I shut my eyes and tried to focus on the fact that my boyfriend was being held hostage and not on the fact that my ridiculously hot boss and our swarthy CIO were within humping distance of me and trapped in a confined space. They both smelled so good. Dom might not be my type, but he was intriguing. Blake was my boss and somehow that was hot on its own. Add in the he could be a cover model for GQ and my hooha was shaking her metaphorical maracas.
I wonder how threesomes work anyway. I thought to myself. Do they take turns? Does one of them stick his…
“Holy shit, Jennings, are you seventeen!?” Blake bellowed from beside me.
I jumped and bumped into Dom who caught me around the waist before I fell.
“Stay out of my brain!” I screeched at him, pushing Dom off and praying he couldn’t read minds as well. He hadn’t confirmed or denied my earlier question on the subject.
“It’s kind of hard to stay out of your brain when you’re all but projecting these images at me!” Blake shouted back. He ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath.
“Do I even want to know?” Dom asked with a smirk.
Thank our little eight pound, four ounce, infant savior, the elevator pinged open before Blake could answer him. I crossed my head and chest as we exited, and headed for the parking garage.
“You know you’re not Catholic, right?” Blake grumbled behind me. I shot him a glare and kept walking.
After corralling Lilith and Dom into one car and Blake and I into another, we headed south toward 79th street. Neither Blake nor I spoke for the first ten minutes. What are you supposed to say after your boss hijacked your slutty thoughts about him and his friend porking you?
Luckily, Blake’s cell phone rang and broke the thick tension. I tuned him out as I checked my emails on my phone, hoping, yet again, to find an email from Emmett that proved this whole thing was a big mistake. No luck there.
Blake clicked his phone off and turned on the radio. “We need to wrap this up quickly. Minni is off at six and I need to get home to Sophia.”
I nodded and stared out the window. A few awkward seconds later, Blake cleared his throat. “Look, I’ll try to stay out of your mind. But I’m a man, Anna. If I hear thoughts like that coming from anyone, I’m going to listen.”
“Gah!” I moaned, holding my head in my hands. “Stop talking about it! It’s not my fault I have an overactive imagination. Creative minds and all that. I’ll be sure to sing the alphabet in my head the next time we’re in an elevator. Okay?”
“Okay,” he replied. “Now, we need to discuss our game plan. I don’t know what we’ll find when we get to this spot. It could be nothing. It could be something. It could be something dangerous. I meant what I said before. If I give you an instruction, you follow it. No questions asked. Okay?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, drill sergeant. I got it.”
Seemingly satisfied with my answer, Blake turned the radio back up and settled back in his seat. By the time we turned on to 79th street, my mind was back in the game and I was ready to kick some ass. I kept those thoughts to myself, however, so Blake wouldn’t rip into me again.
14
A hot donut warms body and soul.
The first thing I noticed upon our arrival on 79th street was the impressive amount of cars surrounding us. We were located just across the street from a small shopping center and a bus terminal. I quickly scanned the array of cars, looking for Emmett’s Mustang.
“This could take awhile,” I murmured to myself as I climbed out of Blake’s car.
We met up with Dom and Lilith and took in the scene.
“At first glance, I don’t see either of the Vance’s cars,” said Dom. “Where is the payphone located?”
Blake nodded behind me. “In the Dunkin Donuts,” he answered.
I tried desperately to not focus on the idea of hot, fluffy donuts as we made our way through the rows of cars.
“Keep your eye out for anything suspicious,” Lilith advised as she walked next to me. “If you see anything that looks out of place, say something.”
I nodded and kept moving forward. “Lilith, what’s your super power?” I asked.
Lilith stopped and thought for a moment before continuing her search. “Anna, I’d rather keep this power stuff on a need-to-know basis.” She caught my frown and continued. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just that the less you know, the less can be used against you. If, God forbid, one of our enemies got a hold of you, it would be better if you knew as little as possible. I keep worrying I’ve already told you too much.”
