Teen Superheroes Box Set | Books 1-7

by Pitt, Darrell

  Agent Palmer quickly located the harbor master’s office. A man behind the desk recognized Wolff’s picture immediately.

  ‘Sure,’ he came through here. ‘That’s Joe Masterton. He owns a boat here.’

  ‘Where is it?’ Palmer asked.

  ‘It’s usually moored down at Row C,’ he said. ‘But I saw him take it out a little while ago.’

  ‘Any idea where he’d be headed?’

  He shook his head. ‘Could be anywhere.’

  Palmer got the registration number of Wolff’s vessel. ‘We’ll need a vessel,’ she said. ‘Where do I find one?’

  The man referred them to a boat hire place. The grizzled man working behind the counter quickly hired them a small cabin cruiser. After the man directed them to their vessel, they climbed aboard, and Palmer made some calls. She turned to the others.

  ‘I think we might have a break,’ Palmer said. ‘A vessel left here less than an hour ago heading through Prince William Sound into a place called Jack Bay.’

  ‘How’d you find that out?’ Brodie asked in amazement.

  ‘We have satellites watching the entire planet,’ Palmer said. ‘Fortunately, one of them was monitoring this area.’

  Agent Palmer gently eased the boat away from the dock before revving the engine to maximum throttle. Brodie sat with the others in the main cabin as they roared across the bay. She wondered how Axel was going in Paris. She shivered. The weather was probably a lot warmer than in Alaska.

  ‘Need warming up,’ Chad suggested.

  ‘No thanks.’

  He looked annoyed. ‘What do you see in that guy?’

  ‘What guy?’

  ‘Axel. He’s such a dweeb.’

  ‘He’s a good guy.’ She shook her head. ‘You should try it sometime.’

  Chad sighed. ‘Don’t take me the wrong way,’ he said. ‘I owe the guy my life, but he’s not exactly Mister Cool.’

  ‘Have you looked at yourself lately?’ Brodie asked.

  ‘Sure,’ he said. ‘It’s up to me to set a standard for others to follow.’

  ‘You’re delusional.’

  ‘Yeah,’ he agreed, pushing back his hair. ‘But what a delusion.’

  Brodie didn’t say anything. She sat back and thought about the last few days. Already their time at Camp Sanctuary was fading away. She hoped she’d never see Jeremiah Stead for as long as she lived. That maniac needed to be placed into a deep cell and the key thrown away. She thought about his son, Jason.

  Jason Stead. He’d been completely brainwashed by his father. Brodie wondered what would happen to him now that he and the others had been taken into custody. She hoped there might be a chance of rehabilitation for him.

  I could have been Brodie Stead, she thought. Mrs Brodie Stead.

  She rolled her eyes.

  They rounded the headland into Jack bay. It was a vast, flat body of water, surrounded by forest on all sides. Fortunately, it seemed quiet. Either, fishermen didn’t use this bay, or they came here at other times.

  ‘Look,’ Dan pointed.

  A small boat lay moored at a ramshackle dock. Palmer cut the engine. As they coasted to it, Agent Palmer produced her gun. They peered past the vessel into the tree-covered hillside.

  Brodie spotted a small trail leading away into the forest. She could see the back of a man as he headed up the hill. He peered back at them, and she saw his face clearly.

  ‘It’s him!’ Brodie yelled. ‘It’s Wolff!’

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  We followed Wolff down the Parisian street. There were vacationers everywhere. Fortunately, they provided plenty of cover for us. While Agent Peterson, Ebony, and I were able to successfully blend with the group, Ferdy stuck out like a sore thumb. He could easily keep up with us, but he couldn’t really understand how to look like a regular tourist.

  ‘Where do you think he’s going?’ Ebony asked.

  ‘That’s anyone’s guess,’ Agent Peterson said. ‘The important thing is for us to take him down quietly and without fuss. Remember, he’s carrying a deadly virus. The vial mustn’t be damaged.’

  I’d already tried testing my powers and found them inoperative—again. Grinding my teeth in frustration, I thought of how easy this would be if my powers were working. I mentioned this as we wove our way through the crowds.

