by Risa Green
“He’s waiting,” said Mitch.
Finn had gone up to the driver’s seat. He peered through a pair of binoculars. “He’s still carrying the bag,” he informed them. “Whatever he took out of the box is in there. He didn’t come out with anything different.” Jessica climbed into the passenger seat next to him. She could make out a person standing on the corner, but from that distance she couldn’t see his face. Jack handed her the binoculars. “Here, take a look.”
She held them up and squinted through the holes. There was Rob, as sharp and crisp as if he were standing two inches in front of her. He was holding a small duffle bag—she’d seen him carry his things in it to the Club before—and he was wearing an open blue button-down with a white T-shirt underneath. Jessica quickly tilted the binoculars so she could see his feet. Grey Jack Purcells stuck out from the hem of his jeans. His ankles were concealed. She handed the binoculars back to Finn.
“Here comes our guy,” he announced a few moments later.
Sure enough, Jessica saw Nick rounding the corner, approaching the spot where Rob was standing. She went back to the other end of the van to watch him on the monitor.
Nick was about half a foot taller than Rob; when Rob looked up at him, the bottom half of Nick’s face appeared on the screen.
“Hey, man,” Nick said.
“Hey. Thanks for coming.”
Nick frowned. “Don’t pretend that I’m here because I want to be. This isn’t a favor.”
“Whatever, dude,” Rob answered. “I was trying to be friendly, but we can do it this way if that’s what you want.”
“Can we just get this over with?”
“Yeah, sure. Come on.” The camera began to move in the opposite direction from the bank.
“Where are you going?” Nick asked. “The door’s over here.”
The camera stopped. “We’re going in through the back,” Rob said. “I don’t want the security cameras to get us on video together. You know, just in case.”
Nick’s chin bobbed up and down. “All right.” He paused. “There’s a back door to the bank?” he asked, sounding skeptical.
“Yeah, just follow me.”
Jack jumped up from his seat at the table. “They’re on the move!” he shouted. “The transfer’s about to happen!”
Everyone looked at Michelle. “What do you want to do?” Mitch asked her. “We can go in now, but if the money’s not in the bag we don’t get him. Or we can watch, but then we run the risk of losing him if we move in too late.” He lowered his voice and looked intently at Michelle. “We can’t engage in a chase, because that would mean calling for backup. This isn’t an authorized operation. This is a favor.”
Michelle nodded. “I know.” She hesitated for a split second. “I’m going in. Myself.”
Mitch stepped forward to block her. “I don’t advise that.”
She sighed and pushed him out of the way. “He’s my husband. He’s not a gang member. I just want to confront him. If I need backup, I’ll signal for you. Okay?”
The three men looked at each other, talking it over silently with their eyes. They all nodded.
“All right,” Mitch agreed. He grinned. “But remember, you have to say it casually. Work it into the conversation. If you just shout it out he’ll know something’s up. Do you remember the signal word?”
Michelle rolled her eyes. “Thumbelina.”
The officers all burst out laughing. Jessica snickered as she tried to imagine Michelle casually working that word into a confrontation with Rob. She looked at Mitch again; he was still grinning at Michelle. “Don’t get in some big fight, though,” Mitch warned. “We don’t have time for a lover’s quarrel. We need to be in place for tonight in an hour.”
“Don’t worry,” Michelle answered. “You need to have love for there to be a lover’s quarrel.”
Jessica realized suddenly that Michelle and Mitch were flirting with each other. For a second, she wondered how long that had been going on. But then she reminded herself that Rob was a murderer and that Michelle should be flirting with whomever she wanted. Without any further discussion, Michelle slid open the door to the van and jumped out. Mitch slid it shut again behind her.
“Your aunt’s a cool lady,” he said to Jessica.
“Yeah,” Jessica responded. “I know.”
The camera bobbed along the alleyway behind the bank. Neither Nick nor Rob had said a word since they’d started walking, but as they approached the solid, steel door at the bank of the bank, Nick spoke up in a worried voice. “Um, I don’t think anyone’s getting in that way,” he said.
