The Winning Element (The Specialists)

by Shannon Greenland

  Indeed, Eduardo was there along with all his men. And an easy chair sat right on top of where I needed to drill.

  Good. No one would see a thing. “I’ll use the silencer so they won’t hear. It’s a one-sixteenths bit for your syringe, right?”

  “Yes.”

  From one of the hidden trays, I retrieved the drill, inserted a one-sixteenths bit, and screwed on the silencer.

  I replaced my glasses with protective goggles and climbed onto our bed and over to the far edge, where it sat only a few inches from the room’s corner. Standing on the edge, I silently drilled through the ceiling straight up into Eduardo’s suite.

  Plaster sprinkled me as I pulled the drill back out. “Ready?” “Yeah.” Beaker poured a fine red dust into a syringe and handed it to me. “Remember to go slow to give time for the dust to dissipate, turn invisible, and absorb into Eduardo and his men’s skin.”

  Over the next few days, anywhere they went, we’d be able to see their DNA trailing behind them. Whatever they got into, we’d have proof.

  I inserted the syringe into the hole and slowly admitted the dust. “Ya know,” I whispered, “this DNA dust you created is incredibly brilliant.”

  Beaker shrugged. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”

  Whatever? There was no way I could’ve come up with something like this. But then, I was the computer specialist, not the chemist.

  Finishing off with the dust, I handed Beaker the syringe and she gave me a tube of spackle.

  I squeezed it into the hole, and the ceiling looked normal again. “Now all we gotta do is figure out how to track him electronically. ”

  “Somehow I doubt we’ll get close enough to put crystallized siumcy in his ice tea.”

  Suddenly, the Tricsurv in my cell phone beeped, and Beaker and I jolted into action.

  We quickly tossed everything back in the trays, slammed the shark’s fin, threw the covers and pillows back in place, cut the light, and jumped into bed.

  Our door opened and in tiptoed Jessy and Lessy. Beneath the covers, my heart raced.

  “You asleep?” One of them whispered. “Thought you said you were going to be watching TV.”

  Beaker yawned. “It’s all right.”

  Lessy ripped open the curtains. “We met the hottest guy.”

  I squinted against the afternoon sunlight. “Yeah?”

  Jessy jumped onto their king-size bed. “Oh, yeah. Major hot. His name’s CJ, and he’s eighteen.”

  Lessy hopped onto our bed. “Major hot. Major, major, major hot.”

  Scooting my legs out of the way, I laughed, trying to sound carefree, when all I could think was, Oh my God, she’s bouncing on our secret panel bed!

  Jessy dove between me and Beaker. “He’s got blond hair and blue eyes, and did I tell you he’s hot?”

  I moved over, trying to protect the headboard.

  Lessy body-slammed her sister, and, giggling, they rolled into me. I caught a quick glimpse of Beaker trying to come between the twins and the headboard a split second before one of them rammed into the fin release lever.

  Click. The bed shifted.

  They stilled. “What was that?”

  [10]

  Someone rapped on our door.

  “I’ll get it.” Silently thankful for the distraction, I leapt off the bed. I had no clue how to answer the twins’ question.

  I opened the door to see TL in the threshold.

  “Ready for practice?” he asked.

  “Sure.”

  We spent the entire rest of the day practicing cheers, doing routine run-throughs, and sitting in meetings. The next day was just the same, and when dinner finally came, I couldn’t wait to eat and get back to our room. I just wished the twins would go to the beach or something so I could get some work done.

  After dinner, my roommates and I filed into our room. The twins plopped across our bed. What was it with them and our bed?

  As soon as we closed the door, someone knocked.

  I opened it to an America’s Cheer team member.

  She flipped a paper over on her clipboard. “Hi! There’s been a change in the schedule. The bonfire rally scheduled for tomorrow night will be tonight on the beach in thirty minutes.”

  Bonfire rally? The schedule said free time until tomorrow morning. I’d had things planned. Lots of things. Like ditching the twins and setting up more surveillance. Figuring out how to physically plant a tracking device in addition to the DNA tracker on Eduardo. And possibly following him if he went somewhere.

  Using a red-white-and-blue pen, the America’s Cheer team member checked us off on her pad. “This is a mandatory event, so everyone must be present.”

  I planted the fakest, I’m-so-thrilled smile on my face. “Sounds super! I’ll let my roommates know.”

  She two-finger waved me. “Too-da-loo. See you in thirty.”

