The Revenger (34 page)

The other car arrived soon after they’d parked in the field designated for the meet. Savvy saw Teresa open the door and hold it for Toby, a man she assumed to be Match, and a very shaggy Jack.

Savvy opened her door as well, and Boston held the dog tight.

She met her brother halfway between the vehicles and hugged him hard. When she pushed him on in the direction of the car, he stubbornly waited for Teresa.

“You have to go get in. Real quick,” Savvy urged.

Teresa nodded. “It will all be fine, Toby. I’ll see you again soon. I love you.”

“But I wasn’t a hostage.” Toby turned to his sister. “I’ve been helping them.”

Savvy opened her mouth to try to explain, but no words came. There wasn’t time for this. They needed to
go
.

Sagan got out of the car and squinted in Jack’s direction. Savvy followed his eyes. Jack was off—something was off. He was staggering, crazy, and headed right for her, rather than toward the car.

Savvy motioned for Sagan to take off the ring.

He gave a quick shake of his head.

She mouthed
Please
and touched her heart.

He slowly removed the ring and put it in his pocket with reverence.

She prepared herself for the screams as they hit her in the heart and knees at the same time.

She swayed, and Toby caught her. “What’s wrong?”

She shouted to Sagan and pointed, even as she stepped back. “Get out of here! Take them and go!” She wanted to kill him so badly her hands were shaking, her rage confusing even to her. Savvy locked eyes with Teresa. “Get safe.” She pushed Toby in the direction of the helicopter. The blades started up as the chemist ran from the car to climb inside.

Before Savvy could do anything else, Jack scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder. She ripped the glasses from his face and saw that his eyes were all wrong and his long wig askew. This wasn’t Jack at all but a bit of agency insurance. “I’m coming with you!” she yelled, but he wouldn’t put her down. “Where’s the real Jack? You didn’t keep your word!”

Thankfully the others seemed to have realized Jack wasn’t here as well. She looked back to see Teresa and Boston shoving Toby and Match into the chopper with Sagan. She silently hoped Sagan was right and Jack, wherever he was, really could take care of himself.

In the next beat she was in the back of an agency car, going backward at what felt like a million miles an hour. But she could have gotten out. She could have overwhelmed them. Savvy had a feeling she might be at her strongest yet—the burst of energy before the black hole.

She waved away the man sitting next to her, trying to take her blood while they bounced along at top speed.

The driver whipped the car around, and Boston narrowly missed hitting them.

He was following. He hadn’t gotten into the helicopter. He was a complication. She wanted him far from her.

“What’s wrong with her eyes?” said a voice inside the car.

She sought her reflection in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were mirrors, and her blood felt like it was made of silver. Her vision grew hazy and metallic. She closed her eyes. She knew it all now: bits of the universe combined with the conversation and technology surrounding her. The high-speed chase would lead back to the headquarters of the agency, which was located underneath a box warehouse. She could sense Boston and the beautiful energy of Trooper, who was with him in the car.

She was close now—close to what had caused the universe to begin and tasting the ending on her tongue. She could see Kal’s face as he held sweet Sara close, the sun threading in their hair. She could almost hear Sara’s voice and felt longing deep in her uterus, where she’d carried her baby. Her baby.

In the garage now, the technology became a barrage. She could sense Sagan, and Teresa and her brother cuddled in the chopper. They’d found love, something good for him. Savvy smiled for a moment, but it faded as she sensed Boston nearby, still fighting for her, looking for a way to save her.

He didn’t understand that this was the perfect place for her to be. She allowed her captors to place her on a gurney, because she knew their intention to wheel her to the center of their facility. The heart. The best place.

She realized then that Trooper was in the building, intent on finding her with a loyalty that would not fade. She let her soul call to his. Trooper would only find peace in her arms, and selfishly, she didn’t want to go alone.

