Part 26 (2/2)

I could have smacked myself for not seeing it earlier. For making a rookie mistake and not digging deeper into Morgana from the very beginning. I'd told Sam it was all about karma, that Malefica was in his life somewhere. It made perfect sense. Sam and Morgana hated each other in real life just as much as their alter egos did. Their business battles were just as brutal as the superhero-ubervillain duels they staged on a weekly basis.

”b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l,” Fiona said. ”She's been right under our noses the whole time. I even made a dress for her earlier this year. She was rather b.i.t.c.hy about the price too.”

”I never even suspected it might be her,” Henry said. ”And I've worked at The Expose for years.”

”But it is her.” I pumped my fist. ”Gotcha!”

Henry and I pored over the records, trying to determine exactly where the goods had been s.h.i.+pped to in hopes of locating Sam. Fiona ran off to tell Chief Newman we'd uncovered Malefica's true ident.i.ty.

This time, the slap of her shoes on the floor didn't bother me in the slightest. My headache had vanished as well.

”She's got sh.e.l.l company after sh.e.l.l company.” I flipped through a stack of papers. ”Look at all these corporations. She's got more branches than McDonald's.”

Henry sat at the computer. His fingers glowed. ”You've only got the parts I've printed out. The woman has her fingers into everything. Oil, natural gas, communications, construction. The list is endless.”

”Wait a minute, wait a minute,” I muttered. ”I've got the shoes. She had them s.h.i.+pped to her apartment in the city to start with. From there, a courier service picked them up. They went to her office at The Expose and then out to her country home. Eventually, they arrived at the Snowdom Ice Cream Factory on the outskirts of Bigtime. You know what? She put the courier service on her credit card.”

Stupid move. Ubervillains thought they were so smart. But all it took was one little receipt to blow their cover wide open.

”The ice cream factory? That place has been closed for over a year now,” Henry said. ”The company couldn't compete with the other big chains, all the workers were laid off, and the plant was shut down.

Tracy, the business reporter at The Expose, did a story on it. The building's been empty ever since.”

I remembered the story. I closed my eyes and thought back to my first meeting with Malefica. I tried to recall every single detail of the building I'd been taken to. Concrete floors and walls, enormous steel KarmaGirl.

vats, lots of catwalks, bitter cold. I frowned. Had there been any words on the giant metal vats? Any markings or letters on the doors or floors or walls? I couldn't remember. At the time, I'd been more concerned with being dropped into the radioactive goo than my surroundings. But it could have been an ice cream factory. It had all the necessary equipment. Plus, that might explain how Frost had been able to turn it into his own personal playground.

”I think that's it,” I said. ”It makes sense.”

”Let me pull up the deed and blueprints,” Henry said.

The glow from his fingertips brightened. I peered over his shoulder at the computer screen. A series of images flashed across it.

”Okay, these are the blueprints. It's a pretty big place and covers a couple of acres. Lots of entrances and exits. There don't seem to be any buildings near it. It would be the perfect place for the Triad to hide.

Now, on to the deed and other paperwork.”

A doc.u.ment popped up on the monitor. I ran my finger down the screen. ”Bill of sale, estimated worth, acreage, utility hookups, blah, blah, blah. Wait. Here it is. The current owner of record of the Snowdom Ice Cream Factory is one Morgana Madison. That's it, Henry. That's where she's got him. I can feel it.”

”I want to go with you,” I protested. ”You can't just leave me behind.”

”We can and we will,” Chief Newman said. ”You're in no condition to go anywhere.”

”I'm fine now. Do you want me to run a marathon to prove it? I will.”

Chief Newman gave me a disbelieving look.

”Okay, so I couldn't run a marathon on my best day. But I do feel much better now.” I really did. My headache was gone, and my vision hadn't gotten fuzzy since the chief had dumped those RID pills down my throat.

Chief Newman ignored me. The four of us stood in the equipment room. Fiona was ablaze in reddish-orange, while the chief was clad in Irish green with white accents. Now, they were Fiera and Mr. Sage, and they were ready to do battle with the Terrible Triad. Henry emerged from behind a row of lockers. A checkered, black-and-white costume covered his tall frame, and a mask complete with prescription eye goggles wrapped around his head.

”Nice costume,” I said. ”I didn't think that you actually wore one.”

Henry shrugged. ”I do. But n.o.body ever sees it since I'm in the van most of the time. Tonight, though, I'm going in with Fiera and Mr. Sage.”

I itched to get in on the act. I grabbed one of Striker's swords from a nearby rack.

”I could really be of use to you guys-”

I didn't get a very good grip on the sword, and it plummeted downward. The metal weapon clanged off the floor, narrowly missing Fiera's booted foot.

Fiera grabbed the sword. ”Give me that before you cut yourself.” She put the weapon back in its proper place on the rack.

”You have to let me do something. I'll go crazy just sitting here waiting for you guys to come back,” I whined.

”That's why I set up the big screen in the library so you can see, hear, and talk to us,” Hermit said. ”That way you'll know the moment we rescue Striker. The other computers have background information on Malefica, photos, stuff like that in case you wanted to investigate her more once we've gotten Striker back.”

Sometimes, Hermit's efficiency was so annoying. I opened my mouth to protest, but Mr. Sage cut me off.

KarmaGirl.

”We need to focus on finding Striker. We don't need any distractions. You want us to bring him back safely, don't you? We don't need to worry about the Triad capturing you, Carmen.”

He had me, and he knew it. There was nothing more in the entire world I wanted than to see Sam safe and sound again.

”Fine. I'll stay here like a good little girl and play nice. Just bring him back. Please.” My heart squeezed tight. I couldn't handle having another superhero's death on my hands. Especially Striker's.

”We will, Carmen.” Mr. Sage put a comforting hand on my shoulder. ”Don't worry. We will.”

Mr. Sage and Hermit went to the library to grab a few more pieces of equipment, leaving me alone with Fiera.

”Well, good luck,” I said.

”Thanks.” Fiera turned toward the door. She stopped and looked over her shoulder.

”I've never liked you, Carmen. You know that, and you know why. I thought this was all part of some plan of Malefica's, some scheme the two of you had cooked up to trick us. And when I found you with Sam, I wasn't happy about that either. But you came through for us when it really counted. You found Striker. We couldn't have done it without you. I'm sorry I thought that you were working with Malefica.”

”Apology accepted.” I grinned. ”Now, get out there and go get the man back.”

The group roared out of the underground garage a few minutes later. I settled myself in the library to wait. I wasn't happy they'd left me behind, but I understood their reasons. They didn't need to worry about someone else, especially someone without superpowers. Their sole focus should be on rescuing Striker before it was too late.

The minutes dragged by. It was after seven now. Malefica had kidnapped Striker a little over six hours ago. I tried not to think of what she might be doing to Striker at this very moment, the vicious ways she might be torturing him. But the images played over and over and over again in my mind like a CD stuck on one really bad song.

I buried my head in my hands. If anything happened to Sam, I'd never forgive myself. Never. He'd been kind to me when no one else had, when I didn't deserve it. He'd saved me from those would-be rapists.

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