by Lia Davis
It wasn't one of the robbers who spoke. Ghost looked down at the hostage. A spark of electricity crackled in the man's hands as he stood. The crackle turned louder as the spark turned into a ball of raw power.
Ghost stepped back to avoid the hostage's swipe. He'd been set up, but by whom? Why? One of the robbers shoved him toward the "hostage". Ghost took a closer look at the man's face. He could see the resemblance now. There had only been one other electricity manipulator in Thunder City and Cory had killed him before the quarry raid.
"Now do you know who I am? Your brother killed my son. The Blackwoods are going to pay for that."
Ghost crouched to fight, but it was too late. The gun behind him pushed him right into the electricity ball. His body exploded with pain and he fell to the floor, unconscious.
Chapter 8
Dani turned down a side street and parked her car when it became obvious traffic was going nowhere fast. Thank heavens she'd decided to give her feet a break and had worn flats with her slacks instead of heels. The flats made it easier for her to run the half mile with the back pack she pulled from her trunk. She jogged toward the street corner where the flashing blue lights of the police mixed with the flashing red of the fire and rescue vehicles. She'd only made it to within twenty yards or so when a huge man with a huge gun stopped her in her tracks.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. You can't go any further."
Dani couldn't dance this dance with Nik's life on the line, so she ditched subtlety. "I need to speak to Hack-Man." She used Carraro's moniker to make it clear who she was talking about. "My name is Doctor Daniella Rose. I have information he needs. This isn't a bank robbery, it's a kidnapping. Ghost is the target. You can't send him in there. You have to stop this operation."
The cop looked doubtful, but he relayed her information anyway. A minute passed. Then another. Dani paced a few feet, left to right, looking for someplace where she could shift without drawing attention. Wicked and vain poked its evil into her head. She'd fight her way to Carraro if she had to, damn the consequences.
Another man approached. He had short-clipped black hair, east Asian eyes, and was wearing a blue polo shirt with black pants. "It's okay. I'll bring her."
The cop let her pass. The blue-shirted man directed her toward a van sitting on the edge of the activity. He slid the door open and offered her a hand as she stepped up into what looked a like a command center.
"Thank you, Shinzo."
Carraro didn't even turn around in his seat to look at her. She'd never met him in person and had only communicated with him via email. He'd sent a message once to confirm her order and once again after installation. He had far more important clients than her. The setup inside the van had him tracking every Alt and every cop, inside and outside of the bank.
"If you have something to say, say it. The operation has already started. We can't abort now." Carraro still didn't look at her, his eyes following the half dozen screens surrounding him.
"This isn't a bank robbery. It's a set-up," Dani repeated. "There's a drug lord, Fredek Varga — "
"Fagin," Carraro said, his eyes still on the computer screens.
Good. He knew who she was talking about so she didn't have to waste time explaining. "He wiped out my credentials at Generation Med after he erased all of my research, including the back-ups. My personal back-up to my research, my original research, is in a safety deposit box at this bank. Fagin wants to destroy my back-up and use Nik to get to me. He has to stop my research before it stops him from re-creating his network. In order to shut me down, he has to kill me."
This garnered her a glance, nothing more. "And, what exactly are you researching that would capture the attention of Fagin?"
"A cure for blitz addiction. Permanent. It would put him out of business if everyone used it."
Carraro raised his hand to shut her up. "Repeat again, Seeker? Someone else has entered the vault?"
She watched as Carraro hit a button. This time Seeker's voice echoed through the van. "There's a third man in the safety deposit vault. They've stopped drilling. Whatever it is they wanted, they have it."
"My external hard drive." She was too late to save the drive, but. . . "Let them have it. All I care about is Nik."
This time Carraro gave her more a more thorough look. Any fears she had about being wrong, about this being a mistake, melted. Her instincts had hit the mark. Carraro knew it, but the operation was already in play. Carraro leaned toward a mic. "Captain, we have a problem. Listen in: Seeker, can you see Ghost?"
There was a short pause. "No, should I? I figured he'd pull the hostage from under the flooring."
