The Nine Read online

“We can’t break the case.” I lowered my voice so only Alex could hear me. “If they think someone tampered with their cargo, they might not carry on with the mission. This is too important to chance a simple screw-up like that. We have to make them think everything is just as they left it, or they might request fresh samples of the contagion.”

  Alex threw out her hands. “We have to do something.”

  I peered at the case. The locks seemed solid. At least solid for a high-end travel suitcase. We could open it, but the latches would look like we went at them with a crowbar. I spun the case around and studied the bottom. The hinges were exposed—bare metal to accent the brushed aluminum finish of the case. I dried them as best I could, set an index finger on the end of each one and closed my eyes.

  “What are you doing?” Alex said. “They could be back any second.”

  I moved my fingers in tiny little circles, feeling the rounded end of the hinge pins become pitted, then rough. I concentrated harder, focusing all my anger and frustration into the metal.

  “Gabe, if you don’t open your eyes and tell me what you’re doing, I’m going to pry them open with a spork.”

  I pulled my hands away from the briefcase to reveal two off-colored circles to the right of each hinge.

  “What did you do?”

  I shrugged. “I rusted off the end of the hinge pins. We should be able to slip them out and open the case without breaking the locks on the other side, if we’re careful. We’ll need a couple of toothpicks to push them through.”

  Alex grabbed my face and kissed me on the lips. “You are a genius.”

  I cleared my throat and tried not to act like she hit me with a stun-gun. “Uh, you’re welcome.”

  We worked the pins out with relative ease and got the top open far enough to see the interior. The case held two innocuous looking aerosol spray cans cradled in foam padding. White with a strange tip on the end. I glanced up and realized how many people would die if one of those cans ruptured or even spritzed a few drops into the air. All of a sudden, those innocent containers seemed more like atom bombs than aerosol cans.

  “I take it back,” I said. “We have to get this out of here. We can’t chance them getting away with these things. They’ll think someone snatched their briefcase and head back to the Agency, but at least we’ll have more time to come up with a plan.”

  Alex held up a finger and searched the large shopping areas around us. She seemed to spot something, and for the second time, she ran into the crowd without any explanation. We really needed to work on our communication skills. “If she comes back with more water-guns ...”

  I didn’t have time to finish my sentence. Alex held two aerosol cans in her hands. The tips on top resembled the ones in the briefcase. The labels read Nasamist Isotonic Saline Spray. “For the natural relief of dry stuffy nose,” Alex recited with a cheesy car-sales grin.

  The cans were a little smaller and shaped a bit different, but if Jake and Max hadn’t seen them, they wouldn’t know the difference. Alex tore the plastic labels off the saline spray, and I reached into the case to retrieve the contagion bombs.

  “Be careful with those,” Alex said.

  I wanted to throw her a comeback, but sweat ran down my head like Niagara Falls and my palms felt as though they had been slathered in butter. Witty retorts didn’t seem prudent.

  Alex slipped the decoy cans into their cradled slots in the briefcase and let the lid fall back into place, spraying little droplets of water all over the back of my hands.

  I hissed through my teeth, and Alex glanced up at the sound. “Pull yourself together. You look like you’re about to hyperventilate. Put those things in your pocket before something happens to make you drop them.”

  I let out a grumbling laugh and slid a can into each of my outside pockets while Alex pushed the hinge pins back in place. It had only been a few minutes, and other than a couple of inconspicuous looking ovals etched into chrome accent band encircling the case, everything looked exactly the same as the stooges left it. The bustling crowd never gave us a second glance, and the kids kept Max and Jake busy long enough for us to do our business. I felt a smile tug the edge of my lips as we turned to make our clean getaway, then my face fell. “I just had a terrible thought.”

  Alex stared at me. “What?”

  “Those kids. We sent them running after some of the most ruthless agents in The Nine. What if Max and Jake do something horrible to them?”