I never understood that reasoning. I’d heard people give that excuse time and time again in movies and books. It didn’t make any more sense to me as I was living it than it did back then. If someone got ahold of me, they’d probably kill me whether I gave them information or not. However, I figured I would find out what her power was at some point anyway, so I let it go.
An hour and a half later, my teeth were chattering from the cold, I couldn’t feel my toes, and I was pretty sure my nipples had frozen to my bra. We’d been down every isle in every parking lot along the block at least twice before reconvening by our vehicles.
“Damn it,” muttered Blake. “Back to square one.”
“I’m f-f-f-f-frozen,” I stammered.
Dom stepped beside me and put his arm around my shaking shoulders. He nodded toward Dunkin Donuts. “Let’s go inside, warm up and figure out our next move.”
Blake sauntered over and not so subtly nudged Dom’s arm off of my shoulders. “Sounds like a plan,” he said as he turned toward the building.
Lilith rolled her eyes and followed him. I looked up at Dom to find him smirking.
“Tell me, is he looking out for you platonically or romantically?”
My cheeks suddenly weren’t cold anymore. “Platonically,” I answered. “We’ve known each other forever. I’m like a sister to him.”
Dom didn’t look convinced but shrugged and nudged me forward.
Dunkin Donuts was within a stone’s throw and I could almost taste the sugary pastries hitting my tongue. I was in the middle of a very delicious daydream involving donuts, Emmett and a very naughty game of ring toss when I heard a beeping sound. I held my arm out and caught Dom’s chest.
“Do you hear that?” I asked.
The sound continued on. It wasn’t quite a beeping, but it was definitely electronic.
Dom motioned for Blake and Lilith to follow us as we made our way through the parking lot. The sound was getting louder. I could have sworn I had heard that sound before. It was almost like a ringtone, but more irregular. It almost sounded like carnival music.
My eyes scanned a row of cars and landed on an old Grand Prix with a scrap of yellow fabric sticking out of the trunk. I knew that fabric. I’d seen that same fabric stuck in a bathroom door. As the recognition hit me, I fell to my knees.
“Anna!” shouted Blake. “Anna, what’s wrong? What is it?”
I pointed toward the yellow scrap. “C-c-c-carl!” I managed to get out.
Blake grabbed me under my arms and hauled me up. “What about Carl?” he asked gently.
“He’s in the trunk,” I half cried, half whispered.
Blake passed me off to Dom before making his way to the Grand Prix. He held his ear to the trunk for a moment before lifting his head and giving me a confused look.
“Carl?!” he shouted into the trunk.
The music stopped. “Yeah!?” came a muffled answer from the trunk before the music began again.
Relief washed through me so swiftly Dom had to help keep me steady on my feet.
“Lilith, do you have a tire iron in your car?” Blake asked.
Lilith nodded and ran to her car.
I rushed to the Grand Prix and knocked lightly on the trunk. “Carl? It’s Anna. Are you alright?”
“Anna! Oh my God, Anna! I’m so glad you’re here!” Carl shouted.
“Just hang tight, bud. We’re going to g
et you out!”
Seconds later, Lilith returned with the tire iron which Blake used to break the front window. As soon as he popped the trunk, I dove in to hug Carl.
“Carl! Are you hurt? Are you bleeding? Oh God, did they shoot you?!” I fussed over him until the electronic beeping started again. “What the hell is that sound?”
Blake pulled me off of an extremely squished Carl and helped him from the trunk. While he didn’t look surprised to see Carl decked out in canary yellow spandex, Dom and Lilith certainly were.
Ignoring their looks of shock, Carl gestured at me with his cell phone. “Angry Birds,” he answered. “It was boring in there, but I got to level 30!”
“Carl!” I shouted. “Why the hell didn’t you call me if you had your cell phone on you!?”
He took a step back at my outburst. “I don’t have any service out here. I tried over and over but nothing would go through.”
“How long have you been here?” asked Lilith.
Carl thought for a moment before shrugging. “I’m not sure. I know I came here on Friday. What day is it now? And do any of you have any food?”
