The Hazing Tower (20 page)

“I know.” He pulled her close and softly touched her hair. “Let’s try not to think about it for a couple of hours.”

Nikki looked over to Alex, his eyes were closed. Rebecca had been right all along. Nikki had to be the one to end this, her alone. Even if they could kill this monster, she was still a danger alive; her very existence put everyone else at risk.

She had to die, and this time she wanted more than anything to live. At least she had a taste of real life, of love, of joy, more than most people, she figured. A part of her wanted to tell Alex everything. She knew he would try to stop her. He would do anything to protect her. It was up to her to put other people above her life. She always had before. She was born for this, saving people; it was who she was. Maybe fate did exist.

She stared out at the stars and thought back to camping trips with her father. Maybe she would see him soon. She felt it getting closer again; this time it seemed closer than ever.

• • •

She was mesmerized by the scenery as the van slowed to a stop. They had pulled into an underground garage.

“We’re here.” Alex had that look again.

The flat was huge.
It must be four stories,
Nikki thought to herself. They set up Josh and Jinny in a bedroom and tried to make them as comfortable as possible. They were both still out cold.

Nikki was staring out the window at the street below. She felt Alex’s arm on her shoulder.

“I want to give them another transfusion.”

“You will pass out, Nikki. At least let me feed you.”

She smiled. “I’m stubborn, I know.”

“You’re not stubborn, you’re kind. You always think about other people before yourself. It’s one of the things I love about you, Nikki.”

She felt a lump in her throat as she thought, once again, about what Rebecca had said.

The food did taste great. She was starving, and all the blood she gave had sucked her strength. She ate enough for three persons.

“So we need a plan,” she said, looking up from her food.

He nodded. “In the morning we can start. You have the data from her phone. Let’s just hope Josh and Jinny get better. I think we will need their expertise.”

“Do you think it’s possible? To kill him, I mean.”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I wish now I had asked her more about Logan. Like I said, my eyes were closed before. I was so foolish. She said he always is a step ahead; that means we need to be even further ahead. You saw how much power you have, Nikki. I don’t think Logan could foresee that.”

She could hear the rain picking up outside. It sounded almost like music; all the roofs here seemed to be metal.

“You really should sleep now, Nikki.”

“OK, one more transfusion, then take me to bed?”

Nikki put her arm over and felt for Alex. Her eyes opened wide when she felt the soft skin. That didn’t feel like Alex.

“Jinny —”

Jinny opened her eyes. She looked healthier than she ever had. Nikki had fallen asleep next to her. Alex must have tucked her in after the transfusion.

“Jinny! You look much better. Do you feel OK?”

“Yes, I feel great. Is that normal? Oh! Where is Josh?”

Josh came running in. Actually running. “Oh, sorry.” He put his hands over his eyes. “I didn’t know you were still in here, Nikki.”

She laughed and pulled the blanket over Jinny and herself. “It’s OK, I think we’re decent.” She actually wasn’t sure what she was wearing. She hadn’t really thought about that much lately. Other things seemed much more important than modesty at this point.

Jinny peeked out of the covers. “Josh! Are you feeling better too?”

“I feel great; how is that possible? I thought the recovery took months, years?”

“Alex would know more; maybe it’s because I have both genes? Maybe it’s faster because of that.” Nikki had no clue actually.

Josh seemed to forget about hiding his eyes. “Alex went out for some supplies, he said he’d be gone about an hour. I should let you guys get dressed.” He looked so happy, like he was going to explode with happiness actually.

He shut the door behind him.

Jinny laughed. “Alex has much better taste in the clothes he picks for you than Josh does. Do you think you can get them to talk?”

She smiled. “Yeah, he seems to think I’m a doll to be dressed — and undressed.” They both laughed.

Nikki looked around the room for clothes. “So you and Josh?”

“Yes, I love him. I think that’s what you were going to ask.”

“Well, I sorta knew that already. You met at school, huh?”

“Actually, he was my professor. Scandalous, right!” She had her evil smile on full blast.

