“I’d be lyin’ if I didn’t admit to it,” Denny replied. “I try not to think about it, but you saw him ninja those crack-heads holding Huang. And let me tell you, when he decided that Madge Thayer was going to interview him his way, she didn’t have a prayer. D gave him a lecture on the power controlling him rather than Mike controlling it. I think he took the warning to heart.”
“Yeah, or he reached out and zapped you and Fluffy too.”
Denny started to deny Joanie’s half joking accusation, and then just grinned at her. “Or that.”
* * *
“Hey, Rawlins.”
Three guys from his Spanish class were waiting around outside the classroom: Ray Muniz, Jay Reyes, and Damian Vega. Although he’d never had any trouble with them, they’d never done more than nod at him prior to now. The one who’d called out to him was Vega. None of the three were over six feet tall, but Mike knew no one messed with them. He had no plans to mess with them either. He looked around for Ms. Alvarez, but figured she might already be in the classroom. Mike nodded affably at Vega.
“We heard you was over rescuin’ Five O from the clutches of some homies mindin’ their own business last night. One of our crew got plunked in your mess.”
“That what you heard, huh?” Mike smiled because whether Vega knew it or not, he was a couple words away from getting juiced. Like D warned him, the mine warping ability gets habit forming.
Vega cocked his head off to the side, and glanced at his buddies. “I think gangsta’ here’s givin’ us attitude.”
“You used to mind yo’ own business, punk,” Muniz chimed in. “It can get real dangerous messin’ with people know where you live… know what I’m sayin’?”
The juice it is. Mike shot one thought into the trio’s heads – ‘I’m your friend and you got my back.’ Mike even felt the connection this time. He savored the threads of power tingling through him like a slight electrical charge. He broke off the connection, seeing the familiar vague look wash over the confronting teens’ faces. About ten seconds after breaking his connection, the three teens stared at him in surprise.
“Oh… hey, Mike. How you doin’,” Vega asked.
“Good… real good. You guys going to the game?”
The three glanced at each other trying to gauge what their answer should be. Reyes smiled finally, giving Mike a friendly shove. “You playin’ quarterback?”
“Sanderson’s playing quarterback, Jay, but I might get in on a few plays. It’s Concord, so you know they’re coming in to stomp us. We might give them a little surprise.”
“Sounds good.” Vega nodded and smiled. “We best get in or Alvarez be all over us. Good luck at the game.”
“Yeah, Mike, good luck. We got your back,” Muniz added.
“Thanks. We’re going to need it.” Mike followed his new friends into the classroom, where Ms. Alvarez watched the group enter together with an uneasiness shadowing her features. When Mike smiled at her, she seemed a little surprised, which made him wonder if she knew something he didn’t.
“Mr. Rawlins, I need to speak with you before we get started today,” Ms. Alvarez said, gesturing for Mike to follow her into the hall.
“Sure thing, Ms. Alvarez.” Mike patted Vega’s shoulder as he went by with familiar friendliness.
In the hall, Alvarez yanked Mike over a few feet away from the door. “Are you nuts? I saw those three waiting for you, and interrogating other kids about whether they’d seen you. They’re involved with bad people outside the school, Mike. Those three are dangerous.”
Uh oh, Mike thought. This is going to take more investigative work than I figured. He smiled and put his hands reassuringly on Alvarez’s shoulders. “I’m working some magic on them, Ms. Alvarez. I’m bringing them over from the dark side.”
“I know you’ve been doing things unimaginable, but you need to get a reality check, kid. Those three are on the string of someone neither of us ever want to know about.”
Mike released her and stopped smiling. “Ms. Alvarez, I know you only have my welfare in mind. Believe me, I’m not taking anything for granted. Trust me. I won’t forget what you’ve said, and I appreciate your concern. C’mon, let’s go in. I have your reading assignment down pat. Take me for a test drive.”
Alvarez shook her head, grimacing at Mike’s un-amused but unconcerned face. “You do take too much for granted, Mike. Your survival instinct seems a little out of whack.”
“You’d be surprised.” Mike put an arm around her shoulders, guiding her toward the classroom door. “Sometimes you just have to have faith.”
