Part 19 (1/2)
He choked on a laugh, and Watermelon Zinger spewed from his nose. ”We're all freaks, baby girl. Take a closer look.” He leaned on a counter opposite her. ”Besides, what makes you so special?”
”What?” she said.
”What's wrong with being a Halfling? We're kind of cool. I mean, yeah, sure, we may rot in h.e.l.l for eternity once our time here is done.”
She felt queasy.
”Sorry, I, uh, didn't think about ...” He lifted his hands, dropped them. ”You're kind of immortal now. Well,” he corrected, ”unless someone kills you.”
Her head pounded. It was too early in the morning for talk like this.
”Look on the bright side,” he said.
Her eyes found his. ”Which is?”
He gestured toward her but didn't speak. Moments pa.s.sed, his hand still hanging in the air. Finally, he dropped it. ”You're right. Stinks to be you.” He snagged another drink, wrestled with the straw, squirted more liquid, and handed her the sticky mess. ”Why don't they invent a better system for these stupid things?” He swiped his hands on his duck-emblazoned shorts. ”Look, you want answers, Will has them. Talk to him. Let him know you're ready.”
”Ready?”
”To hear the truth. You can take it. You're a big girl.”
Her eyes narrowed playfully. ”I thought I was a baby girl?”
”Nah. Not so much.”
”I just can't talk to Will.”
”Why not?”
”He makes me feel really ...”
Zero motioned with his hand for her to continue.
”Childish.”
He laughed out loud. ”He is sort of older and wiser than you. Like reeeeaaaally older and -”
She pressed a hand to her throbbing temple. ”I get it.”
She'd been stupid to come here. He wasn't going to talk. She'd have to pin Will down, and the crazy thing was she might have known that all along. Maybe she'd avoided talking to Will because once she asked she'd actually have to know. Nikki chewed her lip. ”Is it bad, Zero?”
”Is what bad?”
Ugh. Did she have to spell it out? ”You know, the truth about me.”
He took a long drink, stared at the ceiling. ”Yeah, it's bad.”
Something dropped in her stomach. Okay, time to go.
Zero pointed to her throat. ”Vegan give you that?”
Her hand fell lovingly to the amulet. ”Yes. She's a special girl - uh, Halfling.”
Zero tugged at his collar and produced a similar trinket. ”She really is.”
Keagan Townsend perched on a hilltop above the rocky country road. Nikki Youngblood's head fell into the scope of his sniper rifle. ”I have a visual on the target, Mr. Vessler.” Seeing her again caused a sensation that coursed through his body like a Tabasco c.o.c.ktail. It was the familiar hunger for fresh blood. He willed his breathing to slow. Fingers trembling, he licked his lips, hoping, praying that Vessler would change his mind and let him take the shot.
Through the headset, Vessler's voice hummed. ”She's a good girl, our Nikki.”
Townsend barely heard. The girl filled his vision. He imagined hovering over her lifeless body. He envisioned hunting her, chasing her, and, finally, the sweet reward of death.
Vessler's angry tone snapped Keagan's attention to the present. ”Did you hear me, Townsend? Leave the girl. She has to come to me by her own will.”
Townsend sneered and dropped her from his scope.
”Just pick up the bait,” Vessler ordered.
Chapter 19.
What now?” Zero yelled through the metal door. He'd just drained the last juice box and wished he had a few more. Watermelon Zinger might be the best flavor yet.
Nikki knocked again, this time harder. He shuffled to the front door, mumbling, ”Annoying females. Don't they know a guy needs his privacy?” The thought of females brought Vegan to the forefront of his mind.
Hand on the k.n.o.b, he smiled. Vegan would bring him a case of Watermelon Zinger; all he had to do was ask. She'd breeze through the front door and drop her brows when she noticed all the frozen dinner boxes. Then, she'd always say, ”It's time for you to get out of here. Get some air! Stretch your wings!” And she'd grab his hand and tug, dragging him to the river to wade. One day, he was going to get in the water with her.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The pounding on the door startled him so much his hand flew from the k.n.o.b. He pulled the door open. ”Look, Nikki -”
Keagan Townsend stood there instead with a s.a.d.i.s.tic grin. ”Were we expecting a playmate?”
Zero slammed his shoulder against the door, throwing all his strength into the movement. Just before the heavy metal sealed shut, he caught a glimpse of the shock registered on Townsend's face.
Keagan Townsend: one of Vessler's favorite hit men. Zero and Vegan had found his name and photo in an unprotected file they jacked from Omega Corporation.
Zero bolted the locks while Townsend's voice filtered through the cracks around the door frame.
”Think, think,” Zero said to himself, heart hammering in his chest. ”Come on, you've run a thousand drills for this.” He stopped, closed his eyes, and drew a deep breath. As he exhaled, the plan rushed into his mind.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Sounded like Townsend was throwing his own weight against the door.
Zero shoved clothes and trash off the trunk by the computer desk. He grabbed the giant magnets inside the crate and rubbed them across his work center. So much work. So much time lost. But erasing the hard drive, files, everything would send an instant alert to anyone logged into the network. One that only lasted a few seconds before fading to nothing. He'd wired the network to shut down three seconds after infiltration or - as in this circ.u.mstance - compromise. Thinking back on it, he wished he'd built in a little more time. Five seconds. Maybe ten. One minute. What if no one was on the network right now? He forced his mind to the task at hand and threw a glance toward the entrance.
Townsend would eventually get through, but not by slamming a fragile human shoulder into sheets of metal. ”Keep it up, moron,” he said when Townsend pounded again.