  ‘Don’t sweat it,’ Peterson said. ‘The scientists back at The Agency might have a solution. For the time being, just stay close.’

  Wolff stopped at an intersection and hailed a cab.

  ‘Hmm,’ the agent said. ‘I didn’t realize he was going to get a car.’

  ‘Here’s a cab,’ Ebony said.

  Flagging it, we piled in. Agent Peterson spoke rapidly to the driver in French and pushed a bundle of money into his hand. The vehicle took off with a roar. ‘I’ve promised to make it worth his while if he can keep Wolff’s cab in sight,’ he said.

  Peterson’s phone rang, and he answered it, keeping the other vehicle in view at the same time. He muttered a few words before hanging up.

  ‘That’s strange,’ he said. ‘The other team has just reported in from Alaska.’

  ‘And?’ I asked.

  ‘They told HQ that they had Wolff in sight.’

  ‘That’s impossible. He’s in that cab ahead of us.’

  ‘Is it possible that’s not Wolff?’

  ‘That’s him,’ Ebony said. ‘I’d recognize him anywhere. Even at a distance.’

  The agent nodded thoughtfully. ‘Okay. We’ll play this as if he’s Wolff. If anything changes, we’ll act accordingly.’

  The taxi followed the other vehicle down the Parisian streets. The area was crowded, but the driver was good. He kept close to the other vehicle without arousing suspicion. After a few minutes, we pulled into a tree-filled street signposted as the Avenue de la Bourdonnais. Small apartment buildings and cafes lined both sides.

  Through the side streets on our left, we caught glimpses of the Eiffel Tower. Finally, Wolff’s cab pulled over, and Peterson told our driver to stop. We poured out of the vehicle and took refuge in a nearby tourist store while keeping Wolff under surveillance.

  ‘Where’s he going?’ Ebony asked.

  ‘I think I know,’ Peterson said. ‘He’s probably meeting someone who can modify the virus.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ I asked.

  ‘The virus is largely worthless right now. It’s so powerful no sane person would ever deploy it.’

  ‘No sane person,’ Ebony agreed, thinking of Jeremiah Stead and his group.

  Peterson continued. ‘But if Wolff can convince someone to modify the virus to make it less deadly or to target a specific ethnic group—’

  ‘It’s possible to do that?’ I asked.

  ‘It’s possible,’ Peterson confirmed. ‘It would make the virus infinitely more valuable as a blackmail tool.’

  ‘Blackmail,’ Ferdy said. ‘Meaning to extort money through the use of threats—’

  ‘Thank you, Ferdy,’ Agent Peterson said.

  Wolff headed down a side street.

  ‘I think he’s meeting someone at the Eiffel Tower,’ Peterson continued.

  ‘Why do it in such a busy location?’ Ebony asked.

  ‘For his own protection,’ Peterson said. ‘The people Wolff deal with are as trustworthy as Wolff himself.’

  We made our way towards the Eiffel Tower. It was a grand structure made up of three levels. I’d seen it on television and in magazines, but it was nothing compared to seeing it in person. Peterson quickly filled us in about the tower as we headed down a boulevard.

  ‘The first two levels can be accessed through either the elevator or stairs,’ he said. ‘The top level is via the elevators only.’

  I looked up the height of the tower.

  That’s really high up. No wonder they have elevators.

  I experimentally tried my powers as we reached the base of the tower. Much to my surprise, I found they were working again.

  Agent Peterson pee
red up. ‘I was thinking about leaving the three of you down here,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t sure your powers would help.’

  ‘But surely—’

  ‘I’ve changed my mind,’ he said. ‘Let’s go.’

  Peterson approached a pair of police officers and flashed some identification at them. Quickly speaking to them, he returned a minute later. ‘I’m having the entire area closed down,’ he said. ‘We need to capture Wolff, but at all costs, the vial must not be allowed to break. If it breaks—’

  ‘It’s game over,’ I finished.

  He nodded. Ebony looked scared but determined. Even Ferdy looked solemn. I think at some level, he understood that something serious was happening.