Blake gave Carl a gentle push toward the building. “Come on, bud. I’ll buy you a donut and you can explain what happened.”
Once we shuttled everyone inside and ordered Carl a half dozen donuts, we had all warmed up enough to revisit the situation.
“So Carl,” Dom started. “Start from the beginning.”
Carl took a gulp of coffee to wash down his mouth full of donut. “Well, Friday evening I was a running behind on my route at work and I had a package to deliver to Lloyd Vance. When I got to his office, his door was closed. I overheard his voice and it sounded a little alarmed.” Carl shot a nervous glance at Lilith. “I didn’t mean to listen, honest.”
Lilith reached across the table and covered Carl’s hand with her own. “It’s okay, Carl. You’re not in trouble. Just tell us what happened.”
“Well, I heard Mr. Vance say something about setting up a meeting. He said he had to wrap up some things at work and to give him a few hours. I figured I had enough time to run home and change into Stealth.” He glanced around the group. “It’s not that I don’t have powers without my suit, it just enhances them is all.”
Lilith and Dom looked like they were fighting a losing battle against laughing. I was trying to listen to Carl. I really was. But all I could focus on was the smell of freshly baked donuts. I had already tried to sneak one for myself, but Blake caught me and smacked the donut out of my grasp. I was only going to sniff it. Honestly.
Blake cleared his throat obnoxiously and gave me a death glare. Either focus or get out, Jennings. His voice bounced around in my mind.
I blushed and re-focused in on what Carl was saying.
“So after I got back to work in my uniform, I hung out outside of Lloyd’s office and waited for him to leave. After a few hours, I heard him pick up his phone and call someone. They agreed to meet at the Dunkin Donuts on 79th. So I raced downstairs to find a cab, only it took me a good fifteen minutes to get one. By the time I got down here, Lloyd and Emmett Vance were standing in the parking lot talking to some guy.”
“Hang on,” Blake interrupted. “What guy? What did he look like?”
Carl shrugged. “I don’t know. The streetlights were all out. He was tall. Maybe five or six inches over six foot. Big like a body builder. He was wearing a hat, so I couldn’t see any hair.”
Blake nodded for him to continue.
“It was super dark, so I had to duck behind some cars so I could get closer to see. When I got within a car’s length of them, the man reached out and grabbed Lloyd and Emmett by the shoulder. He must have shocked them. I saw blue sparks covering their bodies and then they both fell on the ground. I jumped forward and told him who I was and that he should stop.”
Dom interrupted. “Wait. You just jumped out and told him your name is Carl and you’re a courier?”
Carl’s face flushed bright pink. “No. I told him I was Stealth and I’d come to save my friends.”
Dom’s eyes bugged out of his head and Lilith took a deep, controlling breath.
“What happened next?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” Carl replied. “The last thing I remember is telling him to stop before he reached out and grabbed my shoulder. He must have shocked me, too. I woke up in the trunk of this car. I have no idea how long I was out.”
“Did you hear anything?” Blake asked. “Were they arguing? Did they look tense?”
Carl shook his head. “I couldn’t tell. It was too dark. I do remember him saying something about Lloyd and Emmett being bait to capture the team. But other than that, I didn’t hear much of anything.”
The table fell silent. Lilith gave Blake a dark look and shoved a donut in her mouth.
“I’m guessing this guy is probably that Captain Zinger guy?” I asked the table.
Dom’s head snapped up. “How do you know about him?” he demanded.
Blake groaned and rested his forehead on the table. I shrunk in my seat a little before answering. “We may or may not have followed you guys last week.”
“You what?!” exclaimed Dom. He glared at Blake. “You knew this!?”
Blake sighed and nodded. “I did. It was actually Stealth here who saved us.”
Lilith’s expression turned contemplative. “You threw that paint can?” she asked Carl.
I snorted. “Wonder Boy here got his cape stuck in a shelving unit and sent paint cans flying. But yes, he saved you.”
Carl smiled and started in on his fourth donut.
“We can figure that part out later,” said Dom. “What’s our plan for right now?”
