by W. J. May
I shook my head. “How could they have found out?”
“Kieran told them.”
I punched Seth in the arm. “You know that’s bullshit. Stop blaming the foreigner. You know as well as I do that he didn’t set this up.”
“I don’t know. Neither do you. He says he’s back to find out who killed Rylee and clear his name. Today just shows me he’s hired idiot thugs to do the job. Maybe he’s jealous we all got talents and he didn’t.”
“He’s got a super sense as well. A sixth sense.”
Seth stared at me. “I heard Dr. Landers mention it and Kieran saying something, but nobody’s got a sixth sense. That’s impossible.”
“So are super senses.”
“Not according to comic books.”
“Oh my goodness!” I threw my hands in the air. I had a photographic memory and yet Seth knew everything about comic books.
“Okay. You believe what you want to believe and I’ll go with my gut. We’ll see who’s right in the end.”
“We need to text Brent and Zoe about this.”
“Be careful,” he warned. “Maybe someone’s reading our phones. We should call them.”
“And someone’s after our blood. This isn’t a silly game anymore. We’re all in danger.”
Seth snorted.
“What?”
“Seems Kieran’s in the safest spot of all of us. No one can touch him while he’s in jail.”
“Seth, give it a rest!”
“I’m still mad at him. He betrayed us all. And he killed his dad. Who does that? And I…” He clenched his jaw. “I’m the reason why he was one of us.” He dropped his head. “If he hadn’t been hanging out with me then he wouldn’t have been in the mine that day, and my friends wouldn’t have been exposed to him and in danger. He would’ve been another kid in our school who got into some trouble. Nothing else.”
I reached out and squeezed his hand. “It’s not your fault, Seth. None of it is your fault.”
“He killed his own father. I’m not putting anything past him.”
I stayed silent. I was happy Seth had opened up and talked to me this much and I didn’t want to push him any more than that. I had a feeling that Kieran’s relationship with his father wasn’t nearly as close as Seth’s was with his father. Even if he did kill his father, Kieran might have had a good reason for it.
“Kids! Dinner’s ready!” My mother opened the door to the family room and called down.
I stood. “Let’s all meet at Brent’s right after school, tomorrow.”
“Good idea. But we have to warn them tonight. Who the hell knows who’s next on the list.” His stomach growled. “Food first. I’m starving and your mom’s food smells so good I can taste it.”
I giggled and lightly punched his shoulder. “That’s your super sense, silly.”
“Yeah, and I’m keeping it. Nobody’s gonna take it away from me.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kieran
I didn’t care that the holding cell they put me in was cramped, sparse, and filthy. All I cared about was Zoe’s safety. I only hoped they could find the killer before the killer took her, or the others, out. I didn’t even want Seth dead, although I was pretty sure a good ass-kicking might do him good in the long run.
“Hey, Scott,” one of the deputies said. “You’ve got a roommate for the time being. Don’t get too comfortable with him. He’ll be gone before you even drag yourself out of bed in the morning.” He shoved a greasy man into the cell. The man staggered over to the toilet bowl and threw up in it. I wrinkled my nose and turned away.
The man groaned and collapsed on the floor. “Damn teenage punk,” he muttered. Whether he was talking to me or the voices in his head, I had no idea. I did know he was going through withdrawals, though. I saw the same signs I learned to recognize in my father. I had a feeling this man was withdrawing from things a lot stronger than alcohol, though.
He squinted at me with bloodshot eyes. “What the hell are you looking at?”
I sighed and turned to face the wall.
“Hey!” he shouted. “I’m talking to you.” I heard him stagger to his feet and come closer to me. “What’s a pretty boy like you doing in here anyway?”
I didn’t say anything.
“You know why I’m in here?”
“Drugs?” I guessed, turning to face his stinking breath.
He snorted. “You’re funny, but stupid. I don’t have any drugs. Not on me, and not in my system. That’s the problem, though.”
That’s definitely a problem. “So what’re you in here for?”
“I robbed a store. Then I got caught. Finally slipped up.”
“So you’re the one committing all of the robberies around Elliot Lake,” I asked, trying to appear like I didn’t really care.
He grinned. “Have to support myself somehow. You know how it is.”
I almost said I didn’t know how it was, and that I wasn’t at all like him. But I was. I had broken into some stores myself. Just for food, not drugs. I had committed even more crimes than that to protect others as well as myself. “Yeah, I know how it is.”
“You’re all right, you know?” He grinned, an ugly gap between two of his teeth. “For a pretty boy, that is.” He lay down on the ground beside the bunk cot as if it were a bed. “I’m going to tell you the greatest secret of all time.” He burped and then rolled over to the toilet and threw up. The air was filled with a putrid stench and I was more grateful than ever that I didn’t have Seth’s or Heidi’s ability. From the hideous sounds coming from him, I was glad I didn’t have Zoe’s either. I really hoped the greatest secret of all time produced a bottle of Febreeze and some noise-cancelling headphones out of thin air.
The druggie collapsed against the floor, groaning. “The greatest secret of all time,” he said again and laughed. “It’ll make me rich. Hell, it’ll make you rich if you get lucky enough. Listen up, kid.”
