Even Villains Go To The Movies (13 page)

Angela leaned forward. “Bugman?”

She felt someone move behind her. “Aren’t you supposed to be on the red carpet tonight?” a soft voice whispered.

Chapter Sixteen

Dear Travys,

I’m writing this on the flight into New York, and I hope I’ll be able to hand it to you in person tonight.

First, I want to apologize for all of this. It was selfish of me to go into hiding like I did. I thought I was protecting, well, everyone really. Myself, my family, my mom most importantly. I know that doesn’t make much sense, but if you ask me one day I’ll tell you the story of the man who tried to destroy my family. He left my mother broken. It took her years to heal, and The Company supported him in what he did. I promised myself when I was little that I would never let the superheroes bully my family again.

And in doing that I broke the promise I made to all of my students on that first day of school.

I remember how you came in, shy, and skinny, and just a little scruffy. You were hiding in the back row under that torn brown hoodie you loved so much. My heart broke a little because I could see how curious you were. You soaked in the first few lessons but I could never draw you out of your shell.

And then one day you asked a question. That was one of the best days of my life. I felt like I’d accomplished something real. I’d connected with a student and made you interested in math. That’s geeky, but for a teacher it’s huge.

Travys, you are such a bright, wonderful, intelligent young man. You are going to do great things. The whole world is waiting to open up for you. And I’m going to make sure you get the chance to explore it.

Sincerely,

Miss Smith

Angela whipped around and found herself nose to nose with Arktos.

The safety of Delilah’s gun clicked off. “We are behind schedule, ladies and gentlemen. Everyone I like, to the car please. All strangers in spandex get to stay here.”

Arktos took Angela’s hand before she could move away. “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head.

“We need to go,” Delilah insisted, pulling Travys behind her and urging him toward the waiting taxi.

Angela shook her head. “Give me a minute.”

Delilah flicked the safety back on. “You’re going to be late.”

“Please? Sixty seconds.”

“I promise she’ll be quick,” Arktos said. “Bugman won’t stay frozen forever.”

Angela shivered. “Did you kill him?”

“No, I chilled him, it’s like stasis. He’ll thaw in a few minutes and never know the difference. Except you will be gone.”

Delilah put her gun away. “Sixty seconds. The clock is running,” she said before hurrying after Travys.

Angela licked her lips and then risked looking into Arktos’s eyes. “What are you doing here?”

A gentle smile played about the corners of his mouth. “Rescuing a damsel in distress?”

“I think the lawyer would object to being called a damsel.”

He shrugged. “I kept seeing the detention center and knew you were getting into trouble. I thought you might want backup.”

“Do you realize how much trouble you’re going to get in for this? The Company is not going to see me as the good guy here.”

His gaze became intense. “They can consider it my resignation.”

Angela jerked back, bumping into the frozen Bugman. “Resignation?”

“I read the file on this case.” Arktos raised a shoulder and shrugged it off. “There’s no way to put a positive spin on locking a kid up because you want to use them as bait. I’ve got a little brother. I can’t risk someone deciding he’s a pawn to be played with. So I’m out.”

Angela shook her head. “You can’t quit.”

He chuckled. “I still have my day job. You know, the one that pays the bills?”

She shook her head harder. “No, I’m serious. Leaving The Company is suicide. You can’t walk away from them.”

He twitched an eyebrow. “You haven’t had any trouble.”

Angela rolled her eyes. “I have plenty of trouble, but I also have my family. We’re good at handling tough situations. Who will be there for you?”

“You?” He gave her a look like a lost little puppy.

She blinked.

The quiet night grew loud around them. “Angela?”

Her jaw dropped. “I...um. We need to talk about that.”

“Hardly.” He leaned in and dropped a chaste kiss on her lips.

She didn’t mean to, but she found herself following him as he pulled away, chasing down another touch.

Arktos drew her close. “You’re going to be late for the ball, Cinderella.” He stroked the side of her face. “See you on the red carpet tonight?”

“Yes.”

He caught her hand before she grabbed his mask. “No cheating.” Arktos kissed her palm. “Would you still rather hear your dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves you? When you depart from me, sorrow abides and happiness takes his leave.”

The taxi horn blared behind them. “Sixty seconds is up!” Delilah yelled. “Get in the car or walk.”

