Silver and Gold (Red and Black Book 3)

by Nancy O'Toole Meservier

  “The woman we’re looking for.”

  “Most likely. I ended up doing a little more research, just to make sure I wasn’t way off base, and she was practicing overseas or something. Looks like her life went from bad to worse about three years back. From what I’ve seen, it sounded like she and her husband were communicating, maybe even trying to make a go at it. Only he died before they could.”

  “You’re not seriously asking me to feel sorry for this monster, are you?” I said, giving him a look. “After what she did to Dawn?”

  “Far from it,” Dana said. “It’s just…from all I saw about the court documents, the woman argued pretty passionately for why she should be allowed to keep her son. She can’t be a complete monster.”

  “This woman kidnapped and tortured innocent people for months. The fact that she might care about her own kid doesn’t erase that. Any info on her whereabouts now?”

  “Yep, thanks to good old-fashioned excise tax! Our good doctor registered her car to a five-four-seven Blueberry Lane, right off the shores of Lake Breman.”

  “Wait, isn’t that the same lake where Dawn—”

  “Went to the party that diverted her life from that of a regular college coed to a superhero? You’d be right.”

  “Well, that’s terrifying. Unless this information is fake.”

  “Still might be worth trying out. What do you say? Wanna take a look?”

  I glanced at the screen and immediately felt my temper spike, my face start to heat up, my jaw tense…

  “Let’s check in with Lilah before we head out there again,” I said. “I don’t think I’d make the best judgment calls right now, to be honest.”

  “Isn’t that mature of you,” Dana said, raising an eyebrow. “I’m actually feeling a little let down.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Please, your tendency to let your emotions control you when it comes to people you care about is one of your better features. You smash things! It’s very satisfying to watch!”

  “Since when?”

  “Since you stopped coming after me!”

  I winced. “Regardless, I’m heading back to Dawn. Don’t want her to wake up alone.”

  “You two are too nauseatingly cute,” Dana said. “Makes me wanna puke.”

  “Aren’t you a happily married man?”

  I watched as all the humor melted from Dana’s face in a matter of seconds; his gaze fell to the ground.

  “Shit, man, are things okay with you and Bonnie?” I asked. “Dawn hasn’t said—”

  “It’s fine, we’re fine,” Dana said. “One of the benefits of being with someone that loves and trusts you completely is the fact that they never think to look for the times when you’re lying.”

  “So why not tell the truth?” I said, thinking back over the shows Dawn had made me watch. “She’d probably be better knowing—”

  “That her husband used to be a psychopath? Yeah, right.” He turned back to the computer screen. “Anyway, I’m going to look into this Blueberry Lane address. See if I can hack into her security system.”

  There was an annoyed edge to his voice, which wasn’t surprising. Alan had shut me out even faster when I had asked him why he hadn’t told Dawn about his powers. Of course, I found Dana’s situation to be a lot more relatable. He had found out some fucked up things about himself when Amity had torn open his mind. Things that might even go beyond what someone might agree to in “sickness and in health” and all that shit. Alan, on the other hand…

  Shaking my head, I walked back to the room where Dawn lay and waited until Lilah walked in a few minutes later.

  “Already?” I asked. “I know our hospitals are good, but I’ve never managed to get out of an emergency room that fast.”

  “Oh, Connor’s still there. He just doesn’t like me around when he’s in physical pain,” she said, peeling off her jacket. “With the psychic connection we share, I can feel an echo of it sometimes.”

  I blinked.

  “Wait, all types of pain? Even…” I raised a hand toward my chest.

  Lilah blinked. “How did you…” She shook her head. “Your powers. I didn’t realize they were that complex.”

  She had no idea.

  “Anyway,” I started. “Dana’s been looking into Dr. Hale, and he found some information.”

  I quickly filled her in on the rest. I watched her eyes widen.

  “That’s…worth checking out,” she said. “Although, I might want to check in with Forecaster and see if he can foresee any consequences. Is Dana still here?”

