“Tell you what,” Ronaldo said pleasantly, as he wiped some blood off of his lip. “I’ll be nice and leave you here, with the sister of mine who isn’t good for anything, while I take my other sister, who’s really my favorite, along with us.”
“What are you talking about?” Had a feeling I knew, but keeping the bad guys talking was one of my specialties and I saw no reason to hold that move back.
“Some people are easier to control than others, that’s what I’m talking about. You were a fool to bring her with you to try to take me. She can’t say no to her little brother.”
He turned Gladys around, keeping his hands on her upper arms. She looked right at me. “Sorry, kiddo,” she said as she tossed the clipboard down at my feet. “I could kill her for you, little brother.”
Gladys was small and Ronaldo was tall. My gun was out and ready and I was in a good position, so I could shoot him in the head. However, I wasn’t certain that he wouldn’t find a way to throw Gladys up in front of the bullet. He was holding her in such a way I was pretty sure that was his plan, and he definitely had the strength and hyperspeed to do it. Plus I was fairly sure he’d love it if I killed Gladys by accident; it was his kind of thing.
“No, that would upset Mahin,” Ronaldo said with a nasty little laugh. “We have someone much better now, and they’re going to have some fun explaining why this one’s down here trying to break Mahin out while the base is exploding.”
“I really think we should kill her,” Dier said.
“Well, I don’t think we’ll have time for you to reload before she shoots you,” Ronaldo replied. “Russell needs some weapons training. Now, get moving.”
“Who’s the kid?” I asked. “Yet another illegitimate son of Ronald Yates?”
“As if legitimacy mattered?” Ronaldo asked.
“Sure it matters. It matters a lot. That’s why you’re trying to gather up all your half siblings, so that you can claim a seat on the YatesCorp board. Of course, if your father had really wanted you to be able to claim that seat, he’d have written your name clearly on the paperwork.”
Ronaldo’s eyes flashed. “He wanted all of us able to take our rightful places.”
“Hardly. If he knew about you, then why not just list your names on the document? Why force you to have to prove his paternity? Especially since you can’t.”
Ronaldo opened his mouth, but it was Dier who actually spoke. “Stop being an idiot. We leave, right now, or I kill her, right now.” There was something in her tone—she sounded like the one in charge.
Ronaldo reacted like she was as well. He shut up and nodded.
“Um, hate to ask, but how do you think you’re going to get past me?” I got a variety of “duh” looks from all five of them, and then they ran off down a hall I hadn’t realized was there. “Oh. That’s how.”
Trotted closer to Mahin’s cell and looked in. She was against the back wall, looking scared. “What are you going to do to me?” she asked.
“Just ask a question or two. What are they up to?”
“I believe they’re going to blow this base up.”
“Fantastic. Why’d you have your change of heart?”
She shrugged. “Your father . . . he reminded me of my father. He asked me if I was doing what I believed was right, or just what sounded right.” She swallowed hard. “And then I watched them kill . . .” She looked down. “You’d said they were my relatives, too.”
“They are. All the A-Cs are related back there. Like the Jews are.”
“Your father told me. He said . . .” She looked back up. “He said they’d still forgive me and let me be a part of their family. But I don’t see how.”
“You didn’t kill anyone. You tried, sure, but you didn’t succeed. And you actually protected all of us when the plane and tank exploded. And you told Malcolm and my dad where Ronaldo and Dier were.”
“You knew it was him? I didn’t know it was him.”
“Yeah, we figured it out. Looking like someone else is part of his talent. Look, I either have to run after them or we have to run after them. You pick.”
She stared at me. “You’d trust me?”
“I’m stupid that way, yeah. Like to live on the edge, sort of thing. Frankly, I don’t know if they were putting on a show for our benefit and knew Gladys and I were there or not, but I need to go back her up.”
“But, she’s back under his control.”
“Maybe.” I didn’t think so, though. She’d called me kiddo, and I had a feeling she’d done that on purpose. “So, why are you still standing in your cell?”
“I’m not sure that you won’t shoot me if I move.”
Heaved a sigh and put my left hand out toward her. “Come with me if you want to live.”
“You’ll kill me if I don’t go?”
“Wow, really? They didn’t show The Terminator wherever you grew up? No wonder you feel like you had a sad childhood.”
She stepped forward and tentatively reached out her hand. I grabbed her, turned, and ran off the way Gladys and the others had gone.
CHAPTER 67
NATURALLY THE CORRIDOR WAS DARK and also naturally it was long. “Any guess as to where they’re going?”
“I’m not sure, but I believe they’ve planted the bombs underground, so the base will collapse into the sea.”
“Nice. I really hate these people. So, any chance you can use your talents and blow the bombs up or away or something?”
“My power doesn’t work like that. I can move earth, things like dirt and sand. But I don’t control wind.”
“You made a freaking dust storm when you tried to kill me and my team before.”
“Yes, there was so much sand, dust, and dirt, I could control it to make it dance. The dance, the movement of the sand or dirt, makes the wind, not the other way around.”
“That’s what you call it? Dirt dancing? Well, in a way I guess it was like a mosh pit with sand instead of people slamming about. So, you’re not really Storm, you’re more like an earthbender.”
“Excuse me?”
“Seriously? Avatar: The Last Airbender? You’ve never seen it? The movie was awful, I grant you, but the animated series rocked.”
“Aren’t you a little old for cartoons?”
“Oh, my God, animation is more than cartoons, but just as a tip, I still read comics. I used to read them because they were fun and cool and interesting. Now I read them because, frankly, they work really well as a guide for how to survive my life.”
“I honestly don’t understand half of what you’re saying.”
“Few do, Mahin. Few ever do.” We reached a dead end. “Well, either there’s a hidden door—which I would never, ever count out as a possibility—or we’ve missed whatever turn they took. Or, you know, we’re trapped with the bombs and are about to die. I give it even odds, any way you want to call it.”
“Why did they want to leave you with me?” Mahin asked slowly. “They didn’t seem to care that you were there . . .”
“Crap. They planted a bomb in or around your cell.”
No sooner were these words out of my mouth than the sound of an explosion reached us. It was a big explosion, and even though the corridor was long, it wasn’t long enough. Flames and debris billowed toward us.
Contemplated options. They seemed slim. Was about to try to send Jeff an emotional goodbye message, when Mahin put up her hands. The billowing continued, but it rolled back onto itself, then back down the corridor, until it died down.
“So, you can stop flames? Not that I’m complaining.”
“No. There was a lot of dust, dirt and debris. I can control that.”
“Huh.” Looked around as the emergency sirens went off. “You realize, then, that everything around us is, essentially, dirt, dust, and debris that’s all put together.”