The Deviant Underground (Time Bandit) (22 page)

“Yes, you can. Pia saw the ability in you when we first located you. And I have to let you know that Pia is never wrong.”

Kathryn sighed. She figured that now was as good as a time as any to let Jonathan know her plans. “I have to go back to St. Louis, Jonathan. I have things to do.”

“I know. And I completely understand and support that decision. You will, of course, continue to visit at any time. This is your home now, too, Kathryn. And you must know that I’m very pleased to see that you and Charge have gotten on so well. Susan, too. She’s quite attached to you, you know.”

“I know. I’ve grown quite attached to both of them, too.”

Jonathan put his hand on her shoulder. “You're welcome here at any time, for as long as you’d like to stay. All you have to do is call, and I’ll get a ticket for you immediately. You mean so much to all of us. You're part of our family.”

Overwhelmed by emotion, Kathryn was only able to say, “Thanks.”

Jonathan squeezed her shoulder before standing up. “I must go inside now, I have some work to do. But feel free to find me at any time and ask whatever questions you’d like.”

“Okay.” Another question immediately popped into her head. “Wait, so do you don't work for the government? Was that just a cover story?”

“Oh, no, I really do work for the government. Doing so gives me some inside information into their strategies against us, but I’m trying to gain more access. So I strive to be a good little government worker.” Kathryn thought she saw him wink at her in the dim light.

“So you're some kind of double agent?” Kathryn joked.

Jonathan paused, and Kathryn could see that he was grinning. “Why yes, I suppose you could say that I am.” And with that he turned and walked into the cabin, leaving Kathryn alone in the moonlight with the crickets and her thoughts.

Chapter Twenty Two

“Well, well, well. Look at what the cat dragged in.” Mario put down his fork and wiped his mouth with a linen napkin.

Charge stepped towards Mario's table and two guys—both as big as he was—blocked his path. With a wave of his hand, Mario dismissed them and gestured for Charge to join him.

Charge shot the bodyguards a sideways glance as he sat down. “You're a hard man to catch up with.”

“Times have changed.” Mario smiled and resumed stabbing his pasta. “Eat something. What do you want? I recommend the lobster ravioli. It's excellent.”

“No, thanks.” Charge scanned the restaurant. Peppered amongst the adoring couples were men dining alone, engrossed in their cell phones or their newspapers. Close by, others sat vigilant, their eyes dancing around the room coldly while the pasta in front of them sat untouched. Charge chuckled softly. “Isn't this place a little obvious?”

“What?” Mario raised his eyebrows. “More obvious than a nightclub?” Charge said nothing. Mario smirked in response. “Actually, if you think about it, it's perfect. Half the guys in here got sheets longer than Broadway, and the other half's got the feds so far up their asses that no one is paying attention to a regular guy like me having dinner with an old friend. So really, you should order something. Can I at least get you a beer?” Charge nodded sharply, and Mario signaled the waiter. “Nastro Azzurro.” He turned back to Charge. “Trust me, you'll love it.”

Charge watched Mario continue to stuff food into his mouth. Mario had been hard to find. In fact, it had taken several days to track him down through his old contacts. Getting him to talk was going to be even harder. Getting Mario to trust him was going to be damn near impossible.

“So what happened to Tully?”

Mario shrugged. “He retired.”

Charge scanned Mario's face and wished, yet again, that he could read people's minds. Now that's a gift. “Yeah? So where is he? I'd like to talk to him.”

Mario shrugged again and took a sip of red wine. “Don't know. I hear he's down in Florida somewhere.”

The waiter set a glass down in front of Charge, the frothy cap swirling gently. Charge waited until he was out of earshot. “Look, can we just cut the bullshit? This is me you're talking to. What the hell is going on here?”

“What do you mean?”

Charge gripped his glass. “We haven't heard from your network in months.” He looked around and lowered his voice. “The updates stopped coming. You ignored all our calls and emails, and the next thing we hear is that you blame us for your people disappearing, which is bullshit. We had nothing to do with that.”