  I nodded. “Wanna bring Alan in? I haven’t seen him since he last spoke to you. Sorry about that, by the way.”

  I reached up to scratch the back of my head.

  “I honestly can’t blame him,” she said. “In fact, I’m surprised that you’re not more upset with me.”

  “You’ve been nothing but straightforward with me from the beginning, about the risks, your limitations. I’m not gonna say I’m happy about it, but I get that you’ve done all you can.” I paused, looking down to Dawn. “That, and I know she’ll wake up. She’s strong.”

  “Don’t I know it.” She shook her head. “And to answer your previous question, yes. Alan has as much invested in this as anyone. I’ll go get him. Did you see where he ran off to?”

  “No, unfortunately. Maybe I should go—”

  “No, I said I would,” Lilah replied, voice firm.

  “You sure? Last time I checked he was pretty…”

  “Please. It takes a lot more than that to intimidate me. You remember who you’re talking to, right?” Lilah raised her eyebrows.

  I chuckled in response. “Golden Strike.”

  “And don’t you forget it.”

  After those words, I half expected Lilah to beat me to Dana’s coffin-sized office, but it took a few minutes before I saw her again. When Lilah did enter the room, I couldn’t help but be surprised to find her alone.

  “Alan not up to talk?” I asked.

  “He’s not here,” she replied.

  “Huh?”

  “I checked all the rooms, including the ones he shouldn’t have been able to get into if it wasn’t for his powerset. It looks like he left.”

  “Powerset?” Dana asked.

  “I didn’t hear him leave,” I replied, frowning. “Did you see him go out when you took Connor to the hospital?”

  She shook her head. “Do you have his number?”

  I nodded.

  “Alan insisted. Seemed to think we’d get separated. Guess he was right.” I took out my phone and pulled up his number.

  “I’m sorry but…powerset?” Dana continued to push.

  “Not my story to tell, man,” I said as the call rang in my ear. “He’s not picking up.”

  “He was awfully upset when we last saw him,” Lilah replied. “Although I’m surprised he would just leave his sister.”

  “Not without reason,” I mumbled, looking around the room.

  “What? Something wrong with my setup?” Dana asked.

  “No, it’s not that. There are no windows in this room,” I said.

  There was a long pause before Dana replied. “Yeah, this conversation is not getting any less confusing.”

  “Because there are no windows in the room, the source of light never changes.” I pointed back to a corner behind me. “And there was a shadow over there before that isn’t there now.”

  “You’re implying that Alan was listening in to your conversations?” Lilah asked. “And that’s a problem?”

  “For the most part, no,” I said. “But given how pissed the guy was, I’m not sure that I would have given him the address to Dr. Hale’s house.”

  23

  Dawn

  “I’m not gonna deny that the color combination works, but it’s just so plain.”

  I looked down at the red and black outfit that came with my new abilities. Over the past week and a half, the transition was becoming easier. I could go back and
forth in the span of a few breaths, and Diego was teaching me to control my strength. But Karen…

  “I don’t think it’s that bad,” I said, playing with the fabric. “I mean, look…I even get a cape!”

  “A very plain, black cape,” Karen said with a sigh.

  “What, do you have any recommendations?”

  She frowned and looked over me.

  “Actually…yeah. Turn around.”

  I complied, almost forgetting Karen’s ability to change the colors of any given object—apparently the source of her purple hair. At that, I made a face. She wasn’t going to turn my cape purple, was she?

  If anything, it would be a nice distraction from what was going on across the room.

  Diego stood in the middle, going through a now-familiar series of pre-workout stretches. Beyond him, near the security camera, stood the ever-dutiful Luiz, who shot Bixby an uncomfortable look.

  And, well, for once she wasn’t arguing with Karen.

  “I’m not sure if that’s the wisest course of action,” Gerry said, leaning against the cleanest patch of wall in the shower. His voice was completely calm, but a pronounced frown line had formed between his eyes.

