Scarlet Angel (28 page)

A bat squeaked as it flew by somewhere in the
darkness. Jules looked around. After a moment, she shook her head
and muttered to herself. “Stop it. You’re just being paranoid.” She
reinserted the battery into her commpad and pressed the power
button. Nothing.

“
Damn.” Jules stood and
stretched.

On the walk down to her apartment, she went over
what she’d just witnessed. After hacking into Dax’s data feed with
Scarlett, she watched as the two infiltrated the most secure
research facility in the country. Then Scarlett was discovered. A
couple minutes later, both the feed and Jules’ commpad went
dead.

She knew there were a couple possibilities why. One
option was a localized electromagnetic pulse, targeted directly at
her. Jules dismissed this option right away, since the building’s
electronics would have been fried as well.

Besides, if the people Scarlett was involved with
knew Jules was watching, they would have just killed her.
That’s
a comforting thought.

The second possibility was just as frightening. The
second possibility meant that Scarlett had been caught, maybe even
killed. The only way to find out for sure was to see Dax.

Her panic grew. Jules grabbed her back-up commpad
from her apartment and took an autobus to MakerMasters.

It took nearly a half hour to get to the shop. The
other autobus passengers kept eyeing her. She told herself it was
just because her legs would not stop bouncing.

Jules knew Scarlett had been spending a lot of time
at MakerMasters. She wasn’t sure what to expect, but the face of a
run-down warehouse building with a half-broken sign was not it.

A small cowbell clanged overhead when she opened the
door. Stepping inside, she wrinkled her nose at the smell of the
musty air, burned plastic and stale pizza. Her gaze followed the
long, narrow aisle of random parts and junk to the worktables at
the back. There, she saw several people working and talking. “Can I
help you?” The voice was equal parts annoyed and sleaze.

To Jules’ left was a glass display case with a
register on top. The case held random mechanical parts and tools.
Behind it sat a young man with greasy black hair in a
wheelchair.

“
I... uh... think I’m in the right
place.”

The man smiled. “I’ll say you are. I’m Mickey.” He
leaned forward and reached out his hand. “And don’t worry, the
chair is just temporary.”

“
Uh… Okay.” She shook Mickey’s
hand and pulled her own back as quickly as she could. Jules forced
herself not to wipe her hands on her pants. “I’m looking for
Dax.”

Mickey’s smile disappeared. “Are you shitting
me?”

“
Uh, no.”

“
What the hell, man?! That’s twice
now.”

Jules looked around then back to Mickey. “Twice now
what?”

“
Twice now that a hottie has come
in here looking for that stub.” Mickey looked down and shook his
head.

Her eyes widened. “You… You think I’m a hottie?”

“
Can’t a guy like
me
get
any random love?”

“
Wow. That’s… gross.”

“
Wait, that’s not what I…” His
head snapped up.

“
You’re talking about
Scarlett?”

“
Yeah, I’m talking about
Scarlett.” Mickey slammed himself back into his chair. He scowled
and rolled out from behind the counter. “Wait, you know
Scarlett?”

“
Yeah, she’s why I’m here. I
wanted to talk to Dax about her.”

His eyes narrowed. “How do you know her? You’re not
like, another badass chick who likes to kill people, are you?”

Jules scoffed. “Me? No. I… I just make coffee.”

“
Huh?”

“
Well, okay. I program a little. I
helped Scarlett find Dax. MakerMasters was the only real link to
him, so that’s why she came here.”

Mickey rolled back a foot and looked Jules up and
down. “Dax isn’t here.”

“
I know that. But I need to know
where he lives.”

“
Uh-uh.” He moved back behind the
counter. “No— I got no idea. We don’t keep records of personal
addresses and stuff.”

“
Mickey, right? Please. I’m
desperate.”

“
How’d you…? Nope. Told you I
don’t know.”

Jules felt a lump rise in her throat and her hope
slip away. “Please, Mickey. I think she’s in trouble.” Her voice
cracked.