He blinked. “Charming lady.”

“Did I mention I come with relatives?” Angela winked, grinning. “I guess—”

Delilah stormed up with a manila folder in her hand. “Take this.” Delilah shoved the folders at Arktos as she grabbed Angela’s arm. “You,” she said to Angela, “are coming with me.”

Angela was impressed that she made it to the car without breaking her ankle. “Was it that important to leave right now?” she demanded as she slammed the door. “Really? I wanted to get his name!”

“You don’t know it?” Delilah stared at her. “You told him your real name and you don’t know his?”

“Um...”

“Angela Shalom Meredith Smith, you are the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen since Gideon decided to collect a box of rock pets and named them all Herbie.” Delilah’s eyes slid over to Travys. “Hell, there’s even a witness.”

Travys sat up in alarm.

“I’ve always used my legal name,” Angela said. “Travys knew who I was all along. I talked about our family in class. I’m not ashamed of who we are.”

“You never mentioned the whole superpowers thing,” Travys said.

“What superpowers?” Angela asked. “We’re not wearing spandex.”

“Your boyfriend does,” Delilah snipped.

Angela crossed her arms and fell back into the leather seat with a hmph. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“No, he’s the guy you were kissing whose name you don’t know. Mother will be so pleased.”

Delilah dodged the shin kick, so Angela contented herself with sticking out her tongue. “I know his name.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t need to tell you. Not unless we’re serious, and we aren’t. Arktos... I was telling him good bye.” She could feel the pull of Delilah’s power, the subtle desire to tell her sister everything. “I won’t see him again. Ever.”

“Darn right you won’t.” Delilah pulled out another folder from her briefcase. “This is your new driver’s license, state ID for Virginia, and the emails you’ve been exchanging with Redbrick Academy. Travys’s school is hiring a new computer teacher. It’s not your area of expertise, but you can fake it. ‘Here’s a mouse, go click. Here’s a keyboard, go type.’” Delilah mimed teaching.

Travys giggled. “I could teach that class.”

Angela stared at the papers. “Leave L.A.? Why...no. I can’t leave L.A. right now.”

“You went there to lay low for a bit. It’s not my fault you started a new career!”

“You have a new job?” Travys looked at her in confusion.

“I’ve been acting.” Angela pushed the paperwork back at her sister. “I’ve got commitments. Contracts. People are expecting to see me.”

“What about Travys?” Delilah demanded.

“What about Mia and Aaron?” Angela shot back. “Who’s going to tutor them? Who’s going to step in on
Fractured
? Travys is going to be fine. He’s going to a good school, I can keep in touch with him by email, and by this time next week his mom will be there.”

Delilah stared at the roof of the car in her classic Counting To Ten And Praying For Patience pose. “This is about Arktos, isn’t it? You’re going to risk everything to play tonsil hockey with a superhero.”

Angela rolled her eyes. “This has nothing to do with Arktos. I told you, we’re through. This is about being a responsible adult and not leaving my coworkers jobless because suddenly there’s a little risk associated with living there.”

“It’s not a little risk!” Deliah shouted. She took a deep breath and let it out with a huff. “Listen,” she said in the voice Angela knew as Delilah Being Reasonable While Telling Everyone What To Do, “you can’t honestly think going back to L.A. is a good idea. It’s not. The facts are black and white. I understand that you want to be responsible, and it’s a very noble ideal, but you need to check back in to reality. You are not AJ David, movie star, you are Angela Smith, math teacher.”

Delilah reached over and patted her hand. “I’ll make some phone calls and by morning roll call this will all be a bad dream. You’ll be teaching again on Monday. Isn’t that what you really want?”

Angela caught herself nodding and stopped. “Delilah! Stop messing with my head! I’m going to L.A. The end. I’m not arguing with you.”

“Only because you know there is no logical argument for your actions.”

“I have loose ends I need to tie up.” Angela tapped on Freddie’s shoulder. “Take me back to the conference center, please.”

Delilah slammed back into her seat, arms crossed.

Travys grinned nervously. “I’m so glad I’m an only child.”

“Don’t think I’m not envious,” Angela muttered.

Delilah rolled her eyes as the cab stopped outside the center. “I don’t like this plan.”

