B003J5UJ4U EBOK (18 page)

The man leaned over so his ear was directly above Cheater’s mouth. Cheater opened his mind to the man’s thoughts.

This time, it was even harder to keep from blurting anything out. The man had taken Martin, Flinch, and Trash to a building somewhere and locked them up. He was on a mission to find anyone with useful psi talents.

“Where’s Martin?” Cheater asked.

“Just tell me about your power,” the man said. But the address ran through his mind.

“Sometimes, I can see how TV shows will end,” Cheater said.

“What?”

“TV shows. I know what’s going to happen before it happens. Five minutes before the ending, it will just come to me in a flash. Even sooner if it’s a rerun.”

The man straightened up. “That’s it?”

“Yeah—that’s my special talent. It’s spooky. I just know what the future will bring. I guess I’m psychic.” Cheater’s face was killing him, but he knew he needed to keep talking until the man lost interest in him. “Yup, TV is pretty awesome when you think about everything that’s involved. You know, a guy named Philo Farnsworth got the original idea. It came to him when he looked at a cornfield. Amazing, huh? He stares at rows of corn and changes our lives forever.”

“Anything else?” the man asked. “Can you see things in the real world?”

“Nope. Just TV shows. But my friends think I’m a genius when we watch mysteries. I’ve got a TV. Wanna watch
something with me? That way, you can see me in action. It’ll be fun.”

The man shook his head and left the room.

“Bluffed you,” Cheater said after the footsteps had faded down the hall. He felt like he’d just won a huge pot with a busted flush. Now all he had to do was figure out how to rescue his friends.

what’s gotten into you?

I’D MOVED AWAY
from Martin to the other side of the cell. But Flinch stayed with him. Martin groaned and rubbed his stomach.

“What happened to you?” Flinch asked.

“I got kicked.”

“I’d have seen it coming.”

“Then maybe you can try to jump him next time while I take a nap.” Martin flicked a jab at Flinch’s face.

Flinch blinked, but didn’t make any move to block the punch. “Do that again.”

Martin threw another jab.

“I didn’t see it coming,” Flinch said.

“Of course not,” I said. “There’s a disrupter hidden in here somewhere.”

“Maybe the field doesn’t cover the whole area.” Flinch got up and walked to the far corner of the cell, diagonally opposite from where I sat.

Martin got up and joined him. “Yeah, let’s check it out.”

“Slap me,” Flinch said.

Martin took a shot at him, but Flinch blocked it easily enough. “I definitely saw
that
coming.”

Flinch took a tiny step toward me, then nodded at Martin, who tried to slap him again. They repeated the process a couple times, until they were several feet from where they’d started. Then, the slap landed.

“Ow!” Flinch said.

“Sorry. You didn’t see it coming?” Martin asked.

“Obviously not,” Flinch said, rubbing his cheek.

“So the disrupter is on my side of the cell,” I said. “If you can get out of the field, I can, too. It looks like Bowdler isn’t as smart as he thought.”

I stood up and joined them in the corner. Since I hated to miss out on all the fun, I took a swing at Flinch, and smacked him in the cheek.

I was too surprised to say anything. Flinch always sees it coming. My hand never should have landed.

“Oh man, this is bad,” Martin said. He looked over at Flinch.

“Yeah,” Flinch said. “Really bad.”

“What?” I asked.

They both looked at me like they’d just found out I had cancer. An instant later, my body shuddered as I realized what their expressions meant.

“The disrupter is moving with me.”

It was on me. Or … in me? I lifted my sleeve and stared at the bandage on my arm.

“That truly stinks,” Martin said. “I’m gonna stomp that
guy, first chance I get. Starting with his fingers, and ending with his head.”

I unwound the bandage. There was a gash on my arm sewed together with crude surgical stitches. Beneath the stitches, my skin bulged as if something had been forced under it. I grabbed my arm to rip open the wound and pull out the disrupter. But just touching the flesh sent such a jolt of pain through me that I let out a scream.

“You guys have to do it,” I said.

Flinch shook his head. “No way. You could bleed to death.”

“We have to get rid of it.” I felt my pockets. All I had was my MP3 player and my wallet. Nothing sharp enough to cut the stitches.

“It won’t be easy,” someone said. “But you have to try to get it out. Or Bowdler will own you forever.”

