“Sleeper.”
“That’s the read. No idea who placed him.”
“Understood.”
“The woman you brought into the park today, the ASL interpreter. Dana Kincaid.”
“What about her?”
“Any reason you picked her?”
“ASL-certified and at the top of the call list. Why?”
“Her name’s on a rental agreement with Fuller. We don’t know their relationship.”
For a moment, Bell flashes back to all his paranoia, the Hollyoakes visit and his inability to keep it from coming to pass. A trip planned almost a year in advance of today. A trip planned before Jad and Amy had divorced, and ages before Bell himself knew he would be asked to live his lie in WilsonVille. Rotten fucking luck.
He’s really hoping he’s seen the last of it.
“She can’t be in on it,” he says. “There’s no way whoever put this in play knew I’d need an ASL interpreter today. She wasn’t ever scheduled to work today.”
“Unless this goes deeper and darker than we think.”
“One conspiracy at a time,” Bell says.
“Agreed. Out.”
In the Race for Justice garage there’s a miniature Formula 1 car with WilsonVille characters painted all over it, and a similarly sized NASCAR racer on the lift. There are also fake tools, fake engine parts, and a collection of fifty-gallon oil drums, scaled down to perhaps hold twenty-five, stacked in a pyramid by the entrance. Bell takes his position there, clear lines of sight in almost every direction, including toward Terra Space.
Chaindragger’s voice comes into his ear. “I have eyes on three groups, repeat, all three groups. Converging, ETA two minutes. White, nine. Red, eight. Green, eleven.”
“Bone, Board, take Green,” Bell says. “Four Tangos, the rest are friendlies. Remember, they’re deaf, they won’t respond to verbal.”
Board comes back, says, “Understood.”
“Angel, I have eyes on you. Hold.” Chain pauses. “Red is crossing the bridge at Wild Horse Valley. Hold.”
“I’m going to throw up,” Angel whispers.
“You will not,” Bell tells her.
“Hold on Red. Warlock, White, Soccer Betsy is a Tango, repeat, is a Tango.”
“Soccer Betsy is a Tango.”
“Angel, Red, Lola is possible Tango. Cannot confirm.”
In his ear, Bell hears Angel whisper something about shooting a giant toucan in the leg.
“Angel, Red, they are off the bridge, turning to Green. Recommend you join when they pass the restrooms opposite Warlock’s position.”
“Jesus,” Angel says. “This is not going to work. This is not going to work, they’ll spot me.”
“And do what?” Bell says. “Their whole plan relies on them not revealing themselves. They spot you, they won’t be sure you’re not one of them.”
“You believe that?”
“Yes.”
“Liar.”
“Never to my friends.”
Chain cuts in. “Cardboard, Bonebreaker, I have no positives on Green, repeat, no positives on Green. Angle is bad. Warlock, two more possibles, White, Pooch and a Flashman.”
“Which Flashman?” Bell asks.
“It’s the armored one.”
“Valiant Flashman,” Cardboard says.
There is a pause.
“I used to collect the comics,” Cardboard says.
“Contact imminent,” says Chaindragger.
“We have no targets.” Bell can hear the anxiety in Bonebreaker’s voice. “We have no possibles.”
“We have no time,” Bell says. “Do it.”
Chapter Thirty-one
There’s something really wrong with Joel.
He’s having trouble walking, and where Athena can see his eyes above the bandanna mask they’re making him wear, there are tears, and sweat is running down his face. She tries to hold his hand again, but the man walking between them, the one in the Pooch costume, he won’t let her. He keeps separating them. Athena tries signing to him, but Joel doesn’t even acknowledge her.
They’re about halfway through Wilson Town when Athena suddenly pushes forward, past Lynne in the Smooch costume, trying to get to Dana. She reaches out and catches Dana/Betsy’s arm, and then feels that hand again, grabbing the back of her trench coat, yanking her back. She’s still holding on to Dana’s costumed arm, and Athena won’t let go, pulls her around as she’s jerked back herself, and suddenly Pooch’s grip on her is gone, and the whole group comes to a stop.
Hands concealed within Betsy’s, Dana can’t answer. Her head inside Betsy’s, Dana can’t even look directly at Athena. Vladimir/Kurkur pushes Dana with his left hand, his right beneath his cloak and holding his gun, Athena is sure. Dana/Betsy turns around slowly, and Pooch pulls Athena back again, and she tries to shake off his grip, but he just tightens it around her arm.
They resume their march, coming out of the square, and Athena is watching everything, her eyes moving from Joel to the others and beyond them, flicking quickly. Using her vision to supply what her ears cannot. There’s a kiddie ride on their right, Rascal’s Tailspin; it’s like a teacup ride except instead of cups there’re bowls. The lights are flashing, even though nothing is moving, and Athena can feel a thrum coming from it, too, what she suspects is music. On her left, there’s Smooch’s FunHouse, which is like three different things all at once-a bounce house, and a ball pit, and something else she doesn’t even know what it is. It looks like it has something to do with skydiving, maybe, or blowing air, but she’s not sure.
The Terra Space ride is ahead of them, still a ways off, but the giant Clip Flashman Rocket is easy to spot, and she can see the little mock rocket sleds that run up on rails at one side of the ride, to Lunar Space, and then descend on the other, back to the Terra Pad. They were going to have lunch there, she remembers, down at the bottom, then ride up and maybe buy souvenirs. Thinking about it, she realizes how hungry she is, how thirsty.
She keeps looking for her dad, but she doesn’t see him anywhere. He’s coming, Athena knows he is, he has to come, because these are Bad Guys. He fights Bad Guys. All those nights and he wasn’t home, all those days he was gone, it was because he fights people like this. He has to come.
Almost directly ahead of them, there’s a group of people approaching. They’re in costumes, too, just like her own group. Eight or nine of them, she isn’t sure, they’re still too far away, but she can see one is a Flashman in shining armor, and maybe at the back there’s another one, a Clip Flashman in his space suit and helmet, the same costume that Oscar in their group is hiding inside. She glances to her right, still ahead, past the Race for Justice, and another group is coming from that direction, too. More costumes; she counts eight total, including two Gordos, a Soccer Betsy, and another Smooch like the one Lynne is wearing.
First group getting closer. Eight of them, she now sees, the two Flashmans and the first Lola that Athena’s seen all day. Second group, nine, and Athena wonders how many of them are Bad Guys, too. She can’t tell.
Vladimir/Kurkur is looking around, and so is Sonny/Gordo and Oscar/Clip Flashman. They stop, abruptly, and Athena thinks someone must have said something. Dana/Betsy turns in place, trying to look back at them, maybe to check on Joel, and Athena does the same. He’s looking down at the ground, both hands at his middle, like he’s