  “What do we have for better options?” Bixby spread out her arms. “We move tomorrow, Gerry. Tomorrow. We have a hole, and Anna’s still refusing to fill it. Justin would be a perfect stand-in. You should have seen the flash of light he called up yesterday.”

  I caught Diego’s gaze. We had both been there for that “flash of light,” swiftly followed by Justin almost passing out.

  “I’m more concerned about his endurance levels,” Gerry said. “You know that out of all of us that survived the escape attempt, the gas seemed to impact Casey the worst.”

  Bixby frowned at Gerry’s slip-up. It seemed to be happening more and more lately, Gerry slipping up on names or misremembering spans of time. In truth, most of his mistakes weren’t that different than what someone might experience if they were excessively tired or overwhelmed. But given his condition…

  “I’m not going to ask the kid to run a marathon,” Bixby interjected. “Let me talk to him. It should be his decision on whether or not he’s comfortable being out front, right?”

  “That’s right, but—”

  “Great! I’ll go talk to him now.”

  And with that, she turned around and left the room. Leaving Gerry alone with Luiz. The younger man reached out and patted him on the shoulder, comprehending the frustration in his eyes.

  Diego’s reaction was also pretty easy to read.

  “What a bitch,” he said.

  “Oof,” I said at the same time Gerry went, “Now, now. I don’t know if that’s entirely appropriate.” Karen let out a bark of laughter.

  “It’s the truth,” Diego replied, then gestured back to Karen. “How the hell did she become the you of Pod Two?”

  “Kinda concentrating right now,” Karen said. “We need our girl looking good for her homecoming.”

  The air left my lungs in a surprised half-chuckle/half-gasp. It was strange. I had spent the past week and a half so stressed at the thought of failure, I hadn’t even considered the other possibility.

  “Home,” I said softly. I shook my head. “My family must be so worried about me.”

  “Do you live with your parents, Dawn?” Diego asked.

  “Yeah,” I replied. “Well…just my mom. My dad died a few years back. Drunk driver.” I shifted uncomfortably.

  “No moving,” Karen said from behind, but her voice was kind.

  “I have an older brother, though,” I continued. “He lives in Boston. I…honestly don’t know how he and Mom are handling all of this.”

  “I can only imagine,” Gerry said, shaking his head. “At least, through all of this, I know that my daughter, Summer, is safe with her mother.”

  Diego froze, and I blinked in surprise. Karen’s hands stilled on my cape.

  “I…I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were a parent,” I said, stumbling stupidly over my words. “And…your wife?”

  “Ex-wife,” Gerry said with a small smile. “Although we’ve gotten along much better since the divorce. Perhaps she misses me too.”

  “W-what about you, Karen?” I glanced over my right shoulder. “I just assumed—”

  “Single and happily child-free,” she said. “I grew up with nine siblings. When people used to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would wax poetic about how much I wanted to live alone.” She paused. “But yeah…Gerry’s not the only one of us with kids. Sam’s wife was pregnant when he went missing, so he’s probably a father now, and Bixby has two daughters.”

  “What!” My mouth gaped open in shock.

  “Yeah. She doesn’t seem like the most maternal force, does she?”

  From across the room, Luiz said something in Portuguese. Karen nodded and responded in kind, before translating for the rest of us.

  “Luiz here has a little one too, just a toddler,” she said.

  I blinked, thinking about the people who had surrounded me for the past six weeks. Sure, I had gotten attached to my podmates, and people like Justin, but such an attachment came with a risk. They could die any day, at any testing. Knowing that they had a home to return to, a family waiting on them…

  I looked up at Diego, who had been silent for this entire exchange, his face closed off.

  “Anyway, I’m all done,” Karen said, resting back on her heels.

  I craned my neck, moving the cape so I could get a better look at it. The pattern of red stars that Karen had placed there was simple, but there was something oddly comforting about it.

