Absolute Zero (30 page)

“Technology? She’s not a robot, Mom. She’s a human being. How could you do this to her? Her parents?” Zach paced. “And all this time, you’ve been a secretary, you’re not really? And Aunt Bev, she’s not just a family practice doctor? She’s one of these crazy people?”

“Zach. Honey. I’m sorry. I—”

“Save it. Does Dad know? Are Amy, Lisa, and Wendy safe?”

“Oh yes. Yes. Zach. I’m so sorry.”

“Dad?”

“He knows nothing. Honey, he’s safe, too. He—”

“I can’t believe this. So, all summer, you were keeping me from Mandy because you know all about her?”

She glared at me. “I didn’t want you involved in all of this.”

“Does Sam have anything to do with this?” Zach asked through clenched teeth.

“Samantha?” Mrs. Landry shook her head. “No. No. I don’t know anything about her other than you started dating her. I was glad, though, that you ended it with Mandy. I thought you were safe. Then Andrey decided to use you as leverage to get to Mandy.”

“He knew I knew about Mandy’s powers and her family. Damn it, Mom.”

“Zachary!”

“Oh, please.” Zach stomped away a few feet and tugged at his hair.

“Where’s your sister? Is she calling Andrey’s shots?”

Mrs. Landry looked at Andrey, then to Nate. “Andrey’s lead on bringing Mandy in or terminating her. Bev just runs the labs.” She glanced at me. “Well, and Georgia, too. Once they found out there was a twin, she was marked as well. They’re valuable to Bev dead or alive.”

My gut caved. “Dead or alive?” I glanced at Nate.

“So, where’s Lois?” Georgia asked.

“What do you mean?”

“My adoptive mother? She left end of July. Claiming to have left my Dad for a divorce.”

“No idea. I don’t know anything about her.”

“Are they after her? Is that why she ran? Did Andrey and his goons mark her, too?”

She shrugged. Her gaze shifted toward Zach, and she leaned to the side. Tears welled.

“Do you know about the two Agents who crashed Scott’s smoothie bar the other day?” I asked.

Andrey snapped his head to attention. His black eyes fixed on mine. I stepped toward him. “Were those your guys?”

He grunted. I glanced at Tim and then Nate. “How are we going to make him talk?”

“I’ll get a little cocktail hooked up to him. He’ll be singing in a few minutes.”

I stepped away and tugged Nate with me. “He didn’t seem to know about the two agents, did you see that? You think The Center may be trying to get back in the game? Or is Mrs. Landry lying?”

“We’ll find out. My guess is that Andrey went rogue from The Center once he learned about you.” Nate leaned closer to me. “I’ve been watching him. He can’t take his eyes off you. Like he’s obsessed, and he’s always been after just you. Why not Georgia, too? She could be equally as powerful as you someday very soon.”

“Oh great. A lethal stalker.”

“When did The Center get Andrey involved?” Nate asked Mrs. Landry.

“Two years ago, after the hotel incident.”

I cringed. Nate looked at me. “I had already left The Center by then, I’m not aware of what happened.”

“Amanda killed the Agents. Nothing survived. No data, no video, nothing,” Mrs. Landry said. “Her power destroyed everything. That’s when GenCorp was brought in.”

“So, the close calls we had the next few years were probably instigated by Andrey, trying to recover you for The Center. But then somewhere along the line, The Center moved to number two,” Scott said.

“Wonderful. So, we have GenCorp
and
The Center after us?” I said as I threw a glance at Georgia. “This just moved to a new level of complicated, didn’t it?”

Scott and Nate both nodded. Scott stepped toward me. “But all the info we have in the book and on the video is about The Center, we have squat on GenCorp.”

“We’ll see what we can get from Andrey and Mrs. Landry and start figuring out this new player. Because it’s clear they’re no longer communicating.” Nate crossed his arms over his chest. His eyebrows pulled together, and his forehead creased. “They’re probably in a race to get to you first.”

“So, what next?” I asked.

“Let Tim’s cocktail take effect. We’ll find out what we can about Andrey and his people. Then—” Nate shifted his weight. “Then, we’ll have to terminate him.”

I studied my feet. I so wanted to be the one to end Andrey. He was the one who killed my parents, practically right in front of me. But now that Nate talked about killing him, I just felt empty. I shouldn’t feel bad for killing this monster.

“He can’t be allowed to live, Mandy. He’s a lethal weapon.”

“I know. It’s just—”

“Tim will do it humanely, just put him to sleep.”

