said. “Thank you for letting me know. I’ll be sure to tell him. Thank you.”
He hung up and settled back in his chair. “Glad you’re here, Mitch. I’m sorry to call you in, but there are going to be some repercussions from last night’s little escapade.”
Oh, did he not get it or what? I kept my temper in, although thoughts of ungrateful slobs echoed in my head. “First off, chief, in case you haven’t heard, we saved, oh, I don’t know, at least ten thousand people last night. We stopped some kind of thing from wrecking the carnival, and the insurance will cover the damages.”
A nod came from our man with the badge. “Do you have any idea of what that thing was?”
“No.”
My answer came out a little too quickly, but this was something Joe and I had to work on—alone. It didn’t mean going off to Washington, at least not right away. It meant checking things out and making sure we got all the facts first.
“Just as well,” Sullivan said. “The body is gone.”
It should have come as a shock, but it didn’t. No loose ends. That was what this committee wanted. “And, uh, I don’t suppose you know who took it?”
He gave me a long, searching look. “I thought you’d know.”
Right now, no way to know. More facts emerged. The body had been removed just past midnight. No fingerprints, no signs of entry. This had been a professional job. Wonderful, evidence gone and not a damn thing we could do about it.
“So with the body gone, there is one other piece of business,” Sullivan continued, a look of consternation working. “You stepped outside the law.”
Did it really matter? The so-called law in Independence hadn’t helped, and the citizen’s council wanted us gone. Maybe starting one of those internet fund-my types of campaigns would help. “So what? In case you haven’t heard, the guy who owns our house—”
“He’s withdrawn his plan. That telephone call before? That was Mr. Roberts, the real-estate owner. Apparently, he was with his family on the Ferris wheel last night. He saw everything. I guess it changed his view somewhat.”
Well, that was a bit of news. At least my mother and I had some breathing room. “However, it still doesn’t change the fact that you and your friends managed to mess things up pretty badly. The insurance companies will handle that, and I’ve convinced the owners of the carnival not to press charges. I also managed to convince Mr. Hubert and Millie to drop the charges.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Were things finally going my way?
“Still, I have to know what you and Joe are going to do from now on. I don’t know about the rock guy.”
A hint of a smile was on his face. Where was all this going? The ball had been tossed to me, so time to toss it back. “I’ve got an idea.” It was something I’d been cogitating over ever since the change, and now the time was right. I’d been made for certain things, so why not use them, but only in the best way.
Sullivan’s eyes narrowed. “And what is that?”
“Two things, there are two things I’m asking you to do for us.”
The wary look continued. “What are they?”
Condition time, and here it was. “One, you get the council off our backs. We haven’t broken any laws. We’ve only tried to help. If you try anything, the media coverage will be against you.”
I’d checked the online sites earlier on, and the news was trending. Most of the comments, around eighty-five percent, had been positive. That could always change, but right now the people were on our side.
The chief let out a grunt, a signal he’d taken that into account. “Fine, I’ll go along with your move. Leave the citizen’s council to me. As for jobs, do you have something in mind?”
“We want to work in the state area, local law enforcement, if you want to call it that. That means all four of us, if everyone else wants in.”
His mouth dropped open. “Work for us?”
“Yes.”
“What would you call it?”
“Helping out.”
Sullivan recovered his composure, blew out a deep breath, and leaned back in his chair as if to meditate on my suggestion. Finally, he said, “So you want to help out? Fine, but in my neck of the woods, it’ll have to be done by the book, aerial reconnaissance for you, land reconnaissance for Joe, and no fighting unless there’s no choice. Do we have a deal?”
It didn’t take much time to think this offer through. “I’ll run it by Joe and the others, but yeah, we’re in. At least, I am.”
For the first time in a long time, a smile began to tug at the corners of his mouth. He then cleared his throat, as though embarrassed. “I’ll see what the various police departments around the state say. No promises, but I’ll give it my best shot. You have my word.”
There the meeting ended. As I strolled outside, an elderly man walked by and said, “You’re that flying kid, aren’t you? I saw you on the news.”
Half-expecting him to add something derogatory, I simply answered, “Yes.”
Surprises came when I least expected them. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?”
I couldn’t help smiling. “Yes, sir, it certainly is.”
Mrs. Winston said yes to my question of dating Callie. Not that I needed her official say-so, but call me old-fashioned, I wanted her blessing. Her only words were, “I’ll always support you.”