He tilted his head and looked away. “Aw, c’mon. I...
You...” His face relaxed and he closed his eyes for a moment.
“Fine. Here.”

Mickey grabbed a scrap of paper from behind the
counter and scribbled an address. “But you better be careful. There
are always two feds watching his apartment from the street.”

“
Really?” Jules took the paper and
yanked open the door. “Thanks Mickey. You won’t regret
it.”

“
I hope not.”

Jules ran to the nearest stop and caught the bus
across town. Nearing her destination, she got off and walked the
last block. The neighborhood was nicer than she expected, nice
enough that she wasn’t absolutely terrified to be walking alone at
night.

As she rounded the corner to his street, she saw the
lone car across from Dax’s apartment. She glanced at the car from
her peripheral vision. If there was anyone inside, she couldn’t
tell. It was too dark.

Jules walked straight for Dax’s building and ignored
the car. Whether there was someone watching or not, she had to get
in to see Dax.

On the third floor she found Dax’s number. She
knocked but no one answered. A quick glance down the hallway to
make sure the coast was clear and she pulled out her commpad. Less
than a minute later, the door was open.

As the door swung wide, Jules was assaulted by the
smell of garbage and very old pizza. A single overhead light cast
the room in a yellowish hue. Scraps of old, dry pizza crust, fast
food containers, and beer and soda cans lay everywhere. She made a
mental note to stay off fast food for a while.

Jules waded through the trash and called out for
Dax. No one responded. She saw a couple rooms toward the back of
the apartment and made her way there. One of the doors was open.
She flipped on the light and immediately flipped it off again. If
she thought the living room was bad, the bathroom was far
worse.

She turned to open the last door and found it
unlocked. The door swung wide. Jules’ mouth opened wider. Behind
the simple wooden bedroom door was a steel vault door. She looked
around the apartment in disbelief.

Jules was at a loss for words; she didn’t know what
to think. With no other option, she reached her hand out and
knocked.

Chapter 43
Flight

Betrayal is a bitter pill. But betrayal by those
held most dear is the bitterest of all.

* * *

Distant voices echoed in the blackness. They were as
muffled and indistinct as her own thoughts. She had no
comprehension of when or where she was.

Finally, Scarlett was able to focus on one voice and
pull herself toward it. The words, and her own thoughts, became
clearer. But the clarity only brought her out of her dreams and
into a nightmare.

Her eyes fluttered open and vertigo twisted her
vision. Her perspective corrected itself once she realized she was
lying on her back. A small light overhead shot a blinding beam of
white light right into her face. The dull roar of high-altitude air
travel pounded in her ears.

Scarlett lifted her hands to find them bound by
securecuffs, a set of high-tech metal bands joined by a thick steel
rod. She cursed internally. From her briefing with Neil months ago,
she knew that a DNA signature was the only way to get them
open.

Scarlett pulled herself upright and groaned.

“
You’re awake.”

She turned to the voice and found Neil. “You son of
a bitch.”

Three more guards in Universal Dynamics uniforms sat
in the seats nearest Neil. He turned from them to look at Scarlett.
“It’s nice to see you too.”

“
Piss off.”

Two of the guards chuckled. Neil just sighed. He
leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Might as well relax,
It’ll be another hour before we arrive.”

Scarlett glowered. She pushed until her back was
against the fuselage wall. Her hands twisted against the cold metal
holding her wrists. With her eyes closed, she took in every sound
she could, the creak from the forward cabin door, the changing tone
of rushing wind and the cough of the flight attendant in at the
back of the craft.

She analyzed each of the three guards.
Blondie
likes to sneer, probably a mean sonofabitch. Mustache is quiet,
reserved. Buzzcut is pretty straight-laced. Maybe former
military.

The sound of wind outside the craft changed. It grew
louder and more erratic. Another wave of vertigo washed over her
accompanied by nausea as she felt her weight against the seat fade.
A strange sense of falling came over her. Her instincts told her to
grab on to something, anything. The seatbelt still holding her in
place did little to ease her anxiety.

