Portal Combat (17 page)

"I don't know what I'm gonna do." She worked her tongue around her mouth. "Maybe I'll keep an eye on Erica."

Dhiraj put his hand on her lower back. "Didn't you do that for most of high school?"

Jennifer felt the exhaustion come over her once again. "It's different now." She came off whinier than she wanted to. "She's trying to save the world. So is Ted. It's hard to think about college when giant lizards and dogs are going around killing people. And we're just sitting here, helpless."

Silence filled the table, allowing the other noises of the lunchroom to trickle in. When Dhiraj leaned toward her, Jennifer turned away. They remained speechless.

Travis cleared his throat. "See? None of us really know what's gonna happen. Personally, I see me and my entourage going to my girl's away games." 

Natalie raised her eyebrows. "You think we're gonna last till the end of the month? Let alone next year? I'm dating a crazy person."

Travis made a kiss face and Natalie stuffed a handful of fries into his mouth.

When lunch ended, Jennifer dumped out her trash and left the cafeteria as quickly as she could. The smell of fried foods gave way to the familiar scent of floor polish. Dhiraj caught up with her and matched her stride.

"You really don't have any plans for next year yet?"

Jennifer shook her head. "No. I really don't."

Dhiraj bit his bottom lip. "Well, I was going to save this for a better time, but…."

Jennifer stopped as Dhiraj fished something out of his backpack. He took out a folder filled with several sheets of paper. Jennifer took the documents and leafed through them.

She squinted. "College applications?"

He smiled. "Read the school names."

Jennifer looked them over. "Boston University. Boston College. Northeastern–"

"They're all in Boston." Dhiraj put his arm around Jennifer's waist. "I know I'm going to Harvard. I want you to be right around the corner."

Jennifer wasn't sure how to react. She didn't even know what schools she would apply to. If any.

"Dhiraj, I said I didn't know–"

"I need you." He had a pained look on his face. "I know it's 10 months away, but I want us to be together for the long haul."

Jennifer felt warmth course through her. It was her first positive sensation in over a week.

Maybe that's a sign.

"Okay."

Dhiraj did a double take. "Okay? Just like that?"

The warm feeling doubled. She smiled. "Just like that."

Dhiraj wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in tight. "You don't know how happy that makes me."

Jennifer hugged him back. "I'm glad."

For the first time in recent memory, Jennifer felt like she was needed. Like she could actually help someone. She'd do anything to stop the self-loathing and the nightmares. Maybe even move to Boston.

Chapter 28

Erica and Yoshi walked around the south end of the collapsed hospital building early in the morning. The air smelled like smoke, even though nothing nearby appeared to be burning. Sheriff Norris had worked his connections to give them free reign to examine any potential evidence. Dropping Ted Finley's name didn't hurt, either. The rest of the city was still in deep recovery after the hurricane, but Erica felt a sense of pride that Ted was able to save so many lives. Since most excavation equipment was being used on other parts of the city, the collapsed hospital building had remained largely untouched. Erica walked on top of the rubble and thought back to Adam, the living soul she'd had to kill by bringing down a building on top of him.

"What're we gonna find here, Yoshi?" Erica kicked a piece of cement in his direction.

The samurai caught it with ease and placed it back in the pile. "Proof." He looked left and then right. "Proof of something."

Erica scanned the top of the pile several more times. If something had brought the entire building down, it was likely buried far beneath the top of the pile. Even using her enhanced strength, there wasn't a safe way to reach the base of the foundation. Erica wondered if anyone would've even been able to hear any kind of detonation over the winds of the hurricane.

After another 10 minutes of searching, Erica and Yoshi left the site for a makeshift temporary hospital a few blocks away. As they entered, the head nurse came right up to them. She had a vibe that could best be described as stern and sweet.

"If it isn't Super Ted's girlfriend. I recognize you from the tabloids."

Yoshi smirked at Erica, but she ignored it to focus on the nurse.

"Are you Nancy?"

"I am. Your man floated me through a hurricane and saved me and my patients. I don't know what we could do to ever pay him back."