“What if he doesn’t talk?”

“He will.” Nate cupped the side of my face and pulled me to his chest. I buried my face in his fresh-scented shirt. “I’ll
make
him talk.”

Chapter 40

“O
kay, he’s singing,” Tim said, as he marched through the kitchen doorway from outside.

Glass from the shattered windows crunched beneath his weight. He walked straight to Georgia and reached out for her hand.

“My mom?” Zach asked.

He sat at the kitchen table, head hung low. He’d barely been able to keep eye contact with me. The guilt he must feel. His own mother hunting me like an animal, sticking me with needles.

“She’s fine. She’ll tell us anything we want to know. But I’m afraid she’s low on the totem pole. Her sister, she said, is the scientist behind studying Mandy,” Tim said.

“Great,” I said.

“Okay, let’s go find out from Andrey what’s up. Martin’s out there keeping an eye on him.” Tim thumbed toward the door. “You ready?” He looked at Georgia, then to me.

“I’m not sure I should go in there. I ‘bout killed you and everyone in that shed earlier,” Georgia said. “I’m not feeling too stable. You know?”

“True.” He looked at Nate, then me. “Microphone? You two can listen from a distance?”

I nodded. “Sound good, Georgia? We could listen from the yard. It’s kind of like the meadow. You can throw fireballs at me all you want.”

She smiled.

“Jas, you got some more techy stuff?” I asked. “I think I fried it when I was taking care of Nate.”

“On it.” Jasmine scurried out of the kitchen.

Nate stepped toward me and grabbed my hands. “Don’t go too far, okay?”

“I won’t. If anything happens, you know our spot.”

He nodded, then pressed a quick kiss to my cheek. “Let’s go, Tim.”

He followed Nate out the door with Scott close behind. Zach stood, resting his hands on the tabletop and stared a hole through me.

“I’ll meet you right outside, okay?” Georgia whispered in my ear. She glanced at Zach. “Right outside.”

I nodded.

Zach walked around the table toward me. Dark bags formed beneath his eyes, which no longer sparkled like they used to. My heart sputtered. Mostly with guilt, pain, a touch of anger, and a light sprinkling of desire.

He’d been my first true love. My first seriously passionate kiss…and then some. I was human, couldn’t shut that off entirely right away. Did that make me a bad person?

“I’m sorry, Mandy. I’m not sure how this got all messed up like it did.” He stopped a couple of feet in front of me.

I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at his shoes. Running shoes, of course. Always the runner, even though he didn’t go to State like he’d planned. He’d stayed back to be with me, and now we weren’t even together. I felt bad for the guy.

Stupid Samantha.

Stupid mother.

“I can’t believe my mom is involved in all this. That she hurt you like she did.”

I couldn’t suppress a flinch. Zach’s mom had poked me with a needle more than once during my stay at the hotel-from-hell. Her own son had been beaten so badly he’d broken ribs.

She was sick.

“I just—”

I looked up. He tugged at his hair.

“She’s my mom. I—”

“At least she’s talking. Maybe we can get things taken care of now.”

“She called you an abomination.” Zach shook his head. “You’re nothing like that. You’re amazing. You’re sweet. Caring. Beautiful—”

“Stop. Look. I’m sorry your mom turned out to be an evil bitch. That’s got to totally suck, but we’re not out of danger here yet. So, I need you to stick close to Jasmine, Martin, Tim and—” I swallowed. “Well, just stick close to them, okay? They’ll keep you safe.”

“I want to go out there with you and Georgia.”

“No.”

“You’re stronger than anyone here. I’m safest with you.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m the target. If you’re near me, you could get hurt. Me and Georgia are better off on our own.”

I glanced at him. His eyes welled, and his shoulders slouched.

“I’m no good without you, Mandy.”

“Okay, here you go. I—” Jasmine rounded the corner, then stopped, her eyes wide.

So much for the super-hearing. She was so flaky sometimes.

“Here’s your new stuff. I’ll head outside.” She stepped toward the door.

“Jas. Wait.” I went to follow after her, but Zach grabbed my hand. I stopped but kept my focus on Jasmine. “Keep Zach safe, will ya?”

“Sure.” She nodded toward Zach. “Come on, kid. Let’s go see what Mom knows.”

Zach looked at me and leaned close. “I know you still care for me. I’m not giving up.”

Just what I needed right now. Two crazed agencies after me, Zach after me, and a psycho Mom after me. Just peachy.

I shrugged from his grasp, darted past Jasmine and out into the yard. Georgia fell in beside me.