“Very much so!” Nikki laughed. “That’s always a good way to start; excitement makes for good stories. Trust me on that one.”

Nikki looked at Jinny. She was very attractive, and clearly smart. She could see why Josh fell for her.

“Nikki, I didn’t thank you yet. You saved both of us. You saved our lives. I can never repay you.”

Nikki walked over and held Jinny’s hand. “You don’t need to repay me for anything, Jinny. I haven’t been around that long, but I have learned that everyone gets a chance to help, to give back. I can tell you’re that kind of person and so is Josh. Some day you will save someone. In fact, guess what?”

“What?”

“I think you already saved Josh.” She winked. “I mean it.”

Jinny blushed. “Nikki, when we were in the mansion. Do you know he fought for me? He found your gun. He killed the man that grabbed me. He was ready to die for me. He took on 10 men trying to save me. He didn’t hesitate, not for a second.”

“I can tell by looking at Josh that he would die for you. You found a good man, Jinny. There aren’t many like him; and see, he needs you as well. You need to stick together, like glue.”

They walked out into the hall to the smell of food, delicious food!

Josh started to laugh and tried to cover his mouth.

“Hey! It’s all we could find!” Jinny looked down at their mismatched pajamas: A red top and blue bottom, no socks. Nikki had an orange top and red bottoms.

Jinny playfully pushed Josh.

“I’m so glad you guys are healthy! This is amazing. Now if we can find some socks!”

They all laughed.

“You made breakfast?”

“You bet I did. Please ladies, let me seat you. I even have a menu.”

Jinny laughed hard as she saw a handwritten menu and the place settings. There was only one selection.

Her face turned red, she loved him so much.

Nikki looked at the menu. “Where’s the price? I don’t have a lot of cash on me.” She faked a frown.

“Ah, for you, today is free!”

Alex came back with a duffel bag. Nikki jumped up and hugged him. It was involuntary. She just missed him so much —  and then there was what she knew. Most likely, she didn’t have much time left with him. She wanted to make every second count.

Alex seemed to be taken by surprise, a happy surprise though. He hugged her back and dropped the bag.

They all sat around the table.

“I picked up some stuff that might help us out. I think it’s fairly secure here, but we should be careful. If we go out, we need to go together from now on, and keep everything low key.”

They all nodded.

“I see Jinny and Josh have a new lease on life.”

Nikki held his hand. “Do you think it’s my blood? The double DNA? It never works this fast, right.”

“It would seem so. I really haven’t been through a lot of transitions. Usually it’s almost a year before they fully recover. This is new for sure.”

Was he starting to think about it? He must be; they all must be. Her DNA was the key, too powerful and dangerous to fall into the wrong hands. If they weren’t already thinking about it, at some point they would realize it and understand what she needed to do.

It was already late by the time Nikki explained everything Rebecca had told her about the phone; of course she left out the most important part. She looked out at the city lights as the rest of them talked things over. She felt that loneliness again. She couldn’t tell anyone this secret. Why did it have to be like this? It wasn’t fair. She started to tear up and bit her lip to stop it.
Life isn’t fair, Nikki,
she said to herself. You know that.

It had been almost two weeks. They had decoded most of the information from Rebecca’s phone. Now they were trying to get a plan together, some type of attack plan. It didn’t seem to be going very well.

“Hey, guys, we’re all spent from this. How about we take a day off? A shopping day for us girls maybe?”

“Yes!” Jinny screamed. Nikki realized Jinny had never been to Paris, the same as her; she must be going crazy to see the city, to go shopping, even with the insane situation they were in.

Alex looked worried again. “I don’t know, Nikki. We don’t know how safe it is.”

“I’m not saying we go alone! All of us should go. You guys can protect us,” she sighed. “I think the four of us can stand our own.”

That seemed to calm him down. Nikki thought about it. She actually could use a break herself. She was going crazy inside and needed a distraction, if even for a moment.

