Betrayal: A Red Dog Thriller (The Altered Book 2)

by Blou Bryant

  Craning his neck, he tried to see them. “How do you know?”

  Ira opened his bag of chips and stuffed a bunch into her sandwich. “I like the crunch,” she said by way of explanation, not apology. “Can you see them?”

  Wyatt nodded.

  “The guy on the corner, he’s taking orders. The second one has the stuff, and hands it off.”

  “You saw them do this?”

  “Nope, but keep watching, it’ll happen.”

  Sure enough, after a minute of chewing in silence, he noticed a car pull up to the first guy. A brief conversation ensued, and the car pulled forward to the second one who walked up to the open window. Wyatt didn’t see anything transfer, but he believed her. “You’re good at this.”

  “I’m a hundred pounds, soaking wet, and really cute. Some might say I’m stunning,” she said with a self-conscious giggle and paused, looking up at him. “Right?”

  With a chuckle, Wyatt agreed that she was stunning. “And this has what to do with them?”

  “Here’s the thing, I like to party, that means I need to be aware of my surroundings. A guy like you can go wherever you want, the world’s safe. Me, I need to take care.”

  Wyatt shrugged. “It’s not that bad,” he said.

  Ira took his hand, “We’re young lovers, don’t forget. And ya, it’s that bad. Do you watch docs in your basement? The lions don’t need to look around unless they’re hungry. The gazelles, they spend all day looking out for the lions.”

  “Rough world,” he said, not sure of what else to say. “But, trust me, I don’t feel like a lion.”

  “Are you kidding? Everyone knows how you took down the supercomputer, beat up a group of vampires and saved Sandra, Hannah, and Teri. That’s awesome! Oh ya, and,” she whispered, “you have the ability to mutate DNA. My sister and I would be in a home somewhere, still joined at the head. Do you have any idea what it was like? We couldn’t do anything. Wyatt, you’re my hero!”

  Wyatt blushed at the compliment. “Thanks,” he said and he meant it.

  “You know, I think you were right,” she said. “The guy taking the money went into the restaurant.”

  “They’re dealers?” he said. That didn’t make any sense to him. Why would drug dealers come after him? “I figured it was Jessica or her private army, or perhaps the cops. There’s no reason for dealers to be after us, is there?”

  “Dogs sell some, but nothing that you’ll get on a street corner. Just enhancement stuff, pills to make you smart, see better, remember better.”

  “Is that it?” he asked, wondering if the group had hidden some of their activities from him.

  Ira heard the doubt in his voice. “Trust Sandra, she’s clean.”

  “So why are they after me?”

  “Perhaps they’re not after you? Maybe it’s a turf war, regular dealers wanting to get into the business of enhancement drugs.”

  “I don’t know, we need to see inside, figure out who’s in there.”

  “There are two guys at the window, the street guy handed them a package, probably money.”

  He squinted, but couldn’t see anything other than vague shapes. “How can you see in there?” he asked.

  “Enhanced sight, I had surgery.”

  “Have you enhanced everything?”

  Ira raised an eyebrow and only smiled. Before she could answer him, she pointed across the street. “Hey, the window guys are getting up. Come on, let’s follow them,” she said, and crunched down the last of her sandwich. Wyatt left half of his on the table and followed her out. It seemed he wasn’t going to be James Bond in this story, Ira was.

  Chapter 7

  Hannah hefted a bag of dirty laundry over her shoulder and got off the bus, Ari behind her. They’d picked up all their old clothing before leaving the HUC, a perfect way to fit in at the laundromat they were tasked with watching.

  It wasn’t anything special, she thought when they entered. The walls were grimy and covered with fliers for local businesses and visiting bands. It was a laundromat and looked like nothing more. There were two rows of washing machines and two of driers, with a couple of tables for folding.

  There were only a few other customers, two must be homeless, they wore the same wristbands as everyone at the park. Hannah grimaced, but there wasn’t anything to do about it, so she picked two machines close to the back, swiped a cash card and started loading a machine.

  Ari reached into the bag to help out. She whispered, “So, you and Wyatt...is that a thing?”

