Sanctuary (24 page)

“That’s not what I meant.” I backtracked quickly. Katie snickered and pinched my leg. “I mean, you shouldn’t spend that much time on the Outlaw.”

Samantha said, “I agree.”

Croc mused, “Two thousand dollars? Your oldies lend you that much credit for your projects?”

“My oldies?”

“Parents, mate.”

“Oh. No, the Outlaw left money a couple times. Always straight cash, bro. I think he’s loaded.”

“He’s rich, too?” Katie said. “Of course he is. He’s perfect in every way.”

Her hand was still on my leg.

When I returned home from practice, Dad’s car was in the driveway but he wasn’t in the kitchen and he wasn’t watching television. I went to his room but it was empty.

He was in my bedroom. Sitting on my bed. Head down. The room was dim in the fading evening. The Outlaw’s vest lay between Dad’s feet. The Outlaw’s black mask was in one of his fists, and the red bandana was in the other. His hands trembled.

All the air rushed out of my body.

He knew.

Dad knew.

He held my secrets in both hands.

I am the Outlaw.

I couldn’t breathe. I tried to speak but nothing happened. Dad, I said silently. My pulse was so loud it sounded like the walls were throbbing. Dad.

He wouldn’t arrest me. At least, I was pretty sure he wouldn’t. He was a detective charged with apprehending the Outlaw and other Hyper Humans, but I knew him; he couldn’t do it. And I wouldn’t let him, if he tried.

Oh gosh Dad please don’t try.

“It’s you,” he whispered. His voice wavered. “You’re him.”

“I’m him.” My throat was tight. My voice wavered too. “I’m sorry.”

He stood up. He was a giant man who looked tired and sad. Tears carved lines down his granite stubbly face. He grasped me by the neck with both hands, a long-range embrace, still holding the mask, and said, “You could have died.”

“I wanted to tell you.”

“Why didn’t you?”

I shrugged and failed to find the words.

“The whole world is looking for you, son. What did…why are you…how? How are you the Outlaw?”

“It’s a long story.” My voice was strangely loud in my own ears. I couldn’t meet his eyes.

“Tell me.”

“Dad…first…I need to know you won’t tell anyone. You know? This is a pretty big secret.”

“Hell, Chase, it’s more than that.”

“Dad, I’m serious. Only, like, five people know the whole truth.” My knees were weak and I was dizzy. Dad
knew
.

“Five others? That squad you’re with? The Fearsome Five or whatever crap name the media cooked up?”

“Yes. They’re the only ones who know the truth.”

“Samantha,” he said, and the muscles in his jaw worked. “She’s the girl in the pictures.”

“…yes.”

He sank back onto the bed and I shakily lowered into my desk chair. “Christ. You two are the monsters she suggested sending into Compton.” He rubbed his thick hand across his forehead, still visibly trembling.

I nodded.

“I knew,” he grunted. “I didn’t know what, but I knew she was lying. About something. Mitch too?”

“Mitch too.”

“Why are you like this? You are…you are different than the rest of us?”

“Yes. I’m different. So is Samantha and so is Mitch.” I was speaking in short phrases until my air came back. He was handling this better than I’d have guessed.

“Why? How?”

“We’re sick. A very rare disease. A virus that kills most of its victims in adolescence. We survived. Now the disease just sits inside our body, over-producing muscles and adrenaline, and making us…weird.”

He stared hard at me with red eyes while he processed that. “Have you been to a doctor?”

“No. It’s nothing medicine can help.”

“And the Chemist?”

“He’s sick too. Like us. We’re trying to stop him.”

“Wow,” he said and he screwed the heels of his hands into his eyes and took a deep breath. “My son is trying to stop the Chemist. This is a lot to…how long have you been like this?”

“I’m not sure. Around twelve months.”

“So it was you on the rooftop last November?” he asked sharply, remembering past Outlaw exploits.

“Yes.”

“Of course it was you.” He chuckled without humor. “The kidnapper had your Katie.”

He still does, I wanted to say.

“And you were in Compton earlier this year? With the bus explosion?”

“Yep.” I nodded. “That was me.”

“I bet that was an awful night. You saved Katie but couldn’t get to Hannah.”

“Very awful.”

“I’m sorry. That’s…that’s rough. I didn’t know.” He paused and studied the vest at his feet. “Where do you get this stuff? Like the mask and the vest.”