“Is this kid stupid, or what?” Mitch wondered aloud.
“He’s not stupid,” Ariel replied defensively. “He’s confused. Rob told him they were transferring the money inside the bank.”
Mitch turned around to look at her. “And you know that how?”
“He’s my boyfriend,” Ariel admitted. “He told me.”
Jessica cleared her throat. “Now is probably not the best time to bring this up, but um … Ariel? You can probably do better than Nick for a boyfriend.”
“Hey,” Jack interrupted. “Look at this. What the hell is he doing?”
Jessica’s eyes flashed back to the screen. Nick’s back was pushed up against the wall, and Rob had reached out with his right hand and had grabbed the back of Nick’s head.
“Dude, what the hell?” Nick asked. He put his palm out and tried to push Rob away from him, but Rob grabbed it with his other hand and held it down by Nick’s side.
“This will only take a second,” Rob breathed. He pushed Nick’s head forward. The underside of Rob’s chin appeared on the screen. Nick struggled to get free, turning his face from side to side as Rob moved closer. “Hold still!” Rob commanded.
“Is he trying to kiss him?” Finn asked, incredulous.
“Oh, my God,” Gretchen whispered.
“We should go in,” Jack said, standing up. “Where the hell is Michelle?”
On the screen, Rob had finally succeeded in getting his mouth on top of Nick’s, muffling his screams.
“Wait,” Mitch instructed, holding up one finger without taking his eyes off the screen.
“This kid’s getting molested,” Jack pleaded. “We have to go in.”
“Just give her ten more seconds,” Mitch insisted firmly. Jack looked at his watch, his eyes fixed on the second hand.
Rob exhaled loudly into Nick’s mouth. His fingers dug into the back of Nick’s head.
“Five seconds,” Jack warned.
Rob exhaled again.
“It’s not going to work, Rob,” came Michelle’s voice off screen.
Rob turned his head toward her voice, giving Nick the opportunity to shove him off of him. The camera jolted as Rob stumbled; he must have fallen to the ground because Michelle suddenly appeared to be hovering above the camera.
“Are you okay?” she asked Nick.
Nick spit three times and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Stay away from me!” he shouted at Rob. “Dude, you tell my coach about the parties, and I’ll tell everyone you’re a pedophile! How’s that for blackmail, asshole?”
Rob sputtered. “I’m not—I was just …”
“Nick, you should go,” Michelle told him. “I’ll deal with him.”
Suddenly, Rob’s right leg stretched out, filling up the screen. The duffle bag had fallen to the ground a few inches away, and he pointed his foot, looping the front of his sneaker though the handle of the bag and sliding it toward him. The hem of his jean rolled up. There, around his ankle, was a thin gold chain attached to an amber disc.
“There it is!” Jessica cried out, pointing at the anklet on the screen.
Gretchen started to cry quietly in the corner of the van.
Jack looked at the screen, then at Gretchen. “What is that?” he asked her.
She dabbed at her eyes with her index fingers. “It’s proof,” she answered. “Proof that he murdered my mother.”<
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Jack, Finn, and Mitch exchanged glances. “What’s going on here, girls?” Jack demanded.
“I’m getting the distinct feeling that we weren’t told the whole story,” Mitch said tersely.
But before they had a chance to exchange glances of their own, the camera bobbed again. “No!” Rob shouted to Nick. “Don’t you go anywhere!”
On the screen, they had a visual of Michelle’s waist and the right half of Nick’s torso, slightly behind her.
“Whoa,” Nick said, quietly.
“What are you doing, Rob?” Michelle asked. Her voice sounded deliberately calm.
“Tell me how it works!” he shouted at her. “Tell me!”
“It doesn’t work,” she answered. “It’s just a legend.”
“No!” he yelled. “It does! I read about it! Plotinus and the anklet! It’s why the Oculus Society is so hush-hush about everything!”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but it’s just a story. Plotinus was crazy. He made it all up.”
“I hate you!” he screamed at her. “I never should have married you! You ruined my life!”