“Charge.” Mario set his fork down. “Look at it from our perspective. Everything's going along fine—status quo—and then all of a sudden, people start dropping like flies. Disappearing. Only some come back having gone through . . . something, with no memory of it except for the scars on their body. It starts out slow. Some random member from Queens, another from Brooklyn. Then two slightly connected from the Bronx. Then five associates from Manhattan. Then it gets inner circle—Bumpy, Alex.” He paused. “Then Tully.” Charge tried to hide his surprise, knowing that Mario would read it on his body anyway. Mario nodded. “That's right. Tully's disappeared, so you'll have to excuse me if I make myself more difficult to find.”

“How long?”

“Two. Two and a half weeks.”

“And you have no idea where he is?”

“No.” Mario sat back and sighed. “We've tried everything. Tapped into all of the trackers, telepaths, and empaths in the network, but nobody's come up with anything. Not even a body.” He gestured at the surrounding diners and laughed ruefully. “Whoever's the mastermind behind this could teach these goons a thing or two. It's clear that this goes beyond the abilities of the government. Some of our kind have got to be involved. So you can see why we've been a little less than forthcoming with information lately.”

“But we had nothing to do with this.” Charge hissed. “We've been losing people, too.”

“I know. And if I were Jonathan, I'd close ranks, too. Get your telepaths to check the entire inner circle, and he shouldn't tell anyone anything about his activities except for his second.”

“His 'second?'“

Mario drained his glass. “We've reorganized. As head of the network, I'm the first, and next in command is the second. The only person who knows of my plans, activities, and whereabouts is my second. Everyone else is on a need to know basis.”

“Who's your second?”

“Alicia.” Again, Charge tried to control his reaction, but Mario read it. “Don't be surprised. She was a logical choice.” Charge remembered her full lips, her curves pressed up against him, the smell of her hair. It had been too long. Mario stared at him. “Pupils dilating, increase in heart rate, changes in breathing. All signs of love.” He winked. “Or lust.” Charge's hand clenched around his untouched beer. “Don't be mad, Charge. I'm just calling it how I see it. Besides, who could blame you? She's a damn sexy woman.” Mario signaled to the waiter to bring him coffee.

Charge forced himself to take a drink and took the moment to compose himself. He gently set the glass back down on the table. “Jonathan has a plan to bring the government raids and the watchdogs down.”

Mario raised one eyebrow. “Oh yeah? And what is it?”

“I can't tell you that, but I can tell you that he's willing to share information with you if you agree to reopen all lines of communication and drop this suspicious bullshit.”

Mario chuckled. “So Jonathan thinks that he's negotiating, does he?” The waiter set his espresso down in front of him, and he took a sip. “Good for him. But he's forgetting one small thing. He needs me. Whatever plan he's got brewing, he's not going to be able to carry out. He hasn't got the manpower.”

Charge sat back in his chair. “He does now.”

Mario contemplated him for a moment—his dark eyes staring at Charge from over the rim of the tiny cup. “You're telling me the truth.” He put it down with a small clink. “And where did this additional manpower come from?”

“You don't need to know that.” Kathryn's image flashed through his mind. Her smile, her touch, her kisses, her soft skin—all of it was so intoxicating. He could feel his heart beating painfully in his chest.

Mario grinned. “Wow. This 'manpower' must be damn special.” He leaned in across the table. “But don't worry. I won't tell Alicia.” He sat back. “Okay, so assuming that Jonathan's plan is legit, if we risk reestablishing a relationship with you, what's in it for us? Besides benefitting from the collapse of the current political and social climate, that is.”

Charge took another generous drink from his glass. “To the victor goes the spoils, and we'd be willing to share those spoils.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Whatever we get our hands on. Jonathan figures that given the scope of this thing, we're likely to come away with equipment and supplies, of course. But the most important thing would be information, and much of that information could prove to be very lucrative.”

Mario silently contemplated him again, his hands folded and pressed against his mouth. He then exhaled. “I'm intrigued. Let me think about it and get back to you.”

