Prank Wars (45 page)

The air from the hallway buzzed against my ears. The generators made a loud whirring noise somewhere above this floor. I tried to follow it, picking my way through the halls. Junk piled around me in organized chaos, all sorts of chains and tubes and pulleys. Waving my light stick to glean whatever light I could, I found pocked metal stairs and stared into the darkness of the spiraling stairway above me. It trailed through twelve stories until it met the empty dome of the roof.

Anyone would see me coming up the stairs. I squeezed the yellow railing in a firm grip to keep myself from tripping, and tucked the light stick into the heel of my converses. It plunged everything into darkness. The stairs groaned under my feet and I tried to figure out how to lighten my steps, feeling my way up. I made out a faint glow of light on the floor above me. It flickered unnaturally in the distance. Flares. The foreign agents were using them as their back-up lighting, though thankfully, it allowed me to see that I was alone down here. Cords and wires flowed from open pipes like fish ladders on either side of me. I kept my distance, not sure if they were live and would take me out with a touch.

The noise from the generators rang loudly through the air the closer I came. I reached the first floor, following the sound to the loudest part of the building, and swept a careful glance behind me. No one. Again. My heart beat loudly against my chest, and I fought the urge to run. The hallway ahead would put me in the open. I sucked in my breath and dashed forward. No alarm sounded. Hope filled me as soon as I spotted the two generators near the side entrance. They were side by side with a catwalk between them. No one stood guard. I groaned, feeling sick and heavy. No instruction manual told me how to turn them off either.

I lunged up the steps, taking three at a time, feeling for buttons or handles or gauges. A switch in front read
on/off
. Feeling sheepish, I secured my feet and threw all my strength against it, stumbling out of balance. It was as easy as flipping off a light switch. The generator gave a low whine and shut down. I tripped to the other one and shut that one off too. It felt like someone stuck cotton balls in my ears, swathing the building with blessed silence. The problem was that the energy coursing through the air still felt thick like honey. It was palpable, like being caught in the quiet of a storm. I knew the device already had all the power it needed, and now Sandra’s team would be onto me. I hurtled down the steps to get away from what I had done.

As soon as I found the shadows, I powered up Byron’s iPhone. The screensaver flickered on. Byron answered on the first ring, the reception full of static. “I see you got my message,” he said.

“Where are you?” I was breathless. “Did you find the control room? Was the remote frequency in there?”

He gave a low laugh. “I never stood a chance. We’re both too late.” The static ate up his words and I was afraid I was losing him.

“What did you say?” I asked.

“They’re guarding the control room right now,” he repeated. “I’m outnumbered. I can’t get in.”

“What about going up the Provocity tower and taking out the control box from there? You said—”

“That’s suicide.” The static got heavier. “I’ll need you to be my distraction first.”

“What? How?”

“Run. They’re coming after you.”

I heard someone rush down the stairs from a long way up and I scurried the rest of the way back down to the basement, cringing with every loud step I made. I hated the dark and I hated basements and I hated guys with guns chasing me.

“Stop!” Eric shouted. He was the one above me—maybe a few other guys judging by the heavy footsteps. “Madeleine! I need to talk to you. I know that’s you!” Typical of Eric to think he could talk me into falling into his hands again. He could lie his way through anything.

“Byron,” I whispered harshly into his phone. “Why are they after me?”

“Not sure.” The reception was terrible down here. These were worse than walkie talkies. “Just keep them busy, okay.”

“How?”

“Whatever you’re doing, it’s working. I’m calling back-up. Make sure they don’t find you, Mad Dog.” And then Byron was gone.

I stashed the iPhone back into my pocket and scurried through the machinery left over from engineers of time’s past. Hiding here was out of the question. I’d be a goner once the terrorists found the light switch. Their feet pounded down the stairs. How many flights until they got to me? Maybe they’d check the ground level first and give me more time to escape. Using Byron’s screensaver as my only light, I left the staircase far behind, speeding through the basement halls, feeling the lifeless cement walls under my fingertips. My path broke into three possible hallways, more like alleyways. It was impossible to decide which one to take.

