by C. L. Stone
“We could go check out the neighborhoods around Wil’s school,” Marc said. “If we have to drive around anyway, it may be worthwhile to do something useful if we’re being bait. Kill two birds at once, right?”
“I don’t want to go where Wil is if there’s German killer hackers following us,” I said.
“And it’s all the way out in Goose Creek and Summerville,” Axel said. “And some of those neighborhoods have secluded spots and stretches of road without anyone around.” Axel pulled forward out of traffic, getting off the Mark Clark, and checking street signs. He turned on his cell phone again and started tapping at it.
“If you need to text, should I drive?” I asked in a warning tone.
Axel scrunched his eyebrows and looked at me in the rearview mirror. “Do you have your license?”
Was he being serious? You needed a car to get your license. “I can drive,” I said.
“She doesn’t have a license,” Marc said.
I made a face at him. “I know enough to not use a cell phone while you’re driving.”
“She really hates that,” Marc said. He glanced back at me and I shot him a look, trying to tell him to stop interpreting like I didn’t have a voice. He squinted his face back at me and smirked.
“I can tell,” Axel said, though he ignored my request and continued to use his cell phone anyway. After a moment, he placed it back into his pocket. “How about a nice visit to the aquarium?”
I wasn’t sure if he was joking or if he was talking about just driving in that direction. I’d never seen the aquarium.
The advertising on the way down the block closest to the aquarium featured sharks and turtles. The aquarium was adjacent to a port for tours of a fort and a park.
Axel parked along the street at a park. The streets were filled with mostly locals, but some tourists were lingering along the sidewalks, huddled together and looking at their phones, making me think they were looking at GPS or lists of tourist attractions. It was late in the season for tourists but I guess some people wait until the off season for their vacations.
I got out of the car, scanning and trying to figure out where the people following us would park and try to follow. “How are we doing this?”
“Going on foot will help us, actually,” Axel said. “I informed the teams following us to stay back but keep an eye on who follows us inside.” He came around and hooked an arm around my neck, drawing me toward the building. “Come on. I’ll give you the tour.”
“You come here often?” I asked.
“He practically lives here,” Marc said. He started walking behind us and then next to me on my other side.
I recalled Axel’s glowing fish, and figured maybe he got his fish at this aquarium. Maybe he borrowed the labs here for his experiments. Did he work here somehow?
While we were walking, Axel didn’t let go of my neck and Marc gave me a confused look. I ignored it and stared ahead, afraid to focus on either of them.
We had to cross a wide open expanse of sidewalks and gardens to get to the entrance of the aquarium. I kept wanting to look over my shoulder to check out who was behind us, scope out every face, try to find people that looked shady.
Axel anchored the crook of his elbow into the back of my neck, and forced me to look forward. “Stop,” he said.
“Why?” I asked.
“You’re way too obvious,” he said.
“Shouldn’t I be obvious?” I asked. “I mean, I was just kidnapped and now I’m heading to an aquarium. We know Brandon isn’t here. Isn’t this going to be like confusing as all hell to anyone else?”
“Confusing is good,” Marc said. His hands were stuffed into his jeans and his shoulders were hunched. He gazed around at every face nearby. “Makes them more curious. But she’s right. She should be looking over her shoulder. If we’re making it obvious we’re with her, then we should make it obvious, too. Make us appear like idiots that don’t know what we’re doing.”
Axel pressed his lips together and then nodded. Slowly, he slid his arm out from around my neck and looked behind himself, stiffly, like it was going against his instincts and training.
“Besides,” I said, “they assume I’m Corey’s girlfriend. I should look all upset.”
“Don’t start crying and blubbering, please,” Marc said. “I don’t know if I can take that.”
“Ugh,” I said. I pressed my palms to my face and rubbed hard at my eyes and cheeks. I made sure my cheeks were pinched hard enough that I looked like a wreck. I moved my hands away and glared at Marc. “See?”
Marc stopped walking, his face changing from smirk to full concern. His hands reached out, palms open. “Bambi...”
I made a face and smacked at his hand. “Stop,” I said. “I’m supposed to...”
Marc straightened and then made a face back, with his tongue out, shaking his head. “Don’t look like that. All crying and shit. You look different; I don’t like it.”
“Are they following us or what?”
“They haven’t gotten out of the car yet,” Axel said. He showed me the cell phone he was looking at shielded by his chest. “Just try to look normal. If we can’t get them to follow us inside, then we’re no worse off. We’ve got people following them. Eventually someone will need to inform a boss about this. Someone following them is paying attention.”
Spy stuff. I tried to relax. We’d find Brandon. I had a part to play until then. It was hard to be bait, but I tolerated it for now.
We entered the aquarium and Axel only needed to look at security and wave at the front desk attendant to get us in. Several workers said hello to him. He smiled politely, but only replied with a good morning, keeping anyone from engaging in conversation with him.
The air was cold inside the building and I covered my stomach with my arms to keep in some heat.