  Alex laughed. “They won’t. Something like that would draw too much attention. If those two idiots lay one hand on those kids, a thousand cameras are going to record their faces from every angle. Their days as Judas agents will be over. Every law enforcement Agency in the country would be looking for the two men who attacked a group of innocent children at the Olympic games.”

  My smile returned, and I stopped next to a door marked, Break Room—Employees Only. “Let’s wait in here until our buddies get back. We can keep an eye on the case and make sure they take the bait before we leave.”

  Alex nodded. “Good idea. I wouldn’t mind seeing them walk away with it.”

  I reached for the door, but it shot open before I could touch the handle.

  “Oh, don’t you worry, princess.” Max said, his huge bulk all but blocking the entire opening. “You’ll see us walk away with everything we need.”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Max reached out and wrapped my jacket, and about a thousand chest hairs, into his meaty fist. I sailed through the air amidst a sea of vending machines and countertop microwaves to enter the break room head first. Confusion, disbelief, and panic twisted my tongue and prevented me from uttering more than a shocked little peep. My hands went to my pockets out of instinct, protecting my volatile cargo, leaving my face to lead the way through an array of cheap chairs, condiment holders, and one surprisingly sturdy wood table.

  My vision blurred, and I went down like a sack of doorknobs.

  “Leave him alone.”

  I blinked a dozen time in rapid succession and managed to clear my head enough to see Alex throw a high kick at Max’s face. He ducked, but the move allowed Alex enough room to skirt past and squeeze into the room. Max let out a chuckle and slammed the door, locking it as Alex took up a protective position in front of me.

  “Are you okay?” She chanced a quick glance down and grimaced. “Might want to fix your shoulder and stand up.”

  I staggered to my feet and reached toward a burning sensation in my shoulder. Something sharp bit at my fingers. A large piece of glass from a broken serving tray. It must have been on the table that used my face to slow my body’s forward momentum. It was jammed back to the counter now, and the rest of the tray was nowhere to be seen. The wound wasn’t as painful as it looked, so I pulled the glass out with a quick jerk. The foolish move escalated the previously tolerable pain to black out levels and garnished it with a teaspoon of lemon and rock salt. I staggered back a couple of steps, trying to steady myself, and peered down to see my skin already mending. The sight of my exposed tissue melding together like slimy goo did not improve my queasy unease, but I was all at once thankful that we were Topside instead of down under in The Nine.

  “I’ll be taking the canisters you have stored in your pretty little raincoat.” Max stood in front of the door, one hand at his side, the other behind his back. “Don’t bother pretending you don’t have them. I watched you and your girlfriend make the switch.”

  I shrugged. “Yeah, but unless I’ve forgotten something, you have a problem.”

  “What’s that?”

  I took a step forward and stood next to Alex again. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you told me the only two ways for us to die up here are to run through a rain water slushy or be attacked by another agent’s manifested power.”

  “Well, those aren’t the only ways,” Alex said. “But I think they’re the only ones that matter right now.”

  “Good enough for me.” I turned my eyes back to Max. “Seems to me the o
nly thing you have to fight with is your overdeveloped sense of meal portions. You rung my bell pretty good, but you caught us by surprise. If memory serves, the last time you tangled with my girlfriend here, you wound up face down, wheezing in the dirt.”

  Alex glanced over at me. “Girlfriend?”

  I leaned toward her and whispered, “Dramatic effect.” I made sure my voice was loud enough to benefit Big Max as well.

  Max never lost his smile. I pretended it didn’t bother me, but the fact that nothing I said seemed to faze him had me a little worried. Since Alex shifted into a fighting stance, I could only assume she had that same crawly sensation inching up the back of her neck.

  Max took a step in our direction, still holding that foreboding hand behind his back. “I’ll give you credit. That thing with the kids. That was a cute trick, but Jake and I have been doing this awhile. Long enough to get the drop on a couple of pups like you.”

  Max shifted his gaze to Alex. “I am a little disappointed that you didn’t notice my new outfit. I wore this just for you.”