  “Ugh,” Hannah replied, turned her back and tapped the front of the machine to start it up.

  “Oh come on, share with a sister.”

  “I’m with Jimmy,” said Hannah. “We’ve been together for months, why does everybody think me and Wyatt...”

  They took seats in the corner where they could talk and still keep an eye on anyone coming or going. Ari said, “Jimmy’s nice and all, but he’s not your type.”

  “Why?” asked Hannah, hardly listening as she looked around. The room was rather basic and boring, so she couldn’t understand why the guys who’d attacked them had been tagged here.

  “He’s too...us,” answered Ari.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Well, you know, he’s a Dog, an outcast, and into the whole Altered scene. You and Wyatt are, well, you’re different. Joining us was just something that happened. I don’t mean it in a bad way.”

  Hannah was tired of people all trying to figure out what she was, and why. She wanted to be herself and leave the explanations for later. “What, do you imagine I’m some rich princess, playing at being one of you?”

  “No, no,” said Ari and put a hand on Hannah’s knee, leaning in. “You’re special, but in your own way. I mean, come on, you’ve got no tats, no implants, that sorta thing. Hell, you’ve only got your ears pierced. Well, that I know of,” she said with a wicked grin.

  “I’m more altered than most of you.”

  With a shrug, Ari said, “Ya, but it wasn’t a choice. Wyatt healed you and you got your special skill, but it wasn’t a choice. Jimmy’s covered in tats, he’s pierced everywhere, or at least I figure he is, you tell me.”

  Hannah blushed and didn’t answer.

  “He is, isn’t he?” said Ari loudly. A fat man in a too-small white T-shirt glanced up from his magazine. It wasn’t the first time he’d glanced at the two of them.

  Hannah ignored him. “How about I get us something to drink?” There were a few people doing laundry, they fit in, wearing their dirties, all distracted by whatever electronic device they’d brought with them. The guy behind the counter at the entrance was the only one who didn’t fit in. He wore a black tracksuit, which was clean and not cheap, despite being what it was.

  “Coke, yes. And some pork rinds.”

  “How do you stay so skinny?”

  “Lots of dancing,” said Ari and pinched Hannah’s butt as she got up. “We’ll take you if you like.”

  Shooting her companion a dirty glance over her shoulder, Hannah walked past the fat man up to the counter. She could feel him looking at her and noticed that the attendant was staring as well. Even when she reached the counter, he avoided her eyes in a way that made her skin crawl. “Diet Coke and a Coke,” she said and pulled a bag of spiced pork rinds off a rack on the counter.

  The door opened, and another man entered. He didn’t have laundry with him and was dressed in the same non-descript but clean way the men they’d fought the night before had been. “Go ahead,” she said, wanting to see what he was there for, but he shook his head.

  “Five bucks, move it along,” the counter guy said to her. She gave him a twenty and took the change, lingering, opening the bag of rinds while pretending to examine the fliers on the wall.

  The big newcomer asked for a bag of Cheetos. Out of the corner of her eye, Hannah saw him slip the attendant a wad of bills and receive in return a small yellow bag of chips from under the counter. She returned to the seat, igno
ring the eyes that followed her as she walked back to Ari. She smiled and said, “Laugh, like I’m telling a joke, but not too loud.”

  Ari did but quietly asked, “What’d you see?”

  “Something’s going on here. That guy just paid a few hundred dollars for a bag of chips.”

  Ari took the bag of pork rinds and stuffed some in her mouth. “Must be good chips,” she mumbled between crunches.

  “Drugs?”

  “Just a sec,” she said to Hannah and got up. “Are you looking at something?” she said to the fat man. Everyone else—all four others, including the attendant— turned to watch her. “You’ve been staring at me and my friend. Stop it. Put your face back in your magazine. Are you an idiot? We can see you. Or doesn’t it matter that you’re being a creep?”

  The guy reddened, stood and sputtered an excuse when the attendant said, “Jack, sit down and leave the girls alone.”

  He sat back down with a faint, “Sorry,” and turned back to his magazine.