She looked around and blinked a few times to get her
bearings.
We’re in space.

Scarlett cleared her throat. “Where are we
going?”

Neil didn’t move. “Derrick wants to see you.”

“
Oh yeah. I forgot you’ve switched
sides; that you’re working for the man you were supposed to be
fucking protecting me from.”

“
Actually, that job was protect
you or to train you to take care of yourself. Once you were
trained, the job was done.” He sat up and shifted in his
seat.

The corner of Scarlett’s mouth turned up in a wry
smile. “Oh, well. That’s comforting. At least now I know you didn’t
betray me until
after
I left.”

“
It’s not like that. And
technically speaking, my job has nothing to do with you or Mr.
Collier. My job is simply to protect and transport a data core. I
had no idea what was on it and didn’t care. I didn’t even know it
was the core you were after until we found the unconscious
guard.”

“
You...” She shook her head back
and forth. “You’re so full of shit.”

“
I told you. I’m only interested
in the job. I keep client confidentiality.”

The lead guard laughed. “Jesus. You two sound like
you’re married.”

Scarlett tried not to laugh herself at the absurdity
of the situation. “No, not married. We only lived together for
eight months and shared a bed.”

All three guards winced.

“
What did you expect, Scarlett?
That we’d get married? Have little babies?”

Scarlett screamed. “I didn’t expect you to blow up
your goddamn house to get away from me!” Her face burned.

“
Oh damn.” One of the guards
muttered.

The rest of the flight was silent until the captain
announced their arrival at the Universal Dynamics Orbital Research
Station.

* * *

Dax dozed. An hour earlier, a wave of panic had
overtaken him. In a fit, he’d eaten two boxes of granola bars and
drank a gallon of water. Now, in a semi-dream state he felt a
tingling in his groin. He wasn’t entirely sure what the feeling
meant. Whatever it was, it told him to let go. Just let it go.

About to give in to the feeling, a sound caught his
attention. Dax wasn’t sure if the sound, a faint
tank-tank-tank,
was a dream or real. He pulled himself into
the waking world and waited to see if it would repeat.

Tank-tank-tank.

Dax scrambled for the door. “Hello? Is someone
there? Hello?”

A woman’s muffled voice came from the other side.
“Dax? Is that you?”

“
Scarlett! Thank God!” He leaned
back against the door and yelled. Fresh tears streamed down his
face. “How did you get out? Did you kill Neil?”

“
It’s not Scarlett.”

What?

“
It’s Jules, a friend of
Scarlett’s.”

His eyes looked up and his head tilted to the side.
“A friend? Is she okay? Did she make it out?”

“
I was going to ask you
that.”

Shit.
His heart thudded in his chest. Dax
knew he was short on time. But if Scarlett was still alive, her
time was even shorter. “Okay, you have to get me out of here.”

“
How?”

How-how-how...
His mind raced for a moment.
His thoughts came to rest on only one solution. Scarlett might be
in trouble when she got back.
Think about getting her back
first.

“
Dax? How can I help?”

“
Okay, how big is the power
outage?” He grabbed a pen and paper to scribble notes. “Just the
apartment? The whole building?”

“
No, the power’s on out
here.”

His head snapped up. “It is?”

“
Yes, the lights in your...
apartment… are all on.”

Okayokayokay.
“There’s an interface panel on
the door to the safe room, do you see it?” Dax gasped. The shouting
and the thin air was getting to him.

“
Let me see. Um... Yeah, I see it
but it’s dead.”

“
Dead?” Dax’s brow wrinkled.
But, that would mean...
“Wait, how did you find
me?”

“
Mickey gave me your
address.”

“
Mickey.” He whispered to himself.
“Is he, um... okay?”

“
He’s fine Dax. Shouldn’t we focus
on getting you out?”

Memories of Janson flashed through his mind. He
couldn’t help the feeling that Jules might not be a ‘friend’ of
Scarlett’s.
God. If she did something to Mickey, I’ll kill
her.