The voice came from across the hall. I looked toward the other cell, and saw a face I saw every time I closed my eyes. It was a face that lived in my nightmares. “Oh my god …” It couldn’t be.

while trash is gasping,
bowdler is digging …

BOWDLER WENT FROM
the hospital to his apartment. He’d have preferred to use the computer at the lab, but the lab had been compromised. Its location could have been revealed by Eddie during the time he was loose. Unlikely, but Bowdler hadn’t survived so long by taking chances. That was rule number one: always have a backup. A backup plan, a backup weapon, a backup location. Fortunately, he’d had the foresight to establish several other locations, including the one where the captives were currently being held. Bowdler couldn’t help smiling when he thought about the former—and perhaps future—use of the building.

His apartment was outside the city. Nobody knew its location. It took time to get there. But there was no rush. The captives weren’t going anywhere. Before he got to work, he took a moment to admire his newest purchase—a hat that had belonged to General Patton. The bidding had been fierce, but he’d won. There was no way he would have allowed such a prize to fall into the hands of some undisciplined hobbyist who had no idea what it meant to be a general.

Nobody beats me.
With great care, he put on the hat. Then
he sat at his computer and logged into a program that wasn’t supposed to exist.

He entered two names: Edward Thalmayer and Dennis Woo.

Three minutes later, the information he wanted scrolled onto the screen:

Commonality # 1

Search requests during a single session were made

for:

Anderson

Woo

Grieg

Dobbs

Calabrizi

Thalmayer

Click for details.

Commonality # 2

Edward Thalmager and Dennis Woo

Listed on a prior roster at Edgeview Alternative

School.

Click for details.

The hunt was on. Bowdler entered the first two names in the computer, along with the four new last names. All six came up with one commonality—Edgeview Alternative School.

Bowdler made a phone call. “Cover the alarm systems for
me. I’ve routed everything over to you. I may be tied up for a few hours.”

“Do you want me to go there?”

“No need. They’re secure.”

“What about our little problem?”

“Maybe it’s time he disappeared.”

“Just say the word.”

“No. This one I’m saving for myself. But I’ll let you watch.”

while bowdler
digs, cheater gets
another visitor …

CHEATER IMAGINED HIMSELF
coming to Trash’s rescue in widescreen Cinemascope action, choreographed by wire-work stunt wizard Yuen Wo-Ping. He flew through the air, kicking down the door like a karate master and disarming a gang of bad guys in a blur of feet and fists.

“That would be so sweet …”

But this wasn’t a time for fantasies. He looked over at the phone for the hundredth time.
Call the police? Call the FBI? Call the newspaper?
Cheater knew he had to make a decision. But none of the choices seemed right.

At least I’m feeling better,
he thought. His face still hurt, and his ribs ached, but the pain was easing. It was all bearable as long as he remembered not to talk too much.

Even so, he couldn’t help gasping when Torchie came running into his room. “Where’d you come from? Why are you carrying an accordion? I’ve never seen one that big.”

Torchie spilled out an avalanche of words about a hotel, ice cubes, and bad guys with a laundry cart. After he’d finished, and paused to gulp down some air, he added, “How are we gonna find them?”

“I know where they are,” Cheater said. “We have to get them out of there. The guy who locked them up is freakin’ crazy. I’ve never been inside a mind that was that dark and twisted. But we’ll do it.” Together, he knew they could rescue the guys. Synergy was a powerful force. Together, the guys from Edgeview were more than the sum of their parts.

“When are they letting you out?” Torchie asked.

“Right now,” Cheater said. “Though they don’t know that, yet.” Wincing, he sat up at the edge of the bed.

captive audience

THE LAST TIME
I’d seen him, blood was gushing from his mouth. “I thought I’d killed you.”

“I’m a tough old coot,” he said. “Plenty of nastier people have taken a shot or stab at me, and I survived. But you came closer than any of the professionals.” He nodded his head toward me, as if to acknowledge my deadly skills. “I’m Don Thurston.”

“You’re not dead …” It still hadn’t completely sunk in. From the moment the memory came back to me, I’d thought of myself as a murderer. The guilt had colored everything I did. It was with me when I woke, and when I went to sleep. I’d taken a life. The weight of that burden had slowed my reactions when I’d had a chance to stop Bowdler.

“No, I’m not dead. Not yet.”

“Why are you locked up? I though you were one of them.”

“I was. But I never would have handled things the way Bowdler did. He and I are opposites in far too many ways. The whole scenario was wrong—faking your death, keeping you prisoner. I was out of action while that was happening. After I got patched up and saw the way they were treating
you, I told Bowdler how I felt. That was a mistake. From then on, he made sure I didn’t have direct access to you. I had to think of some way to help you escape.”