With my mother, I expected her to be shocked, but it seemed as though she’d already gotten over her shock of me dating someone
who was different at first, and who finally turned out not to be so different after all.
Still, it was that difference that made me open my eyes to what reality was, reality in terms of seeing people as they were, not how we wished them to be.
As for the being-in-the-public-eye-and-helping-out thing, it wouldn’t be easy. The public was still unsure of how to take me. Yes, the internet sites were positive—for now. Things could change. They always did, but I’d do my best to make things right.
After my mother had gone off to work, I flew over to Callie’s place. Mrs. Winston was in the process of leaving for work and met me at the door. She greeted me with a smile, and her parting words to us were, “Be good, both of you.”
The door closed softly behind her. Callie offered a wry smile. “Be good, she says. Are we going to be good?”
Wasn’t that a loaded question? Before I could answer, though, Callie pointed to her watch. “You know what time it is, right?”
Time... what was she talking about?
“You’ve got to go on patrol, don’t you?”
Sighing, I quickly pushed the thoughts of a romantic morning to the furthest corners of my mind. She knew. Oh yes, she most certainly knew.
Patrol turned out to be decent. Portland didn’t have the highest crime rate around, but things did happen. The first day, I flew reconnaissance around the downtown sector, dropped in at the local establishments, introduced myself, and spoke with the police. They seemed somewhat reluctant to embrace what we wanted to do totally, but all the same, they didn’t say no. “As long as there’s no trouble,” one officer said. “And we’ll work with you, Mitch. You, Joe, and the others.”
The others—there was only Neil. He’d hung around Independence after the news broke, but refused to join up with us. “I’m not really a joiner, man. All I want is a little privacy.” He swept his hand at a nearby forest. “This is privacy.”
At least he hadn’t told us to buzz off. “You need me. You know where to find me.”
We shook hands. “I’ve got your number.”
A slight smile emerged. “Yeah. See you around.”
Then it was off to fly the friendly skies. At lunch, though, I went back to Independence first to see how Joe was doing. He was busy checking the internet and tapping his feet in time to a tune he had playing. We talked about what to do, and he said he was scheduled to patrol Portland later on. He then flashed a grin. “That means we’re doing stakeouts and so on, I guess.”
“Yeah, it does. See you later.”
At Callie’s place, she was in her room, eyes glued to her computer. She looked up when she heard my tap-tap-tapping at her window while I was flap-flap-flapping my wings.
She wore a pair of low-cut, hip-hugging jeans and a sky-blue blouse that accentuated her curves. After she’d opened the window, I perched on the ledge, stunned by her form. “I see you’re admiring the view,” she said.
Had I been staring? Yeah, guess so, and as for the purpose of my visit? “Oh, um, Joe and I were wondering if you were in with the group. Neil said he’d help out if necessary, but a trio is always good.”
God that sounded kinky. However, Callie didn’t take it any way save how it was intended—a question about doing our bit to help out. She cocked her head to one side as if considering all the angles, and finally offered up a three-word answer. “Yes and no.”
“Do you want to explain that?”
Powers, it all came down to powers. “I don’t have any, not anymore. I’m just your average girl now. It’s what I’ve always been. I can’t shift, don’t want to. I’m down with that, but all the same, you need someone who can help you fight if you have to, when you have to.”
Disappointment temporarily ruled, but I’d figured on her answer as being such. “Are you still, I mean, we’re still on, right?”
Her arms snaked around my waist and held me tightly. “You’re a dork. You know that? You’re dating me, and you love me, don’t you?”
“Well, yeah, but—”
She withdrew one arm to hold her hand to my mouth. “But nothing. Since we’re together, I’m not letting you get away. That’s something I know.”
We stayed in that position for quite some time, but in the end, she pulled away to sit at the computer again and waved her hand at the screen. “I’ve been checking things on the old computer, the one at Joe’s house? The information said there were others.”
Others, what was she...
“You mean, others like us or others the government made?”
Callie nodded, her expression somber, a sharp contrast to her earlier more playful and romantic demeanor. “Both. I ran the name Zachary Scott through the computer. After that, I cross-checked it against the people who might have been in the committee, especially the Department of Defense. There are lots of retired senators who were in charge of various sub-committees when they worked in Washington. There are links, but we have to find out who’s really running things.”