"Do you see the hostage? Is he still there?" Carraro asked.
"Yes, sir. I see him."
"Keep an eye on the hostage. When he disappears, let me know immediately."
"Yes, sir."
"Captain?" Carraro addressed his wife. "This may be a set-up to kidnap Ghost. We need to focus our efforts on the hostage in the hallway and the three men in the vault. The rest is a distraction."
He was quick, Dani thought. He'd figured out Fagin's tactic before she had to explain. Fagin would have hired local guns from the pool of wannabe gang bangers looking to prove themselves. He would give them enough information to make the plan sellable to the not-so-bright, then let them take the fall while he made his escape.
"Ghost is down!" Seeker's voice shouted. "He unphased, then the hostage knocked him out. The hostage Ghost tried to protect is working for the robbers."
"Shots fired in the lobby!" someone else shouted. Dani didn't know who. She watched the activity as it unfolded on the screens.
"Get the hostages out there. We'll figure out who's working for who later." This from Captain Spec.
Sparks flashed across the screens. Fire ripped across the lobby followed by a bright beam of light. The robbers tried to fight T-CASS, but T-CASS had the co-ordination and determination needed to win. Fagin's men quickly found themselves surrounded and disarmed.
What about Nik?
"Captain, Ghost is gone. With all the activity in the lobby I couldn't see what happened. He's not in the hallway. I don't know if he phased into the floor again. I can't see the hostage either," Seeker said.
Dani clenched her fists. She had to speak up. "What about the vault?"
"Division Six, report?" Carraro called.
"This is D6. We got the two drillers. They're down."
Carraro looked back at her.
"Do they have the external hard drive?"
Carraro asked the question. D6 called back. "No, sir. There's nothing on them. No jewels, no papers, no tech, nothing."
"Fagin was the third man in the vault," she said, heartsick. "They passed the drive off to him during the commotion in the lobby. He left them there to get caught."
Carraro turned away from the computers, his hand stretched out to her. "We'll find Nik. We'll get him back alive."
Dani turned away. The door to van slid open under her touch. No, there was no we in this operation. By the time T-CASS had organized itself, she would know where Fagin had taken Nik and she'd get him back on her own. After she killed Fagin.
By now the teen thug who had tailed her last night would have reported to Fagin that Dodger was back in town. The fact that Fagin had launched a bank robbery and didn't take any money meant one of two things: either he had a larger source of cash from somewhere to rebuild his network, or he was counting on catching Dodger and forcing Dodger to give back the money he'd stolen.
If the former was true, then Dani had to hope that Fagin wanted vengeance on Dodger more than he wanted the money. It was the only way to find Fagin, and Nik, faster than T-CASS: Let Fagin catch Dodger and pray Fagin didn't kill him in cold blood before he could kill Fagin.
Dani shifted to Daniel and returned to the Mystic Bay Health Recovery Center. He had no gun this time, no cell phone, and no plan beyond making himself a target. Daniel looked like an easy capture, but not too easy. Fagin was single minded, n
ot stupid. Daniel couldn't let Fagin think he was working undercover for T-CASS.
The catch was that he couldn't afford to let Fagin knock Daniel unconscious. Doing so could result in Daniel shifting to Daniella while knocked out and giving away his only advantage. He had to take the fight to Fagin, find Nik, and escape. Shouldn't be too much of a problem for old vain and wicked.
Daniel leaned against the wall at the mouth of the alley, his shoulders scrunched down to hide his height, for well over an hour. Addicts enrolled in the center's outpatient program came and went by bus and taxi, ignoring him as best they could. They knew why he was there. Two of the security guards even tried to get him to move on, but Daniel made it clear he wasn't doing anything illegal and wouldn't be moving any time soon.
The sun had just started to set when he spotted Fagin's goons turning the corner around the gas station. He recognized two of them from the parking lot holdup, still dressed in black saggy jeans and hoodies. Good. He already knew their weaknesses. The only way this hair-brained scheme would work was if he could convince them to take Dodger without too much fighting.