“Please, Rob,” she said. She had slipped into her TV voice, over-enunciating every syllable. “Please take your little Thumbelina off of that gun.”
“He’s armed!” Mitch shouted.
“Move, move!” Jack yelled. In one swift motion, the three of them had drawn their weapons, slid open the door, and taken off running down the sidewalk.
“Stay there!” Finn commanded them over his shoulder. It had all happened so fast, Jessica hadn’t even realized that she’d started to cry until Ariel quickly slid the door, to the van shut again with a loud swoosh.
“She’s going to be fine,” Ariel assured her.
“I don’t have anyone else,” Jessica whispered. It was the first time that she understood this to be the absolute truth. Rob was a criminal. Michelle was the only family she had in the whole world.
“I know,” Ariel said. “I’m in the same boat. I get it.”
“Me, too,” Gretchen seconded.
Suddenly, a shot rang out. They heard it in stereo, both from outside and through the audio of the camera. On the screen, they watched as Michelle collapsed.
Jessica’s hands flew to her mouth. “No!” she screamed.
“Drop your weapon!” came Jack’s voice. They heard the clatter of the gun as it hit the ground; a split second later, Jack and Mitch were in front of the camera. It jostled, then went black.
“I’m going,” Jessica heard herself say. She was out of the van before she even realized what she was doing. Gretchen and Ariel leapt after her. Her ankles felt like jelly as she rounded the corner into the alley. Time seemed to freeze. Sirens wailed in the distance.
When they reached the scene, the first person they saw was Rob, lying facedown on the ground, his hands cuffed behind his back. Jack was standing guard by his side. Behind him, Nick was sitting on a concrete step beneath the bank’s huge steel door. He looked pale and shaky. Ariel ran to him. And just few feet away, Michelle was stretched out on her back, her head resting in Mitch’s lap. Jessica held her breath as she searched for the pool of blood that would indicate where Michelle had been shot. But there was nothing. She kneeled down next to Mitch. Michelle’s eyes squeezed tightly shut.
“Is she okay?” Jessica said in a terrible whisper.
Michelle’s lids flew open. “I’m fine,” she said, coughing as she spoke. “I just got the wind knocked out of me.” She made a fist with her right hand and rapped on her chest with it. “Thank God for Dragon Skin,” she said.
“Best invention since sliced bread,” Mitch agreed.
Jessica’s legs finally gave out from under her. She collapsed on her rump at Mitch’s feet. Tears fell from her cheeks.
The sirens were almost on top of them now, and within moments two police cars had screeched to a halt in the alley, followed by an ambulance. As the EMTs examined Michelle, one of the policemen questioned Nick, while the other hauled Rob to his feet. He kept his eyes glued to the ground as the officer read him his rights. It was only as he was being led toward the police car that he finally noticed Jessica standing there, watching him. His eyes lit up when he saw her. The policeman opened the door and pushed Rob toward it.
“Jess! You’re still on my side, right?” he shouted at her, his voice full of hope.
Jessica turned back around toward Michelle. From behind her, she heard the door to the police car slam shut.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
The lights were dimmed in the back room of the Oculus Society building; white candles on silver trays cast a pale yellow glow on the walls. The white, silk curtains were drawn tightly, like lips set in a grim line, refusing to talk. The last two times she’d been back there, Jessica hadn’t even noticed that there were curtains. She glanced around, taking in the other details that had escaped her before … the two matching, narrow bookcases running from the floor to the ceiling. The dusty hardbacks that lined its shelves. The pale blue patterned rug spread over the white washed, hardwood floor. The large, black-and-white photograph of what remains of the Roman Pantheon …
At the center of the table that dominated the room sat Tina Holt. Her crystal gavel rested atop the table beside a rectangular, black velvet jewelry case. To her right was Michelle; to her left, Kristen Renwick. Jessica sat at the end, with Joan Hedley at the other end. Before them stood Gretchen, wearing a white robe, just like the rest of them. Her dark hair had been blown out into shiny, long waves, and she stood up straight, her shoulders back, her head raised. She looked, Jessica thought, strikingly like her mother.
