Ted Saves the World

by Bryan Cohen

  Chapter 44

  The sheriff's truck pulled up to one of the cave mouths. Aside from a squirrel running away from all the commotion, there was no activity there. Erica looked up and saw the helicopter flying away. Ted had to be inside the caves somewhere, or he wouldn't have let go of the aircraft.

  "They must've gone in another entrance," she said. "Have any of you ever been in the caves?"

  The sheriff nodded.

  "There are several different paths in there. If we don't split up, we may never find Ted."

  Erica didn't like that idea. She'd been with stronger teams in the past, but it was rare she was so close with everybody she was putting in danger. She consented for lack of a better option.

  "We should probably wait for backup," the sheriff said.

  "Not enough time. Got any weapons?"

  If Erica didn't have her power over the sheriff, she wondered if he would have allowed her to take control of the mission. Would he even believe she was sent to protect the most powerful person on the planet?

  "I have my pistol and a stun gun."

  Jennifer reached for the stun gun.

  "Ooh, I've always liked these."

  "Always?" Dhiraj asked.

  "A sheriff's kid occasionally gets to play with a sheriff's toys."

  Dhiraj looked nervous.

  "If there's nothing else, I'll just use my wits," Dhiraj said. "They've gotten me this far."

  Erica nodded. She looked into the cave, where there was a two-way split only 20 or so feet inside.

  "I've still got my wrench," Erica said. "You come with me, Dhiraj. We'll go to the right."

  "Be safe in there," the sheriff said, tossing Dhiraj a flashlight. He nearly dropped it but caught it after two fumbles.

  "You guys, too," Dhiraj said. "Especially you, Jen. You're my favorite."

  Jennifer rolled her eyes while the sheriff snorted.

  "No time for hormones right now," he said. "If we see Ted, what do we do?"

  "Get him out safe. Don't let him get stabbed."

  He nodded as he and his daughter took the left path in the cave. The past Erica hadn't really spent much time with Dhiraj. By the time Ted befriended him, she wasn't speaking to him anymore. He was famous around school for being able to turn anything into money. Erica's parents were loaded enough for her to never have to worry about that commodity.

  "So, how many times have you had to protect someone like Ted?" he asked.

  The two of them walked as quickly as they could, given the rocky terrain. In a few minutes of walking, there'd been nothing but rats inside.

  "Three times."

  Erica had been to the human world more than 20 times in total, but not all of the missions had been for protection. The others could be better defined as assassination. She opted to leave those missions out of the official count.

  "Are you always a smokin' hot teenage girl when you cross over?"

  A laugh escaped Erica's mouth and bounced around the cave.

  "Thanks, Dhiraj. No. I'm not even always a woman."

  The light ahead flickered as Dhiraj almost dropped his flashlight again. He regained his composure.

  "You've been a dude? Ted kissed a former dude? I can't wait to tell him."

  There were so many missions in which Erica had to keep her identity a secret. It felt nice to be able to talk about it, even if it was with Dhiraj, who seemed as unlikely to keep a secret as he was likely to major in business or economics in college.

  She heard a footstep in the distance.

  "Shhh. I hear something."

  The cave bent up ahead and Dhiraj and Erica slowed their pace. Another light was steadily pointing from the other direction.

  "Ted?" she called out.

  There was no answer.

  Erica motioned for Dhiraj to tread lightly. As they went around the bend, the sound of a gun clicking into place echoed through the cave. Deputy Daly stepped out of the shadows.

  "Hey, Erica. Did you miss me?"

  The memories of her murder and her killer all came back to Erica at once. Before, she'd blocked out the memories of her relationship with the deputy, but now it was as clear as if it had happened yesterday. Daly had been her secret to even her closest of friends. The deputy had made it clear the two of them would be in major trouble if anybody found out. It was forbidden and passionate while it lasted, and Erica wanted to run away with him out of the suburbs to anywhere other than Treasure. Daly had other plans. The night of her murder, the old Erica had her bag packed and ready to go. She sat on a tree stump and carved their initials into the wood. When he arrived that night, she was overcome by how attractive he was. In her mind, he was the knight who was coming to save her. He would take her away from her parents and her need to graduate from pointless classes. He'd give her the freedom she wanted.

  "Hey, baby," she said. "Are you ready to go?"

  He nodded. She could tell he was hiding something. When people were as close as the two of them were, secrets were impossible.

  "I just have a few more things to take care of," he said. "Then we'll get some gas and go far away from here."

  She could tell he was lying. Erica had said he'd be the worst undercover agent in the world. She knew he'd accidentally say his real name within the first 24 hours.

  "What's wrong?" she asked. "Do you still want to go?"

  "Come here."

  She moved close to the deputy. Erica took off his hat and kissed him deeply. She didn't see him draw the knife, but she felt it when he planted it deep in her abdomen. Erica staggered backwards and fell to the ground.

  "Baby, why would you–"

  She'd started to cough. She could no longer find the words to express herself.

  "You know too many of my secrets, Erica. And a man likes to keep his secrets."

  That was the last thing she remembered until the other side brought her back.

  In the cave, Erica shivered with fear. During her past missions, she'd only come into contact with her murderer a few times. None of them ended well.

  "Baby, you need to let me explain," Erica said. "I'm not going to tell anybody what happened."

  "Baby?" Dhiraj asked. "You know this guy?"

  Erica felt her heart beating too fast. She knew she needed to act, but she felt paralyzed. There were few more traumatic moments than reliving your death in a dark cave with your murderer about to do it all over again.

  "Of course she knows me," Daily said. "I killed her. And I plan on doing it again."

  Erica fought hard to get the words out.

  "You need to wait," Erica said. "I'm trying to save the world. It's life or death."

  Deputy Daly flexed his trigger finger and moved it into position.

  "You're wrong," he said. "It's just death."

  Erica closed her eyes.