“Okay,” I said, yawning. “What’s the greatest secret?” I prepared myself for the punchline of whatever joke he was setting up.
“Radium halos.”
Everything stopped, even my heart. “What did you just say?”
“Ra-di-um ha-los,” he repeated slowly. “I don’t know the scientific crap about it, but it gives you superpowers. Turns the blood sorta purple, too. A person pumped full of radium halos is worth enough to buy a private island near Hawaii. Hell, you could buy Hawaii.” He laughed. “I met one, today. Eleanor said they were real, but I didn’t believe her.” He held up a grubby hand. “Liquid gold ran down my hand from her head. When I get outta here, I’m gonna find her and then retire.” He closed his eyes and curled around the rank toilet in the fetal position. “Liquid purple… crazy shit.”
Zoe. He attacked Zoe and made her bleed. How come I hadn’t had a premonition about it? I always did when she was in danger. Always. Did she know about the price on her head? She needed to know. She needed to protect herself. They all needed to protect themselves.
I ran to the cell bars. “Officer!” I shouted. “I would like my phone call. NOW!”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Zoe
“Hey, are you all right?” I hugged Heidi briefly and then looked at the bandage on her head that was almost completely hidden by her hair.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said and gave a small smile. “Um, we’re going to have to meet after school today at Brent’s. There’s something really important Seth and I need to tell you.”
I nodded. “Dad almost didn’t let me leave the house after Kieran called him. I think he’s more freaked out than I am. We might have one more piece to the puzzle of Rylee’s death.” All I needed now was to find out where exactly it belonged. I grabbed Heidi’s arm and pulled her to the edge of the school parking lot. “Just to warn you, the robbery was all over the six o’clock news and on the front page of the newspaper this morning. You and Seth are featured in the story.”
She groaned. “Why?”
“You know why.” When Heidi didn’t show like she understood, I pushed it. I was actually kind of mad they’d made such a big scene out of it. One thing we had focused on was getting in and out quick and unnoticed. “One, you beat the guy up. Two, he apparently got close and personal with you. Sucking your blood according to an eyewitness. Three, Seth then came crashing in to beat him up and save you. The two of you were apparently cuddling and whispering to each other until the cops came. They are calling you Romeo and Juliet.”
She groaned again. “This can’t be happening. School’s supposed to be my place of normalcy.”
“Well, normal is apparently warped now.”
“Hey,” Seth said, joining us. He looked at Heidi’s face and his own face clouded over. “What’s wrong?”
I tried to hide a smile but failed miserably. “Nothing, Romeo. Nothing.” I laughed and walked passed them to go into the school. Heidi would be able to break the news to him.
I knew that the story about Seth and Heidi was entertaining me much more than it should be, but Heidi was right about school being the place of normalcy. Even though the circumstances were far from normal, high school rumors about who was dating was totally normal. It was also a good distraction from the more scary things happening right now. Not the least of which being the price on everyone’s heads and Heidi being identified as having radium halos. When Kieran had called Dad, I couldn’t believe it. Dad sat down and told me about it and he admitted that there was a possibility of there being a strong value for radium halos on the black market. It was fairly undocumented and he planned to dig around today to see what he could find out.
He did tell me what he knew. Which was next to nothing.
“So people do know about it,” I had said to him. “And there’s a spot for it in the black market? Why?”
“Probably because people want superpowers,” he said dryly. “Although I don’t know how they would transfer it over. I’ll have to do more tests.”
“What’s the danger level?”
“Zoe,” he said. “Don’t treat this lightly. If that druggie is to be believed, the blood in you is worth millions.”
I shuddered at the memory. I didn’t even want to think about what would happen to me if some sick freak got a hold of me for my superpowers.
“Hey, Zoe,” Brent said, falling into step with me. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Apparently we’re meeting after school at your place, by the way. There’s something Heidi needs to tell us.”
“Is this about the robbery?”
“Yes and no,” I said. “I already know what it is, and so does Seth, but I can’t tell you here. We’ll fill you in when we get to your place.”
“Is it bad?”
“So bad,” I said. “My dad almost didn’t let me go to school.”
“Dr. Landers knows?”
“I’ll fill you in when we get home.”
“No.” Brent shook his head. “I’m not waiting for school to finish. Go get Heidi and I’ll find Seth. We’re leaving now. This shit needs to end now. Rylee’s dead, Kieran’s in jail, we’re being followed and blood’s being stolen from us. There’s too much stuff. It’s going to explode.”
I looked around to see if anyone had stopped to listen to him. No one had. It was a typical Monday morning with students still half-dead to the world. “Meet me outside in ten minutes.”
I found Heidi at her locker and slipped my arm through hers. “We gotta go. Now.”
She slammed her door and moved immediately beside me, not saying a word.
Brent and Seth showed up two minutes later. Everyone climbed into the Beetle. Heidi and Seth in the back, Brent in the passenger seat. We all scrunched down as I pulled out of the school parking lot, half-expecting a teacher to appear and stop us. Nobody did.
None of us said anything until we were nearly at Brent’s.
“Kieran’s in jail.” I glanced in the rear-view mirror.