  “Greasy chic? You always wear that stupid jumpsuit.”

  Max made a show of smoothing the front of his mechanic unitard. “Look close. I made a little change after our last dance. This one is made out of Nomex. It’s fireproof.”

  The crawly feeling on my neck crept down my back and took hold of my spine.

  “Plus, I think the lighter color brings out my eyes. They’re aqua blue.”

  Dread became realization as Max drew one of the kid’s huge bazooka water-guns out from behind his back. “I want you to know that when this is all over, I’m going to make sure the Gnashing Fields are only the first stop you’ll enjoy in a long treasonous eternity of pain.”

  Max drew back a long plastic handle at the back of the gun and aimed the nozzle toward Alex. “Give me the cans, and I will make this fast. Make me dig them out of your wet coat, and I’ll paint my name a thousand times across her face before I let her die.”

  Alex had her face set in an expression of pure hate, but I could see the sweat beginning to mat her perfect blue hair. “Don’t make it easy for him, Gabe. He’s going to do it anyway.”

  I peered at Alex and then back at Max. Die easy or die slow. I didn’t want to die at all. Choice C, none of the above, sounded like the best option to me. I reached into my pockets with both hands and drew out the aerosol cans. They felt smooth and cold and deadly. I just felt helpless.

  Max smiled and motioned toward the counter to the right. “Set them down there, and we can get this over with.”

  I gave Alex a worried look, but she never took her eyes off Max. I moved away from her and headed for the counter. I stopped near the breakroom sink and set the aerosol cans down. Before I turned around again, something caught my eye. The rest of the broken serving platter. The pieces must have been in the sink before we got into the room—all but the one that had ended up in my shoulder. Someone must have broken it before we got there. Almost half of the platter was still intact, a semi-circle blade of razor-sharp glass. I let my hand rest on the counter next to the sink and faced Alex. “I can’t believe you talked me into this.”

  Alex broke her stare down death-match with Max for half a second. Just enough to glance at me and say, “Excuse me?”

  “This whole thing was her idea.” I gestured toward Alex. “I told her this was stupid. Risking a mission like this to get revenge for a prank you pulled on her.”

  Max’s grin widened. “All this for me? What was it? Our little trick with your Topside bestie? That really got to you, huh? I’m flattered you went to this much trouble getting even.”

  “What? This was not my idea ...”

  “What if I promise to help you guys.” That stopped Alex in her tracks. “What if I promised to help you carry out this mission. It’s not like she’s been much of a mentor. I could use some real guidance out here. We can finish her off, take the cans, and complete the job.”

  Max looked down, seeming to consider. Alex stared searing acid in my direction. I lifted the broken platter far enough out of the sink for her to see.

  Her expression never changed. She didn’t even glance at it before she turned her head back to Max. “He’s just trying to save his worthless skin. He has been about as useful as a leadless pencil. Trust me, he won’t be any help to you.”

  “Look,” I said. “I don’t mean to be indelicate, but if Jake met the business end of a water balloon, you might need a partner to finish the job here. I’m your best bet for a successful mission. And the party attack idea ...” I pointed at Alex again.

  I watched the gears creak around in Max’s head at a painfully slow pace, then his pudgy eyes crinkled to a scowl, and he waddled in my direction, keeping his water cannon trained on Alex.

  “Why don’t you wiggle your way over there, sweetheart? The kid here’s right. I need at least two people to carry out this mission. I owe it to Jake to make a mess out of you before we go.”

  Max moved across the room like a force of nature, plowing through overturned chairs and tables until he had his back to me, ready to blast Alex straight to the Gnashing Fields.

  “Any last words?”

  “Yes. You should have waited for Jake.”

  I drew out the broken platter and axed the sharpened edge onto Max’s exposed wrist. I put everything I had into the blow, maybe a little too much. The glass bit into Max’s skin and stayed there, lodged into bone like a forearm windshield. The water gun went streaking to the floor and cracked on the hard tiles, materializing a Slip and Slide of death on the speckled linoleum.