Blake sighed and shook his head. “For now, all we can do is keep looking into Lloyd’s last moves on Friday before he came here. Let’s head back to Vance Publishing and see if Peter has found anything.”
We all stood and made our way outside. Blake placed a hand on my shoulder to stop me. “Anna, now that we know it’s this Zinger guy, I can’t let you come with us.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but he placed his hand firmly over my lips. “No arguments. It’s too dangerous. I know you’re worried about Emmett, but if you go with us, I’ll be distracted. I’ll be worrying about you the entire time instead of focusing on getting our guys out of there.”
His hand was still on my mouth and I had a strong desire to bite it. Blake raised his eyebrow at me and I sighed.
“Fine,” I conceded. “But I want you to let me know if you find something out. If you guys disappear as well, how will I know where to start looking?”
Blake removed his hand and led me to the door. “If anything happens to me, call Lloyd Vance’s wife. She’s got contact information for other team members around the globe. They’ll be able to help.”
We saw Carl to his car and sent him home with strict instructions to burn the spandex nightmare and get some sleep. Blake followed me to my own Mini and opened the door for me.
“I need to get back with the team to recon. I hate to ask, but is there any way you can watch Sophie tonight? Minni is off at six and my grandmother has Bridge Club until eight. She’ll be over right after.”
I smiled and nodded. “Of course. I’ll head over there now. I imagine Minni would enjoy an extra couple of hours off.”
Blake murmured his thanks and shut my door.
I waited until I was a couple of blocks away before I let myself burst. How could he shut me out of this? Emmett was my boyfriend. Kinda. I already knew about his team of super freaks. Carl and I had already saved their asses once! Okay, maybe that was an accident. But they still probably wouldn’t have come out of that mess if we hadn’t shown up.
There was no way I was going to just sit back and stay out of it. Maybe Blake had an iPhone tracker on his computer like I did. I’d head to Blake’s, see that Sophia was occupied with a Disney movie and do some snooping. My mind made up, I halted my internal swearing and sped off to the Blake r
esidence.
15
Never underestimate a woman who can rock a black beehive.
As predicted, Minni was thrilled to have a couple of extra hours off. After a quick tour of the house and a run-down of Sophia’s nightly routine, she was out the door. I figured I would plop Sophia down in front of the television and get right into the snooping. Sophia, however, had different plans.
After thirty minutes of Barbies and one horrendous makeover, she finally decided it was time to watch a movie. Of course, watching a movie alone was out of the question. As soon as I sat down on the couch to get the movie started, Sophia plopped on my lap, stuck her thumb in her mouth and shut her eyes. Success! As soon as she zonked out completely, I planned to ease her off my lap and get to business.
Obviously, that didn’t happen. I had no idea it would be so exhausting trying to hide my worried thoughts from Sophia. Apparently my brain tapped out just after Sophia’s because the next thing I knew, Blake’s house phone woke me two hours later. Groggy from my impromptu nap, I stumbled into the office, picked up the phone and croaked some sort of greeting.
“Hello! Is this Anna?” an elderly female voice asked.
“It is.”
“Hello dear! This is Eric’s grandmother. I wanted to call to see if you and Sophia had eaten dinner yet.”
“Actually, we haven’t,” I replied. “We fell asleep watching a movie and just now woke up. I’m so sorry. I know it’s past her dinner time.”
Mrs. Blake tsked. “Oh, honey, don’t you worry about that. It happens to all of us. It actually works out better anyway. I’m just leaving Bridge Club and I’m starving. They usually serve food at these things but this time the old biddies only served prune cakes and broccoli salad. I don’t know what they were thinking, but unless I want to be jet-propelled by my rump for the next three days, I can’t eat that crap. I’m swinging through to get Chinese. Would you girls like anything?”
Wowzers. Information overload.
“I would love Chinese,” I replied after I shook a horrifying mental picture out of my head. “Sophia, do you like Chinese food?” I shouted to the living room.
Power Surge (Anna Jennings Super Novel Book 1) Page 16