But Boston, he was still outside; the tricky dog had faked him out. And this crazy building was insulated against anything, ready for nuclear war. She tapped into the electronics now—so easy, the metallic deposits in her body lined up like circuitry to do her bidding. She pictured her intention and made it so. Gates slid into place. Secure. No one getting in or out. Trooper raced down a hallway, alongside a supply van, tongue lolling.

She was so very far beyond what they were doing to her now, as if she watched from above. Futile. Everything was to be made clean, and soon.

Someone announced that her body temperature was almost 500 degrees, her vitals off the charts. “That’s just not possible,” a voice yelled. “Not possible!”

And yet it was. Somehow her supercharged body held together as she waited for one last thing before exacting the revenge she’d been created for. He was moving fast, puzzling the workers who didn’t expect to see such a thing—the workers in the agency who all had crisp, perfectly red auras. This agency was covered in blood because it wasn’t even from the government, it was a shell, a sham operation for creating and collecting the worst kind of evil money.

This was it. The final piece in the puzzle explaining why Savvy had been here all these months alone, in pain, in darkness. And this was how she would leave: the ultimate retribution. Not just getting even—there was no even after her family had been destroyed—but ridding the world of bad and protecting the good. The last bit of Compound E would be used to set things right, ending a beginning that had held the potential for unlimited suffering.

He was almost here. She sat up to meet him, arms extended. Sara would get her dog, after all this time. Savvy had to believe. She needed to know there was meaning in this.

He hit the room running, and Savvy caught Trooper when he leaped. She felt his sweet fur and excited licks and finally knew calm, assurance.

The people around her saw the end and began to scramble for cover far too late.

Savvy kissed Trooper’s head. She could let go now. The hard hold she’d had on the remaining shreds of herself was over. And with her release, there was only white. Only peace.

Different

Boston at first thought it was an earthquake, but as light pierced through the cracks in the sidewalk, he knew.

The air was sweet all of the sudden, like the smell of her conditioner when she’d just stepped out of the shower. He felt her whisper his name, so very close to his ear but far away in his heart. Savvy was gone. She’d blown the entire agency to hell, and with her, the Compound E. In the end, she had been the only weapon she needed.

He cried so hard, people thought he’d been injured. And it was hours before he realized that Trooper had gone with her. He found nothing, but all of a sudden he just knew. It made sense.

He began the long trek home. To wherever that would be.

When he arrived at Sagan’s beach house, he found the gates wide open. His brother met him in the foyer and gave him a huge hug.

“Listen, brother, Mr. Sagan says he has a place for us here if we want.” Match’s eyes searched his. “That’s good, right?

“No. It’s not good. I’ll explain it all later. For now, just work with me.” Boston shook his head and left his brother to look for Sagan. It didn’t take long to find him. He was drinking in the Blue Room.

“She’s gone?” Sagan asked, seeming to already know the answer.

Boston nodded.

“You remember when we met her here?”

He nodded again.

“I had no idea what she could do, you know? I had her here all the time, thinking I was in control, but she was running the show from the minute she kicked down that front door.”

“Where’s her brother?” Boston asked.

“Teresa has him. They’re in love, so they say. You going to tell him about her?”

“I will.”

Sagan lifted his drink to his lips. “I’m never going to get over her.”

“I hope not. I hope you do all the stuff she told you to do, make a different life for yourself. I’m taking my brother, and we’re leaving, so you know.”

Boston went to his room and packed his things. He half expected some goons to come in and blow his head off, but none came. Back downstairs he motioned for his brother to follow him, and they walked out the back door.

Match seemed reluctant. “Where will we go?” he asked.

Boston came close to his brother’s face. “She died so we could leave. We’re doing it.”

He took to jogging with his duffle bag slung across his chest by the strap. It took about 45 minutes to find her ring beneath the rocks, but with enough digging, he did just that.

He and his brother had their first mission now: bury Savvy’s wedding ring with her family. After that, he wasn’t sure. But he had his freedom, and he would make the most of it. Even if it hurt like a bitch.

*~*~*~*

A couple hours later, Jack walked into the foyer of Sagan’s house and was shocked by the lack of security. After a few minutes he found his friend shitfaced in the Blue Room.