  Ari leaned over and whispered, “You were saying?”

  “Why’d you do that? Now everyone is looking at us.”

  “No, they’re not, not anymore. Now everybody is keen to not look at us.”

  Hannah surveyed the room and saw that Ari was right. She’d created enough of a stir to make everyone uncomfortable.

  “So, what do you figure,” asked Ari, returning to the previous subject, “Drugs?”

  “For that much money? Gotta be.”

  The two sat for another thirty minutes and then switched the laundry over to the dryer. During this time another two people, girls this time, showed up and bought bags of chips. Hannah couldn’t see how much money changed hands, but she bet people didn’t search out the place for its cuisine.

  Ari eventually bored of waiting for people to show up and asked, “So, you and Wyatt?”

  With a long sigh, Hannah relented. “He’s a nice guy, but I don’t think he likes me like that anymore. I don’t know if he likes anyone.”

  “Are you kidding? He’s mad for you.”

  “Right, three years and he hardly talks to me.”

  “Hon, when you walk into a room, his eyes follow you from start to finish. And not creepy, like most guys. So, you like him?”

  “Not like that.” Hannah let out a long sigh, her eyes still on the attendant. “I don’t know, yes, I’ve wondered about it, but he’s so closed off. And when he’s not, he’s so confused. I like Jimmy, he’s simple.”

  Ari laughed out loud. “That he is, like most boys. I like it, but simple doesn’t seem to be your type.”

  The dryer beeped, their time there was almost at an end. Hannah whispered, “What do you think we should do now? We can’t stay.”

  “You’re avoiding,” said Ari.

  “I totally am,” she said. “Hey, if you wanna talk feelings, then let’s get a movie and a tub of cookie dough ice cream. Right now, I want to figure out where we’re going next. How are the other two doing?” she asked, referring to Ira and Wyatt.

  “They’re having fun, I keep sensing her excitement,” Ari said and closed her eyes. “I can’t tell much else. I think they’re making out.”

  “What?” asked Hannah, shocked.

  Ari grinned. “Or not.”

  “Someday, not far off, I’ll make you pay for that, you jerk.” Hannah pulled the clothes out of the machine and started folding them as slowly as possible without being conspicuous.

  Ari joined her and whispered under her breath, “Check out the new arrival. Careful, he’s casing the room.”

  “So?”

  “He’s different than the others. None of them paid much attention to the customers. It’s something in how he’s standing.”

  Hannah folded a shirt and glanced at the entrance. Ari was right. The others had walked up, taken their bag and paid their price, fast and efficient. When the attendant handed the newcomer a backpack, she knew right away that this was someone she wanted to follow. Quickly, she shoved all their clothing in the bag, not caring if it was folded or not. “Let’s go,” she said.

  Outside, Ari gave her a little tug as she turned left to follow the guy. “Not so fast, he’s seen us in there, he’ll recognize us if we’re right behind him. He’s being cautious.”

  Despite her fear of losing him, Hannah knew Ari was right and slowed down. Once they were two blocks away from the laundry, she tossed the bag of clothing into a garbage bin. “Too obvious,” she said.

  “Good thought, but I’ll miss that skirt,” Ari complained.

  “I’ll buy you another, just as gaudy.”

  “Gaudy? You mean colorful, alive, and fun.”

  Hannah kept the guy in sight, he was about a block ahead of them. He was tall, with jet black hair, easy to see even at a distance. She wondered where he was going, what the connection was between the drug dealers and the Dogs, and why they were after them.

  “No comment about clothing?” asked Ari.

  “Hrm, sorry, I was thinking. Ya, no, I meant gaudy. I’m colorful, you and your sister look like a clown threw up on a stripper.”

  “Burn,” said Ari, but with no trace of self-consciousness. A free spirit, she took as well as she gave.

  A few blocks later they passed into an upscale area, the street lined with high-end boutiques, the backstreets now condos and high-rises. There were more people on the sidewalks now too, mostly well dressed, hurrying to meet other well-dressed people.

  The ban on homelessness two years before had its desired effect, there were no beggars, nobody loitered on corners. Not in this area, where the police would pick you up in a minute and you’d be in a work camp within a day.

