The Avenger

'No.' Jack hesitated. 'The Gant woman's on board.'

'Oh?'

Did he detect curiosity in his mentor's voice? Jack considered again that contacting Olivia hinged on design rather than chance. 'Are you surprised?'

Warren chuckled. 'Hell, nothing surprises me anymore.'

Jack heard the long draw of breath over the line, most likely the Judge sucking on one of his cigars. He had to ask. 'Did you know?'

'Know what?'

'About the Gant woman.' When dead air traveled the length of the line like something spiteful, he continued, 'That she was the one. Back then. The one who started it all.'

'Is that going to be a problem?'

'For me or for Invictus?'

'Both.'

Another long pause while Jack collected his thoughts. Hating to admit a weakness, he dropped the subject. 'I'm concerned about the Change. It's different this time.'

'The meds?'

Jack thought about Olivia. That too. He sensed the sudden alertness over the line, knowing Warren weighed the potential danger of the special medications against the possibility of the aggression getting out of control. 'Yeah,' Jack said at last. A small lie. And not entirely false.

'How's that?'

'I stopped the whites, started the red regime, but they're making me feel weird.'

'In what way?'

'Headaches, olfactory mismatches.' Jack paused and continued meaningfully. 'Rough, angry, aggressive.' He thought of Olivia again, all that she'd stirred up in him.

'That's not good. The MM's will screw you royally.' They both knew it wasn't the olfactory mismatches that were the real problem. 'Supposedly Davis eliminated the side effects with the new batch of reds.'

Jack paused, mused again about the lusty intensity that being around Olivia brought out. 'You need to send the Phens.'

When he'd first entered the Invictus program, his medications had been a serious complication. The medical team discovered Jack's body didn't work the same as the other agents, whose natural skills were enhanced with a variety of established drugs, including steroids, so Dr. Davis had concocted powerful cocktails tailored especially for Jack. The Phens were supposed to mitigate the aggression.

And wasn't he the lucky one?

'Are you sure?' the Judge asked.

'Yeah.' He paused again, suppressing a sigh. 'The aggression's a bitch.'

Jack could almost hear the Judge calculating the odds, measuring an innocent's life against a completed mission. Collateral damage or a job well done.

'Did you kill anyone?' the Judge asked finally.

Jack tunneled his fingers through his damp hair. 'Jesus Christ! No.'

'Hurt anyone?'

He thought of the bruiser at the gym. 'No one that matters.'

The Judge's voice over the line was calm and practical. 'Then why do you need the Phens?'

Jack's voice hardened before he clicked the disconnect button. 'Just send the damn pills.'

Only afterward did he realize the Judge never answered his question about Olivia.

*

They met for breakfast because Olivia wouldn't agree to Jack coming to her house. He didn't blame her. She suggested a little mom and pop place near the capitol building. When he walked into the brightly lighted Country Kettle Restaurant a little after eight-thirty, Olivia was already seated at a booth by the window, gazing out at the crowded traffic on Tenth Street.

Sunlight dappled dust motes through the wooded blinds and across the oiled tablecloth. Tension darkened Olivia's eyes to the color of primeval forests and she clenched her fists on the vinyl tablecloth, warily examining him as he sat opposite her.

'What's wrong?' he asked after the waitress brought water and left menus.

Olivia didn't answer immediately, but hunched her shoulders beneath the salmon-colored sweater set that complemented her dark hair. Jack noted her ringless fingers and the utilitarian watch on her left wrist.

The waitress, a lanky, bleached blonde, whose black and white uniform strained against her breasts, returned to take their order. She pulled a pencil from behind her ear. 'What can I get you folks?'

'Just coffee and sour dough toast,' Olivia said.

'Make that two,' Jack added.

The waitress nodded and walked away to place their meager order on the metal roundel.

Apparently Olivia wanted to make small talk before she broached the subject on her mind because after a few moments, she led with, 'What made you go into government work?'

'The condensed version is college, marines, government service.'

She glanced at his hands. 'No wife? No children?'

He shook his head, taking her meaning. 'I wouldn't wear a ring anyway.'

She looked surprised. 'Why not?'

'Too revealing. I prefer to give as little information as possible about myself.'

Olivia stared at him over the rim of her water glass, reminding him of a time when keeping secrets was foreign to both of them, and they'd virtually poured out their young hearts to each other. 'Tell me about the case,' she said, setting down her glass.

'First, why don't you tell me why you called?'

A pretty flush crept up her neck into her cheeks. He waited easily while she struggled with her words. Patience had always come easy for him. Patience and a stubborn doggedness that made him a tough opponent.

The waitress set their toast orders down and poured coffee. 'Anything else?'

Jack shook his head and kept his eyes trained on Olivia.

She cleared her throat. 'I think a student of mine is in trouble.'

He'd expected many things. Her tearing into him was high on the list, followed by anger, accusation, questions. God, lots of questions. She had the right to ask and demand answers. But the unexpected twist caught him off guard.

'Your student?'

'Her name is Keisha Johnson and no one's seen her since Friday.' She leaned across the table, desperation in her voice. 'I'm afraid something awful has happened to her.'

'Has anyone filed a missing persons report?'

'I thought there was a waiting period.'

'Not in California.'

'Jack,' she said, a hitch in her voice, 'she's barely nineteen, a freshman. I don't think she'd take off like this without telling anyone.'

Olivia could see Jack's razor-sharp mind calculating the possibilities. She breathed out a sigh of relief. Jack knew what to do. He'd help.

'You talked to her friends?' he asked. 'Her family?'

'She's from New York. She wasn't planning to go home until winter break.' She stirred the coffee and ignored the toast. 'I didn't want to be hasty and worry her parents.' She lifted one shoulder. 'You know, in case it turns out to be nothing.'

'But you don't think it's nothing.'

She shook her head. 'Keisha's very responsible. Her roommate said she went out Friday night, wouldn't say where, just that she'd be back late.'