Fort Lupton (44 page)

“
Go on, Yvie,” Rodney
said.

“
We waited for just a few
minutes,” Yvonne said. “Agent Angie talked to the FBI men
downstairs and told them to hold on. Then the cute secretary came
in. She was leading Creep Two and Creep One was following him. She
said something, um . . .”

Yvonne squelched a scream of surprise when a
handgun went off somewhere down the hallway. Dionne reached over to
grab her hand.

“
We have to be quiet,
Yvie,” Dionne said.

Yvonne nodded.

“
What happened next?” the
Rodney in her mind asked.

“
Creep Two shot through
the cute secretary to hit Agent Angie,” Yvonne said. “First in the
bullet proof vest, then below the vest. Bang! Bang!”

“
Just like that?” the
Rodney in her mind asked.

“
Just
bang!
” Yvonne said. “The girl was
falling over, and Agent Angie tipped the table over. They shot at
the table, but it’s metal underneath. Dionne worked on Agent Angie
and I kept watch.”

“
Did they say anything?”
her handsome Homeland Security Agent asked.

“
They said, ‘That should
keep them for a while,’ and kind of laughed,” Yvonne said. “They
came around and took our cell phones and Agent Angie’s guns. But
that poor girl . . . She’s dead.”

“
Yvie!” Rodney said. “Why
did they leave you alive?”

“
They said they knew how
valuable I was,” Yvonne said. “And that Dionne looked fun because,
you know, she’s so buxom. They thought that was very funny. Then
the FBI agents downstairs called up and . . .”

Yvonne nodded to herself. For a moment, she
wondered what Rodney would like to know next. Then it occurred to
her.

Rodney wasn’t there to save her. Neither was
her Homeland Security Agent. She looked down at Agent Angie.

Yvonne was going to have to save herself.
She pulled up Agent Angie’s pant leg and took the small handgun
tucked into her boot.

“
What are you doing?”
Dionne whispered.

“
Making sure we come out
of this,” Yvonne said in a soft whisper. Yvonne looked at the clips
on Agent Angie’s belt and took two off that would fit this little
handgun.

“
I don’t like those,”
Dionne said. “Most people die on the end of one of those things.
I’m not going to . . .”

Yvonne unclipped the folding knife from
Agent Angie’s belt and held it out to Dionne, who shook her head
again.

“
Just take it,” Yvonne
said. “You think you know what it’s like, Dionne, but you don’t.
You’ll wish you were dead before these boys even get
started.”

“
They’ll kill you, Yvie.
Look . . .” Dionne gestured to Agent Angie. “And that
poor girl!”

“
I’m going to get us out
of here.” Yvonne nodded. “Trust me.”

“
I
. . .”

“
Do you trust me?” Yvonne
asked in a whisper. As she did, she started to glow with a clear
white light.

“
When did you have your
tea last?” Dionne asked.

“
Exactly,” Yvonne
said.

“
Do you have a plan?”
Dionne asked.

Yvonne nodded. Still not sure if it was a
good idea, Dionne took the knife from Yvonne.

“
We’ll go when I say,”
Yvonne said.

Dionne nodded. They waited
in silence
.

Fire

Tuesday evening — 7:25 p.m.

Denver, Colorado

“
Thank you for
understanding,” Tanesha said to her teacher.

He was reviewing her experiment. She gave
him her lab sheet.

“
Crazy night,” the teacher
said.

“
Yeah,” Tanesha
said.

“
You did a good job here,”
the teacher said while he looked over her lab sheet. “ Do you plan
on going into research?”

“
Maybe,” Tanesha said. “I
followed Dr. John Drayson last summer. He’s involved in a number of
research projects. We spent a day a week working on his research
projects.”

“
Vascular surgeon?” the
teacher asked.

Tanesha nodded.

“
That wasn’t lab work,”
the teacher said.

“
Some,” Tanesha said with
a smile.

The teacher smiled.