  Work to Live, Live to Work, indeed, thought Hannah, and experienced a tinge of guilt at the memory of her old lifestyle. She would have been one of the people who looked down on someone asking for change at a stoplight, and would have been happy to have police clear them out. Now, she lived with people escaping the system, she broke bread with them daily and no longer could pretend that they were lazy or stupid.

  Two blocks later, the guy stopped at a shop, pausing to look through the window. Ari and Hannah slowed so they wouldn’t catch up to him and then sped up again as he continued on his way. When he turned down a side street, Hannah worried they would lose him, “Come on Ari,” she said, running down the block. When they turned the corner, she stopped immediately at the sight of a line of police cars.

  “That’s not good,” Ari said when she saw the police station entrance. The guy they’d been following was walking up the steps, bag in hand. “What do we do now?”

  Hannah didn’t reply. This explained the third site the twins had discovered on the phone. She didn’t know what to say because she didn’t know what to do. They couldn’t follow the guy into the police station, could they? Noticing a bench across the street, she walked over and sat down.

  “Cops are always dirty,” said Ari, joining her.

  “No they’re not,” said Hannah, remembering Lewis, the police officer she’d met three years before. He’d died protecting her and Wyatt.

  “The guy’s not in there turning in evidence.”

  “Nope, but that doesn’t mean all of them are bad. There are bad people everywhere, good people too.” It was Ari’s turn to be quiet and not reply.

  The two sat and watched the station for fifteen minutes until the guy exited, bag no longer in hand. They got up and followed him for two blocks when Ari said, “Wait. Ira and Wyatt are in trouble.”

  “Where are they?”

  Ari closed her eyes and scrunched up her face, concentrating intently on her sister. “I can’t see it, but it feels close.” She took off at a full run in the opposite direction, Hannah following as fast as she could. One block later, she’d fallen behind and briefly lost sight of the small woman as she turned into an alley.

  As she turned the corner, she saw a man holding a gun on Wyatt and Ira, their hands up in the air. Ari was twenty or so feet behind him, running full speed.
She shouted out, “Hey,” as she got closer. The guy spun towards her, but she was ready. A disk whirled from her hand and embedded itself in his arm. He dropped his gun with a cry of pain.

  Hannah hadn’t yet reached them when Wyatt took three long strides forward, turned the other man to him and leveled him with one hard punch to the jaw. Wyatt yelled to Ari, “Watch the entrance to the alley. Ira, get the other side.” Wyatt was already pulling the man out of the middle of the alley, glancing left and right to determine if they’d been seen.

  “Wyatt, what happened?” she asked and gave him a half hug.

  Wyatt let the man drop to the ground and returned the hug. “Good timing!”

  “No kidding. Ari said something about you guys being in trouble and took off.”

  “It seems I’m not quite the spy I thought I was.”

  “How’d…”

  Wyatt interrupted her, “I don’t know how much time we have, we can talk later. Help me move him.”

  The two dragged the unconscious man between dumpsters and huddled over him. “Did he recognize you?” she asked.

  “Let’s leave him, we have to get out of here.”

  Hannah took his arm as he walked away, and pulled him back to her. This was important, “Did he?”

  Wyatt nodded, “That’s how he turned the tables on us. We got too close and he knew my face.”

  “We don’t want them to know we’re back in Detroit, or that we’re following them,” Hannah said. “Give me thirty seconds.” Without checking to see if he agreed or was even listening to her, she reached down and put a hand on the man’s head. Her powers had grown over the past three years and she’d gained an ability to affect others. Still learning how it worked, she concentrated on the man.

  “Why are you healing him?” Wyatt asked.

  “I’m not, I’m inducing amnesia. Or I’m trying to, shut up, I need to focus.”

  After a few seconds, the now-familiar feeling swept over her. First, she sensed his blood pumping, he wasn’t dead, there was that. Then she could sense the blade in his arm. She chose to not heal it. There was bleeding, but nothing essential had been severed. Reaching deeper, she willed him to forget what had happened and who he’d seen.