  “I like it,” I said.

  “Me too,” she replied. “In fact…”

  She reached up and ran her fingers through her hair. I watched as her pale-blond and bright purple locks turned vibrant red like mine.

  “How do I look?” she asked. “Always wanted to be a redhead.”

  “Very nice,” Gerry commented from across the room with a smile.

  “It will be a nice change from the purple, at least. I’ve been wanting a new color for months, but I was worried that it would put me on the White Masks’ roster. Now, I guess I don’t have to worry about it.” She looked down at her hands. “It’s kind of cool, you know. These powers? The art I could make with it.”

  She moved to her feet with a wince. “Ugh. So looking forward to sleeping on a real mattress again. Six months of this has marked me for life. I swear.”

  “Karen and I should go,” Gerry said, moving away from the wall. “We don’t want anyone to get suspicious.”

  “We just need to be able to hold them off for a couple more days,” Diego said, rolling his shoulders.

  “Pretty much,” Gerry responded. “Good luck with your training. I’ll let you know if the Black Hats come looking for you.”

  I nodded and bid my podmate goodbye.

  “They might, you know,” Diego said, nodding at me. “We’re their MVPs now.”

  I had picked up on that. Every other day, they called in Anna, Mark, or Luiz. On the opposite days, it would be Diego and me. I felt discomfort begin to settle in my stomach, then pushed it away.

  “Not much I can do about that,” I said. “Do you want to try that disarming thingy?”

  Diego nodded, reaching down to pick up the broken tap we were using as our “gun.” Having picked up on the fact that my healing factor drained away my powers, Diego had decided to start training me on disarming targets. According to him, this was a skill that most people wouldn’t be taught right off the bat. But we were short on time.

  Far too short on time.

  Diego held out the “gun” and pointed it at me. And, in motions that felt too slow for real life, I pivoted in and disarmed him, throwing the fake gun to the side.

  “You know,” he began. “During the breakout, you’re probably gonna wanna hand those to one of us.”

  “Is that the smartest idea?” I asked. “Only, what…three of us actually
know how to use one?”

  “Better to keep them in our hands.” He crossed the shower and picked up the tap. “If anything, it will result in more bodies on their side than ours.”

  I felt myself go still at his words.

  And Diego picked right up on it.

  “I saw that,” he said with a sigh. “Just like I saw how you reacted when Anna brought it up.”

  “What?” I said. “Am I supposed to be happy about the idea of hurting people? Of—” I shook my head, unable to say it.

  “Actually, yeah,” Diego said. “These people have spent the last month and a half fucking with us. Hell, for people like Gerry and Bixby it’s been over half a year. They’ve taken pieces of us. Literally, in Mark’s case. Teresa is gone because of those monsters. And sure, you may not want to hurt anyone now, but when things get dicey, and the option is in front of you—”

  “I won’t.”

  “You don’t know—”

  “Yes, I do,” I said, taking a step toward him. “The first time I transformed during testing, I could have done it. I was free, and Dr. Hale was right in front of me. Had just ordered Gardiner to shatter my collarbone. If there was ever a time in my life where I could justify something like that, it would have been then. Only, I didn’t.”

  Diego shook his head. “You were in shock. Going off pure instincts.”

  “And my instincts led me back here. Or, at least they tried to. I didn’t get very far.”

  He blinked in surprise. “Why the hell would you come back here?”

  “I couldn’t leave you all behind!”

  And that’s when I heard a high-pitched scream coming from outside.

  Diego and I exchanged a glance; then he quickly headed toward the door. I paused, and closed my eyes, the transformation taking only a couple of breaths. Once I was done, I immediately exited the bathroom area, practically running into Diego when I hit the Big Room.

  And across the room from us, near the tables, were three Black Hats.

  The source of the scream immediately became obvious. Anna lay on the floor, curled around her middle. Even from here I could see that her eyes were wide, her body frozen.