“Lee makes them. He hasn’t realized I’m the Outlaw.”

“I’m not surprised. You fooled me too. I can’t believe that was you in Compton!” He shouted the words, like trying to force their meaning into his ears. “I thought you were at Cory’s house that night. What about the hospital shootout over the summer? That was you? And Samantha?”

“That was us. We barely got home before you woke up.”

“You shouldn’t take her to gunfights, Chase. Doesn’t sound very chivalrous to me.”

I barked a laugh. That’s hilarious. “Dad, she’s a lot older than me. I’m not her boss. And she’s one of the most lethal people alive.”

“How old is she?”

“Thirty, I think.”

“How old is Mitch?”

“Not sure. Maybe…forty-five?”

“My age?” He sat up straighter. “He looks closer to twenty-five.”

“The disease slows our aging. The Chemist is over two hundred years old.”

“Two hundred?!” he roared. He stood up in a rush. “Two hundred? You’re kidding.”

“I’m not. Fortunately he’s about to die of natural causes. But there are more maniacs waiting to take his place.”

“I’m a detective, Chase. My job is to apprehend him. Hell, my job is to apprehend
you
. What am I supposed to do now?”

“I suggest focusing more on him.”

“Ha ha, kid.”

“Actually, no. Don’t focus on him. Don’t go anywhere near him. He’s a madman. He came very close to feeding me to his tigers. I got bit before escaping.”

“You
what
?!” His face turned white and he grabbed my dresser for support.

“Long story. But I’m fine. Mitch ran the tiger over with his truck.”

“Okay…we will…I need to lie down.” And he did. He dropped heavily onto my bed (it squeaked and protested and nearly broke) and covered his eyes with a beefy forearm. “This…this is a lot for a father to hear. We will continue this discussion in a few minutes. I might be sick.”

“I’ll get you some water.”

He grunted approval.

I hustled downstairs to the kitchen. As I was filling a glass from the refrigerator filter, my phone buzzed. It was Puck. Odd. He usually texted.

“Hey Puck.”

“Sup man. That was brutal. Sucks your dad found out that way,” he said.

“Yeah, no kidding.”

“You probably shouldn’t have mentioned the tiger, dummy.”

“I agree. In retrospect, it was…hang on, how do you know?”

“I listened on the microphones Carter planted in your room, dummy.”

I didn’t say anything, just glared vacantly as the cold water overflowed the glass. I had NO privacy!

“…sorry. I
might
be addicted to eavesdropping,” he admitted.

“You think??”

“In my defense, all hackers are. We crave access. And your life is extremely entertaining.”

“What do you want, Puck?”

“Well, in a magnificent twist of irony, I’ve been eavesdropping on a few other people and decided to alert you.”

“No. I don’t like this. It’s creepy.”

“It’s about Tank and Katie.”

“……go on.”

“Hah! You see? It’s addictive! PuckDaddy isn’t creepy.”

“Puck! Just tell me. What is it?” I set down the glass, Dad momentarily forgotten.

“Well…okay. Here’s the deal. So, Tank and Katie have a date tonight-”

“On a Thursday?! I HATE that guy.”

“Don’t interrupt PuckDaddy. Tank told her it’ll be really romantic, right?”

My legs went a little numb so I sat down on one of the wooden chairs at our kitchen table. His words became harder to understand.

“…okay.”

“I monitor Tank’s text messages, just so you know. Anyway. The date is at his condo downtown, and he sent his parents out for the evening.”

“Okay,” I said again. Breathing hurt. I was losing sensation in my fingertips. Tank was bringing Katie back to his empty condo tonight…

“That means they’ll be at his place alone, dummy.”

“I realize that, Puck.”

“So Katie has been texting one of her friends. I monitor her texts too, by the way. Wow, PuckDaddy is really nosey. I digress. Katie has picked up on Tank’s hints that tonight will be…special, if you know what I mean.”

“I
do
know what you mean. What’d she say?”

“I mean, one of those special nights that couples have. Special and romantic. Right?”

“YES Puck. I get it. What did Katie tell her friend?” I was close to hyperventilating. Too much oxygen. My head felt light.

“Katie is conflicted. She’s excited about the date, but she doesn’t want to have sex until she’s married. She’s worried Tank will try, and she doesn’t know what will happen.”

I made a noise that sounded like a whimper.

“She says Tank is intoxicating and sometimes it’s hard to think straight.”