Tina banged her gavel against the table once, then twice, bringing the meeting to order.
“As you know, Gretchen, your mother had a long history of service to the Oculus Society. It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the board, where you may continue in her footsteps.” Tina’s voice broke just the slightest bit. “It’s all she ever wanted for you.”
“With a seat on the board comes great responsibility,” said Joan. “This group was created specifically to protect the secret of the Plotinus Ability, which has existed under the sole province of women for over two thousand years. Thanks to you and some fellow board members, the secret is safe once again.” She nodded to Jessica and Michelle.
Jessica smiled back at her.
Kristen Renwick stood up from the table and stepped forward. “Please raise your right hand,” she instructed Gretchen. Gretchen did as she was told, and Kristen began to read from a sheet of paper.
“The board of the Oculus Society operates in total secrecy. Do you solemnly swear not to divulge or admit the existence of the board to any non-member, even if such non-member is a general member of the Oculus Society?”
“I do,” Gretchen answered.
“The existence of the Plotinus Ability is known only by members of the board. Do you solemnly swear not to divulge or admit the existence of the Plotinus Ability to any non-member, even if such non-member is a general member of the Oculus Society?”
“I do,” Gretchen said again.
“Then by the power vested in me as Vice-President, I hereby declare you a member of the board of the Oculus Society.”
Jessica snapped her fingers in congratulations along with the other board members. She could see the tears in Gretchen’s eyes as she bowed her head.
Tina lifted her gavel again and banged it lightly on the desk. The snapping subsided.
“Since we’ve had some, ah, special circumstances, I think we can dispense with the formalities from here on out. Gretchen, Jessica has requested that you take her place as the rightful holder of the Plotinus Ability. We obviously don’t need to explain to you what that means, or what’s involved with projecting. We just need to know that you accept this designation as the Leader.”
“I do,” Gretchen said.
“Excellent. And I understand you’ve already decided on a partner.”
“I have. I’d like fo
r Jessica to be my partner.”
“Agreed and accepted,” Tina said. Jessica smiled. It was such a relief to be doing this the way it was supposed to be done, in accordance with the rules, and not in secret, sneaking out to the teepee after dark. She’d been worried that they were all going to get kicked out of the Oculus Society for what they’d done, but Tina was so relieved to have the anklet back in her hands, she was willing to forgive everything.
“So, then. Who will be your witness?”
Gretchen glanced anxiously at Michelle. Michelle smiled and nodded to her encouragingly. “I respectfully request that Ariel Miller be allowed to join the board as my witness,” she said.
Tina looked down the table to her right, then down to her left. “Let’s take a vote, please. All those in favor of admitting Ariel Miller to the board, say ‘aye.’ ”
“Aye,” they all responded in unison.
“All those against?” Silence.
“Very well, then. Bring her in.”
Michelle stood and took off her robe, then left the room. A moment later she came back with Ariel. Jessica looked her over. Her hair, too, had been blown out for the occasion. Straight and thick, curling up just the slightest bit at the ends. But Jessica noticed that her face looked blotchy, and her eyes were red-rimmed. She knew that Ariel had ended things with Nick last night. It must have been hard. He may not have been the god they’d dreamed him to be, but he was a good guy. It wasn’t enough, but it was something.
Michelle slipped her robe back on and handed one to Ariel, then led her to the spot in front of the table where Gretchen had stood just moments before.
“Well, Ariel,” Tina said. “It’s very unusual for someone to be initiated into both the Oculus Society and the board on the same day. But then again, everything’s been pretty unusual around here lately, I suppose.” She let out a long sigh. “Joan?”
Joan stepped forward and administered the same oath to Ariel that she’d just given to Gretchen.
When it was over, Tina asked Gretchen and Jessica to stand with Ariel in front of the table. Jessica stood to Ariel’s right, and Gretchen stood to Jessica’s left, so that Jessica ended up sandwiched between them