by Imogen Rose
“Arizona, what’s the matter?” David’s mom rushed over to me.
David reached me first and gathered me up in his arms, holding me tightly. I was thankful that I wouldn’t have to explain anything to him; he could just help himself and read every thought I had. I felt him kiss the top of my head gently, comfortingly.
“David?” his mom inquired softly.
“It’s okay, Mom,” he whispered, with a warning tone to not probe any further, I guessed. I eased myself out of David’s arms and turned to her. “I’m okay. Just a bit overwhelmed. Dad said that they’re almost done. He’ll come and get us soon. I’m guessing that David updated you?”
“Yes. Do you think your mom will be okay with this?”
“I don’t know. It’s not like he had much choice. We need to get Harry and Kellan back. Besides, Dad seems to have settled into his new role like he was born into it.”
“He was,” David said gently.
“I know, I know. It’s just hard to get my head around it. I’ve never seen him so… imposing before, that’s all.”
“He’ll still be the same old Rupert when he deals with you. He just has to take on this persona in front of his new subjects.”
Subjects? Wow. And it sure didn’t seem like he was taking on a persona; he seemed to be as one with it.
“Now, I’m guessing your dad doesn’t need us here, so I’m going to head back with Lars, Javier, and Morena. We’re needed back home.”
I looked over at David. “Will you stay?”
I couldn’t tell from his expression if he wanted to go or not.
“Sure.” He flashed me a reassuring smile. “That’s okay, isn’t it, Mom?”
She nodded. “I wasn’t expecting you to come with us. I’ll see you back home when you’re done here. Take care of yourself, and of Arizona.”
“Inez! Javier, Lars, Morena. Are you leaving?” Dad asked, suddenly appearing in the doorway.
“Yes, Rupe. We should go and check in with Olivia, Larry, and Kevin. Ella arrived earlier with Morgana. She’s asleep in one of the bedrooms upstairs. Do you want me to bring her downstairs before I go?”
“No, best not to disturb her. I’ll go up and see her shortly. Will Morgana be able to stay with her?”
“Yes, Constance already gave her permission to stay. She has Tallulah with her as well.”
Better keep little Tallulah away from Cleopatra, I thought, looking over at Cleo, who was licking her paws with enthusiasm. She would have poor Tallulah for a bite-sized snack.
Once Inez left, Dad turned to David and me. His relaxed expression was gone again, replaced by a grim one. “Kids, you should either stay here while we rescue Harry and Kellan or go upstairs and hang out with Ella.”
Although I was slightly intimidated by his new grave demeanor, I wasn’t putting up with it. I almost shook with annoyance as I tried to steady myself enough to hold my own. “No! We. Are. Not. Going. Anywhere!” I was a hair away from throwing a full-blown hissy fit. My adrenaline was obviously on full-power, surging through me. I stamped my foot.
Dad’s face started cracking. He let out a big chuckle and flopped into the nearest armchair holding his stomach, tears of laughter flooding from his eyes.
That just made me angrier. I crossed my arms and glared at him until he stopped snickering.
He shook his head. “What am I going to do with you, Arizona?”
“You are going to bring me with you. Just because I’m not your biological daughter doesn’t mean–”
Before I could get any more words out–that was, if I had been able to get them out at all over my gut-wrenching sobs–he’d pulled me into his arms and was holding me so tight that I almost couldn’t breathe. I needed him not to let go. If he did, I would collapse in a heap.
“How could you say such a thing, even think like that?” he whispered into my hair.
I looked up. His eyes were bloodshot, tears streaming down his face.
“Dad…” I couldn’t get any other words out. I buried my face back into his chest and cried.
When I was all cried out, I looked up again. Dad looked miserable. “I’m sorry, Dad.”
“What for?”
“For making you so sad. I didn’t mean to.”
“Arizona, what’s all this about?”
“I feel bad that I can’t help because I’m not like you, a Sigma-W.”
“That’s not the issue, honey. Surely you understand that?”
I shook my head. “If I was, you’d take me!”