“From your lips to God’s ear, kid.”
Mike made sure to collar Damian Vega as the class ended. “Damian, can I talk to you for a moment? I have history. Are you walking my way?”
Vega nodded happily, signaling to Reyes and Muniz to go ahead. “You bet, Mike. What’s up?”
Mike carefully linked with Vega. He sensed the connection, tightened the hold, and added a feeling of well being. Vega’s smile widened as they walked. “Who asked you to talk to me earlier, buddy?”
Vega’s smile wavered, but he answered without hesitation. “His name’s Juri Glinko, but you don’t want to mess with him. My crew got into some trouble and… you know… we do favors for him to get even. He was pissed big time about the thing last night. One of his main guys got busted making a delivery to the distributors. They confiscated the money and drugs. We got your back though, Mike. You’re our friend.”
“That’s why I don’t want you guys taking the heat for me. What exactly did he want you to do with me?”
“We were supposed to collar you and bring you out to the parking lot for Glinko after class if we could do it quietly, but we’d never do that to you. We got your back.”
“I know that, and I’ve got your back, my friend. Let’s do this now. You deliver me to him and I’ll talk it over with him. I’m certain I can help us all out.”
Vega’s face brightened a little. “You mean it, Mike? You really think you can help us out? I’m thinking Glinko plans to dump you in the ocean.”
Mike chuckled, patting Vega’s shoulder. “I’ll be fine. If we hurry, you won’t be late for your next class.”
“You the man! I bet you can do this. C’mon. I’ll take you to him. I won’t ever forget this, Mike.”
“No problem. What are friends for?”
* * *
The man sitting in the driver’s seat of a Chrysler 300 parked near Mike’s Chevy turned to the ruddy complexioned man in the back. “Do you think those punks really will bring Rawlins out, Juri?”
“Who knows? It’s a win/win for us. They bring the prick out and we cut them a little slack. They don’t and we add a little debt on. If they get him out here, we’ll take the hero for a private conversation, right Al?”
The huge guy sitting next to Glinko in the back smiled but said nothing.
“Anyway, you just drive, Hamid. Let Al and I worry about Rawlins. That son of a bitch cost us big time last night! With a little more time we could have gotten our product and money out of there with only the locals involved. I couldn’t believe it when that damn kid showed up with an FBI agent and his stupid dog. That’s the second time he somehow stuck his nose in the middle of our business. He cost me a whole crew in that Kinsler girl fiasco. Either today or later we’re going to make sure he never punks us again.”
They sat in silence for a time. Glinko looked at his watch. “We’ll give Vega and his guys another ten-”
“There they are, boss.” Hamid pointed at Vega gripping Mike’s arm while guiding him toward the Chrysler. “That kid’s big. Look at that scar. Looks like the punk’s been around the block.”
“Shut up,” Glinko ordered. “What are you, a fan? Bring him in, Al, and tell Vega his debt’s decreased a little.”
The man named Al lumbered out of the car. “Boss says you get some cred, Vega. Beat it.”
“What about Mike?” Vega glanced at Mike in confusion.
> “It’s okay, Damian,” Mike told him. “You go on to class. I’ll see you later.”
“Ah… sure… okay, Mike.” Vega turned away back toward the school.
Al gestured at the car while putting his hand on the butt of a gun harnessed inside his suit coat. “Get in kid. The boss needs to talk with you. We’ll have you back in class before you know it.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet.”
Glinko looked up as a blank faced Al got in next to him, and Mike entered the passenger side front, much to the driver’s surprise. “What the hell are you doin’, Al?”
“Mike’s my friend,” Al told Glinko happily.
“You stupid-” Glinko began a colorful rebuke of his minion’s behavior when suddenly, he was Mike’s friend too.
* * *
Mike got out of the car, but leaned back in the window with a smile. “You boys know what you need to do, right?”
All three men nodded their heads in the affirmative.
“Do you know any kids named Vega, Reyes, or Muniz?”
All three heads shook in the negative.
“We don’t really know you either, son,” Glinko said. “Thanks for your help. We have to go turn ourselves over to the police, and make sure they understand what happened in that incident last night where the police officer was wounded.”
