Villainous (13 page)

A car door slammed, and feet stomped over the pavement. If I didn’t move in the next three seconds, it was over. My lungs finally accepted air again, and I used my arms to push myself up. But I was slow, dizzy, and everything hurt. I twisted my head in the direction of the footsteps, and there she was, gun in hand.

A gunshot went off—but Mary hadn’t aimed at me yet. I saw her flinch and look past me down the road. A car was barreling toward us, and oh, Eddy, you were my favorite person in the world right now. He had his right hand on the steering wheel and his left around a pistol he was firing out the side window. Granted, he wasn’t doing either action particularly well. The car was swerving between lanes, and none of the shots hit Mary. But my sister was standing out in the open, and Eddy didn’t need to hit her with a bullet; he just needed to hit her with the car.

Mary must have realized that, too, because she beat it. She ran back to her own car and managed to take off just in time to avoid Eddy’s attempt to ram her. I climbed shakily out of the ditch, and Eddy U-turned, ignoring all traffic laws as he pulled up in front of me. Mary’s car grew smaller and smaller in the distance until it disappeared from sight.

“Christ, kiddo.” Eddy jumped out of the car and ran up to me. “You okay?”

“Been better.” I leaned on him because I was happy to see him, not because I could barely stand. “You should answer Irma’s calls. Everybody at home is worried sick.”

Eddy supported me as we walked to the car, and I looked around. Why had Mary slowed down earlier? She had definitely decelerated the car before I’d jumped out of the trunk, but there were no stop signs or traffic lights out here. There was nothing out here at all…except something small on the road ahead. I squinted at it then chuckled as Eddy helped me into the back seat.

“Could you move that turtle out of the road before another car hits it?” I asked him. “I’m pretty sure I owe it my life.”

Chapter 12

I hated hospitals. I really did. But the MRI wasn’t scheduled until tomorrow, and the doctors wanted to keep me overnight for observation. Considering it was close to two a.m. when they finally finished with me, overnight wasn’t as long as it could have been. And it could have been worse. I didn’t show any signs of internal bleeding, and whatever the psyc had done to me, it muffled the usual roar of a hospital’s emotions to a low static. See? Look how optimistic I was being. I wasn’t sulking at all.

“You underestimated her,” Irma said. We were alone in my room for the moment. Dave had wheeled out into the hallway to dutifully update Agent Lagarde on what had happened, and Eddy had left on a mission with Elisa to find me something other than hospital food to eat. (Actually, Eddy was avoiding Irma after she’d torn into him for leaving his phone on silent earlier. And he was taking Elisa because the hour she’d spent in the hospital was already overwhelming her telepathy. But if anyone asked, no, those weren’t the real reasons.)

“Did I?” I asked sleepily.

Irma folded her hands in her lap, looking deceptively calm. “Mary went through the same training you, Sonia, and Bianca did, except you had each other for support. She did it alone.”

“I know. I just thought… I hoped we could make a deal.”

“You can’t afford to be soft on her. You know she won’t show you the same courtesy.”

Which translated to, “You’re going to have to kill her. Accept that before she kills you first.”

I would have sunk back in frustration, but the two thick pillows stacked beneath my head were so hard, it would take super-strength to sink into them. “Where’s my phone?”

Irma pulled it out of my purse and handed it to me. “What are you going to do?”

“Give Jean-Baptiste the address of the warehouse where Mary’s storing psyc. I have a plan.”

Irma gave me a look as though I’d just started speaking in Chinese.

“You’re right,” I explained. “Mary isn’t going to go easy on me. She thinks she has to kill me to prove herself to Dad. I have to strike back, but why do it myself when Jean-Baptiste will—”

“You already sent that email.”

I looked up from the phone screen. “What?”

Irma knitted her brows and gazed at me like she was trying to see past my skull and into my brain.“You emailed the Prophet King half an hour ago.”

I didn’t remember doing that. My stomach tried briefly to turn itself inside out, and I opened my sent folder. Irma was right; the email was right there at the top. The first line was, “I hope this makes up for earlier…”

“I’m going to have a word with your doctor,” Irma said softly.

