PHENOMENAL GIRL 5 (2 page)

I blushed, thinking about how fun that conversation would be. “I didn’t want to count my chickens before they were hatched, sir.” Forget about the fact that I had been hired and the team now needed a replacement; Turbyne, our leader, was going to be super pissed I had even gotten a callback when his multiple applications to the EHJ hadn’t even garnered so much as a preliminary interview.

Rath seemed to understand. It probably wasn’t the first time a new hire’s old team had sore feelings over their promotion. “I’ll have Aphrodite notify them that you are working with us from now on. Your address is correct on your application form?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. I’ll send someone over to your apartment to pick up your things. We can make arrangements to sublet if necessary.”

“Sir?”

“Your training starts today.” He stood. “We’re off to the Reincarnist’s.”

The Reincarnist’s mansion was the perfect hero/billionaire playboy bachelor pad. The elaborate home was on the edge of Covo City, surrounded by a private forest and placed, fortress-like, at the top of a hill. After going through a series of security systems that would put the government’s to shame, our car made its way through the expansive grounds to come to a stop in what looked like a parking lot for the rich and famous. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in cars lined the driveway in front of the house. A servant was detailing a black Escalade.

Rath and I got out, pausing to admire the vehicles. “Are there people visiting?” I asked.

“No, he just likes cars,” Rath said. “This is just part of his collection. Today must be wash day.”

We climbed the staircase leading up to the front door. A butler in black tie answered the door before we reached it.

“Good day, Doctor Rath. Phenomenal Girl Five.” He gave us a slight nod of greeting. “I was told to expect you.”

“Good morning,” Rath said, stepping past the butler into the entranceway. “Miss Livingston, this is Mayhew, the Reincarnist’s butler and personal assistant. Should you need anything, he can take care of it. He’s been in the business of helping oversee our preliminary members since he was your age.”

“Welcome, Miss Livingston,” Mayhew said solemnly.

“Your things arrived moments ago, and we are preparing your room.”

“Thank you.”

“He downstairs?” Rath asked Mayhew, and at the butler’s nod motioned for me to follow him. “Let’s introduce you to the man himself.”

I followed Rath down the hallway and into the library. My heart hammered in my chest. I was finally going to meet the legendary Reincarnist.

Rath walked over to the large bookcase lining one wall. Hundreds of leather-bound books filled the shelves. Moving along the wall, he pulled out volumes seemingly at random.

“He’ll teach you the code,” Rath said as he pulled the last one, and a hidden panel next to the shelves slid open, revealing a gel pad. Rath placed his palm on the scanner and the screen lit up, confirming his identity in blocky type: R
ATH
, D
OCTOR
B
ENJAMIN
. A loud click sounded, and he moved to guide me away just as the bookshelf slid open. Beyond it, a wide staircase sloped down into blackness.

“This way,” he said, starting down the steps without hesitation.

I followed, eyes trying to adjust to the surrounding inky darkness. The stairs flattened out into a long hallway lit by small lights in the ceiling. At the end of the hall, I came to a stop, and my jaw dropped.

I had expected some sort of creepy cave, not the opulent room that met me. The walls were calm beige, with intriguing and priceless paintings lining them. Antiques and ultramod furniture were spaced throughout. Muted classical music played out of invisible speakers. More bookshelves lined the walls, but the tomes filling them were worn with age and use. Some were spread out on a nearby table, splayed open as if the reader had just stepped away. Unlike those in the library above, these books were not for show.

At the other end of the room, technology ruled. Off to one side was a fully equipped lab. A large flat-panel monitor
flanked by smaller models covered one wall. And sitting in front of the monitors was a man. He glanced up at one of the smaller monitors, looked down and scribbled something in a notebook lying on the table in front of him, and then turned his attention back to the monitor. He was mumbling to himself.

“Robert,” Rath called.

The man continued mumbling, checking the monitor again. “Coffee in the earth,” he said distinctly, then jotted something in his notebook.

I took a step back. Maybe the rumors of the Reincarnist’s madness were true.

“Robert!” Rath said, sharper this time.