I tried not to, but I couldn’t help but be distracted by the gigantic walls of glass, displaying various fish, sharks, and turtles. Every time I tried to focus on people, I’d see something colorful out of the corner of my eye, and then was staring at a bright orange or yellow fish.
My instincts told me to find a seat somewhere and be on the lookout to observe the crowds of people. Most places had a certain flow. Malls were busy with eyeballs on items in windows and at store signs, always up, always scanning. My advantage before was I could keep my hands down and out of the line of sight, to sit near uninteresting walls and wait until people were focused on items, so I could determine what was in their pockets.
The aquarium had a different vibe, because the walls of glass extended down to the floor, and fish could be even further down swimming along the bottom of the tanks, or at waist level or pop up above heads. With their constant movement, eyeballs were everywhere. They did keep people’ attention, though. There was also an echo from the glass, so it was loud and hard to focus.
So I used it to my advantage. I changed from checking faces, until I was looking for eyes who weren’t focus on the fish. In the crowds, it was more difficult, but I started to get the hang of it.
Axel stood beside me, and it only took him a few minutes before his hand clamped down on the back of my head and forced me to look back at the fish. He leaned in and whispered to me, “Stop looking.”
I shifted uncomfortably, walking out of my flip-flops and then putting them back on. “Let’s capture one of them.”
“We need to let them make a mistake. And we need our other teams to watch them. All you have to do is stand still for a while. Just enjoy the view.”
I breathed out slowly, resisting his hold by pushing back. “I don’t want to wait.”
“If we don’t, if they know we’re onto them, we could die. Or Brandon could.”
I stilled my head. “What if he’s already dead?”
“If he was,” he said quietly, “they wouldn’t still be chasing you. He must still be refusing to work with them if they’re still bothering to chase you.”
That made some sense. I gulped, tryin
g to reclaim some control. I didn’t like a plan that involved me standing still. “I need to do something,” I said. I looked to the side, where Marc had separated from us a little, but still within talking distance. “Let me do something. Like, let’s give them an opportunity too good to pass up.
Axel mumbled something and then grunted. “You’ll be bait. If you can sit still for a minute, we’ll see who comes in after you and will give them a jump. But you have to trust me, and you have to be willing to sit still.”
I didn’t like that idea, either, but if it would get us to Brandon sooner, I’d tolerate it. The German’s urgency, the dead Randall investigation, the other dead owner of the core, the kidnapping, it was all overwhelming. Right now, I just wanted to get Brandon and bail on it all. Let the German do what he wanted. Marc was right: Let’s get Brandon, get out and let the police deal with the investigation. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Axel nodded. He shared a silent conversation across the room with Marc. It took only a few minutes, but as I was studying the both of them, I understood it. Axel silently told Marc about the change of plans, and Marc wasn’t happy with it, but he was going to let it happen. Marc made a circle like he was giving us space and Axel guided me through a public area and then toward a door marked for employees only.
The hall smelled strongly of disinfectant and fish and salt. It was tiled and there were rows of doors. Axel moved quickly through another door, into another similar hallway. A short walk and another door later, I was in a lab.
The room was white, with the tiles having a few dull spots. Counters held containers of unidentifiable liquids. Smaller glass aquariums filled the room, with small fish and one that was filled with water but appeared empty of any fish. Deeper inside the lab, there was a large aquarium built in the center like a huge hot tub, and inside were two large sea turtles. One had a bandage around a back leg.
“What’s wrong with the turtles?” I asked.
Axel gazed over at them and then shook his head. “Rescues. Injured and brought here from the beach. The aquarium hosts a turtle hospital. These two are new. Not stable enough to join the others in the bigger aquarium.”
I pouted, feeling sorry for the things. “This is the best spot for getting a jump on these guys?”
“We need a secure location with a limited amount of exits and a place where we aren’t likely to be interrupted. If we’re going to lure them into trying to capture you, we need to give them a temptation they can’t refuse.” He showed me a computer terminal near a counter. He pulled out a stool and smacked his hand on the seat. “Now sit and do what you promised.”
“There’s no one else in here,” I said. “How do you know no one will come in?”
“Because it’s my office,” he said. “I’ll be in the next room.”
I glanced around the room again, looking at the turtles, the fancy tanks and chemicals. I had a lot of questions by only one came out. “The sick turtles stay in your office?”
“The ones I rescued, yeah,” he said.
I sought out his eyes and locked in on his gaze. My heart, despite the anger welling there at the people chasing us, found a small spot of warmth just for Axel. During the time we’d been back from Florida and I’d been diving head first into my own misery and working for the other boys, Axel had been saving turtles and working here in his lab. Somehow, that meant something to me. It was something I hadn’t know, but now that I did, I adored him for it. It spoke about him in ways he simply couldn’t have told me. Seeing was better.
I looked at the turtles, who seemed so big in the tank. They floated, fins down, looking unhealthy. Axel rescued them. I wondered if the others knew.
He motioned again for me to sit, and I did. He leaned in and whispered in my ear. “Once we’ve got Brandon, once we’re out of this mess, maybe you’ll come by and help me out once in a while. Unless you really do like construction work.”
“I can?” I asked.
