Two Can Play (Entangled Ignite) (27 page)

She felt a stab of sadness, but pushed it away. She had too much to accomplish over the next three days to moan about lost dreams. She had to run the Dome and act like a good Lifer while she launched a plot, planted bugs, formed alliances, and convinced key Lifers to risk everything they believed in on her word alone. That wouldn’t be easy.

Gage was doing what he could from the outside—scoping out the Electrique plant to learn what he could about the formulas, breaking into Body Artist to swipe more ink while Day-Day was with his band.

She liked having Gage with her, like a healing wizard at her side on an
EverLife
quest. Whenever she thought about him, she felt this huge ball of warmth in her stomach.
I’m sticking.

She liked that. And she wasn’t going to kick herself about it. Maybe when the fight was over, the Life set right again, she’d lose the feeling, but right now, whenever she thought of him, she felt steadier.

Now she had to find Zeke. She crossed the arena, looking for him, finally spotting him on duty outside Blood Electric. She needed him to neutralize Mason’s Watchers when things heated up. “How’s it going?” she asked when she got close. She forced herself to stay cool, though her pulse pattered like rain in her ears. His help was critical.

“’Sall good.” He looked her over, wondering what she wanted.

“When you off?” She tried a flirtatious smile, but her breath was shaky.

“In ten. Something up?”

“Stick around and we’ll have a drink, just you and me.”

“You big-time managers have time for us lowly folk?” But his eyes held hers, asking her what was wrong.

She ducked the question. “I always have time for you, Zeke.” She gave a wink that ended up all spastic.

“You okay?” he whispered.

“I will be.” She’d have to manage her twitches better when she talked to Maya and Mason or she was dead before she’d begun.

In the bar, she noticed four of her Recruits drinking together, laughing, cheerful, completely unaware that NiGo had taken possession of their brains, their bloodstreams, their lives. Hell, she had to keep reminding
herself
of that fact. It seemed so unreal. Here she was, back in her home, her haven, but she’d never been less safe or at ease.

“Hey, Rena,” James called, catching sight of her. “How was Sacramento? We missed you in the Dome. Lionel is no Rena, that’s for sure.”

“I’m back now.” She smiled, imagining dropping her bomb into their trusting laps.
The Life is a lie. NiGo tricked you, drugged you, and stole your will. When the drugs fail, you’ll be kicked out, maybe killed
. None of them would believe something so outrageous. She barely did and she’d seen for herself, lived through the pain of detoxing from the chemicals eroding her mind and will.

“Oh!” Holly put her hand to her mouth, dropped from her stool, and ran toward the john.

“Again?” Rachel said to the others. “You’d think she was pregnant with how much she pukes.”

“Holly’s been sick?” Rena asked.

“For the last few days, yeah,” Rachel said.

“Since she got her new status tat?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Holly was reacting badly to the mood drug she’d gotten through the ink. Her file would go black and she would be evicted. The idea angered her all over again.

“Listen, Rena,” Rachel continued, “you won’t believe this. Zeke asked me to apply as a Watcher!”

“God, not this story again,” James said.

She slapped James’s arm. “Shut up. This is the revolution, boy. So Zeke had, like, a vote with the other Watchers and it was close, he said, because of some of the macho jerks. And God knows how many points he gave away as bribes, but they won. I won. We all won. All I have to do is pass the physical. They were impressed by what I did in the Dome battles, and that’s all thanks to you. Viva Girl Power!” She lifted her glass and they all echoed her cry.

“It’s what we’ve been working for,” Rena said, her chest squeezed tight. Her Girl Power Project was making headway just as their world came crashing down around their ears.

“Plus, Holly put in for bar manager and Baker’s going to write a recommend e-mail,” Rachel said. “And, she recruited that blonde from ASU who’s always in here. I think Bull kinda helped. He’s all hot for her, but anyway, here’s to girls!” Rachel lifted her glass for everyone to tap again.

“God,” James groused. “I feel like a lesbian trapped in a guy’s body.”

“We love you, Jamie boy.” Rachel pinched his cheek.

Jamie rolled his eyes.

Holly returned to them, shaky and very pale.

“Your tattoo still making you sick?” Rena asked. This might be a way to plant some doubts.

“My tattoo? I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I guess it started then.”

“Does it make you wonder? Maybe the inks are dangerous to us.”

“Dangerous?” Holly half laughed.

“Some Lifers get really sick, you know. That’s why they leave.”

“You mean the Lost Lives?” James asked. “You think they’re allergic to their tattoos?” He laughed. “Is this a joke? They leave because they don’t fit.”

