“I need to leave,” I announced to everyone in general.
“Why?” my mother asked, voice full of concern. “Where are you going?”
“To find Jack,” I declared bluntly. “I’m going to kill him.”
Chapter 79
After announcing my intentions with respect to my evil twin, I quickly teleported Gramps to my grandparents’ bedroom at Indigo’s request and then headed to my own room. Basically, I didn’t want my mother trying to talk me out of what I now planned to do. It wasn’t anything I had truly contemplated before, but in attacking Gramps, Jack had crossed a line.
Now that I was ready to go on the offensive, I found myself with a bit of a dilemma: I actually didn’t know how to find my doppelganger. Upon reflection, Jack had always found me. I didn’t have the slightest idea of where to even start looking for him – but I knew someone who probably did: Gray.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have a number for him. Gray had given me a card with his contact info once a while back, but I had discarded it long ago. I had just never envisioned myself willingly reaching out to him, and it galled me to do so now. For a moment, I considered whether Myshtal could help, as she had a power that let her locate things, including people; however, it had to be something or someone she had a connection with, and Jack didn’t count. Thus, it appeared that dealing with Gray was the only way to get what I needed.
That said, I couldn’t contact him without the proper info, and I suddenly felt annoyed that I couldn’t reach him as easily as he always seemed to reach me. And then the light bulb came on.
Why not? I thought. It was worth a try, and he’d specifically said to call him if I needed him.
I took out my cell phone and brought up the virtual assistant that was part of the phone’s operating system. I took a moment to get my thoughts together, feeling that the situation was completely surreal, and then found my resolve.
“Call Gray,” I said.
Nothing happened.
Undaunted, I decided to try again. “Call Gray.”
The virtual assistant still didn’t respond.
I made a few more attempts, trying different types of inflection and tone, but nothing worked. I was about to throw in the towel when I realized there was one more thing I could try, but doing so rankled immensely. Still, I wasn’t going to leave any stone unturned.
I wiped my face with my hand, completely irked by what I was about to do, wishing there was some other way.
Shaking my head in disgust at my own actions, I softly muttered, “Call Mister Gray.”
The phone began dialing.
Chapter 80
“So, we have a deal?” Gray asked.
“Yes,” I agreed without hesitation. “You give me what I need, and I come work for you.”
“Excellent,” Gray said with a smug grin.
We were once again in our usual meeting spot in the back of the SUV. My phone hadn’t shown any digits, but it had definitely called Gray, who had seemingly been waiting for me to make contact. Two minutes later, I was in the back of the vehicle, making a deal with the devil.
“This is the dawn of a great new day,” Gray continued.
“Well, the sun hasn’t cleared the horizon yet,” I countered. “You need to answer my questions – fully – or the deal’s off.”
“Of course,” he responded. “And since you’re officially joining the team, I can grant you temporary clearance so I can share information that was restricted before.”
“Whatever,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Mouse isn’t going to believe this when I tell him.”
“Hold on,” Gray interjected. “You can’t tell your mentor – or anyone else – that you’re working with us.”
“The hell I can’t. I’m not keeping secrets from Mouse. I decide who to share pertinent information with, so either I tell him, or we can call this whole thing off before the ink’s dry.”
Gray appeared to contemplate for a moment, then shrugged. “Have it your way. Share whatever you want.”
“Great,” I muttered. “Now that that’s out of the way, how do I find Jack?”
“With this,” Gray said, handing me a metal device about the size of a cell phone, containing what appeared to be a radar screen. He had apparently anticipated the question, as he’d already had the device in hand.
“Unbeknownst to him, Jack has a small homing beacon implanted in his neck,” Gray continued.
“A homing beacon?” I echoed, incredulously. “Really?”
“He was a high-value asset, and some folks at the upper echelons wanted their investment protected,” Gray explained. “Anyway, that tracker will allow you to pinpoint his location.”
“Hold on,” I grumbled. “If you’ve been able to track him all this time, why haven’t you tried to take him down?”
“Lack of resources,” Gray admitted.
I grunted in disbelief. Gray had an army at his disposal, not to mention advanced weaponry and tech. It was hard to imagine him coming up short on anything he needed, but I decided not to delve into the subject.
“Next, what’s the story on Jack’s phasing ability?” I inquired.
“What do you mean?” Gray asked in response.
“Well, you told me that he used his phasing power when he attacked one of his handlers.”
Gray nodded. “He did.”
“Then why haven’t I seen any evidence of phasing?” I demanded. “With most guys who can phase, you can’t lay a finger on them in terms of physical harm. They just become insubstantial. But with Jack, he’s taken a shot to the gut, gotten fried by my girlfriend, slung around by Atalanta, and I gripped him by the collar and shook him. Maybe you get caught every now and then by one of those if you can phase, but not that often.”
My narrative was the continuation of the notion that