That seemed to catch his attention. He turned, still looking not all there. Recognition crossed his face and he lost his distracted air. “Ben, old friend!” He got up and came over to embrace Rath in a friendly bear hug. “It is good to see you.”

Nervously I watched the man that was to be my mentor. I had seen pictures of him in newspapers, but he was so different in person. At least a foot taller than my 5’5”, he was powerfully built, with wide shoulders on a solid frame that was barely contained by the dark, expensive suit he wore. His black hair was laced with gray. He had a very commanding presence, as if you could sense his true age.

He turned his attention on me, and a warm quiver shot to the pit of my stomach. He wasn’t pretty-boy handsome, but there was something about him that caught my feminine attention. He had the softest, kindest brown eyes I had ever seen. He gave me a slight smile, very boyish, causing that tingle to intensify.

“And who is this?” His voice was deep and warm, the kind of voice you could imagine whispering sexy things to you in the dark.

God, I was done for.

“Robert, this is your new partner, Phenomenal Girl Five,” Rath said, since I was too busy staring to speak.

I got a hold of myself, offered a hand, willing it not to tremble. “It’s an honor to meet you, Reincarnist.”

His large hand swallowed mine up in a warm handshake that was all man, but not so much so that he was crushing my fingers. “Why is your alias Phenomenal Girl Five?”

His directness flustered me. Well, he flustered me altogether. “Th-there were four Phenomenal Girls before me. They’ve all either been killed or retired, and I had powers similar to theirs, so…”

He nodded, looking distracted again. “I do not use an alias. You may call me by my last name, Elliot, unless I say otherwise. Do you understand?”

Taken aback by the apparent cooling of his welcome, I stuttered, “S-sure.”

“Excellent. And what is your real name?”

“Lainey.”

“Lainey what?” He sounded as if he were losing patience with me already.

“Lainey Livingston.”

“Well, Miss Livingston, we shall get to work straightaway. Ben, I have a break in the Donner kidnapping.” He motioned for Rath to follow him to the monitors. I stood there, uncertain whether I was supposed to go with them or stay put. I felt very awkward.

“I analyzed the dirt scraped from the child’s shoe,” the Reincarnist was saying. “There is coffee present.” He leaned over the computer keyboard and typed a few things. A chemical equation appeared on one of the small screens, and a large map of the city on the large screen. “There used to be a coffee factory at this location.” A red dot appeared on the map. “The authorities will need to sweep that area.”

Rath nodded. “I’ll let them know, but you may be needed as well.”

The Reincarnist shrugged and went back to studying the monitor.

Rath turned his attention on me. “Well, I’ll leave you two
to it. Good luck, Miss Livingston. Robert will be informing me of your progress. I’ll be in touch. Robert, the Hands miss you at meetings.”

“They will continue to do so,” the Reincarnist replied absently, tapping at the keyboard and mumbling to himself. “No fingerprints shown, but a detection spell…”

Rath shook his head. “See if you can get him to emerge from his cave occasionally, Miss Livingston. Other than to patrol or walk crime scenes, I mean.” He clapped Elliot on the back, forcing his attention away from his computer. “How you keep up the playboy persona is a mystery to me.”

“I throw lavish parties, I say hello, and I leave. Mayhew or my current partner takes care of the guests.” He glanced over, his gaze as effective as any stasis beam as it ran up and down every inch of my body, appraising me. My throat went dry as other parts of me did the opposite. “She will do in that respect.”

“Keep me on the guest list.”

“Of course. It was good seeing you, Ben.”

“You too, Robert.” Rath nodded to me. “Let me know if you don’t receive all of your things.” And with that, he disappeared down the hall toward the stairs we’d come down not so long ago.

Leaving me alone with the Reincarnist, whom I was supposed to call Elliot. I was having lustful thoughts about someone I wasn’t even allowed to call by his first name.

The only sounds were the classical music, the clack of the keyboard, and the scribble of pen on paper. Feeling awkward, I looked around, wondering what I was supposed to be doing. I don’t think mentally drooling over my new boss was part of the job description.

He finally glanced up at me, startled, as if he had forgotten I was there. “Miss…Livingston. What exactly is it you do again?”

“E-excuse me?” Was he angry I was just standing there? I had no idea what my job as his partner would entail. At
least his noticeable irritation with me was cooling off my crush.