“That’s very good of you, Sir,” Mike complimented him. “Have a nice day.”
Mike received a chorus of ‘have a nice day’ back before the Chrysler drove away. Mike walked toward the school, noting he’d only be a little late for history class. Yep, he thought, D’s going to turn me into a Haunt if he finds out just how close I am from the edge now. The mix of adrenaline and power hummed through him as if he were gaining strength with every encounter. It had been shocking for a moment how quickly he had overwhelmed the three men. Habit forming was only a softball term for what visions were shooting through his head now with the scope of what he believed he could do. He began jogging toward his history class.
Chapter Fourteen
Hand of God
As Mike sat in history class he noted Sandy Albertson kept staring at him whenever she could do so without attracting the ire of Mr. Birnbaum, their history teacher. He briefly considered shooting a signal at her ordering an end to her interest, but held himself in check. Birnbaum had accepted his excuse for being late in order to check on his parents. It had been the truth, because he had warned his Mom on his way to class, making her promise to keep Demon with her at all times until he made sure a problem was cleared up. She’d agreed only after Mike gave her his word he would explain later.
Mike realized the temptation to use his evolving power would without any doubt become a moment to moment battle in the future. He remembered D’s warning about eventually being unable to recognize whether he was living in or controlling every situation around him. Mike welcomed the battle, because he knew there would be no turning back even if he wanted to, which he didn’t. Control would be key now. The euphoria of handling deadly criminals with ease while protecting people he cared about could mutate easily into a power fix he couldn’t do without. He also perceived as his friends and family became aware of how powerful he was, they would begin looking at him with unease, wondering if he were nudging them. Mike smiled. He knew D would always be with him. Everyone else would either drift away or trust him not to misuse his gift. He smiled, feeling it would eventually be just him and D if they ever beat the Haunt invasion.
The class ended without incident. Mike could tell Sandy was moving from her corner of the classroom to join him. Rearranging her mind would always be a temptation, so Mike waited for her outside the classroom. He figured she would be a great one to practice control on. Mike leaned against the wall. Sandy held her hand out in a cautioning motion as she walked over to confront him.
“Don’t zap me, Mike. I was just wondering if there had been any fallout over the other night. I saw you with that FBI agent again on the news. Am I going to be arrested?”
“For what, releasing imaginary monsters on the unsuspecting populace? Nope. You’re in the clear with the police. You won’t ever be in the clear with me. The moment I sense a disturbance in the force caused by you, I will rearrange your neurons in such a way the only thing you’ll ever do again is recite ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb’.”
Sandy stumbled back away from Mike, horror flowing once again through her as she realized he meant every word of it. “We…we could be friends. I could help you. Your other friends don’t really know you. You have to pretend for the others so you don’t scare the crap out of them. I know what you can do. Even right now I can sense a difference in you. You’ve gotten stronger. I suspected it when I watched you make those people bring out the wounded cop right through a closed door on the news. You don’t even have to handle anyone. I feel you now. It’s like being next to a high voltage cabinet.”
Mike stared at her, the temptation to make her into an empty headed robot raged inside him powerfully. He took a deep breath. “What is it you want, Sandy? Please don’t give me anymore of that ‘I want to be your friend crap.”
“You know I’m right. I’m the only one who knows what kind of monster you’ve become. Admit it. You-” Sandy shut up as Mike straightened away from the wall, his eyes darkening. She tried to run, realizing she had gone too far, but he had her again. This time the raw power holding Sandy frozen against her will, felt as if she were lying on the bottom of the ocean, being crushed by the incredible pressure of unimaginable depths.
“Oh Sandy girl… you are just what I need right now. Feel it, baby?”
A single tear trickled down Sandy’s cheek. Mike realized he had just communicated without speaking. He looked around at the students passing by them. The ones who glanced in his direction, quickly looked away. Mike took Sandy’s chin in his hand. She gasped, feeling control flood back into her body. A feeling of wellbeing overcame the shadowy darkness at the edges of her mind.
Mike shook Sandy’s chin slightly. “Was it good for you too? It’s not nice to mess with the monster, baby.”