The Recruits exchanged looks over her head.

“Are you okay, Rena?” Rachel asked. “You look…different. Your eyes look funny.”

You mean clear and alert
? “I’m great. Actually, I haven’t felt this good in a long time.”
You will, too, once you’re clean.

“Sacramento did that?” Rachel asked, puzzled.

“You know I care about you, right?” Rena leaned in, gathering them together with her gaze. “I recruited you because I believed the Life was how to be happy. You know I would do all I could to keep you safe, right?”

“Sure,” James said uneasily. “What’s going on, Rena?”

The others looked equally freaked.

“Just remember what I said if things get crazy.” She paused. “At the launch party, say?”

“It better get crazy.” James laughed. “I’m counting on it. All those out-of-town Lifer girls high on
EverLife II.
Sex-points central.”

“We won’t get that wasted, Mom,” Rachel said. They all laughed, relieved to have an explanation for Rena’s strange words. “Cassie’s right. You worry too much.”

“I miss Cassie,” Holly mused. “I don’t know why she left. She got wasted a lot, but still, she fit in just great.” She shrugged.

I miss her, too.
Rena couldn’t say the words and looked away to hide her emotions. She spotted Zeke heading over. “See you guys,” she said and went to meet him, leading him to a back booth.

He slid in and sat. “What’s up? Is this about Cassie?”

“Partly, yeah.”

The waitress arrived and took their orders. Zeke asked for a beer and Rena an E she wouldn’t touch. So much depended on Zeke agreeing to help, she could hardly think for the thud of her heart.

“It was a good thing you told me about Gage the other night,” she started.

“Yeah?”

“I went out to his place and found him at the bottom of a ravine. He’d been run off the road by someone who intended to kill him.”

“He’s okay?” Zeke’s eyes dug in.

“He got banged up pretty bad, but he survived.”

“Who did it?”

She took a deep breath. “The same people who did this.” She opened her phone and showed him Cassie’s dead face.

“God!” He jerked away from the sight, then leaned in and hissed, “Cassie’s dead?” He tightened his fists, his jaw muscle jerking.

Rena nodded. “Shot up with drugs.”

“Who did that to her?”

“Can I trust you, Zeke? If they know I know, I’ll be the next one killed.”

“Tell me who did this.” Zeke’s warrior soul gleamed from his dark eyes, a bright flame of honor shimmering in each one. That was enough for Rena.

“A witness described him as a man with armband tattoos and a red, angry face.”

“Roland?!” Zeke hit the table with a fist. “I knew that evict was bad. That son of a bitch, I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”

“Keep it down.” She gave the area a quick survey, but no one seemed to be paying them any mind. “He’s one of Mason’s Watchers, right?”

“Cassie never hurt a soul but herself, dammit.” Zeke wanted to go, move, hit something, she could tell.

“Stay with me, Zeke. Is Roland one of Mason’s guys?”

“Yeah, sure. He got one of their lightning strike tattoos added to his armband tat. They’re a bunch of motherfuckers with hard-ons for trouble.”

“We think they’ve killed others. A girl and her boyfriend in Seattle, maybe more.”

“Why? What possible reason could they have?”

“We’re figuring it out.”

“Who’s we?”

“So far, Gage and I—the girl in Seattle was Gage’s sister—and you, I hope, once I tell you what we know.”

The drinks came and Zeke inhaled his to the bottom, slamming the empty stein to the table. “Go,” he said, his eyes tight on her face.

She ran down the basics about the secret accounts, the drugs they were being loaded with, the fate of Lost Lives and her own detox experience.

“That’s pretty fucked up,” he said. “And damned hard to believe.”

“I know. That’s why I want to confront Maya and Mason at the launch party so everyone can hear the truth. I need you and your friends to neutralize Mason’s Watchers so they can’t interfere.”

“We’ll cover the pricks, no prob. What else?”

“Can you talk to any of them? Find out what they’re up to, what their orders are? We need evidence of the killings, a witness who’ll talk.”

“They don’t mix with the rest of us, but I’ll talk to my guys and see what they know or have heard. Whatever you need, Rena, I’m there.” He gave her the Lifer salute.

She returned it. “That means a lot, Zeke.”

He left and Rena blew out a long, slow breath of relief. Zeke believed her. If he did, others would, too. She had to hope so.

She looked out at the arena, where her Recruits were whooping it up at an
EverLife
station. They were so happy in the comforting hug of the Lifer home she was about to destroy. “It’s for you,” she said softly, lifting the glass of untouched Electrique. “I’m doing this for you.”