Erica smiled. "He told me you were brave. Let me ask you a few questions about that night and we can call it even."

The building looked like it was set to be retail space before the hospital took it over. The owners had protected the property well and were happy to donate the space for the next couple of months.

"They say it's about trying to help their fellow man." Nancy gestured to a few plastic-folding chairs. "I think it's so they can get their pictures in the paper, but we'll take it either way. What do you two need to know?"

Erica took out a notepad and a pencil. Dhiraj had offered her a space-age tablet for note taking, but there were some things Erica still preferred to do the old school way.

"We have a theory about what brought the hospital down. Was there anything strange in the days leading up to the hurricane?"

The nurse laughed. "What wasn't strange? Senator Kable's people were in and out all week for his visit. Volunteers were coming in to try to waterproof the building. If you told me it wasn't an episode of one of those hospital TV shows, I woulda had a hard time believing you. Pure drama."

Erica looked at Yoshi.

He cleared his throat. "Was anyone keeping track of all the people who came in and out?"

The nurse laughed. "You talk?"

Yoshi's face revealed a sly smile. "Only when necessary."

She cackled, her laughter reverberating throughout the small space. "There's only one man who even had a chance of controlling that mess. Charlie Potts. He runs the hospital with an iron fist. Well, ran."

Erica wrote down the man's name. "What do you mean ran?"

The nurse sighed. "Day before the Hurricane, Charlie cashed in all his sick days from the last 20 years."

Erica tapped her fingers against the chair. "Maybe he thought it'd be easier if he came back after the storm."

"Charlie Potts doesn't do easy. Not sure what came over him. I swore I saw him the day of the storm, walking around like the life had been taken clean out of him."

Yoshi nodded. "Can you tell us where to find him?"

The nurse's face grew stern. "Usually, no." She brightened back up. "But for Team Ted, I'm willing to bend the rules."

Charlie Potts lived alone in a part of town that hadn't been as impacted by the storm. They didn't have any trouble getting over by car. The house didn't look very big, but Nancy had said the man hardly spent any time away from the hospital. No need for home improvement if you're living at work.

Erica knocked on the door. She heard something metallic fall to the ground. After that, there was nothing but silence. Erica tried knocking again. "Mr. Potts? We're friends of Ted Finley's."

Yoshi smiled. "You think he'll recognize you from the tabloids, too?"

Erica was about to smirk back when they heard a glass fall to the ground and break. She put her shoulder to the door and easily broke the deadbolt. The first thing she saw was a series of broken objects scattered along the hardwood foyer and hallway. It looked more like a break-in than the house of someone taking a staycation. Someone zipped in front of her too quickly to be identified.

"Looters?" Erica saw that Yoshi had already crouched down into a fighting stance.

Yoshi's knuckles cracked as his hands became fists. "One way to find out."

They followed the last direction the figure went, taking care to avoid stepping on broken glass. She heard heavy breathing from the corner of the room and pulled the cord for a nearby lamp. The light shined on the face of Charlie Potts. He shivered against the wall like a trapped animal. His clothes and hair were disheveled. The man's eyes darted in every direction.

He seemed to look directly through Erica and Yoshi. "I'm not me. I couldn't be me."

When Yoshi took a step forward, Potts ran through the kitchen and into another room down the hall. A trail of blood followed behind him. Erica assumed it was from stepping on the broken glass with bare feet. Yoshi kicked some of the shards out of his path. "The nurse said he was put-together."

Erica walked into the hallway. "Emphasis on the was."

She knocked on the door to the room Potts had entered. "Mr. Potts? We just came from the hospital. Nancy was asking about you."

Potts came running right toward her. There was nothing on his face that suggested sanity. Instinct caused her to punch the man directly in the head, and he fell right down onto his back. His chest moved up and down, but otherwise the man was motionless.

Yoshi peered over her shoulder. "Questioning people is harder when they're unconscious."

Erica grunted at her partner. "There'll be two people unconscious if you don't shut up. Let's get him onto the bed.