My hand dropped to the mattress, still clutching my phone. Short-term memory loss. That was…shit. I remembered seeing myself having some sort of seizure through Mary’s eyes after she’d injected me, but I hadn’t thought… I mean, I felt fine. Well, not fine. I felt like I’d been beaten up and thrown into a car trunk, but that was nothing new. I’d survived worse. But this…

My mind was my greatest weapon. How was I supposed to beat Mary if I couldn’t depend on it?

Dave came through the door, and one look at his face was enough to see that Irma had told him what had happened. I looked away and steeled myself. Alone, I could be strong, but with him… He was too comforting. It would be easy to break down, secure in the certainty that he would be there for me.

Dave came up to my bedside, and I tried to stop myself from tensing, because it did nothing other than inflame my sore muscles. But he didn’t say anything. He just took my hand.

It was infinitely better than being alone.

• • •

The next thing I knew, Irma was waking me up. When had I fallen asleep? Judging by the sunlight on the other side of the window’s blinds, I’d been out all night. It didn’t feel nearly long enough. I started to sit up and immediately regretted moving. But the good news was, when I went to read Irma’s mind to find out why she’d snatched me from sweet, blissful unconsciousness, I had no pain. So at least I could use my telepathy again, even if my memory was on the fritz. Apparently, I had morning visitors: Agent Lagarde and Julio. They were waiting in the hallway to see me.

I groaned. “Toothbrush first. Interrogation second.”

As I stood over the sink, I had Irma summarize everything that had happened last night to make sure I hadn’t forgotten any of it. She told me nothing I didn’t already know, which was a relief, but it felt hollow. Maybe my memory loss was only a temporary after-effect, but it was too soon to know for sure, and worst of all, I’d never be able to know on my own. I’d need someone else to catch it like Irma had last night.

I eased back into bed, and Irma opened the door for Agent Lagarde and Julio, allowing them entrance like petitioners seeking an audience from the queen. Julio brought flowers; Agent Lagarde brought her usual frown. Dave came in after them, found my gaze, and gave me a smile that made waking up this morning instantly worthwhile.

“Julio, you’re the sweetest,” I said. “Irma, could you find a place for those?”

Irma took the flowers, and Julio looked at me as if I was a grandmother someone had pushed down a flight of stairs. “How are you doing?” he asked.

“I’ll be fine. It’s just a few bruises. I’ve had worse.”

Did Agent Lagarde’s frown mean she’d seen through the lie, or was I projecting? Curse her incredibly controlled facial muscles.

“How come you didn’t bring me flowers, Agent Lagarde?” I asked. “I don’t even see a get-well-soon card.”

“The flowers are from both of us,” she said in a perfect deadpan.

“Is that true, Julio?”

He glanced at Agent Lagarde. “Yyyess. Yes, it is.”

“Then thank you, Agent Lagarde. That was very sweet. Unless you’re just going to expense the cost later, in which case—”

“Funny how you nearly got killed after I explicitly told you to sit tight until I got approval for you to keep investigating,” she said.

I felt compelled to make exaggerated eyebrow motions to make up for her complete lack of expression. “It is quite funny. And who said I was investigating? Maybe I was just paying my sister a friendly visit.”

Dave gave me an exasperated look. Julio watched Agent Lagarde for her reaction, but she just looked at me steadily.

“Is this the part where you yell at me for being a loose cannon who refuses to play by the rules?” I asked. Because if it was, I was going to order breakfast.

“You’re a supervillain. I don’t expect you to play by the rules. But when you break them, I expect you to get results. It looks like the only thing you got was your ass handed to you.”

Touché
, Agent Lagarde. The delivery wasn’t quite on Lee’s level, but it was close.

“Actually, I got the information you need to bust She-Devil. She-Devil’s the one behind it, by the way, in case you haven’t figured out which of my sisters it is yet. There’s only one problem.”

“Which is?”

“The DSA is having second-thoughts about working with me. I’m not sure if they even want my information.”

Agent Lagarde was rolling her eyes at me behind her glasses. No doubt about it. “We want it,” she said.

“And you’ll drop the charges against Dave for it?”

“We will.”

A meaningless verbal agreement, but I still had the signed written one in my lawyer’s safekeeping. Plus, Irma was recording this whole conversation. It wouldn’t be admissible in court, but it could sway the jury if it were leaked to the press.