The boys spotted him. Head up, balls out. Dani had never felt so far away.
"Hey, you!"
Daniel ducked his head back down to examine his fingernails, scraping off what was left of Dani's nail polish. He didn't bother acknowledging the goons until they were in his face.
"I'm talking to you," the smaller one said, spittle flying as he shoved himself into Daniel's personal space. He was almost as tall as Daniel, but not nearly as wide. The larger one had the width but not the height. The three behind them fell in between.
"These do work, kid." Daniel pointed to his ears.
"Fagin wants a word with you."
Daniel laughed. "Oh, I think Fagin wants a lot more than to talk to me. He didn't tell you what I did to him ten years ago, did he?"
The kid backed off. "Yeah, he told us. You betrayed him. Stole his money. He wants it back."
"That's it?" Now that Daniel had drawn the goons in close, it was time to pour on the intimidation. Daniel pushed himself off the wall. Daniel was six foot two, but with an extra push Daniel could hit Dodger's six foot seven in five seconds. The kid just figured out how big Dodger could be when he wanted to show off everything. "He didn't tell you the rest?"
The other four started to spread out, covering their bases, looking worried.
"He told us," the kid said, trying not to lose his bravado. "He told us everything. He told us how you started the blitz wars. He told us how you sent three of his best distributors into ambushes you set up with 'Low Down' Lazar Malloy. Then, you gave almost all of Fagin's stash from the shipyards to the Left Fists in Star Haven. Then, after Fagin got busted, you raided his accounts and stole all of his money. The man couldn't even pay for his own lawyer. Ended up in jail for ten years."
The evil of Dodger's acts from ten years ago shamed Daniel now, but he couldn't let the wannabes see it. Instead, he treated them to a small smirk. "It was just a little lovers' spat. Someday, I'll tell you what I do to people who really piss me off."
The wannabes jerked back at the phrase lovers' spat. Dodger did his best to look shocked. "What? Fagin didn't tell you I was his boyfriend? That's the most interesting part of this tale."
"Fagin ain't no homo." Wannabe number one backed up just little more.
"Oh, you don't think so?" Daniel sighed. "The stories I could tell you. I mean, Fagin may be nothing to look at, but in bed..."
"Shut UP!"
Now he had the wannabes confused. On one hand, Fagin had probably promised them the wealth of the city treasury to bring in Dodger, but the idea that they were working for a faggot probably didn't sit too well with them either.
"Well, boys. This has been fun, but I have clients I need to see. So, why don't all of you take a walk and I'll forget we had this conversation." Daniel made a "shoo, fly" motion with his hands.
That's all it took to get the fists flying. Daniel played with them for a while, knocked one out clean cold and drop-kicked another into the nearest lamp post. The crunch of bone against metal sent a shriek across the din of traffic. No one in the cars that passed by bothered to do anything to break up the fight. At one point, the two security guards returned. Daniel let one of the boys' fists connect so he could stagger back toward the guards. He grabbed one guard by the neck and told them both to run if they knew what was good for them. The guards ran back into the Center. They didn't get paid enough to deal with someone like Daniel when he was Dodger-sized.
Still, it was time to bring this to a close. Daniel waited until the kid pulled out his gun and aimed it at Daniel. Daniel yanked the nearest wannabe in front of him, so the wannabe got hit in the arm by the bullet.
Even the horror at shooting someone other than his target didn't break through the kid's anger. He raised the gun again, but Daniel knew not to push his luck. Sirens blared in the background. The wannabe with the bullet and the other one with the broken bones would live — if they kept their mouths shut.
"All right." Daniel raised his hands in the air and got down on his knees. "I'm done. I'd rather go with you than the cops."
"Get up." The kid waved the gun at Daniel. From the gas station, a black van rolled over the curb and opened a door. "Get in."
Daniel got in. The kid kept the gun at Daniel's head while yelling at the driver. "Get us out of here. The cops are coming."
The wheels of the van squealed as it roared away from the corner.
Just a little bit longer and Daniel would fix what Dodger had broken. He'd fix his past and his future and bring Nik home alive.