  I waved back.

  “This sucks,” Lessy pouted when I closed the door.

  “Yeah,” Jessy joined her. “We were totally going to blow this joint and go into town for the night.”

  Beaker snorted. “And do what? Did you not see this place when you came in? There’s nothing to do but exercise your neat and tidy skills.”

  Playfully, she shoved the twins off our bed and spread out on it. “And stay off my bed, would ya? I like my space. I don’t play well with others.”

  Not bad, Beaker. Maybe that would keep them off our bed.

  Lessy checked herself in the mirror. “I’m not going to sit around here for thirty minutes. I’m going to go on down.” She turned to us. “Coming?”

  “I need to use the bathroom,” Beaker and I answered at the exact same time.

  Jessy laughed. “Just don’t do it together.”

  The twins bounded out the door. As soon as they left, I snatched up my cell phone from the nightstand and did a quick scan. Two red dots moved as they rode the elevator down.

  I nodded to Beaker. “They’re in the lobby.”

  I quickly texted David to let him know our progress. DNA DUST IN PLACE. TRACKERS ON ROOMMATES.

  He responded right away. GOTCHA. GET ELECTRONIC TRACKER ON EDUARDO NOW.

  Beaker hopped off our bed, lifted the mattress and plywood, and grabbed the rose-tinted, silver-framed glasses from one of the hidden trays, the same glasses she’d showed us in our pre-op meeting. “These are for the DNA dust. We’ll be able to see anywhere Eduardo goes. It’s all we’ve got until we figure out a way to put an electronic tracker on him.”

  I nodded. “Good. I’ll let Nalani know to text us if he’s on the move.”

  Beaker pulled out another one of the trays. “What do we have in the way of trackers?”

  I hit send to text Nalani, then ran my gaze over everything in the trays. “Breath mints. Pepper. Stick-on freckles. Blow darts that simulate mosquito stings . . .” I snatched everything up, gave half to Beaker, and we loaded down our backpacks. “Let’s take it all so we’ll be ready in any situation. One way or another we’re going to get a tracker on Eduardo.”

  Quickly, we put our bed back in order and headed from the room.

  TL stood with Coach Luke at the elevator.

  “Hi!” We joined them.

  TL rubbed his hands together. “You girls ready for the bonfire?”

  We enthusiastically nodded.

  Coach Luke tapped the DNA glasses propped on my head. “Those sure are spiffy glasses.”

  “Thanks!” Who actually used the word spiffy? And by God, if he put a fingerprint on the lenses . . .

  The elevator dinged, and as the doors slid open, four men in black suits came into view. I caught my breath. Eduardo stood in the back with his guys, in the exact same position they had been in earlier today. Their blank expressions dropped ever so slightly with annoyance at seeing us. I bet they were tired of us bubbly cheerleaders. And this was only the beginning.

  Just then, my phone vibrated. I knew it was Nalani texting me back that Eduardo was on the move.

  Okay, focus.
Here’s a chance to get a tracker on him. My eyes narrowed with orneriness. Maybe I should make it a little more annoying for them. I am a cheerleader, after all.

  Yeah, why not?

  As I bounded inside, I quickly rummaged in my backpack and pulled out the first small electronic tracker—the tracking bug—that I could get a grip on. “Hi!” I said cheerily, my ponytail boinging behind me. “Are you all with America’s Cheer?”

  Eduardo and his men made no move. They didn’t even look at me.

  Keeping my grin, I blinked a few times. “Are you all with America’s Cheer?”

  Slowly, all four sets of dark eyes moved over to me. Simultaneously, they shook their heads.

  Still grinning, I blinked. “Oh! Are you with the hotel?”

  They shook their heads.

  Grin. Blink. “Oh! Are you here for vacation or business?”

  They shook their heads.

  I reached out and tugged on the suit jacket of the man beside Eduardo. “You look spiffy enough to be here for some business meeting.”

  “Miss.”

  Maintaining my grin, I turned to Eduardo. It was the first time I’d ever heard his deep voice. It caught me a little off guard, and I felt my stomach drop. I immediately thought of my parents and wondered if they had hated his voice as much as I did at this moment. “Yes?”

  His lids fell slightly, hooding his menacing eyes. “Stop talking to us. And don’t ever touch me or anyone with me again.”

  My grin faded as I nodded and forced myself to turn around. I wanted to ram my foot into his kneecap.