It was both a revelation and a letdown to find all of this out. How many lives had those political suits ruined, all in the quest for a better kind of genetically manufactured robot? They wouldn’t be so receptive to an investigation by a couple of enhanced individuals, they’d created, but what had gone around would come around again and if it pissed some people off along the way, too bad. Callie was right. We had to find out.
Oh, wait, what was up with the all-inclusive we bit? “I thought you said you couldn’t help.”
This time, a smile emerged from the gloom. “I said I couldn’t fight. I didn’t say that I couldn’t help out and do research. And you’ll need it because I doubt Joe has come up with anything, has he?”
No, he hadn’t, so this was a bonus. While cogitating over the routes to take, Callie’s hand came up to caress my face, and it snapped me out of my thoughts of investigations and conspiracies. “I’ll help you on one condition.”
Conditions, now we were talking about conditions. “What kind of conditions are we talking about?”
“Pick me up at seven tonight. There’s a movie I want to see.”
I still wasn’t too keen on going into public places in big cities, but the people would just have to get used to me. I already had. “Okay, it’s a date.”
As I was leaving, she took something out of her pocket. It was a cellphone, and she handed it over. “This is a present from me and my mother. I’ve already input my number, the number of the police in Independence, and a few other contacts.”
“Are you keeping track of me?”
Her answer came out as a most emphatic yes. “Call it a family plan.”
I pocketed it and kissed her hard. “Thanks. See you soon.”
Calling Joe, I gave him the details of our future search. He wasn’t angry about being upstaged by my girlfriend. Instead, a tone of curiosity rang in his voice. “So we got a name and a group to go on. Good, we can go to Washington with this.”
Hold up, not yet. “We can, but we’re going to need a lot more than just a faceless organization and Mr. Lucas’ name to back it up. No body and no proof, remember?”
A ringing from my pocket broke my train of thought. My cellphone rang. It was Chief Sullivan. “Mitch, am I calling the right number?”
“You are.”
He grunted. “If you’re not doing anything, there’s a bank robbery happening in the next county. Their chief of police said the perps are heavily armed and have hostages. I’ve already called your friend, Joe.”
“I’m on my way.”
Time to leave. It made me feel good that Sullivan had gotten in touch with us. It meant he was willing to trust us. I flew out and soon caught up with Joe spinning a mad but direct dance to the possibility of danger that lay ahead. Along the way, my cellphone rang again. It was Callie. “Mitch, I changed my mind about tonight. Do you want to come over for pizza? My mother is working late, and, well, you know.”
The suggestion of an evening of romance g
ot a definite, “Oh yeah,” from me. “What time do you want me to come over?”
“At six.”
Glancing at my watch, it was already three-thirty. The sound of shots echoed sharply from up ahead, and four men armed with semi-automatics tore out of the bank. One robber had a young woman in his grasp, and he forced her into a waiting car. Hostage situation—I had this. “See you at six.”
After I’d clicked off and stowed my cellphone away, I raced to where the men were about to hit the highway. Joe had already arrived. His momentum whacked the car just as it slowed down to make the turn. It careened out of control and slammed into a concrete rail.
One man emerged, raising a bloody and shaking hand with a pistol in it. I swooped in and smacked it away, knocked him cold, and then tore the driver’s door off its hinges. The driver fell out, unconscious.
His fellow robber tried to make a break for it, and Joe nabbed him, spinning him around in a circle of terrific centrifugal force. The man went flying and landed in a heap, out cold.
That left the last man and the hostage. Mr. Bank Robber got out of the car, his face a bloody mess. Still, he had enough presence of mind to hold a pistol and point it at the head of the hostage. She was clearly terrified, shaking all over. The robber snarled at her, “You’re not going anywhere.”
Oh, wasn’t she? “Relax, lady, I’ve got this,” I said.
“You got nothing! I know who you are. You’re nothing.”
Time to show him. I let my claws out and felt my face change into something that only nightmares knew. “Try it.”
He let out a frightened yelp, and then bellowed in pain when I lunged forward and sank my claws into his forearm. The gun tumbled from his grip. “I give up, man,” he screamed in agony. “I give up!”
“Yeah, good for you.”
The woman thanked me and ran off in the direction of help. As for me, I waited along with Joe until the police showed. A few minutes later, they did. We gave them a rundown of what had transpired, and they took the suspects away.
Another look at my watch showed it to be four o’clock. Plenty of time for me to get my shower on and make my appointment.
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