“Soon,” he said. “First things first. Be bait.”
I turned, looking at his face. He was his usual stoic self, but there was a hint of a spark in his eyes, something deeper. I’d read enough faces to tell me there was a plan already in place, and Marc was already well aware. I was to sit still. He wasn’t going to tell me anything else.
Because they didn’t want me to override their plan and ruin it from the start.
Because I wouldn’t like it.
I sat on the stool, staring at the screen, trying to put together their plan while pretending to do as he told me.
I listened as Axel left the room. And then I checked over my shoulder, studying my surroundings, my exits, of which there were only two doors, and one closet. No windows. No place to go, except maybe up in the ceiling. I didn’t like my options if something went wrong.
I didn’t like not knowing the whole plan.
I waited, swinging my legs and purposefully flicking the flip-flops to make sounds against my heels to fill the space.
If they separated from me, these criminals would try to come after me. They’d send in a team to zap me again. Only this time Axel and Marc were waiting in the wings, ready to rush in.
But is that what the German would do in a public place? Maybe this office was secluded but then they’d still have to carry me out, and they’d have to go through security. Maybe they were willing to follow us and keep an eye on what we were up to, but would they be stupid enough to come in after me like this?
I wouldn’t. I’d recognize something was going on if we split up in a strange location.
The problem I had with the whole situation was still gnawing at me from the inside. It wasn’t just this set-up. It was something that had been bothering me since the beginning. One was what Brandon had said right from the start: Why had this German team bothered to drag in Corey? Why were they interested in someone who wasn’t willing to participate, when there were plenty of criminal minds and hackers out there ready and willing and able to break into Corey’s security thing, even if it did take time? I mean, a couple of extra weeks or more wasn’t worth the risk of kidnapping and murder, was it?
Before they had asked Corey for help. Now they’d kidnapped him and were following me to kidnap me again to force him to work. They were taking a lot of chances.
No, something still wasn’t working for me in this entire situation. The urgency didn’t sit with me. It had been weeks since they’d contacted Corey, even before I talked to him since they’d been looking for him.
I tried to remember that day with Corey. I’d been frustrated, and Corey had offered to go on a walk. Outside, in a public place with plenty of witnesses and traffic around Colonial Lake in downtown Charleston, this German man stopped his car in the middle of it all and ran over to talk to Corey. He’d insisted Corey come talk with him in private, despite Corey refusing. He hadn’t kidnapped him then. No urgency. He wanted Corey, and he was willing to negotiate, and then when Corey refused, he had walked away.
Now the story was different. He’d kidnapped Corey. He’d threatened his life and then mine.
The question that came to mind over and over again rushed through me: Why now? What was different? Why did they wait until weeks later to kidnap him? What would make me rush in and do something so risky?
As I sat looking around in Axel’s office, at the turtles, and everything else, I considered that. Why was I here now? Because someone was threatening my life.
Which…could mean their lives were being threatened? Could that be why they were doing this?
Maybe someone else was on the hunt. They’d discovered an enemy, and if they didn’t act quickly their plans would fall apart. They had come for Corey now to secure him and to make sure they would win.
I sat up quickly. It suddenly made sense to me. The German and his gang of thugs might have been okay with going slow before, but since their game changed, they had to move up the timeline. Their only option was to get Corey to the core to give them access. It was something they were willin
g to kill someone over.
Which meant they were afraid of their enemy.
I turned my head to look at the computer screen. My skin prickled, like back when I used to steal wallets at the mall, and I got the feeling security or a cop was watching me.
There were a lot of questions I didn’t have the answers to yet, but one thing I was sure of: we were all in danger, because there was more than one group eyeing the prize, and at least one group was willing to murder to get what they wanted. The question was which one was chasing us right now.
Both?
Axel said they’d spotted two cars following us. Could both be the German’s teammates or was one car a different team? Did the German know who was hunting him?
While I was trying to figure out if I should chase down Axel, or continue to wait like he said, a door opened. I twisted, expecting Axel to come back. Maybe he had realized the same thing.
In the doorway stood a woman. She had a white lab coat on over a pair of slimming black slacks and a light cream sweater. Her deep red hair was pulled back into a bun near her neck. She was slender, with pale skin. Her vivid blue eyes and the small curve of her lips as she entered told me she was proud of something. She spotted me. In an instant, her face changed to mild surprise.
“Oh,” she said in a quiet but very precise tone. “Are you the new intern?”
I thought Axel said he wasn’t disturbed in his office.
Something was off about her eyes. But instead of trying to figure out what, I was trying to think of a logical reason for me to be in Axel’s office and to get her to go away because she was putting herself in the middle of mortal danger. Her question gave me the perfect out. “Yes,” I said, quickly. “Do you work for Axel? Are you who he’s been expecting? He’s in the...turtle hospital. You should go see him.”
“He’s not in the hospital room,” she said simply. She walked in a circle around me, her heels clacking sharply against the tiles. “And he didn’t ask for me to join him. The question is, who are you? And what are you doing here?”
“I’m waiting for Axel,” I said.