In the middle of the expansive lawn I finally stopped. Chest heaving, tears flowing, heart thudding, I screamed. As I did, snow and sleet spewed from my mouth and coated the area in front of me.

“Yeah, she’s fine,” Georgia said. “Just venting.”

I snapped my electronics on my tooth and in my ear. I faced Georgia and frowned.

“Andrey, where’s your base located?” Tim’s voice rang out in my ear.

“
N-n-n-n-ooooo,”
Andrey said. His accent slurred his drugged speech even more so.

“How many people on your team?” Tim asked.

“
Enufff
to kill a little
girl.
”

Sounds of flesh hitting flesh followed.

I held Georgia’s hand, and we sank to the ground. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep quite during the interrogation, so I plucked my molar mic out and motioned for Georgia to do the same.

“I don’t think I want to hear what they’re doing to Andrey. You?”

She shook her head.

Voices in the background murmured followed by more sounds of flesh hitting flesh.

“Doesn’t sound like the drugs are working on Andrey.”

“So, he
was
with The Center, but now he’s in with GenCorp?” I asked.

“Right. The Center hired out Andrey and his team to find you. Now they want you—er—us. But evidently The Center
does too still. So, they’re separate. ‘Specially since the
Coats
who came after us for the book didn’t know Andrey, and he didn’t know them, either.”

“So, we have Andrey’s freaks after us and the
Coats
as well. The
Coats
know about the book, Andrey doesn’t.” My head spun, but hearing it again helped straighten things out…a little.

“I
haff
five who
vork
with me,” Andrey said. “Hundreds of hired hands.”

My stomach dropped.

“Who are the five?” Nate asked.

Andrey grunted. Metal groaned. Shuffling followed, and I glanced toward the shed. Georgia did to.

“Who are the five, Andrey?” Metal screeched this time.

I scanned the surrounding darkness, wondering when more of his hired muscle would come storming at us. We’d pretty much flattened all those he showed up with, but there had to be more coming eventually.

“What do you think of Nate’s idea of killing us off?” Georgia asked.

“Me, you, Nate, Tim, and Martin together? Or would Jasmine and Scott come, too?”

“Nate seems to think if he kills Scott and Jasmine off at the same time it’ll look suspicious.”

“I suppose some time would have to pass first. Then we could meet up,” I plucked a handful of grass and brought it to my face. I loved the clean, fresh smell.

“Dr. Bev Duffie, Miles Baker, Nelson…” Andrey groaned. “No!” He shouted.

“Man, he’s fighting it, isn’t he?” Georgia said. “He must be really strong.”

The front lights clicked on, a second set of floodlights followed. It illuminated the front yard like a football field.

I hopped to my feet, so did Georgia. I glanced behind us to the trees, and they moved like there was a breeze. Then I heard the sound of helicopters. But what disturbed me most was the gurgling sound beside me.

I faced Georgia, her eyes were wide, blood poured from her neck, and she began to sag to the ground.

“Georgia! Flame up!”

Her light flickered as her hand went to her neck. Something bit at my shoulder, then my leg. I iced down and reached for my sister, she slid through my cool hands. I squeezed my hands into fists and focused on my burning injuries all the while yelling at Georgia. “Flame up, Blaze!”

Her light flickered again. Her eyes went orange, and she flopped onto her back. Just a few more seconds, then I could get to her. Just a few—

She erupted in flames. Two more bullets pinged off my ice skin.

“No!” Zach yelled. “Mom!” More gurgling sounded in my earpiece followed by muffled cries. “Mom.”

“Ah!” Nate grunted.

“Shit,” Scott said. “Bullets coming from the trees. Landry’s down.”

“Zach. Come on,” Jasmine said.

“I can’t leave her. I can’t leave my mom.”

“She’s gone, Zach. Move it or you’re next!”

Ping!

The force of the bullet hitting my back pitched me forward. It didn’t get through my ice, but it was close.

“Georgia!”

Flames engulfed her, and through the raging fire, I saw her sliced neck fused together. Bullets bounced off her. The steel they’d shot into my arm tinkered against my ice as it popped out of my shoulder.

Something clanked against my ice skin, and I looked up. Black lines cut through my vision. I reached out and my fingers got stuck as a sticky net clung to my ice. “Nets!” My throat burned as I screamed. Georgia rolled to her side. Her light was so bright she lit up the yard almost as much as the floodlights, which began clicking out, by the way. Someone must be shooting them.