And for the Level Ones cleaning the toilets and killing boars for team points, for the Level Threes and Fours working in the computer lab and the charter school, for the Koreans laboring 24-7 to improve the game, for Zeke and Bull and Baker, for the girls fighting for their place as equals, for them all.

And for herself. For what she believed in. For the truth of it. Because there was truth. There had to be.

We will
sobreviver
, as the Spanish say…survive
.
The many loyal, loving members of the NiGo Interactive Family remain strong
. Nigel had said that on their first meeting and she had to believe it was true.

She fought a sob. She was losing all Lounge Life had given her—home, a place, love. She would fight for the good that remained with all she had in her.

Her next step was to get Maya and Mason to do what she needed them to do. She had to fight her fury and her hurt. Maya, her friend, her sister, had betrayed her.

Now that Rena was drug-free, feelings struck hard and clear, not soft and blurry as before. She had to stay focused and in control. For that she counted on Astra, growing stronger within her every clear-minded minute she breathed. As Astra, she would learn the truth and fight for what was right.

Chapter Eighteen

The day before the launch party, Rena stepped into the Lounge, which was buzzing with the talk and energy of the out-of-town Lifers who’d begun to arrive, stacking their bedrolls in the break room, though they’d be too stoked on E and adrenaline to sleep, she’d bet. Everything had been building to this day and the excitement made the air electric for Rena, too, even without Electrique in her bloodstream.

All around the arena, Lifers were stringing up decorations and setting up equipment for the party. Eleven tall stands would hold plasma monitors to bring the skeleton crews at all the Lounges to the party. On top were tubes for the giant sparklers that would mimic
EverLife II
’s fireworks.

Fog machines would pump out the mist of Aragon Forest. Huge posters of screenshots from the game had been hung, along with yards and yards of black tape draped to look like castle-spider webs that filled Abbey Castle, an
EverLife II
quest. Before she’d learned the truth, she would have been in the middle of the preparations, having the time of her life.

As she crossed the room, she picked up a strip of web that had fallen. It was old VHS tape, she noticed, then slipped the end beneath a sparkler stand.

“It’ll burn if you leave it there,” someone said behind her.

She turned to see Baker setting a ladder against the wall so he could climb up. He held out his hand and she gave him the strand of tape, though she could have easily reached the spot on the wall where he tacked it. “Sorry.”

He smiled. “The last thing we need is to enact the bonfire from the Level Two revelry scene.”

She walked away. Would Baker be with her? She hoped so. She hoped all Lifers would see the truth and believe. Nervously, Rena ran her finger over the lens of the tiny camera she was testing today.

It looked like a button on her shirt, the camera a thin box beneath the fabric. The transmitter was tucked behind her belt. Her laptop would receive the signal and broadcast it via the Dome system at the critical moment. To keep Lionel from getting suspicious, she would say the extra laptop was for backup.

Gage was bringing her a bigger transmitter and a stronger listening device to try to plant up in the control room of the penthouse. The ones she’d slipped into Maya’s quarters and Mason’s office hadn’t been powerful enough to pick up anything but muffled voices.

Her other backup was a mini tape recorder she would hide in a pocket. If the video transmission failed, and the bugs didn’t work, she would find a way to play the tape recorder into the Dome microphone.

Now she had to set the bait with Maya and Mason, who were in the conference room planning tomorrow’s managers meeting. If they went with her plan, she’d be set. If not, things would be complicated.

Stopping in the hallway to steady herself, she took a slow breath, then shook the tension from her arms and legs.
Cool and easy. You’re one happy, eager Lifer, Rena
. Maya never missed a blip of mood, so Rena had to nail her performance, no mistakes, no hesitation. She ran her speech through in her mind, planted a smile on her face, and headed for the open doorway.

She spotted the pair tucked into a semi-secluded corner, head-to-head, Mason’s arm across the back of Maya’s chair, while they studied papers.
Huh?

Were they together?

“Rena!” Maya shifted away from Mason, who dropped his arm.
Yep. Definitely together.
How creepy.
“How was Sacramento?” Maya’s tone was edgy. Did she know Rena hadn’t gone? Had she talked to the GM?

She decided to punt. “The van broke down, so it was kind of a bust.”

“Oh.” She backed down slightly, but her cat’s eyes held Rena’s. She had the eeriest stare, as if she wanted to suck out every private thought you ever had. Maybe the drugs had kept Rena from noticing how invasive Maya was. Maybe without alcohol or drugs fogging her senses, Rena would have known better than to trust Maya. She’d like to believe that.