  Beside me, Beaker cleared her throat. “I didn’t get a chance to brush my teeth after dinner. Do you have those mints with you?”

  I reached inside my backpack, pulled out the box of tracking mints, and handed them to her.

  She opened the top, tapped one out, and tossed it into her mouth. “Mmm-mmm, good.” She turned to Eduardo. “Want one?”

  I laughed. I couldn’t help myself.

  The elevator dinged open, and we filed out.

  TL waved on Coach Luke. “I’ll be there in a sec. I want to talk to my girls.”

  Eduardo and his men filed past us, through the lobby with a dozen or so loudly gossiping cheerleaders, and straight out the door. I pulled the DNA detector glasses off my head and slipped them on. Sure enough, a red trail followed in their wake.

  I lifted the glasses and checked out the difference. No trail existed. These things were cool.

  Putting an arm around both of us, TL hugged us to his sides and companionably strolled with us down the hallway. We cut a corner and walked straight into a small meeting room.

  He closed the door behind us, pulled the blue pyramid from his pocket, and rotated the top. He turned to me. “You know you stepped beyond boundaries in the elevator. What was the number one thing David taught you when you were designing this mission?”

  I took off the glasses and looped them in my T-shirt. “Not to let personal emotions muddle effective decision making.”

  “Well, guess what? You just let your emotions make you stupid. Because that was the most ignorant thing I’ve ever seen you do.”

  His harsh words didn’t make me feel guilty or apologetic. They made me downright mad. “So.”

  TL got right up in my face. “Young lady, you watch your tone with me and show some respect. This is the second time you’ve messed up. This mission is beginning to lack focus. You need to get back on track.”

  I clamped my teeth together so I wouldn’t say anything I’d regret. This mission did not lack focus.

  He held his steely eyes level with mine for a few long seconds, letting me see he was the one in charge.

  I didn’t tell him I’d transferred a tracking bug when I touched that man’s suit. Being mad made me keep that information to myself. I’d track the guy myself and then go to TL with the information. He’d be proud of me then.

  TL took a step back. “Beaker, give me a rundown.”

  She did, detailing everything we’d done on the mission so far. The whole time she talked, I stood beside her itching to get out of here and activate the tracking software on my cell phone. Eduardo and his men could be miles from here by now.

  And the tracking bug I’d transferred to Eduardo’s man could, at any time, be uncovered by a detector, if they had one. Then they would definitely know someone was here following them. So maybe transferring that bug hadn’t been such a good idea.

  Although, it was only a thirty-minute bug. It would dry up and fall off his jacket when that time had passed. And the DNA dust would only show where they’d been, not where they were going.

  That was why I had to get a tracker into their bloodstream via the mints, or the sugar, or the simulated mosquito sting. Trackers in the blood were the only type that couldn’t be detected and would definitely give us their coordinates.

  "GiGi?”

  I snapped to attention. “What?” I glanced around. TL had gone on ahead to the bonfire.

  “I said, are you ready?”

  I grabbed Beaker’s arm. “Listen, you gotta cover for me. I transferred a thirty-minute bug to one of Eduardo’s men. If I don’t go now and follow them, I’ll lose them”

  “What am I supposed to say if someone asks where you are?”

  “I’m in the bathroom with girl issues,” I said, taking out my cell phone and activating the tracking software. “No one argues when someone has girl issues.”

  Two red dots popped up on my screen. The twins. And a blue dot. Eduardo’s man. I raced for the door. “Be back before you know it.”

  With a glance down the hall toward the lobby, I headed in the opposite direction, past a few rooms, and out the side exit door. I trailed along the length of the hotel to the front and slipped the rose-colored glasses back on.

  I checked out the portico where two bellmen lingered near their stand, reviewing a logbook. A red DNA trail led from the hotel’s front doors across the portico, and then stopped where Eduardo and his men must have gotten into a car. This was why we definitely needed a tracker on them. Anytime they got in a car, we’d lose their DNA trail.

  Looking again at my cell phone, I confirmed the blue dot was still there. I took off down the long driveway, staying behind the bushes and palms, praying no one would see my tall blond self or red-and-white cheerleading getup. I wasn’t exactly dressed for espionage.

  In the distance, cheerleaders hooted and hollered at the bonfire rally. Poor Beaker. At least she had Lessy and Jessy.

  Streetlights kicked on along the hotel’s driveway and down in town. To the right, the sun dipped into the ocean’s horizon.

  Perfect. It would be pitch-black in no time.