Water dripped aimlessly in the darkness ahead and I half expected something to crawl out from the shadows and take me. Murmuring a quiet prayer, I took a chance on the right and tripped over a hard metal chair. It echoed through the basement. Holding to my stinging shin, I listened closely for an answer. For the moment I could only hear my breath. I swallowed it and listened again.

I heard footsteps. Someone was down here with me. Near enough to give me only moments to hide. I couldn’t think of where. I flipped Byron’s phone on again, using its light to see. I limped into a run, ignoring the pain. The darkness would be my best friend if only I could stay safely ensconced in it. The light from the phone flickered off and I pressed down on it again.

That was it. The light illuminated a long metal tube jutting out of the cement. The tube went through the wall and over the entryway above me. Once it had been attached to a pipe, but now it was open and exposed, ready for me to climb through and hide out of sight. The perfect hiding place.

I clambered over a table and climbed over a metal cabinet, stepping hard onto a cardboard box to reach it. I heard them coming for me. Punching my feet downward, I found purchase and propelled myself into the metal tube just in time to hide the light from Byron’s phone into my back pocket. The sound of feet scurried like mice under the doorway beneath me. I tensed, feeling a jolt of warning spread through my entire body. They brought a light with them that flooded the whole room. I squeezed my eyes shut and sank as silently as I could into the tube, resting my cheek against the cold iron. My dark hair my only camouflage.

“Madeleine!” Eric called. “I know you’re in here!”

Yeah? So what? I wasn’t going to give myself up any sooner than they could find me. The longer it took Eric, the more of a chance Byron’s back-up could get here to save me. I listened to the crashing and breaking. Their search for me was brutal, destroying everything around us. They would be just as brutal with me. My body trembled with fear.

“Hey, Mad Dog!” Eric whistled for me. “Come on out!” His voice held stark cruelty that he had masked before. I heard a click and knew it was a gun. “I’m not fooling around here.” After a moment of waiting to see if I would respond, Eric growled low under his breath. “Alright, we don’t get you, we get your friends. How about we surprise your little redheaded buddy? We target her phone? One call from us. Poof. She’s gone. No more terrorizing the neighborhood.”

I bit my lip hard to keep from crying out. Eric didn’t know Tory’s name. They didn’t have her number. Sandra didn’t even. The two despised each other. I couldn’t give myself away at a meaningless threat—it was like dealing with the twins. “Either way you won’t be alive to see it happen,” his voice echoed eerily. “This place is going to blow. If you don’t get out fast, you’ll go with it.” I was silent. He could be right, but I doubted I would survive if I tried to slip past him either. The goal was to survive as long as I could. “One last chance, Mad Dog. Then we lock the doors and there’s no way you’re getting out.” There were no doors over here. I hunkered down further.

It was quiet and I listened to the shifting feet. Soon they faded away, splitting different directions. Water dripped somewhere behind us. Would this place really blow? Panic filled me at the thought of getting buried alive down here. How long did I have? The minutes ticked past. Maybe it was too late to get away. Maybe it was a trick to smoke the rat out. I didn’t know if it was safe to leave. Was Eric still below or had he left? I couldn’t sniff out his Hollister. I took a deep breath and dug into my back pocket with shaky fingers, forcing myself to be silent about it. Once I had a hold of Byron’s phone, I hid its light under my bandaged hand. Finding a call from two nights ago, I pushed speed dial.

A phone rang and I jumped in fear. Eric was right below me. He chuckled. “Very clever, my dear.” My teeth clenched at the term of endearment. It never failed, the girl could be smashing the guy into the ground and the guy would still patronize her with dear or darling. “You were always so resourceful. That’s what I like about you. Yes,
I like you.
There’s something about you that’s so...interesting. I think we could deal very nicely together. I really don’t want you to die, Madeleine.”