“We know.” Seth met my gaze. “Brent told us last night.”
“Oh.” I shot a quick look at Brent. “He called our house last night. Somebody knows about the radium halos.”
“We know.” Heidi pointed to her head. “Someone tried to drink my blood yesterday.”
Brent swung around. “Really?”
“I swear, if someone asks me if I’m dating Heidi one more time, I will punch them,” Seth said suddenly.
“Heidi,” Brent said. “Are you dating Seth?”
Seth punched him in the arm. “You’re an asshole.”
“What?” Brent asked, laughing. “I asked Heidi.”
“I support the punch,” Heidi said. “Now get out, we’re here.”
I turned the car off and hopped out of it, pulling the seat back so Seth could get out. Thank goodness Brent knew how to make us laugh. I had a killer headache itching to drive me crazy at the back of my head.
We headed inside the gym and followed Brent single file to the boardroom-turned-our-campout.
“We are apparently worth a lot of money.”
Everyone stopped and turned to look at me.
“Pardon?” Brent asked.
“Black market and who knows what the hell else.” I sighed. The secret was out and someone would figure it was the five of us.
“So what’s with this black market thing?” Brent sat down on a leather chair at the table.
“It’s the radium halos,” I said quietly and sat across from him. “It’s in our blood, creating radium halos. We’re worth the price of Hawaii. Well, one of us is.”
“How do you know that?” Seth asked.
“They threw the druggie you beat up into the same cell as Kieran. He told Kieran everything and Kieran used his one phone call to call my dad.”
Brent shut his eyes and rubbed his temples. “Wait. Back up a sec. What the hell happened? The druggie that robbed the store knows we have radium halos in our blood?”
“He knows I have radium halos,” Heidi said. “He might figure Seth does too, but he doesn’t know about the two of you.” A visible shudder went through her body. “He knew what I was because of my blood. My head hit a display case and he touched the blood running from it and then said it was radium halos. He said I was going to make him rich.”
“And he just happened to tell Kieran, who just happened to be sharing a cell with him?” Seth grunted. “Why am I not surprised?”
“This can’t be happening.” Brent dropped his head into his hands. “You’re going to need some sort of protection, Heidi. If he told Kieran after knowing him for a few minutes, then who knows who else he’s going to tell. Or how long he’s going to be in jail.”
“There’s no protection detail we can hire,” Seth said. “What are we going to say? We have superpowers so we need bodyguards to keep people from selling our blood? Do you want us all to get committed?”
“I didn’t say we should tell the truth,” Brent argued and slapped his hand on the table. “But she should be protected. So should you. Both of you were involved in an armed robbery. That’s reason enough to get protection on you.”
“The druggie has no friends or any real connections to speak of aside from his dealer, who is now also in jail,” Heidi said. “Officer Davis called me this morning to tell me the good news. So any chance of getting police protection is off, especially with them being understaffed as it is. And I can’t really afford hiring a bodyguard.”
“I can,” Brent said.
“Brent.” Heidi shook her head. “The last thing we need is to stand out even more. All of us have been in the middle of a lot of trouble, lately. If we stand out any more in that way then more than a druggie who saw me bleed will know that something is special in us.”
We all stared at her. None of us had ever doubted that Heidi was smart, but she was absolutely right on this.
“We need to lay low,” I said. “How’re we going to stay under the radar when we’re trying to find Rylee’s killer?”
“And being followed?” Brent added.
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“We’re being followed?” Seth roared. “Since when?”
“A gray car. I don’t know how long.” Brent waved his hand. “I haven’t seen it lately.”
“I did.” Brent glared at me in surprise when I admitted it. “Yesterday. I went to go talk to Kieran yesterday morning and then he was arrested. I saw the gray car parked in the motel lot where Kieran was staying. I tried to chase it down.”
“What the hell, Zoe!” Brent stared at me from across the table. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“We can’t put the investigation on hold,” Seth interjected. “We just can’t.”
“We can’t get noticed by the next person looking for a fix, either,” I said.
“Or a gray car trailing us.” He got up and checked the hallway. “I’m going to reset the gym alarm. We’ll be fine in here.” He flipped open the switch by the door and set it. “We have to be careful. Even more than careful.”
“How do we do that?” Seth said. “I’m already looking over my shoulder like a paranoid lunatic.”
“We’ll have to use our senses more. Even in public,” I said. “See if anything is wrong or out of place. If we can detect it then we’ll have more reaction time before they stuff a chloroform rag in our mouths.”
“How are we going to do that?” Seth said. “I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but I can’t smell malicious intent.”
“We’ll have to train our senses harder,” I said. “And we’re going to have to really get back into training for fighting. Even more.”
“I’ll talk to my dad,” Brent offered. “It won’t be hard for me to guilt him into letting me using the gym again. Hell, I might even be able to get my own martial arts instructor.”
“A martial arts instructor would be cool,” Seth said. “It’s like we’re really training. Wax on, wax off, and then suddenly we’re all badass.”
“I don’t think that’s totally how it works,” Heidi laughed and then quickly turned serious again. “I’m sorry. This is serious.”