“
My dad’s waiting for me
. . .” Tanesha gestured to the door.

“
Yes, sorry,” the teacher
said. “I was trying to think of something witty to say.”

“
About?” Tanesha
scowled.

“
I like your husband’s
music,” the teacher said.

Tanesha grinned.

“
Can I call you Miss T?”
the teacher asked.

“
Are you my father?”
Tanesha asked, but she gave him a big smile.

“
Point taken,” the teacher
said. “Good luck.”

“
Thanks, I’ll need it,”
Tanesha said.

She grabbed her bag and rushed out the door.
At this time of day, the stairwells were locked for security. She
could get inside them but not out into the building. The elevator
was her best solution.

She went down a short hallway to the
elevator landing. A woman came from the other direction and stood
next to her. The woman wore a long grey pencil skirt with a soft
grey cashmere sweater on top. She wore a grey beret over her long
natural hair, which rivaled Fin’s in sheer volume and length. The
woman turned toward Tanesha and looked into her face. Tanesha
instinctively looked away. The elevator came and Tanesha let the
woman get on first.

When the woman reached the back of the
elevator, she turned and for the first time Tanesha saw her face.
She felt like she’d seen this woman before. The woman gave her a
broad smile. Tanesha turned to the front of the elevator, and the
elevator doors closed. They took the short trip to the ground
floor.

The elevator doors opened, and Tanesha
rushed to the lobby. She saw Rodney’s truck idling in front of the
building through the glass doors. She scooted out of the lobby to
the truck. When she reached the truck, the woman from the elevator
was bent over, talking to Rodney through the open passenger door.
She turned to Tanesha.

“
We haven’t been properly
introduced,” the woman said.

Tanesha stepped back. She gave her father a
doubtful look.

“
This is Ne Ne,” Rodney
said. “Your grandmother.”

“
I know who
it
is,” Tanesha said.
“What I don’t know is why she’s here.”

The fairy smiled.

“
Your mother is in
trouble,” Ne Ne said.

“
So you decided to
come
now
?”
Tanesha asked. “My mother’s been in trouble most of her life!
Didn’t it concern you when she was a
sex
slave
for that horrible man?
Or. . .? And how . . .?”

Tanesha clamped her mouth closed to avoid
screaming at the woman.

“
I understand,” Ne Ne
said. She gestured to the truck. “Please.”

“
Why don’t you just fly
where you want to go?” Tanesha asked.

“
I’m not that kind of
fairy,” Ne Ne said.

Tanesha scowled.

“
I know you’re afraid,” Ne
Ne said. “I’m actually here to help.”

“
Yourself,” Tanesha
sneered. “Fairies help themselves first. Then maybe sometime later
they get around to helping someone else.”

Ne Ne smiled.

“
What?” Tanesha
asked.

The woman glanced at Rodney and then back at
Tanesha.

“
What?” Tanesha
repeated.

“
You’re perfect,” Ne Ne
said with a little nod. Her eyes welled with tears. “Please. We
need to get to your friend Sandy’s establishment.”

“
Sandy?” Tanesha
asked.

“
We must help Yvonne, and
then save the rest,” Ne Ne said.

“
What rest?” Tanesha
asked.

“
My mother and father,” Ne
Ne said.

“
What about Jake and
Keenan?” Tanesha asked. “Or Delphie? Plus, Abi’s not even
there.”

“
The Oracle,” Ne Ne said.
“You may not realize this, but everything that’s happened has to do
with the Oracle.”

“
Hey!” Rodney yelled from
the driver’s seat. “Get in the damned truck!”

“
But . . .”
Tanesha started.

“
This is the woman who
helped me into this world,” Rodney said. “She saved me from my own
ignorance. She even visited me in prison when I was nearly
dead.”

Tanesha thought for a minute.

“
Get in the damned truck,”
Rodney said.

Ne Ne slid across the bench seat. Tanesha
got in next to her.

“
Where to?” Rodney
asked.