Chapter 9
Nik woke to a light show and a headache. He turned his head a little, not bothering to hide a grimace. The light show flashed even faster, and a whip-thin strand of electricity lashed out and whacked his ear. The pain raced across his forehead.
"Doesn't feel good, does it?"
Nik remembered the voice. Shocker, Electrocyte's father. Father and son had been transplants from Star Haven. Both had wanted to return to the city that had kicked out all of the Alts. They had joined the protesters at the harbor when the ferry service refused to sell them tickets. Electrocyte had taken the ferry company's president hostage. Nik had been on the ferry, had tried to stop Electrocyte from killing the president. Instead, both of them had been shot by Cory. Electrocyte died at the scene. Nik had survived, only because Hannah Quinn had used her power to save his life.
No wonder his ability had failed him. Shocker, like his son, could manipulate electricity. Nik couldn't phase through anything not solid like water — or electricity. Shocker must have used his power to surround himself with electrical current so Nik couldn't grab him. Now he held Nik suspended horizontally off the ground at a height of about six feet, surrounded by an electrical cocoon. Nik was stuck until Shocker turned off the current, which he didn't seemed inclined to do.
"Shocker, I'm sorry..."
"Save it, I'm not interested in your words."
So much for talking him out of revenge. "It won't work, Shocker. They'll figure out that you're after Cory. They'll figure out you're using me to do it. They won't let Cory come here alone." Wherever here was.
"It doesn't matter. I have you. That's enough. Alive or dead, your family is going to suffer."
Negotiating skills didn't run in Shocker's side of the family, so how would he have put together a gang of men willing to walk into a fake bank robbery? Nik tried to wiggle around in his cocoon, but only got more shocks on his face for the effort. At least he still wore his uniform. It kept the rest of his body insulated from Shocker's damage. For the first time in his life, though, he wished he wore a mask to protect his face. Looking at the ceiling, he could see what looked like metal and rivets, but it was too low to be the ceiling in one of Fagin's old warehouses.
Pathia? He called to the T-CASS telepath. No response. She might not be able to hear him through the noise of the cocoon. He was on his own.
; Nik was racing through a list of possible locations with low, metal ceilings when a door to his right opened. The sound distracted Shocker long enough to allow Nik to turn his head without getting a shock. Two of Fagin's men tossed a much larger man into the room before backing out and locking the door behind them. The new guy's hands were tied behind his back. He stared at Nik, allowing Nik a good look at the man's face.
Setting aside height and build, Nik focused on the face. High cheekbones, an almost sweet baby-face, with swept-back brown hair pulled into a...fucking hell. It was Dodger. Fagin's right-hand man who wore a man-bun long before it came into fashion. Nik had only ever seen one picture of him, but it had been enough. His rage jerked his body closer to the electrical barrier, but he ignored the pain. He would bring Dodger to justice if it was the last thing he did.
Dodger for his part either didn't recognize Ghost, or didn't care. He walked over to Shocker and leaned on the back wall next to him.
"So, what's your story?"
Before Shocker could answer, the door opened again. Fagin. Three others joined him.
"Why isn't he tied up?" Fagin motioned to the three behind him.
Dodger looked surprised and turned to show off his hands behind his back. "I am tied up."
"Knees and ankles," Fagin ordered.
Dodger let loose an exaggerated moan. "There was a time when you would have tied me up yourself. And, you would have enjoyed it more."
Nik couldn't believe what he heard. Dodger and Fagin, a couple? Something for him to file away for after he captured them both. He just needed to find a way around the cocoon. The problem was that phasing through solid matter was just a question of squeezing in between the stationary molecules, but when he was phasing through liquids or electricity, he had to weave his way between moving molecules. When the rate of speed of one part of his body exceeded the rate of speed of another part of his body, it cause a great deal of pain, and he risked unphasing without all of his body parts located where they belonged. It was dangerous, but getting out of here before Fagin pulled Dani into his trap was worth the risk. He just needed to get close enough to the cocoon without Shocker noticing.