I didn’t respond.

“And she doesn’t want you to find out.”

I slid off the chair and landed on the floor. The linoleum needed to be swept. I rested my forehead on the sink cabinet and closed my eyes.

“Chase? You there, homie?”

“Yes. I’m here.”

“You okay? It’s hard to hear you.”

“I kinda wish you hadn’t told me this. I want to die.”

“Don’t say that. That’s not funny.”

“I love her, Puck.”

“I know! That’s why I’m telling you!”

“What can I do? I told her how I felt. You can’t make people love you back.” I blinked away hot tears. “I wish I could. But he likes her and…she likes him.”

“You’re talking like a loser. You’re not a loser! You’re the freaking Outlaw!”

“So?”

“What do you mean
So
?? What are you doing?”

“Sitting on my kitchen floor.”

“Get up!”

“No.”

“Get up! Get up Outlaw! I’m so pissed at you, you big idiot!”

“Get up and do what?” I asked, but I obeyed. I stood up.

“Fight! That enormous homicidal maniac declared WAR on the Outlaw, and Katie is the battlefield. Go fight!”

I was quiet. I took deep breaths and tried to remember where I was, and who I was.

I was shamelessly in love with Katie, and I didn’t care who knew. But there was a fine line between being in love and being a stalker. I couldn’t prevent her from living her life. I was the Outlaw, not a nuisance.

However, this would be different if she’d chosen another guy. Another
good
guy. Then I’d just accept that I’d lost, another guy had won, and I’d try not to meddle. But she’d chosen Tank, a maniac with anger issues. And she didn’t know the truth about him.

And no matter which guy she ended up with, I cared about her. And no matter which guy she ended up with…it couldn’t be Tank.

“Chase? Hello??”

“Puck.”

“What?”

“You’re wrong.”

“What about?”

“About two things. He didn’t declare war on the Outlaw. He declared war on me. This is Chase Jackson’s fight.”

“And the other thing?”

“Katie is not the battlefield. Katie is the prize.” My distorted reflection glared back at me from the stainless steel refrigerator. My laser vision would have burned a hole through our house if I was Superman. I was mad.

“What are you going to do?”

“Fight.”

“Yeah baby!!”

I checked my watch. Quarter till seven. “What time is the date?”

“He picked her up fifteen minutes ago.”

I called Katie from the motorcycle. It rang a few times and went to voicemail. I accelerated to 95mph, passing cars in the emergency pull-off lane. Los Angeles would be elysian if not for the traffic.

“What are you going to do?” Puck asked me again through the bluetooth headset in my ear.

“Ring the doorbell and punch him in the nose.”

“Negative. Abort. Not a good idea, dummy. Carter says he’s twice as strong as anyone else. Even you.”

“I’m going to do it anyway.”

My motorcycle slid to a stop across from Tank’s building, leaving a trail of rubber on the street. I parked directly beside the ATM where Natalie North had been mugged over a year ago. I checked my watch. Quarter after seven. I dropped my helmet onto the handle and jogged across the busy street.

“PuckDaddy suggests an alternative strategy.”

“Suggest all you want,” I said. I pushed into the quiet lobby. The floor was marble and the ceilings were high and the walls were whitewashed. The doorman was busy sorting packages with two different tenants. Tank and I had destroyed part of a house during our last wrestling match; it’d be a shame to damage this place. Plus, it would make Natalie North sad. “Make it quick.”

“Pull the fire alarm.”

Hm. That wasn’t a bad idea. It would save me a fistfight, and interrupt the romance. But…

“Won’t their date resume after it’s verified as a false alarm?”

“Maybe? I don’t know.”

“Can you work your computer magic to trigger the alarm?” I was spinning in a circle, looking for the red fire alarm box.

“Negative. It’s an old building with a closed system. I can make the fire station
think
the alarm was triggered, but that wouldn’t alert people within the building. The date would continue.”

“Okay. I see the box. I could go to jail for this, right?”

“Technically. But PuckDaddy is your guardian angel. I’m watching you on the monitors right now, and deleting all the data. When they check the digital tape for a culprit, they’ll find nothing.”

“I think I’m just going to knock his teeth in. That would feel better. Plus, it might impress Katie.”

“No! Chase. He’ll murder you. My plan is better. Trust PuckDaddy.”

“I dunno.” Several other people entered the lobby, and the noise ricocheted around the cavernous room.