“Even if you had the potential, like Harry, you wouldn’t be a Sigma-W until you were ready. I just took on my own responsibilities today!”
“But I am ready. Now. But I can’t because I am not your b–”
He put his finger over my lips. “Shush! Don’t ever say that again. Ever.”
I nodded, ashamed for acting like I was, but I couldn’t seem to help it. I felt David’s eyes boring into my back. He must have thought I was an idiot.
Dad sighed and relaxed his hold around me. Then he led me to the couch and asked me to sit, while he paced the room. He reminded me of Granddad in that moment. Then he turned to me with a somber expression on his face. “You’re ready?”
I nodded. I was so ready.
Raj looked down at Kellan’s limp body. He knelt to confirm that the boy was still alive, not that it made much difference. In a way, it would be easier if he was dead. They could still use him by just taking some pictures and sending them to his father. Then they could dispose of his body, easy to do here in the Bahamas. No one knew Kellan was there, so no one would report him missing.
He was disappointed when he found a pulse. “Dan, it might be best if we dispose of him.”
Dan’s eyes widened. “But he’s not dead. I made sure of that. I’m no killer!”
“I agree.” Sophie shuffled her feet uncomfortably. “Just let’s get what we want and send him back home. He’s just a kid.”
Raj looked from Dan to Sophie. How had he managed to get involved with two of the biggest losers of all time? He could do it himself, but he guessed that the two do-gooders would fight him. He would have been better off surrounding himself with Potomal’s group in the first place, and if he’d known then what he knew now, he would have. He wondered why Madison had disappeared.
A sharp knock on the motel door interrupted his thoughts. Dan let Simla in. She looked haggard again.
“Okay, Dad. You have what you asked for. What now?” Then she looked down at Kellan, her eyes widening in horror. “What did you do? Is he dead? Madison said he was fine when she brought him over.”
“Don’t get all worked up. He’s fine. He was a bit troublesome, so Dan had to quiet him down–”
“Quiet him down? How? By making sure he doesn’t breathe again? That’s just wrong. Potomal is going to be furious.”
“Nonsense, he’ll be fine as long as he gets the prints, which we need to get right now. The good news is that Larry’s stuck at the hangar at Ames. Sophie and Dan tied him up on their way out of there. So, all we need to do is go back to him with a photograph of his son, and he’ll give us the prints.”
“Who’s going to do that?”
“I was going to get Dan to make the trip. Larry won’t try anything stupid with Dan.”
“That’s fine with me,” Dan mumbled.
“And how were you going to get back into Ames?” Simla glared at Dan.
“Um. I don’t know. I guess your dad has a plan.”
All eyes were on Raj, but quickly moved to Kellan as he let out a groan, and his legs twitched. He rolled over, wincing as he apparently tried to open his swollen eyes. Raj tensely held his breath, as Kellan tried a few more times. Then Kellan’s eyelids flickered once and became still. His face fell to the side, and he went completely still.
“Is he dead?” Sophie asked.
Raj put his fingers on Kellan’s neck, feeling for signs of life. He’d pretty much given up when he finally felt the soft palpitations. He s
ighed. “Still alive.” He stood back up, impatiently crossing his arms. “Now, where were we?”
“We were discussing how to get Dan into Ames,” Simla reminded him.
“Well, I can’t think of another way apart from you wandering him over,” Raj said resolutely. It was the sensible thing to do. They would save time on flights. And it wasn’t like he had any money for a ticket anyway. He would have just sent Simla by herself, but he couldn’t see her being able to stand up to Larry. Dan needed to go; he was far more intimidating.
“Dad, there’s no way I can wander him! Look at the size of him! Plus, I can’t travel geographically.”
“So how did you get to Las Vegas?”
“One of the Sigma-W-Pi’s dropped me off. I already explained all this to you,” she muttered frustrated.
“All right. I guess we need one of Potomal’s bunch, then. How about Madison, or that guy, Olivier? He seemed big and strong.”
“Madison’s outside. I’ll go ask her.” Simla seemed reluctant, but left to go and find Madison.