The place wasn’t going down in flames or he wouldn’t be here. Why did Eric want me so bad? He could just target my phone and assassinate me already. I
knew
he didn’t like me. I glanced up at the rafters. If I could just get up there, I could find another way down and get out. My eyes followed each possible step from there to the ground. If I inched my way down like a spider, I’d have a chance, but I didn’t know how to keep it quiet.

“You’re not like other girls, so easy to manipulate. Thanh thought I was a bad boy. She was trying to protect me from myself, always trying to change me, but you? You never believed in me. So jaded. Still, you had a little crush on me, didn’t you?”

My eyes bulged. Eric almost got me to give myself away with that dig, but instead I texted Byron. I was the slowest texter in the world and had to work by touch. Eric tirelessly monologued below me. I hoped it didn’t push me over the edge. I sent Byron the text and inched forward, fighting to keep my ragged breath quiet.

“We never got that kiss,” Eric said. “Such a shame you’ve been burnt. We could’ve been perfect for each other. I would’ve taken you out—not in the usual BYU fashion, of course.” Eric laughed and I rolled my eyes. Really? A death pun? Before he pushed me beyond my capacity to endure, my phone rang. It echoed loudly in the tube. Eric lost no time. He tucked his light stick into his armpit and sprang over the metal cabinet, clutching both sides of the tube. His broad shoulders covered the opening. “Hello!”

I pulled into the shadows, watching Eric’s confused face from above me. I let out a shaky breath, knowing I barely made it through the rafters in time. I had given Byron three minutes to call me back before I hit the ground. It would be the perfect distraction. Before I could rush the other direction, Eric reached for the phone that I had abandoned in the tube. A slow smile curved over his lips. My stomach fell to my toes in direct response. Eric didn’t want me. He wanted Byron’s iPhone.

“Got it!” Eric called to the others. His flunkies abandoned their search and ran back to join him. I slunk behind some fallen shelves, not sure I wanted to see the damage I had done. “It’s where Thanh hid the missing piece.” Eric jumped down from the cabinet with Byron’s cell in hand.

“That was stopping the frequency remote from working?” one of the guys asked.

“I told you
she
was onto you. Thanh put it in after she switched backpacks with the operative.” He couldn’t be serious? Now people would die because of me. I crouched behind the shelf, wondering how to get it back.

“Now what?” I recognized
Dune Guy’s
voice. “That government stiff is still unaccounted for.”

Eric laughed. “New Zealand’s done for once we get this in place.” He shook his head. The glow from the light stick played eerily with the shadows on his face. What did he mean New Zealand was done for? Would they make him the target now? “Sandra.” Eric called her on his android. He pulled the battery out of Byron’s iPhone, and picked out something that looked like an SD card. He grinned broadly and took off on a run. “We’re good to go,” he crowed. His men followed him down the hallway. I dragged myself up and tried to keep to the shadows. I couldn’t let Eric get away with that missing piece.

Eric kept the phone to his ear and grumbled out a laugh. “Let’s hope New Zealand makes the call a good one. Maybe to headquarters, right.” Another cruel chuckle. Why would Byron’s call be dangerous? That made no sense. In two seconds, I put the pieces together. Hölle had given Byron a new phone. Of course, he had tampered with it. “He’s going to reach out and touch someone,” Eric told Sandra. I glared at him. He stole that line from Byron, but his men laughed anyway. And why shouldn’t they? It was a foolproof plan. Once the piece was in place, Byron’s phone would be the control that would point out the target. I sucked in my breath at the implications. Headquarters would trace the call to Byron and assume he was the mole. Hölle, Eric, and Sandra would be in the clear.

“Either way,” Eric said through his android, “he’s only got five minutes before he’s a hole in the ground. Don’t stand anywhere near him. Too much power with no release.” He snickered again. Eric just needed a fat white cat to pet. My stomach hurt. Whether Byron used his cell or not, he would die. How long would it take Eric to put in the missing piece? Just five minutes after that and Byron would be dead. Sandra took a shower a hundred times longer. “Yeah, another kink to iron out,” Eric told her. “Thanh’s a tool. It’ll be easy to take her. We’ll put her brain on it. Make her figure it out.”