“I'm not here for long, Mario, and this offer will expire. You say no, and we share nothing.”

“If you’re successful.”

“Oh, we will be.” Kathryn's smell, her long, firm legs wrapped around him as he entered her . . .

“Well, damn, you are sure about that, now aren't you?” Charge opened his mouth to protest, but Mario held up his hand. “I'll have an answer for you on Saturday. Do you know the diner on the corner of 136th and Lennox?” Charge nodded. “I'll have Arsenal meet you there at 11:30 pm with my answer.”

Charge stood up, glancing over at Mario's bodyguards, who stood up as well. “This is the only time that Jonathan is making this offer, so it better be an answer you can live with.”

“It will be. Oh, it will be.”

Chapter Twenty Three

Susan stood at Kathryn's bedroom door. “Get up. Let's go for a run.”

Kathryn groaned and buried her head deeper into the pillow. “Why?”

“Because we haven't run for a while. Because it's a nice day. Because we need to.” Susan paused. “Because it’ll give us something to do until Charge gets back.”

Kathryn rolled over and looked at her. Susan was wearing her running clothes and had her hair pulled back. On the surface, she looked like she did every day, but behind her eyes, Kathryn could see pain and worry struggling to get out.

“Just give me a minute to get dressed. I'll meet you downstairs.” Susan nodded, and her footsteps echoed as she descended the wooden stairs. She teleported to the bathroom and freshened up before teleporting back to the bedroom and dressing. She combed her hair, tied her shoes, and teleported outside where Susan was lightly stretching. “Which way do you want to go?” Kathryn put on her sunglasses to protect her eyes against the already hot morning sun. In a few hours, the temperature was sure to be unbearable.

“Mmm.” Susan looked around before pointing west. “Let's go this way. The sun will be out of our eyes, and we can stop at the peak for a break.”

“Okay.” With that, they took off, jogging at a brisk pace. A silence fell between them, and Kathryn’s body awakened. Her feet pounded the dirt rhythmically, responding quickly to her slight adjustments to avoid rocks, sticks, and anything else that might twist an ankle or otherwise cause her to fall. Her quads and hamstrings warmed up, and blood rushed to her lower body as she pushed it to keep up with Susan's quick strides. She focused on her breathing, making an effort to keep it regular and steady. She matched her breath to her pace and all the components fell into place. It felt good to get out and run. Susan was right. Kathryn glanced over at her. Susan's dark glasses hid her eyes, but her face still betrayed the worry she was feeling.

The only sound around them was the pounding of their feet and the occasional chirping bird. The early morning sun slanted its way through the trees, creating diagonal shafts of light and shade. Kathryn pushed aside a small branch as she passed, enjoying, briefly, the rough edge of the bark and the smooth feel of the leaves. The air was dry and stagnant, and drops of perspiration formed at Kathryn’s temples.

They pushed on in continued silence, taking a path that curved upwards. Kathryn fell in line behind Susan so the two of them could better traverse the narrow terrain. She dug in her toes, enjoying the physical challenge of the increasingly vertical climb. Once at the top, Susan curved to the left, and Kathryn caught up with her, both in synchronous stride again.

Kathryn's thoughts wandered to Charge and what he was doing. He hadn't called her last night, but he had warned her that he might not be able to call every day. “I won't have my cell phone with me at all times,” he had explained. “The New York crew is more insular and guarded than LA. They don't like much contact with outsiders. So I'll leave my phone in my hotel room.” Kathryn had understood, but the thought of it made her uneasy. She didn't like not being able to contact him.

Kathryn dug in her toes as the terrain shifted upward again. This time, she took the lead and Susan followed. Kathryn deftly avoided holes and fallen branches. Her entire body was awake now and responding to her every command. She reveled in the alive feeling; every muscle was tingling. She pushed herself to go faster, and she heard Susan doing the same. The top of the ridge was just a few meters away. With a burst of energy, she sprinted up the remainder of the path and only stopped when she broke through the tree line.