“Let’s get some pictures of Kellan while we wait.” Raj brought out his cell phone and took a few shots. He removed the duct tape from Kellan’s lips and took a few more. He wished Kellan looked a bit more alive. If Larry thought he was dead, he’d never part with the prints. “Dan, get some water and pour it over his face.”
“Eh? Why?”
“I need him to wake up a bit, so he looks alive. I just had a great idea, in fact.” Raj beamed. “I’ll video you splashing the water on him and hopefully getting a reaction. That will be even more realistic and hard-hitting.”
“No way,” Dan grumped.
“Why not?” Raj barked, annoyed.
“’Cause he’s not as stupid as you think he is,” Sophie sneered. “You don’t for a minute think that he’s going to allow you to film him, do you?”
“I won’t film him; I’ll be careful,” Raj replied impatiently. “Look, you can have a look at the video yourself after I take it.”
Sophie and Dan exchanged glances.
“What do you want me to do?”
Raj looked around for a cup or mug and found an ice bucket by the sink. He filled it almost to the brim and handed it to Dan. “Come and stand here by me so you’re not in the camera field. When I say action throw half of that water right at his face. Wait about fifteen seconds, and then do it again. Don’t say a word, so your voice doesn’t get recorded. Ready?”
Dan looked down at the water in the bucket. “This feels so wrong. But, we’ve come this far, and water won’t kill the boy. Yeah, I’m ready.”
“Action.” Raj pressed the record button, and Dan threw the water at Kellan aiming it perfectly at his face. They waited. There was no movement other than the tiny flicker of Kellan’s eyelids. Raj turned to Dan and nodded. The rest of the water hit Kellan’s face with much greater force, causing him to splutter and cough. Then he went quiet again. Raj turned off the recorder. He played it back, Dan and Sophie peering over his shoulder, watching the LED screen carefully. It was perfect.
“There,” he said, as Simla returned with Madison and Olivier.
“Sorry. It took longer that I thought it would, Dad. We had to get permission, and Olivier was sent back with us. Potomal says that this is the very last favor, and that he’s cutting your funds by twenty percent for the trouble.”
Raj felt a flash of anger wash over him, but managed to calm his thoughts. He had messed up. Still, twenty percent was a lot; he’d have to negotiate that with Potomal. However, first he better get on with acquiring the prints.
He handed Dan the cell phone with the video recording. “You know what to do. Don’t come back without the prints.”
“I’m only going to transport you there and back. I’m not getting involved in any other dealings,” Madison said sourly.
“Yes, ma’am. Let’s go.”
Of course, I wasn’t exactly sure what he meant by ready. I knew I was ready to go and rescue Kellan and Harry, though. And that’s what I assumed we were about to do.
The plan was a little complicated. Thankfully, all the intelligence had already been gathered, and Trina had done an excellent job of cataloguing the information so that we could make sense of it all. She made sure that everyone knew of her essential involvement.
We all gathered in the situation room, and she took to the floor after bowing to Dad and curtly nodding in my direction. She slid her hand into her pocket and pulled out her pipe on her way to the podium, which was set up with a display board. When she turned around to face the crowd–there were about twenty Sigma-Ws, including my grandparents–she blew out a thick cloud of smoke from her slightly open mouth. She picked up a pointer with her free hand and snapped it sharply against the board to get everyone’s attention. The low murmur immediately ceased, and everyone sat up straight. She beamed at the instant reaction. “His Highness has asked me to outline the plan,” she said, sounding all puffed up. “I’ve collated all the information, and the council came up with the following strategy. Group one will rescue Kellan Fox. We have confirmed that he is being held by Raj in the Bahamas. At least five people are guarding him; we suspect at least two of them are Sigma-W-Pi. The council feels that, under those circumstances, a simple extraction will be impossible, which is why group one will consist of mainly our alpha troop.”
“Is Kellan all right?” I blurted, interrupting her flow.
She took another drag of her pipe and glared at me. “If I knew, I’d have said so.”
“Trina!” Dad bellowed in warning.