  I jumped back. Max dove forward, launching his incredible girth a solid three inches off the ground before he toppled in Alex’s direction. Just enough to avoid a rain water acid bath. A floor drain drew off most of the deadly liquid, allowing his stellar long dive to work in avoiding the stream.

  Alex caught Max on his way down and managed to wrap him in a triple swizzle sideways neck hold that made me wonder if she was part snake. I had a hunch Max would never be able to turn his head in a forward direction again. In the end, it didn’t matter.

  “Let me give you a little piece of advice,” Alex growled through clenched teeth. “Next time you try to protect yourself with something, use the whole thing. A fireproof suit doesn’t do any good without the hood.”

  Alex pressed her hands to either side of Max’s head. I reached out to stop her, but it was too late. Blazing red light came out of Max’s eyes, nose, and ears. He opened his mouth as if to scream, but bright orange light showed there as well. A second later the light went out, and smoke erupted from the spaces instead, looking like windows in a dwindling house fire, spreading the sharp odors of burnt hair and charred flesh.

  Alex closed her eyes and let Max’s body loll to the side as she unwrapped her hold on him. She shook and tried to stand but couldn’t quite make it on the first try. It took me a second to wake up and hurry over to help her.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Fine.” She glanced down at Max and then jerked her head away, tears in her eyes. “Can we get out of here?”

  I nodded and led her to the door. She faced the wall as I unlocked the deadbolt to peek outside. Nothing but the usual hustle and bustle that had been there before. “Coast is clear.”

  I opened the door and stepped out, leading Alex by the hand behind me.

  “Wait!” I turned and steadied Alex for a second and went back into the breakroom. When I came out, I had two aerosol cans tucked into the pockets of my coat. I reached around and locked the doorknob before I let the door swing closed, then grabbed an out of order sign off of a soda machine and stuck it to the door.

  “Good enough for a getaway, I hope.”

  Alex managed a weak smile. “There won’t be anything to find in an hour anyway. His body will dry into dust. All anyone will find is a pile of sand and an oversized pair of coveralls.”

  “Really?” I led her around a crowd of excited French nationals watching a soccer ma
tch on one of those huge flat screen televisions. They all screamed, “Goooooooaaaaal,” in unison.

  “Wouldn’t do us much good to leave corpses all over the place up here,” Alex said. “Imagine the confusion it would cause at the census bureau.”

  I laughed, and Alex gained more of her composure back. “Did you notice that the suitcase was gone when we left?”

  Alex glanced up at me. “Gone?”

  I nodded. “Doesn’t mean anything. Someone may have snatched it or turned it into lost and found, but ...”

  “If Jake came back and got it, we’re going to have some explaining to do at the Agency.”

  “If Jake has that case, we won’t be the ones doing the explaining.” I smiled, and we wandered toward the exit.

  “You know, we have a little time ...” I nodded toward the arena.

  Alex rolled her eyes. “We’re not going to see if the Brazilians are playing volleyball.”

  Chapter Forty

  “You ready for this?” I glanced over at Zoe, and she nodded her head. The three of us were back in The Nine, standing at the door of a well-built shanty. The place was huge. Big enough to house dozens of Woebegone. Many visited this place, but only one man called it his home.

  I glanced up and down the street. Eyes watched us from every direction. Sad, used, and pathetic eyes. The eyes of the lost and wandering. Eyes of horror and doubt. I knew those eyes. They were the same ones Zoe used to look at me when I first met her. Full of terror and fear.

  She didn’t have those eyes any more. When I looked at her now, I saw years of sadness and anger lurking under her innocent beauty. Her appearance hadn’t changed since she had regained her memory. She was still the same petite, little blonde who could charm any lowlife creep in The Nine, but her smile—her smile had changed. The innocence had been stolen away, replaced with hard wariness. Seeds of suspicion and cynicism had been planted deep and would never be rooted out completely. We were here to pay a visit to the one who had cultivated those vile weeds.