“Objection noted.”

“I don’t like Arktos.”

“I wouldn’t let you kiss him anyways.”

“That green dress was hideous on you.”

“Agreed.”

Delilah huffed. “Be careful?”

“As careful as you always are.”

Her sister winced. “Try to be a little more careful than that. You don’t know how to get handcuffs off.”

***

Arktos thumbed through the files as soon as he landed at the small Company safe house in a suburb outside the city. No one seemed to remember it was there and he doubted anyone would look for him here. Not when he was supposed to be highly visible on the red carpet in under an hour.

Mikey’s photo on the first page came as a gut punch. Glee’s was no surprise; he’d wondered about that since her first wig went missing. For the pyro there were two pictures, Jacob Kapsimolis and Tyler Running Fox with a dainty scrawl that read, “Hunch?” A second, slightly neater author had written, “Not Ty.” underneath.

He sat down at the ancient computer and logged into The Company’s remote access portal. Katrina liked to operate everything on a need-to-know basis but right now that suited him. He found his file, erased it. Found Angela’s, erased it. Found Zephyr Girl’s, erased it.

A few little clicks and everything was vanishing into the ether.

Arktos checked his watch: time to fly. There was a red carpet waiting for him.

Not that the cameras mattered, he thought as he changed. Omnipresent cameras were part of life in L.A. No, this red carpet was special because AJ would be there. The gem-encrusted confection she’d worn earlier had left him speechless. Tonight? He adjusted his tie. Maybe tonight she’d recognize him.

Chapter Seventeen

Dear Daddy,

I need you to come out to L.A. and I need you to bring your Agree With Me Ray. There’s... I’m compromised. That’s the right spy term isn’t it? When things go all fluffy shaped and everything is wrong?

There’s this guy who needs to forget I exist. I think he’s working up to ask me for something I can’t give. I don’t want to hurt him. I don’t know if I could send him away. But he’s such a nice guy. He can’t live on our side of the tracks. He’s in love with me, but he doesn’t know the family. He doesn’t know about Maria. And I can’t let him near Mom.

He’s Company.

Please, get here as fast as you can. Maria will bring you if you ask. She’ll understand. People that come into our lives are in danger every second we’re with them.

Please, Daddy, hurry.

Angela

Angela slipped into the sound stage’s only bathroom with a working air conditioner, leaving the lights off, and locked the door. Swendon had given everyone a long lunch so he could work out some details of the script, and that suited her just fine.

The phone rang. “Hey, Button.”

“Hey, Daddy.” Angela slid down the door and sat on the cool tiles in the glow of the emergency lighting. “How are things?”

“Better here than there from the sound of it. Do you want to give me the whole story?” he asked with the same patient tone he’d used on Blessing after she wrecked the car for the third time.

“Not really. It makes me sound like a twitterpated idiot.”

“That happens sometimes. I did incredibly moronic things at your age.” She heard the sigh of leather as he settled back in his favorite chair. “Who’s the guy?”

“Arktos, the main superhero for the region.”

“And he’s in love with you?”

“It’s not my fault! I told him it would never work.” Angela wiped a lone tear from her eye. “I didn’t mean to break cover. There was just...the people were scared and hurt. I thought I could go in, rescue them, and get away without anyone caring. I don’t dress like a superfreak, so you know, maybe I could be just a good citizen.”

“Mmmhmmm.” Her father’s dubious tone came through loud and clear. “Sweetie, I may think you’re cute as a button, but the rest of the world hasn’t spent a lifetime around you and your sisters and your mom. I don’t want to sound harsh, but there is literally no way I can think of aside from radical cosmetic surgery that will let you blend in with everyone else.”

She rolled her eyes. “Daddy, I’m in L.A. Every other woman is a hot blonde with long tan legs. I don’t have a monopoly on this look, you know.”

“Are they all as smart as you?”

She stuck a tongue out at the phone before responding. “No. But no one has asked me my IQ. That would be weird.”

“You’re still an intelligent, down-to-earth, easygoing, beautiful young woman who is going to turn heads. I tried to talk your mother into letting me enroll you in a Swiss priory with barefoot nuns chanting hymns for this very reason. I thought I made a very rational argument. I even had a PowerPoint.”