The outside air felt so refreshing; she could tell they all sensed it. They had been locked up in the flat for so long. Only Alex had really gone out for supplies.

They took the train to the shopping district. Nikki remembered something from her police training.
Just in case,
she said to herself.

The train door opened. She started to count down — 10, 9, 8, 7 . . . the doors shut. She noticed Jinny was looking at her. Damn, did she notice? She looked away quickly.

“Nikki! Check out this dress!”

Nikki laughed. This was fun. She hadn’t felt happiness for a long time, not after what Rebecca had said.

She went into a changing area and tried on one of the dresses Jinny had picked out for her. She started to think. Maybe she should just tell them. Maybe Rebecca was wrong.
Four against one is better than just her,
she thought. She was starting to second-guess her plan. She knew why. She wanted so badly to live now; she shouldn’t be selfish like this. But just maybe. . . Rebecca wasn’t always right; maybe Alex would have a better plan.

She walked back out into the crowded shopping area. People were pushing into her as she tried to make it back to Jinny.

She felt it — someone’s hand had been in her pocket; her police training made it easy to feel. She looked around quickly. There were so many people; it could have been anyone. Maybe a pickpocket? She had no cash on her, no identification. She reached into her pocket and felt paper.

She could feel the blood draining from her face as she met up with Alex and Josh.

“Hey guys, I need to make a quick stop at the rest room.” She glanced over and saw Jinny was still shopping, looking at a dress.

Alex walked with her to the back of the store. She tried hard to put on a normal face. “I won’t be long.” She had to act calm.

She walked into the rest room, ran into an empty stall and shut the door. She pulled it out – as she thought, a folded piece of paper. She slowly unfolded it; her heart was racing.

It was in French!
Why hadn’t she taken that French class in school! She peeked outside the stall and saw a young girl, maybe 16, checking her makeup.

“Sorry to bother you. Do you speak English?”

“Yes, not so well, but I take classes.”

“Can you translate this for me?” She handed her the note; her hand was shaking.

The girl looked at the note and then back to Nikki. “Sure. I will try.”

She focused on the writing.

“It says: ‘You,’ no, sorry, ‘your flat is very nice. In a nice part of town.’ Mmm, ‘Alexander,’ I think. Yes, ‘Alexander likes his morning coffee. Your buddies,’ I mean ‘friends, are extraordinary,’ I think it says, ‘they are in very much love, Joshua and Jinny. The jacket, or sweater she gave him is very nice’.”

The girl looked up.

“Why are you crying? Are you going to be OK?”

“I,  I’m OK. Please continue.”

She looked sad now as the girl translated more:

“‘You know what is to be done.’ Wait, I said it wrong. ‘You know what you must do alone’. And there is a phone number; as you can see in English here.”

“I think that is a local number.” She said.

Nikki’s hand was shaking even more as she started to take the note back.

“Thank you so much. I— your English is great.”

The girl gasped. “Oh!”

“What is it?”

“There is more, it says —” she stopped for a moment.

“‘You have two days, I will murder, I will kill as you say, I will kill them all, Nikki.’”

“Is that your name?” she asked

“Yes, it’s nothing.” She replied.

“A crazy boyfriend, yes? You need to call the police!”

“No, no, please. It is just a joke, a bad joke from a friend. I am sorry I had you read it.”

The girl looked at her suspiciously.

“Really, I am fine. I just need to clean myself up a bit.”

Nikki walked back into the stall. She fell to her knees at the toilet, hearing the door shut just in time. She threw up for what seemed forever. She sat against the cold metal wall and stared into space. Rebecca was right. He would always be a step ahead.

Then Nikki heard her translator yelling.

“You pig! Leave her alone! You pig!”

“Shit, no!” She scrambled out of the stall and tried to wipe her face as she flew outside the bathroom stall.

The young French girl was punching Alex in the stomach and swearing at him. Jinny was trying to pull her off of him.

Nikki grabbed her. “Please, stop! Let me talk to you.”

She pulled her aside. They were all there — Josh, Jinny, Alex. They looked horrified.