Potts woke up a few minutes later. Erica and Yoshi had tied his hands and legs to keep him from running. The man's body shook as if there was an unlimited supply of energy just bursting to get out. His eyes continued to look around frantically.

"I'm not me. I'd never do what he said."

Erica sat down on the bed beside him. "What who said, Charlie?"

The man shouted in response. "Don't you know what it's like to not be you?"

She put her hand on his arm. "I actually know that feeling pretty well."

The human contact and the tone of Erica's voice seemed to calm the man down, but several other attempts at questions resulted in similarly cryptic remarks.

"We're getting nowhere." Yoshi tapped at the side of his head. "You know what you have to do."

Erica sighed. She avoided going inside the minds of crazy people whenever possible. She wouldn't describe it as a pleasant experience.

"Fine. But you're treating me to a cheeseburger afterwards. Damn teenage body is hungry every 20 minutes."

Yoshi agreed.

Erica shot a blue bolt of energy between her hands and moved toward Potts' head. "Don't worry, Mr. Potts. It'll all be over soon."

Potts screamed and Erica entered his mind.

All of a sudden, Erica was inside the hospital before the storm. Everything was white and pristine. She saw Charlie Potts walk around the corner at a breathtaking pace. Erica met his stride.

"Mr. Potts."

"Miss, you'll have to report to reception. I've got a meeting I'm only five minutes early for."

Erica laughed to herself. "I'll just tag along if that's alright."

"It's not."

Erica slowed her gait to stay a step or two behind the man. He entered a conference room, but before he could shut the door behind him, Erica wedged it open with her foot. The brightness of the hospital gave way to complete darkness. Erica could still see Potts' back, and he was speaking with someone, but it was unclear who it was.

Potts shouted at the individual. "You need to get out of this hospital!"

Before Erica could hear what the other person had to say, Potts collapsed to the ground and the scene before her changed.

Now they were deep in the hospital basement. Potts was muttering to himself, but nowhere near as much as he had been in his own house. He carried a large backpack. 

"Destroy the hospital. I would never do that. Who am I?"

This time, Potts didn't complain that she walked by his side. "Who is making you destroy the hospital, Mr. Potts?"

"Kable's men think I'm a terrorist. I would never do this."

Senator Kable.

When Potts reached the corner of the room, he took out a long knife and started hacking at the walls. He tore a small hole and placed a metallic device with a digital display inside.

"Why did Kable's men put you up to this?" Erica felt the memory start to close in on itself. "Mr. Potts?"

"I'm not me. And you're not supposed to be here."

Potts stabbed at Erica with the knife, which she barely avoided before they both woke up.

Erica's head stung. Yoshi was holding her by the waist.

She rubbed her forehead. "Did I fall down?"

"Almost." He steadied her. "What did you see?"

"Potts bombed the foundation. Seems like someone with Kable programmed him to do it." Erica looked back at Potts, who was now practically catatonic. "We're never gonna find that bomb or any security footage."

Yoshi nodded. "What should we do?"

Erica looked at Potts. Kable ruined the man's life and tried to kill Ted in the process.

"I'm gonna call Ted."

Erica looked at her phone. She'd had trouble getting reception ever since they'd gotten to the hurricane-affected area. She gave Yoshi a nod and walked outside. Erica finally got reception in the middle of Potts' lawn, at which time she received half a dozen voicemails.

"What the heck?"

Erica bypassed the messages and called Ted.

After three rings, a woman's voice answered. "Erica. We've been trying to reach you."

Before she could reply, Erica heard a scream from inside the house. She couldn't make out the words, but it sounded like, "I know you! It's you!"

It was Potts. He repeated the words multiple times over before she heard the sounds of a scuffle. Erica hung up the phone and ran to the front door. When she burst in, Yoshi was standing next to Potts. The man she'd just questioned was dead in a pool of blood. The crimson substance slipped between the cracks in the hardwood floor.

Yoshi breathed heavily. "I tried to stop him."

Erica looked down at the knife in Potts' hand and the blood pouring out of his neck.