“You shut up! You’ve done enough already!”
Mia watched the drama from her distant rock cover. She’d never seen David so furious. She considered saying something in her microphone to calm him down.
A strong arm suddenly seized her from behind, covering her mouth. Ross switched off her transmitter and snatched her gun. She could hear the jingling of his loose handcuff as he pressed the heavy barrel to her temple.
“You’re lucky I’m a good guy or your brains would be splattered all over those rocks. Now I’ll burn in hell before I shoot a little girl, but if you make any noise or trouble, God help me, I’ll crack you one. You hear me?”
Her heart thumping madly, Mia quickly nodded.
“Now tell the truth, girl, because I’ll know if you’re lying. Do you have the handcuff key?”
She shook her head. Ross threw a sigh at Carter. “Sorry, man.”
“It’s okay. I don’t need my hands to do a rounder.”
“All right. Good plan. Give me two minutes to get in position.”
Ross held Mia closer. She could smell his sweat.
“You and I are going to take a walk now. You better hope your friends behave. I got no qualms about putting a bullet in any of them.”
Mia’s thoughts screamed as Ross pulled her back into the darkness.
—
The future continued to evade Theo, lost in a dwindling fog of chemicals. He knew from Howard’s call that at least eight more Deps would be here in minutes. He wanted to yell the news through the trailer wall, but he didn’t know if Zack would hear him. He also wasn’t sure how Owen would react. The strange little agent was becoming increasingly unglued.
“This is . . . this is . . . no. I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all. She was supposed to bring wisdom to the department, like Athena. Instead she calls for violence, like Ares. Or Andy. She has grown the metaphorical mustache and become her predecessor. And now she asks me to shoot.”
“Then don’t,” said Theo. “Just drop the gun and go outside. They won’t hurt you.”
“The door’s locked from the other side. You’re trapped in my dilemma. I think—”
A banging noise from outside made Owen flinch. He aimed his gun at the door.
“Okay, Owen, listen to me—”
“Theo, let the man work out his problem! You’re not helping!”
Owen tossed Amanda an obliging nod. “Thank you. My inner chorus is loud enough.”
Theo looked at her confusedly. Her expression was more pleading than stern. She mouthed a single word. Wait.
Soon Owen retreated into his tizzy, mumbling in the rear corner of the trailer. The moment he turned his back, Amanda slumped in her chair, struggling to thrust her right foot as far as it could go beyond the boundary of her solic generators.
Now Theo understood, though he was no less surprised. He had no idea Amanda could generate tempis from her feet. She’d only just learned it herself last week, when she unwittingly shredded her socks in a fit of Zack-related anguish. She wasn’t sure if her trick would work now. The white beast inside her felt heavy and languid, as if riddled with tranquilizers. Amanda gritted her teeth in concentration, willing it awake.
Theo kept a nervous eye on Owen. The agent still didn’t notice Amanda’s new pose, or the fact that her sneaker was beginning to swell.
—
Hannah paced the road in furious bother while Zack and David studied the back of the tug. It seemed insane that they’d come this far only to be hindered by a single door and Dep.
“I’ll open it,” said Hannah. “If I’m fast enough . . .”
Zack shook his head. “It’s a sliding gate. The moment you lift it, you’re a stationary target.”
Melissa fought a laugh over their inflated impression of Owen Nettles. The man was more in danger of hurting himself.
“It’ll leave your midsection exposed,” she told Hannah. “Which is exactly where my man will shoot. He knows abdominal injuries are slow to kill. We’ll have plenty of time to get you to a reviver.”
“You need to stop talking,” David urged.
“You know he has a crush on you, my agent in there. I’m not one to judge—”
“I said be quiet!”
“Or what? You’ll shoot me in the head?”
“If that’s what it takes!”
“David . . .”
Melissa smiled wisely. “No, Zack. Let him work it out. The boy’s gotten a taste for power now. I do believe he likes it.”
David lurched toward her. “You don’t know the first thing about me!”
“I know you would’ve killed me if Hannah and Zack hadn’t stopped you. I know it wasn’t morality that stayed your trigger finger. You care what your friends think. You want them to keep trusting you.”
Hannah yelled as David grabbed Melissa by the collar. Her grin turned fierce.
“Go on, boy. Show them. Show them the real you.”