“This is the best you can fucking do? Get your shit together, Sagan.” Jack took the drink away from him.

“She’s dead.”

“Yeah. I heard from the agency guys holding me just before I killed them. They had loose lips and were not what they seemed. Such a bummer for pretty Teresa. I don’t think she knew.”

“I want to die a little bit.”

“You’ll get over it.”

“No, I don’t think I will. I don’t think I can. If I hadn’t focused on using her for so long, I might have seen who she was in time. Crap.” He wiped his mouth.

“Listen, the Cassos are still all riled up. They want retribution and all that kind of bullshit. How about you and I go down to the fucking tropics and have that surf shop after all?”

“And my father’s legacy?” Sagan slurred.

“His legacy sucks dick. Let’s not drag this burden around forever. You and me. We had a good plan. What do you say?” Jack pulled his hair into a ponytail. “I don’t take loyalty lightly, Sagan. Back in the day, you and I were brothers. I know you value that too. We’re the only family we need.”

Sagan was silent for a moment, looking at the desk. Jack began to wonder if he’d passed out.

“Yeah. Let’s fucking do it,” he finally said, looking up to meet Jack’s gaze with surprisingly clear eyes. “Dismiss everyone. Send the chemist back to his family. The Cassos can take this place. Let’s go.”

*~*~*~*

The light was so bright that Savvy expected pain, but only warmth surged over her. She heard the waves. She could taste salt on her lips, and after a moment she heard other sounds around her: Kal sang softly to Sara, who piped in a little here and there.

How could she have forgotten they did this?

Then Trooper licked her face, his fur going up her nose. She sneezed and opened her eyes.

Kal looked up from the sandcastle he was building with Sara and smiled. “It’s you,” he said. “You’re here?”

Savvy tried her voice, though her tears made it hard. “I think I am.”

“Mommy! You made it! You made it! I knew you would.” Her daughter climbed into her arms, sharing her lap with the squirming Trooper. “Is Trooper my new dog? He’s the cutest!”

She pulled her daughter into her arms and kissed the top of her head. Sara’s little hands locked behind her neck, and Savvy felt her broken heart knit together once and for all. Her baby. Her sweet baby.

After a moment Sara took off, and Trooper followed, barking, back to the sandcastle.

Kal pulled her out of the sand and into his arms. “My beautiful wife, how’d it go?”

“I love you so, so much. I think I did it.” She touched his face and was reborn in his eyes.

“I know you did it. I believed in you the whole time.” Kal gave her a deep kiss.

And Savvy was whole again. Nothing extra. No volatile compound, no strange powers or super senses—just filled with the love of her family, which had never really left her.

Years of dodging, hiding and posturing had brought Silas here. The surf shop was a little shack on a Mexican beach. Jack was in the water instructing two bikini-clad ladies on the finer points of balance while Silas waxed a board. There was another lesson in fifteen minutes, so he wanted to be ready.

The largest local town, which was nearly 100 miles away, was recovering from a volcanic eruption that had caused tremendous damage to its economic infrastructure, though fortunately no one had been killed. In a few days, funds from an anonymous donor would show up to help with the rebuild. It would be a great investment for the Sagan legacy.

But here on the beach with his best friend, Silas thought mostly of her, of how his actions had led to her pain, but perhaps also to her purpose. She’d certainly led him to his. Making her proud was the only thing that gave him joy now, and he had to guess at what to do most of the time. He’d started volunteering at an animal shelter. He and Jack had two dogs as shack pups, and chances are they’d wind up with a few cats too. He couldn’t really explain the change in himself over the last six weeks, though he’d tried over beers on the beach with Jack the other night.

“So this is it? You’re all fixed? Ready to live life as a good-doing pope?” Jack had asked. “Not that I’m complaining. It’s nice to get to see you do something other than be a fucking bastard.”

Silas had twisted his Corona into the sand. “I’m not fixed. But I’m trying. She just did something to me.” He’d rubbed his eyes. Talking about her was hard.