  ‘My guess is he’ll take the elevator to the top,’ Peterson said. ‘We’ll start there. The whole base will be surrounded by the French police within minutes.’

  We headed toward the elevators. We were lucky. Not many people were in line at that moment. I glanced at a pair of vacationers. The husband and wife were arguing about the amount of time they could spend at the tower before they had to catch their flight.

  They’re right about one thing.

  Time was running out.

  Chapter Forty

  Brodie and the others disembarked and went racing up the trail.

  ‘The vial must not be broken!’ Agent Palmer yelled, hurrying ahead of them. ‘Whatever happens, you must—’

  A shot rang out, and the agent spun about. Brodie and the others dropped to the ground. Palmer tried to get back up, but she’d been hit in the shoulder. Blood poured from the wound.

  Brodie scrambled to her. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Forget about me,’ Palmer grunted. ‘You’ve got to stop Wolff. And whatever happens—don’t break the vial.’

  ‘We won’t,’ Brodie said. ‘I promise.’

  Brodie looked around. They needed a shield.

  ‘Dan,’ she said. ‘We need some cover.’

  ‘Okay,’ he said.

  He knew he might be able to deflect bullets from striking them, but he had to see them first. A shield was the safer option. He focused on the interior of the boat, and within seconds they heard the screeching of metal. A piece of metal decking rose up over the boat and hovered before them.

  ‘We’ll come back to you,’ Brodie promised Palmer.

  ‘Don’t worry about me,’ she said. ‘Just get the virus.’

  They slowly made their way up the hill using the shield for cover. It was impossible to see Wolff ahead of them. The trail was relatively well used, but he could be hiding anywhere. Brodie felt quite nervous about moving up the track. This whole thing could be a trick. Wolff could hide in the forest and come out behind them.

  Finally, they crested the hill. Beyond it, the trail continued down to a small bay where another old dock jutted out into the water.

  ‘I don’t see Wolff,’ Chad said. ‘Maybe he didn’t come this way.’

  ‘It looks like the trail branches off over there,’ Brodie pointed.

  They followed the turn. Ahead of them came a grinding sound as if two rocks were moving against each other. Slowing, Brodie and the others crept along the trail.

  ‘Look!’ Dan yelled.

  A pile of boulders was on their right. One was moving against the other. They formed some kind of door.

  ‘It’s an opening to a cave!’ Brodie said.

  Chad flung out his hand and formed an icy barrier between the stones. They slowed their movement but didn’t stop completely.

  ‘Wolff must have gone through there,’ Brodie said. ‘Quickly!’

  They pushed through the undergrowth. Chad’s icy doorstop was threatening to shatter with each passing second. Dan leaped through with the hovering shield with Chad next. Brodie jumped through at the last instant before the ice cracked apart completely. She slammed into Chad, and they went flying onto the ground.

  Brodie found herself on top of him.

  He gave her a cheeky grin. ‘I knew you liked me.’

  She thudded his chest. ‘You wish.’

  Climbing to their feet, they saw a tunnel had been built within the hill with florescent lighting lining its ceiling. It dipped down steeply, but the tunnel appeared relatively smooth on both sides; there were no alcoves where Wolff could be hiding.

  A sound echoed up the passageway.

  ‘That sounds like water,’ Chad said.

  They crept down the incline. As the tunnel leveled out, Brodie realized they were looking at a natural underground cave enclosing a large pool. A wharf jutted out into the water.

  Just as they reached the bottom, Dan noticed his shield wavering slightly in the air.

  ‘What’s—’ he started.

  The shield dipped and shuddered in the air before it dropped to the ground.

  ‘My powers,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t keep—’

  A voice came from the other side of the cave. ‘Your powers are useless, children,’ Wolff said, stepping out from behind a boulder. ‘Guns are the only power that matter here.’

  Raising a machine gun, he opened fire.

  Chapter Forty-One

  The elevator reached the top of the Eiffel Tower, and we stepped out into a crowded tourist space. The journey up the tower had been slow, but my heart rate had been rising with every second. I was afraid. So many things can go wrong. Wolff had no morals. One of us could get killed.