Irma handed me a pad and pen in response to my telepathic request. I started writing down an address. “I don’t think the psyc is coming from out of the country. It’s being shipped via truck, not boat. The drop-off point is here.” I tore off the paper and handed it to Agent Lagarde. “She-Devil always goes personally, so you won’t be arresting low-level minions or small-time punks this time. You’ll nab a supervillain, if you don’t screw it up.”

“We’ll handle it. Assuming this intel is good.”

“It’s good.” Or at least I hoped it was. I’d learned it when I’d read Mary’s mind during my out-of-body experience, but my thoughts and memories weren’t exactly trustworthy at the moment. “And if I were you, I’d put the place under surveillance ASAP,” I added. “I have a feeling Mary’s going to need more inventory soon.”

“A feeling,” she repeated flatly.

I grinned. “Maybe I’ve got a bit of precognition along with the telepathy.”

Yeah, I could see the future, all right. Jean-Baptiste wanted payback against the crew selling psyc in his territory, and I’d emailed him the address of their entire stock of the drug. He wasn’t going to sit on the information. He’d steal or destroy Mary’s entire inventory of psyc, if he hadn’t done so already. She would need to get more fast to keep her profit flowing in, so she’d call her supplier and arrange another shipment, which would send her straight to the drop-off point the DSA would be staking out. Game, set, and match. Victory: The Black Valentine.

Agent Lagarde looked at me carefully. “I need to make a call.”

“There’s a waiting room down the hall and to the left,” Dave said helpfully.

“I’ll do that—use that. I’ll go to that room and be right back.” Agent Lagarde’s voice was ever so slightly higher-pitched than usual, and she stood still for just a little too long. “Thank you.” She walked briskly from the room, not having looked directly at Dave once.

“Oh my God,” I said. “She’s a White Knight fan. Dave, offer to autograph something for her when she comes back. You have to. I want to see the look on her face.”

“Don’t be mean,” he warned.

“I’m not mean. I just want to see if she’s physically capable of smiling. I’m worried she might have some kind of medical condition.”

Julio’s mouth twisted. “You got her into a lot of trouble, you know.”

I blinked. “Did I?”

“You’re her responsibility, but you went off without informing us, and—” He gestured at the hospital room. “—this happened. The chief put the acting director on speaker phone so both of them could chew her out at once.”

“I know that’s supposed to make me feel bad, but it’s having the opposite effect.”

Julio bit back his reply. His thoughts were impressively rude, though. Good for him.

“She’s just doing her job, Val,” Dave said.

Now I had to bite back my own rude reply. He was siding with the DSA now of all times? “And I was doing mine. My job is to keep you out of jail by getting them their evidence, but they weren’t letting me do that.”

“I know.” He rubbed my upper arm comfortingly. “But you should take that anger out on Walter and the upper brass, not Agent Lagarde.”

“I’ll take it out on anyone I please, up to and including you.”

“I cower from your wrath, dear.”

“Bring me breakfast as tribute, and I’ll consider sparing you.”

He smirked and maneuvered to the other side of the room, where a plastic grocery bag waited. Julio watched him, his brows tight.
This is the first time he’s seen us together
,
I realized. Julio had worked with Dave for years, and he’d spent a day getting to know me, but he’d never seen us interact as a married couple.

Agent Lagarde walked back in, looked at Julio, and said. “We need to go.” Then she turned to me. “You’ve done your part. Now sit tight. For real this time.”

“She’s not going anywhere until the doctor gives the okay,” Dave said. “You have my word on that.”

“Right.” She still avoided looking at him. “Thanks.”

She left, and Julio hesitated before following.

“Watch your back out there,” Dave told him.

Julio nodded, his face lighting up adorably.

Dave’s gaze lingered on the empty doorway for a moment after he’d gone. Then he returned to my bedside and handed me a granola bar.

“I didn’t say anything off, did I?” I asked once I was sure Julio and Agent Lagarde were gone.

“No,” Dave assured me. “You were fine. The doctor… She said memory lapses aren’t uncommon right after a seizure—if a seizure is even what you had. But there’s a good chance it won’t happen again. We’ll know more after the scan.”

I tugged halfheartedly at the wrapper’s edge to open it. His words were hopeful and comforting, but just speculation. We didn’t know anything yet.