“Good Lord, Mike! You need me. You would never have done that to any of your people. They don’t have a clue how powerful you are. Even your damn dog can’t sense it. I don’t want anything. I just… you know… want to be around you.”
“I have a girlfriend,” Mike replied, releasing her. “You helped me already. I resisted the urge to fry your brain like an egg.”
Sandy reached out and clasped Mike’s arm. “That’s all I want. Practice on me. Use me any way you want. “You won’t ever be able to have someone like me.”
“You are persistent. I’ll think about it.”
“Can…can I meet you for lunch?”
Mike considered it. “Yeah, meet us for lunch. Same spot. Denny and my sister will be there too. Maybe you can be useful. I might need to prove I can keep from frying your brain like an egg just to impress them.”
“I won’t betray you.”
Mike didn’t speak, but his thoughts pierced right into Sandy’s brain as he walked away. “I know you won’t, Sandy girl. You belong to me now. I’ll know when you’re bad.”
* * *
“Did you order a bitch?” Joanie gestured at the front of the cafeteria.
Denny looked up from his sandwich. Sandy Albertson was approaching their table, her eyes averted. “Mike must want to ask her a few questions to make sure she’s not initiating anymore Haunt love-ins.”
Sandy put her book bag down next to her. “Hi. Mike said I could eat lunch with him.”
“Oh crap… he juiced her,” Joanie said, getting an acknowledging nod from Denny. “Sit down Robotica. Mike should be here shortly.”
Sandy sat down. “Look. I’m really sorry about what I’ve done, Joanie. Mike didn’t do anything to me. He could have zapped me, but he didn’t. You two don’t know how powerful he is. If Mike wanted something from me, he could rip it out in a second. I’ve felt him. He can even speak to me with telepathy. I want to b
e near him. I think he and I could be friends.”
“Telepathy, huh? Listen to me, Sandy.” Joanie reached over and covered her hand. “You’re just feeling the residuals from when Mike got rid of the Haunt inside you. It’ll pass.”
Sandy gripped Joanie’s hand in both hers. “I’m telling you the truth. We’re all lucky Mike’s around. He can control it too. Outside history, he froze me without even a touch. Then he spoke to me inside my head. He could have toasted me like a campfire marshmallow, but he didn’t.”
“She’s telling the truth, Joan.” Denny had been peering into Sandy’s face as she spoke.
Joanie smirked. “Yeah, or Mike’s still got her flopping on the hook.”
Sandy’s voice wavered as if she were on the verge of breaking down. “Think about it. Mike could mind wipe me so I’d never approach him again… or even know his name for that matter. Why would he let me come here to have lunch with him?”
“She’s right,” Denny agreed. “Mike will clear this up. Here he comes now.”
Mike sat down next to Sandy. “Hi. How do you like my new groupie?”
“Let her go, Mike,” Joanie ordered. “This isn’t funny. I’m tellin’ Mom.”
Sandy began to sob. “I tried to tell them the truth, Mike. They don’t believe me.”
Mike’s features lost all humor. He gripped Sandy’s hand. “Easy, Sandy girl, I believe you. I’m not juicin’ her. She thinks she’s going to be my spirit guide or something. Don’t keep teasing her. Hey, at least she’s not plotting to open portals. I thought you two would be proud of me because I’m not doing anything to her.”
“She’s a little upset for someone just wanting to have lunch with you, Mike,” Joanie replied. “I’m sorry, Sandy. I didn’t mean to upset you. If you say Mike’s not pulling your strings, I believe you. Now calm down and eat your lunch. Do you have something to drink? If you don’t, I’ll send Frodo out to get you something.”
“I…I have a bottled water. Thanks Joanie. Sorry for the whiney crap.” Sandy bent down and got her lunch and a bottled water out of her bag. She opened her water and took a sip before using a hanky to wipe her eyes and blow her nose. “It’s just that this is so exciting. I never believed in anything before, but now I know there are evil things beyond description. You all fight them, and Mike’s powers are like the hand of God.”
Demon at War (The Mike Rawlins Series Book 3) Page 21