“Any word on a date for your meeting with Wingate?” Mason asked, his blue eye cold as ice, the brown one hard as stone.

“As a matter of fact, yes. I do have news. It turns out my father is interested in investing in NiGo.” She tried to sound excited and triumphant. “Can you believe it?”

“In what regard?” Mason asked.

“He wants to rescue the Seattle Lounge as a partner, since it’s in his town, but he also might want to invest more later, which is very, very cool.”

“That’s wonderful,” Maya said, her eyebrows spiking upward. “I’m frankly…amazed.”

“Me, too, but it’s happening all right. He did make one request.” Rena paused for a breath, pretending to be remembering his instructions. “What he wants is to appear in the webcast from the Seattle Lounge when Nigel and Naomi give their welcome remarks. And he wants me to be there, on camera with the Blackstones, to introduce him, which is really an honor, I think.”

Maya and Mason exchanged glances. “I suppose that’s natural for a father to want his daughter to be recognized publicly,” Maya said faintly.

“And the other thing—and this is very cool, Maya”—Rena hoped she hadn’t gone too rah-rah cheerleader—“my father also wants
you
to be there. He wants to meet the person who recruited me. After that, he’ll announce to everyone his plans for Seattle.”

“So I would be with you and Nigel…?” Maya said slowly.

“And Naomi, yes.”

Mason and Maya exchanged looks, silent messages firing between them. “I suppose we could work that out.” Maya didn’t lift her eyes from Mason’s.

“Fantastic!” Rena said. “He’ll be so pleased.”

Maya looked up at her. “This seems almost too good to be true. You were worried about even speaking to your father and now he’s completely on board?”

Rena ducked Maya’s stare. “He wants to support me in the life I’ve chosen.”

The words made her want to gag, but Maya seemed to accept them, turning to Mason. “With this good news we might continue on our chosen path a while longer, don’t you think, Mason? Rather than the alternative?” More visual debate flew between them. What was that about?

“I’d like to pin down the details with Mr. Wingate.” Mason lifted his gaze to Rena’s. “You have his phone number?”

She’d prepared for this. “All calls go through his attorney, Geoffrey Harris.” She slid Geoffrey’s business card across the table. She’d marked out Bingham’s number on the back and warned Harris’s secretary not to give him any calls that might come in from NiGo. “So, we’re set, then?”

“Evidently.” Mason’s tone said he wasn’t quite convinced.

Rena’s grin was probably too big, but she couldn’t help it. They’d stepped so neatly into her trap she’d almost heard the jaws snap on their shins.

It would happen tomorrow night, just before midnight, when the game was to be released to the Dead World, when most Lifers were gathered in the Phoenix Dome and the rest were watching their webcast monitors to hear Nigel and Naomi’s welcome, then drink a toast to themselves, the Life, and
EverLife II
. Two weeks ago, Rena would have reveled in that triumphant moment. Now, she had to ruin it.

While Rena waited with Nigel, Naomi, and Maya for the other Lounges to web up and for Bingham to show—he never would, of course, since she’d never called him—she would confront Maya, starting out sharing her concerns about Electrique and the tattoo ink, the blackmailed perverts and the sick Lost Lives.

If Maya didn’t come clean, admit what she and Mason had done, then Rena would show the photos of Cassie and Beth, Cassie’s file, the lab report on the ink and E, all so Lifers everywhere could see and hear the evidence of the crimes committed against them.

Rena hoped Nigel and Naomi didn’t realize the wrongs that had been done in their name and would be as outraged as the Lifers would be. Either way, Lifers would learn the truth. The instant Rena called Gage, he would alert the police—he planned to brief the detective he knew that morning—and they would arrest the culprits within minutes. Afterward, Rena would tell Lifers how much better she felt after detox—praying they would all recover as completely as she had—and promise they would figure out a better life together.

That’s if all went as planned. There were lots of ways things could go straight to hell. But Rena had decided to hope for the best. What else could she do?

…

At the crack of dawn the next morning, Rena met Gage in the parking lot of a warehouse down the block from the Lounge to get the new transmitter and listening device. Her brain was fuzzy from lack of sleep, but nothing like the fuzziness she’d gotten from the drugs she’d been taking. She would depend on adrenaline to keep her alert for the coming adventure. Standing beside the car he’d rented, since the Norton was out of commission, Rena ran through the plan once more.

As she was turning to go, Gage said, “Be careful, Rena. Don’t take any chances.”