“Your talents. Your powers.” There was that annoyed look again.

“Oh!” My face flushed with embarrassment. “Flight. Super strength.”

He frowned. “We will have to make do.”

“What’s wrong with my powers?” I blurted, my own annoyance coming out.

He stared at me, as if amazed that I didn’t know. He held my gaze long enough to make me uncomfortable, then cleared his throat and said, “Well, nothing is wrong with them per se, but they are powers based on brawn, not brains. Training with me will be good for you. I will teach you to use your intellect, but I am afraid you will not be much help to me.”

Now it was my turn to stare at him. “Did you just call me stupid?” That pretty much doused the last of any lustful feelings I’d been having. Why did I have to go and be partnered up with a sexist pig?

“I do not mean to offend, Miss Livingston…”

“Because I graduated at the top of my class from the best law school in the country,” I interrupted, steamed. Here it was again, the same prejudice I got from every man I met. “Don’t let the blonde hair and the big boobs fool you. There is a brain in my head, one that I use on a regular basis, and not for figuring out what lingerie makes for the best costume.”

Now he was staring at me as if I was crazy. The crazy man doubted
my
sanity. Wonderful.

“I know about your academic accolades, Miss Livingston. I checked your background before you came here. I only meant that mental powers, such as telepathy, for example, might be better suited for a partner of mine. I did not mean to imply that you were stupid.”

“Oh.” Maybe he hadn’t, and I had just jumped to that conclusion.
“Well, the next time you fight Jihad, maybe you’ll think differently when I lay him out flat with one punch.”

A slight smile crossed his face at the mental image of a punched-out archnemesis. “Yes, well, the trick is to find him first. Which is what we will attempt to do, when we are not patrolling or doing investigative work for the Elite Hands of Justice and the police. Now, I have more work to accomplish, so I will have Mayhew show you to your room. Take some time to settle in, and I will see you at dinner. We dress for dinner at this house. I assume you have the proper attire?” He pressed a button on his desk.

My business suit was out of the question. “Well, I…”

“If not, tell Mayhew, and he will order something appropriate. We will be doing some entertaining from time to time.” He frowned. “It is a necessity, I am afraid, for a man of my stature. Dinner is seven o’clock sharp, in the dining room. Afterward, we will go on patrol.”

I nodded. “Alright. Seven it is. It’s a date.”

He looked alarmed, and then cleared his throat. “You may go.”

Gee, may I?
“Um, good luck on the coffee grounds and all that.”

Paging through his notes, he nodded, but it was obvious that he had forgotten about me already.

I turned to leave and almost bumped into the butler. Freaky. Where had he come from?

Unmoved by my surprise, Mayhew gestured toward the passage leading to the stairs. “This way, Miss.”

We passed through the hallway, and this time went up a large staircase. The upstairs of the mansion was just as ornate as the downstairs, and had many rooms. The butler stopped in front of a set of double doors. “The master’s suite,” he said, opening one so I could see in. The room was enormous, done in sumptuous reds and golds.

“Your room will be across the hall,” he added, closing the
door to Elliot’s suite. He moved across the corridor to the facing double doors and swung them wide. “It’s better for you to be close by, in case the two of you are called out in the middle of the night.”

I nodded as I stepped inside, my breath taken away. The room was the size of my entire apartment. A large buttery leather couch bisected the room and faced a large flat-panel television mounted over the fireplace. Bookshelves on either side were filled with CDs, DVDs, and books. A closer inspection proved that it was my own personal collection. Apparently, the supermovers had arrived before I did. The other side of the room was taken up by a king-sized bed covered with a spread done in deep greens and yellows, like the rest of the room. An enormous walk-in closet already housed all my clothes. Directly across from the closet was a large bathroom, complete with a Jacuzzi tub.

I had died and gone to heaven.

“I trust everything is to your liking, Miss Livingston?”

A bit embarrassed to see Mayhew still standing in the doorway to witness my gawking, I waved aside formality. “Lainey, please. Miss Livingston sounds like an old maid living with her hundred cats. And everything is fabulous, but you know that. Your decorator has a good eye.”