“Sorry, sir.” She threw me a spiteful look and continued. “Of course, we have no idea what we’ll find once we get there. For all we know, Kellan’s already dead.”
David curled his fingers through mine as I winced. “Ignore her. She’s being a pain in the ass.”
“That’s enough, Trina! Go sit down. I’ll deal with you later.” Dad got up and marched to the front taking the pointer from Trina, who rolled her eyes and sat down.
Dad nodded apologetically. “Okay. Group one will rescue Kellan. Group two will continue to search for Harry. Our intelligence is still trying to locate him. I can only assume he’s being held by Potomal somewhere….”
“Then we don’t have to worry too much,” Gramadea chirped. “Potomal would never hurt Harry. Kellan is the one we need to concentrate on first. Raj is quite unstable.”
Dad nodded. “Group one, stay here, and group two, go with Bruno to the other conference room. He’ll brief you. Keep me in the loop.” He looked at Bruno, who nodded.
“Trina, go to my office and continue following up leads from the intelligence team and cataloguing and analyzing the data.”
She coughed and started to say something, but Dad swiftly stopped her. “Trina. Just go. I will check in with you later.”
She looked unhappy, glowering as she got up and left.
“Arizona, David, you should join group two,” Dad instructed.
I felt conflicted. I wanted to be in both places. The agony in Kellan’s face as he’d faded away from my vision at the casino kept flashing through my mind. It sent waves of nausea through me, and I felt my chest tighten. David’s grip around my hand stiffened, and I looked up at him.
“I know you can’t understand your emotions, but you should go and find Kellan.”
“Will you come with me?”
“Yeah, I’ll stay with you, Poppet.”
I heard Dad sigh. “I guess you both are staying. So, let’s get on with it. Arizona, I am assigning Mitch to you. Mitch, could you stand up?” A young man in his mid-twenties stood up. He was wearing a uniform of black leather pants and a jacket with red epaulettes and the red Sigma-W insignia. An image of Kellan wearing that same uniform suddenly flashed in my mind. I shook my head. Mitch must have been one of the troops Trina had mentioned.
“You must stay with him at all times. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Dad.”
“And you, David, must stay with Hensen a
t all times.” He pointed to another young man getting up to stand next to Mitch.
David nodded.
“Group one has already received instructions, and we will deploy in exactly twenty minutes. Arizona and David, go with Mitch and Hensen and get suited up. Meet us back here in ten minutes.”
I hoped for black leather as well. I stayed away from that sort of attire usually, but it would be kind of cool to try it on. Hensen handed David and me a bag each and pointed us to the changing rooms.
Safely locked inside, I spilled the contents of the bag onto the floor, since time was of the essence. I was pleased to see the heap of black leather bundled on the carpet. I hoped they fit….
They did, like a glove. And I felt strangely at home in them. I slipped my feet into the black combat boots feeling a sense of excitement rush through me. Then I went back into the hallway to come face to face with leather-clad David. One word–hot. Like knock-your-socks-off hot. Then I remembered that he belonged to someone else and turned to Mitch. “Let’s go.”
All the chairs and tables in the conference room had been moved to the side by the time we got back. I nearly didn’t recognize Dad in the crowd. He’d changed into a uniform as well. I counted the bodies in the room. There were twelve of us, including David and me. So, that meant that there were only seven real fighters because Dad hadn’t been involved in this before. Actually, I wasn’t even sure that he could wander, which meant that maybe one of the seven was needed to babysit him.
“Arizona, are you sure you want to do this?” Dad asked, looking at me severely.
“Totally.”
“Mitch and Hensen will keep you out of direct action. If they’re needed, you will stand back with David. Is that clear?”
“No worries, Mr. Darley.” David nodded stoically. “Are you going to explain what’s going to happen, or do you just want us to go with the flow?”
“We’re going to be winging it, to some extent,” Dad admitted. “We’re going to land on the beach, and then walk over to the motel at around two in the morning, when the surroundings will be quiet. Then we’ll head up to Raj’s motel room and try to get a feel for who’s in there and what’s going on. We’ll then decide what to do next.”