22
“I’m fine,” I snapped. “Will you quit shining that light in my eyes?”
“You most certainly are not fine, Carmen,” Chief Newman retorted. “We found you lying on the lawn, as cold and unconscious as a rock. If what Malefica said is true, you’ve been under the effects of a powerful drug for days now. You don’t just recover from that. Now, hold still.”
I waved his hand and the light away. “I’m fine. You gave me those RIP pills. I feel much better.”
“Those are RID pills, Radioactive Isotope Diminishers. They will absorb the radioactivity in your system and cleanse your body of the drug. But they’re not a cure-all, especially for something as nasty as what Frost slipped you.”
“Whatever. The point is I feel much better.”
I slid off the hospital bed and stood. The world swam back and forth. I wobbled.
“Fine, huh?” the chief asked.
He eased me onto the bed. I was back in the sick bay in another pair of clinical, white, lab-rat pajamas. I’d woken up an hour ago to find Henry, Chief Newman, and even Fiona clustered around me with concerned looks on their faces. Their alarm had grown by leaps and bounds as I described how Malefica, Scorpion, and Frost had kidnapped Sam. Fiona and Henry had dashed out of the room in hopes of trying to track down the Terrible Triad, while Chief Newman had stayed to tend to me.
Luckily, I’d only been passed out for about ten minutes before Henry had found me. The three of them had been running through some battle simulations underground. By the time they came back to the library, heard the alarm, and raced outside, it’d been too late to save Sam and almost too late for me. Fiona had carried me inside, where the chief poured just about every drug known to superheroes down my throat, as well as poking and prodding me with all sorts of cold, metal devices. In addition to being the chief of police, Sean was also a first-rate doctor.
I stared straight ahead as the chief shined his small pen-light into my eyes. I swung my feet back and forth, and tapped my fingers against the metal rail on the bed. I didn’t need to be here. I needed to be in the library with Henry and Fiona trying to locate Sam. I needed to be doing something, anything but sitting still.
“It’s not your fault, Carmen,” the chief said in a gentle tone.
“Yes, it is. Malefica used me like a puppet, and I didn’t even know it.” A bitter taste filled my mouth. “And now Sam’s going to pay the price. If only I’d seen what she was up to. I knew there was something wrong about the attack in the park. I could feel it. You guys didn’t beat the Triad back. They left because they’d done what they’d needed to do—infect me with their radioactive tracking drug. Too bad I didn’t realize what it was.”
“None of us did. Not even me, and I’m the one who’s psychic. Don’t beat yourself up. It’s happened to all of us at one time or another. The important thing now is that you rest and get your strength back. We’ll find him, Carmen. We will.”
I looked at the chief. “What do you see now? What do your visions tell you? What’s going to happen to Sam?”
The chief shook his head. “I only see pieces, fragments of futures that could be. Some of them are quite unpleasant and better left unsaid.”
Panic swelled up in my chest. “But some of them are pleasant, aren’t they? Aren’t they?”
“Yes, some of them are. The future’s a funny thing. You can never tell exactly how it’s going to turn out until you’re in it. It’s constantly changing as people act and react to each other. That’s the trouble with relying on visions or premonitions to guide you. They’re terribly unpredictable. Like Malefica’s plan. It depended on several things going exactly her way. Frost hitting you with the drug, us taking you in, you agreeing to stay here, and so on and so forth.”
“Well, I’m going to derail her plan this time, whatever it is.” I stood again. “I’m going to find her, find out who she is and what dark hole she’s hiding in, and then I’m going to find Sam.”
The chief blinked at the vehemence in my voice. “I’m not going to be able to stop you, am I?”
“Not unless you chain me to the bed.”
“Very well. But I want you to stay seated and take frequent breaks. Agreed?”
“Sure,” I replied, even though I had no intention of resting a single second until I’d uncovered Malefica’s true identity and, more importantly, where the ubervillain was holding Sam.
I retrieved my jeans and T-shirt from the plastic bag the chief had put them in. I dressed as fast as I could and hurried off to the library.
I threw open the door. Fiona and Henry were already inside. Henry had all of his computers fired up, and his mind plugged into them. A bluish-white glow emanated from his fingertips, and his eyes were far away and distant behind his thick glasses. Document after document flashed on the flat screens.
Fiona stalked around behind Henry. Her cat suit fit her perfect body like a second skin, and sparks flew from her hair. Fiera was all suited up and ready to go.
“Will you go pace somewhere else?” Henry snapped. “I’m trying to work.”
“No.” Fiona spotted me in the doorway. “What the hell are you doing here? Get out. We have work to do.”
“So do I.”
I ignored Fiona, walked over to my desk, and sat down. I stared at the mounds of papers and notes and charts that littered the area. Time to go to work. This time, I had to find the answer. This time, I had to uncover Malefica’s real identity.
This time, Sam’s life depended on it.
An hour later, I rubbed my aching head, opened my aspirin bottle, and downed three of the hard, white pills.
“Anything, Henry?”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I checked all the airports and helipads, although I knew they probably wouldn’t go anywhere near those. Nothing. I hacked into the local FAA system, but I couldn’t find any mention of a black helicopter taking off or landing anywhere within fifty miles of Bigtime. I expanded my search out to a hundred miles. Nothing. It’s like they disappeared off the face of the earth.”
“There has to be some way to track them down,” Fiona said. “They can’t disappear. They’re not the Invisible Ingénues, you know.”
The superhero stalked around the room. Her shoes click-click-clacked on the hardwood floor. Fiona had been pacing nonstop for the last hour. Every step slammed another ice pick of pain into my brain. I massaged my throbbing temples.
“Will you please stop pacing back and forth? The noise is driving me insane.” I stared at her high-heeled boots. “I don’t even see how you can walk in those shoes—”
Shoes . . .
Sandals . . .
Strappy, red sandals . . .
My inner voice whispered. I flashed back to my first meeting with Malefica. The ubervillain’s long, red shoes tap-tap-tapped in front of my face.
“Nice sandals,” I croaked. “Bulluci’s fall collection?”
“Good eye,” Malefica said. “Now get up. We have things to discuss.”
“Carmen? Carmen, are you okay?” Henry asked. “You have a strange look on your face.”
“Bulluci’s fall collection,” I whispered. “Bulluci’s fall collection!”
“Why are you babbling on about fashion designers at a time like this?” Fiona growled.
I ignored her, grabbed my Rubik’s Cube, and twisted it round and round in my hand. There was something else, something important swimming around in the back of my mind. I thought back, concentrating on that meeting, trying to remember every detail, every single snippet of conversation . . .
“Would you like something to drink?” Malefica asked.
“No,” I said.
“Are you sure? It’s Brighton’s Best.”
And I remembered . . .
Malefica reclined in the leather chair behind the desk. She took a long pull on her drink then set it aside. Unless I missed my guess, the glass was a Hilustar tumbler.
“Brighton’s Best. Hilustar tumblers. Bulluci’s fall collection. That’s it! That’s it! That’s it!” I shouted.
The pieces clicked together in my mind like a jigsaw puzzle. I grabbed Fiona’s hot hands and jumped up and down with glee.
“What are you going on about? Have you finally lost what little bit of sanity that you have?” Fiona yanked her hands away.
“No,” I said. “But I’ve just figured out a way to find out who Malefica really is.”