“
Sandy’s salon,” Tanesha
said.

“
And you’re going to help
Miss T?” Rodney asked Ne Ne.

“
Of course,” Ne Ne
said.

“
She’s not like those
other fairies,” Rodney said.

“
She’s better.” Ne Ne
smiled. She put her arm around Tanesha so her hand could touch
Rodney’s head. “It’s wonderful to see you, dear.”

“
You too, Ma,” he said.
Rodney’s eyes welled with tears. “You too.”

He gave Ne Ne a quick nod before taking off
down the street.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday evening — 7:55 p.m.

Phoenix, Arizona

“
Yvie,” Dionne whispered
and nudged Yvonne.

Yvonne was so focused on peeking out from
behind the table that she didn’t hear Dionne. She turned to look at
her best friend when Dionne nudged her.

“
Look,” Dionne
whispered.

Dionne pointed to the phone on the table a
foot in front of the conference table they were hiding behind.
Yvonne shook her head. Yvonne didn’t know anything about modern
office phones. Dionne had told her the phone in there wouldn’t
work, so she’d ignored it.

“
There’s finally an
available line!” Dionne whispered.

Yvonne shrugged.

“
We can call someone,”
Dionne said.

“
Who?” Yvonne
asked.

“
The police,” Dionne
whispered.

“
They’re outside.” Yvonne
pointed toward the sound of someone yelling on a bullhorn outside
the building.

Dionne scowled.

“
You know any phone
numbers?” Yvonne asked Dionne in a soft whisper.

Dionne was a wonderful singer, an amazing
songwriter, a fabulous nurse, a great friend, and an even better
wife. But she did not have a head for numbers. She carried a phone
book — which they’d taken with her purse — and had numbers
programmed into her phone. Dionne shook her head.

“
You?” Dionne
asked.

Yvonne thought for a moment. Even with her
better memory, Yvonne still struggled day-to-day to remember
anything. Then it occurred to her. She knew one number! She gave a
slow nod and held up one finger.

“
Could they help?” Dionne
asked.

Yvonne shrugged.

“
It’s worth a try,” Dionne
said in a fierce whisper. She pointed to Agent Angie. “She’s going
to die if we don’t
do
something.”

Yvonne knew Dionne was
avoiding the obvious. They were both going to suffer a lot and then
die if they didn’t
do
something. Yvonne nodded.

“
Can you get it?” Yvonne
asked.

Dionne nodded. For the last year, she’d been
in a fitness class run by an ex-military guy. She’d bugged Yvonne
to go, but Yvonne didn’t like to sweat.

“
You should be able to as
well,” Dionne couldn’t resist saying.

“
Sweat,” Yvonne shivered.
“Ew.”

Dionne grinned at her friend, and Yvonne
smiled.

“
Use your fairy-fu to
cover me,” Dionne said.

“
What’s that?” Yvonne
asked.

Dionne shrugged. Yvonne scowled for a moment
before nodding. Just like she did in fitness class, Dionne
belly-crawled out from behind the desk. At that moment, someone in
the office suite screamed. Dionne got to the table and pulled the
phone down. She dragged it over to where Yvonne was sitting.

“
Go ahead,” Dionne said.
She pressed the free button and gave Yvonne the
receiver.

Yvonne dialed the number she remembered.
There was a fast-busy signal in her ear. She held it up for Dionne
to hear. Dionne took the receiver and put it back in the
cradle.

“
Press one first,” Dionne
said.

“
Why?”

Dionne gave Yvonne an irritated scowl.
Yvonne raised her hands in acquiescence. Dionne gave Yvonne a
quick, hard hug.

“
You can do this,” Dionne
said in Yvonne’s ear. “You can save us.”

For a moment, the best friends held on
tight. The women ducked down behind the table when someone ran in
front of their conference room with a fire extinguisher.

“
Did you set the place on
fire?” Dionne asked.

“
Probably.” Yvonne looked
embarrassed.