“Yes,” Mahin agreed. “I wouldn’t have been open to listening to you if I hadn’t spent time with your father.”
Pulled out my phone and sent a text.
“What are you doing?” Jeff asked.
“Telling Christopher, James, and Tim to figure the base commander’s under Ronaldo’s influence or actually is Ronaldo. They escaped so we’d know they escaped and assume they were anywhere but here. They killed people because they could and also because those were the only Marines who would know what Dier looked like in person. Put her into a uniform, and she looks like a regular servicewoman. She’s good at that kind of blending in.”
“You think they’ve infiltrated this entire Naval station?” Mahin asked. “Then why did they leave me in captivity for days?”
“To see if you’d go with them or not when they showed up. You didn’t go where they expected you to, so they adapted. And that’s not a Ronaldo move. That’s a Mastermind move. And Dier sounded like she was in charge, and she was working with Clarence’s team during Operation Sherlock, and he was absolutely not hanging with Ronaldo at that time. Clarence was working with the Mastermind.”
“So why are we standing here?” Jeff asked.
“In part because I want to know if the people here are under mind control or not. And in other part because I’m trying to figure out how they captured the Poofs.” And I was betting it was all the Poofs. I’d had more Poofs than just Harlie and Poofikins in my purse when we’d come, but there were a lot of people in front of us, and my gut said Harlie had called in the Poof Cavalry, especially since no Poofs at all had come when I’d called.
“You think the Poofs are captured?” Chuckie asked. “Why?”
“Because they aren’t here. They did their jobs—they saved everyone from being blown up or buried alive. And what are the odds that whoever’s calling the plays knew they’d do that?”
“I’d say good, Missus Martini.” White was looking around. Assumed he was doing what I was and trying to spot which of the Gang of Four Plus One might be hiding in plain sight.
“Uncle Mort felt this hangar was the obvious place to take all those people who needed saving, and sure enough, here they all are.”
“I don’t see Gladys,” Jeff said in a low voice.
“She’s likely to be with Ronaldo or the Poofs, depending.” On whether or not she was fooling Ronaldo.
Looked around. No one in this hangar was acting like an automaton. They were all watching us with varying degrees of suspicion or interest, prisoners included, which likely meant they were in control of their own minds. After all, Uncle Mort hadn’t told them to leave or do anything else, and where else would they take all these prisoners anyway?
But the person I’d choose to leave here hiding in plain sight would be the one who knew how to blend in the best and who was also the most ruthless killer.
Sending an A-C to tackle Dier would be the smart choice. Only she’d proved that she knew how to shoot and kill someone moving at hyperspeed, and I’d be damned if I was going to watch either my husband or White get shot in front of me. Besides, while the Poofs were powerful, they were still animals. Animals who loved me and protected me, and who needed my protection in return.
Of course, first I had to figure out which one she was, without letting her know I’d figured out which one she was. Which, considering how many people were in here, was harder than it sounded. Everyone had something on their heads, all the women had their hair up or back, and the prisoners were even better covered.
“Remember,” Chuckie said quietly, “we need to capture these people alive to have a hope of finding the Mastermind, let alone foiling whatever their end game is.”
“James just texted me,” Jeff said. “He thinks the base commander’s been under mind control. They were about to send missiles into the Science Center, but your uncle stopped it. The squatters are countering.”
“Tell them Chernobog’s in Cuba somewhere. Maybe they can find her signal somehow.” I wasn’t looking at Jeff. I was looking at the prisoners. Most of the prisoners were doing what the military personnel were doing—watching the weird people who were hanging around the doorway.
One wasn’t. He was pointedly looking down at his lap. And he was sitting near to a female in military garb. And they were both at the far end from the door.
“Okay, let’s get out of here. We’ll meet up with the others at the computer center.”
We stepped outside. “What are you planning?” Chuckie asked. “And trust me, we all know you’re planning something.”
“Yeah, I am. Mahin, lots of dirt around here.”
“Yes, there is.”
“Awesome. On my signal, make a dirt wall and put it around all of you.”
“What?” Jeff asked. “What in the hell—”
“Now!” I ran, and got on the other side as the wall went up. Knew I didn’t have long, but hopefully I’d be faster than Jeff or the others.
Ran back into hangar and headed right for the two people I’d spotted. Aimed for the woman and hit into her before anyone saw me.
It was Dier for sure, which was nice, because I slammed her back and down and started beating the crap out of her. She was fighting back, but I’d knocked the weapon out of her hands and was definitely stronger than she was.
I probably would have won, too, because I was angry and I’d had the element of surprise. But I’d neglected to remember a couple of key facts.
One of which was that while Mahin had to have dirt and dust around to do her thing, Darryl would pretty much always have air handy.
And, of course, no one else with a gun actually realized that the Navy Ensign I was beating up was a bad guy.
So, when I was flung high up into the air, every gun in the hangar was no longer focused on the prisoners, but was, instead, pointed directly at me. Always the way.
CHAPTER 70
“LEAVE HER ALONE!” The voice wasn’t Jeff’s or Chuckie’s—it was Mahin’s.
Dirt flew into everyone’s eyes, military and prisoners alike. Which was great in some ways and not in others.
In terms of great, it meant that no one could see to shoot at me, and they were all trained well enough that they didn’t just randomly fire at each other.
It wasn’t so great in that being somewhat blinded meant Darryl also lost concentration. At least I assumed that’s why I was no longer being held up in the air via his snazzy airbending moves and was, instead, plummeting straight for the concrete far below as if Gravity was pissed that I’d once again thought I was too good for it and truly wanted to teach me a lesson this time.
“Gotcha!” Jeff said, right before he caught me. Then he said, “Oof!” But I was incredibly happy to not have my legs shattered, so chose not to complain.
“You rock the awesome catching as always.”
“I’ve had so much practice since I met you, it’s instinctive at this point.” He hugged me tightly, hearts pounding. “We’re going to have a really big fight about the stunt you just pulled, but not right now.”
I hugged him back. “I couldn’t risk her shooting you.”
“Speaking of shooting,” Jeff said, as the military personnel began to recover and once again had their weapons at the ready. All pointed at us, of course.
“Hands up,” Dier said as she got to her feet. “Shoot them if they so much as move.” She looked happily vindictive.
“How can we put our hands up if you’re going to shoot us if we move? Just asking and all.”
Someone knocked every gun out of every hand before anyone had a time to answer the conundrum I’d posed. Nice to know Christopher was back. Nicer still that his timing was impeccable.