“I won’t,” she said, but only for his benefit. She would do what had to be done no matter what.

“I wish I could be there with you.” He took her in, concern in his eyes. “If anything seems off, abort and get out. Let the police take over. I’m going to meet with Warner now.”

“I have to do this, Gage.”

“I know you do. You’re a warrior.”

She smiled. Gage understood her. That eased the tension inside her like a long-held breath. “Wait for my call, then send in the cavalry.”

His gaze held her so tight she couldn’t look away. And she didn’t want to. Gage made her feel things she’d forgotten she wanted.

Overcome by emotion, she finally broke off and stepped back. “You’d better go. Early shift starts soon.”

He gave her the Lifer salute, the gesture saying he believed in her, that he was with her in the battle ahead. She saluted back and watched him drive out of the lot, following him with her gaze until he disappeared from sight. She was surprised to notice water in her eyes.

She turned and trotted down the alley toward the employee entrance.

A half hour later, she took a seat for the managers meeting to go over last-minute party details. Rena fingered the tiny button camera, nervous as hell. How could she sit still while they talked about web feeds and appetizers and whether there were enough plastic glasses for the all-Lifer Electrique toast?

Then a Watcher entered, striding fast to Mason and Maya, where he crouched to talk urgently. He had the lightning tattoo Zeke had told her about and Rena strained to read his lips. Something was wrong. She could feel it. Then her cell phone buzzed. She leaned down to answer it.

“I’m in trouble.” Gage’s voice wobbled, as if he were running. He gasped between each words, clearly in pain. “They must have spotted me when I drove through the Lounge lot to snap a picture of the employee entrance for Warner. They’re shooting at me.”

“Are you on foot?”

“Yeah. I spun out, bashed a barrier. Not so good driving with one arm. You have to get out. They might have seen you with me. Run. Go.”

“They don’t know about me.” Maya and Mason hadn’t looked her way and the Watcher who’d reported to them was gone.

“They will soon. Leave. Be safe. Swear to me.” He seemed to be having a hard time catching his breath.

“I’ll be safe,” she said. That was all she could swear to.

“Good. I’ll get to Warner if I can. If not—” The phone cut off. He could have dropped it as he ran. He was one-armed, after all. Or he could have been shot.
God, no
.

She fought panic. Glancing up to be sure no one was watching, she pretended to paw through her messenger bag, while she hit redial. No answer.
Had he been killed?

She sat up, desperate to go after Gage. He was somewhere between the Lounge and a police station, but which one?

Meanwhile, in the meeting, stupid questions were being discussed.
Were there enough Lifers to pass the trays of Electrique for the toast?...Was the control panel for the fireworks in a good place?...Was the timing switch set for simultaneous release?...Were there enough chairs?

Mouthing “bathroom” to the person beside her, she ducked out of the meeting, slipping into an empty room to call 911 and report a man being shot at. She could tell the dispatcher suspected her of being crazy, but all she could do was hope Gage was on his way to his meeting with the detective. When she stood to leave the stall, her fingers were so shaky and sweaty that the phone slipped from her hand, falling into the toilet.
No. Please. No.
Fighting panic, she fished it from the water, pulled out the battery to try to dry it and the contacts fast.

But it was no use. The dousing had killed the phone. The screen stayed black.

She couldn’t call Gage again, so she could only hope he’d been rescued.
Please be okay, Gage
, she thought.
Please be safe
.

…

Worry about Gage buzzed constantly in Rena’s brain, but she forced herself to stay with the plan. His fate was out of her hands at the moment and the Lifers from all the Lounges were depending on her. As it turned out, the better bugs proved useless, since she was tied up with launch party tasks all day long.

Please be safe. Please be okay. Please, please, please
. The mantra played in her head every second, as if her thoughts were a magician’s protection aura around Gage.

At the same time, she went through the plan in her mind. After her demonstration battle, Lionel would run his own. After that came freestyle battles for visiting Lifers. Rena would leave Lionel in charge and head upstairs. Zeke had arranged a fight between two teams of Watchers as a way to keep Mason’s guys tied up before the webcast. Zeke’s crew couldn’t wait to take down the bad ones.

Minutes before her battle was to start, Rena jogged the stairs to the Dome control room, ready to go—and to be sure her laptop was receiving her mic signal.

Despite it all—the terror for Gage, the fear her plan would fail—Rena was proud of her fighters. Through the viewing window, she saw how eager they were to perform—tight and tense, strong and faithful, eyes gleaming with their love of the fight and the Life. Half the fighters were girls and they performed with breathtaking skill.