“That includes the skin,” BT tacked on, “so don’t get any on you.”
“Understood,” I said.
“Also, bear in mind that there’s no way to test this stuff,” Mouse declared. “You and Jack are the only people it will work on because of your unique synaptic formation, so – short of you volunteering to be a guinea pig – there was no way to determine how effective it will be, such as how long it’s likely to strip you of your powers.”
“Great – just what I always wanted,” I deadpanned as I closed the box. “So the takeaway is basically to be very, very careful with the syringe.”
“That’s the gist of it,” Mouse agreed. “We ready now?”
“As ready as we’ll ever be,” I answered.
With that, I teleported myself and Mouse to the position he was going to hold while we sprang our trap on Jack. Next, I teleported home and grabbed a jacket from my closet. I didn’t need it for the weather, but for subterfuge. The invisible-item-in-my-hand gag had worked once with the bat, but wasn’t likely to be successful a second time. Keeping that in mind, I needed a place to keep the box holding the syringe until I needed it. The jacket I selected had a deep interior pocket, so I shoved the box in there and zipped the jacket up.
Now fully prepared, I took a moment to mentally prepare myself, and then teleported to the place where Jack had gone to ground.
Chapter 89
I popped up in the living room of my condo. It was a very nice three-bedroom, two-bath unit, but knowing someone had been killed there made it lose a lot of its appeal. Just thinking about it almost made be frown in distaste, but I managed to keep my game face on.
In confirmation of my suspicions, Jack was there, sitting on the sofa.
“We meet again,” he said, giving me a short wave. “Nice detective work in locating me.”
I shrugged. “Wasn’t that hard. You wore a tux to my grandparents’ party with a red bow tie. Gramps gave me that tie when I attended my first formal event a few years ago. He bought it for me, taught me how to tie it. I recognized it immediately. I also remembered that I kept it here.”
Jack grinned. “Yeah, I got the feeling there was something sentimental about that tie as soon as I saw it. Guess I was right.”
“Well, if you like it, keep it.”
He gave me a look of surprise. “You’re kidding, right? I mean, I know how possessive you are.”
I shook my head. “No, I’m serious. Keep it.”
“Thanks,” he intoned softly, almost disbelievingly. “So, I take it you’re here to pick up where we left off this morning.”
“No,” I stated, shaking my head.
“No?” he repeated. It obviously wasn’t the answer he had expected. “Does that finally mean you’re ready to join me?”
“I think I’ve made my position on your proposal very clear.”
“But you don’t even know what I’m offering,” he pleaded. “I can show you the secret.”
I frowned. “What secret?”
“How to get the Bolt Blast!” he exclaimed. “Super strength! It’s an outgrowth of the things the scientists did when they were forcing me to develop powers like yours – something I learned to do. I can show you how to generate any power you want.”
“Does that include telepathy?” I asked casually.
Jack looked taken aback for a moment, but then recovered. “Okay, that was a little below the belt, but I’ll simply respond by modifying my original statement. I can show you how to generate almost any power you want.”
“No thanks,” I said, doing my best to appear to turn him down flat. (In truth, however, I had to admit to being intrigued.)
Jack’s eyes narrowed. “So if you aren’t here to join me or to fight me, why are you here?”
“Once I realized where you were, I remembered that I’d left something important here – something I wanted to keep.”
“What?” Jack inquired. However, he’d barely started forming the word with his mouth when I switched to super speed, dashed into one of the guest bedrooms, then zipped back out again.
“Got it,” I said, shoving my hand into my jacket pocket as Jack watched me, looking befuddled. “Alright, I’m good. You can have this place and everything in it. See you around.”
“Wait!” Jack roared, coming to his feet. “What did you take?”
“Huh?” I asked, giving him a bewildered look.
“What did you take?!” he demanded, looking angry.
“Just something important to me,” I insisted.
“Let me see,” he ordered, holding out his hand.
I looked at his outstretched hand for a moment, then shook my head. “I don’t think so.”
“Give it to me!” he bellowed. “Now!”
“Make me,” I said, then phased and went flying through an exterior wall to the outside.
A moment later, concrete, drywall, and various pieces of debris came erupting from the side of the building with a sound like a mortar being fired. It was Jack, of course, crashing through the wall at full speed and coming after me. Smiling to myself, I turned and took off, knowing he’d be right behind me.
*****
My condo wasn’t located too far from downtown, which was where I headed. I zigzagged between a couple of high-rises along the way – evasive maneuvers that Jack would probably expect, but nothing to throw him off my trail. In the meanwhile, as we drew close to the designated spot of our snare, I reached out telepathically to Mouse.
<We’re almost there,> I said. <Are you ready?>
<Affirmative,> Mouse replied.
Inwardly, I sighed in relief. Bearing in mind that our plan required coordination, I kept the telepathic channel open between me and my mentor. Glancing back to make sure Jack was still in pursuit (he was), I headed towards my destination: four skyscrapers in close proximity which – when seen from above – could be viewed as forming the corners of a square, and a fifth high-rise that was centered between them.
Mentally I crossed my fingers as I went through our strategy again in