  Then there was the issue of the virus.

  If the vial broke…

  My heart was thudding so hard, I felt dizzy, but I struggled to take in everything around me. The observation area was an enclosed room with glass surrounding the exterior. People were heading in all directions. Tourists from every country and speaking every language were taking photos and roaming around. People took photos with their phones. A baby cried. Uniformed teenagers, rowdy and laughing, pushed through the crowd.

  Above the windows were photos comparing the height of the tower to other tall structures around the world.

  Paris lay outside.

  ‘You kids know what Wolff looks like,’ Peterson said. ‘Just remember—’

  ‘Don’t break the vial,’ Ebony said. ‘I know.’

  Ferdy pointed. ‘There’s the bad man.’

  We all looked around. People were everywhere, so it was impossible to see precisely where Ferdy was pointing. Then I realized he was indicating some stairs that led to an upper deck, which opened onto an outside viewing platform.

  ‘Was he going up the stairs?’ I asked Ferdy.

  ‘Stairs,’ he said. ‘A step is made up of a tread and a riser.’

  That didn’t help very much. We gently pushed our way through the tourists toward the stairs and cautiously ascended. Passing a room containing a statue of the designer, Gustave Eiffel, I barely glanced at it as I tried to pick out Wolff. We stepped out to the external platform. It was enclosed by a cage designed to stop people from either falling or jumping to their deaths.

  Tourists were everywhere.

  I slowly made my way around the exterior. A Japanese family got in my way, so I stepped around them. Now I had a man on one knee saying something to a blushing girl.

  He was proposing.

  Looking past them, I saw Wolff come around a corner. His mouth fell open with surprise. I must have been the last person he expected to see. The last time I’d seen him was on an island called Cayo Placetas when he’d launched a nuclear weapon at New York City.

  You never know who you’ll run into at the Eiffel Tower.

  He reached into his pocket and withdrew something. I formed a shield and screamed out at the same time.

  ‘He’s got a gun! He’s got a gun!’

  People moved and yelled in confusion. At the same moment, I realized it wasn’t a gun in Wolff’s hand.

  It was a hand grenade.

  Wolff pulled the pin and dropped the explosive onto the deck. He tried to push his way through the crowd, but there were too many people. I extended my arm and focused on forming a shield aroun
d the device. At first, it worked as I formed a barrier, a tight shield that—

  No. Not now.

  My powers failed.

  Not now of all times—

  The grenade exploded.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Bullets flew everywhere. Brodie dragged Chad and Dan behind a boulder as Wolff opened fire. Ammunition ricocheted all around them.

  She peered over the top of the stone.

  ‘You children should get a refund on your powers,’ Wolff taunted. ‘They are too easily defeated through the use of zeno emitters.’

  Tell me something I don’t know, Brodie thought. Except my powers are a little different from the others.

  She’d already worked out Wolff’s plan. The jetty seemed to meet someone lying in the water—a submarine. Once in the craft, Wolff would escape, and they’d never catch him. Brodie took a deep breath. Despite her extra speed and strength being zapped by the zeno rays, she still had fighting ability she’d inherited from her previous life. She had no idea where it came from; she only knew what she knew.

  Wolff fired two more shots. His clip was empty. Brodie broke from cover and charged across the cave floor. She was slower than usual. Under normal circumstances, she was three times as fast as a highly trained athlete, but now she didn’t have that advantage.

  She’d have to survive without it.

  Wolff saw her coming. His eyes opened in wonder. Obviously, he hadn’t expected one of these children to make a suicidal run across the floor. At the same time, Brodie saw him glance at the submarine.

  He raced up the short dock. By the time Brodie reached the dock, Wolff had already stepped onto the metal conning tower of the submarine. He gave her a sneering grin and stepped on to the top of the ladder.

  That’s when it happened.

  Wolff slipped. He fell. Brodie put on more speed, reached the sub, and peered down the length of the ladder. The man lay at the bottom, his leg twisted at a crazy angle beneath him. Broken. Pulling out the vial of liquid from his pocket, he stared at it in horror.