Darkest Day (StrikeForce #3) (23 page)

I got on the elevator and pushed the button to go up to my suite. I would have rather talked to Portia about our mole problem right that second, but I knew she’d been running herself ragged, too. Instead, I pulled out my laptop and typed out an email and hit send on it, then crawled into bed. Of course, hearing Killjoy’s voice again helped the nightmares come easily, and I spent the night in and out of sleep, trying to escape from something that there was no escaping.

Chapter Thirteen

The next morning, I had an early meeting with Portia to discuss the email I’d sent her as well as the events of the previous few days. We talked about David’s anti-teleport tech, and how we needed to make sure that we cleaned out the factory, just in case there was another cache of those vials there somewhere, and what our role was in helping local law enforcement in their case against the Mafia guys they’d taken after our little raid on the Giannotti compound.

“We’re going to get torn up in the media for that if they have the media ties we think they do,” Portia said, and I nodded in agreement. “Their ties with law enforcement might prove to be a challenge, too. We know they have people in the DPD, we just don’t know who, or high up in the organization they are.”

“Yeah, it could be a mess, and I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if they end up ‘escaping’ or something like that. The important thing is we have some of the lieutenants here now and that’s going to hurt them. We hurt Killjoy with what we did last night. Those vials and shit that we broke at the compound where we found Red Scare were probably important, since we know that other than Render, Red Scare is his top muscle and he wouldn’t have been guarding the place otherwise.”

“One more reason for him to get pissed and call you last night.”

I nodded. I had my phone back. Jenson had delivered it after her coffee date with David, and she told me he hadn’t been able to get anything else off of it but he was going to keep working at it.

“We also had another powered kid go missing yesterday. From L.A., this time.”

“Shit. Did that meeting Amy and Chance were going to happen yet?”

She shook her head. “Right now, we’re just all keeping touch and sharing info. It seems like we’re not the only ones dealing with craziness. Another mini-Confluence happened along the west coast late last week and that’s causing chaos.”

“I heard about that. We need to figure out who’s taking the kids.”

“So far, all we have is two witnesses who say they saw a woman in dark blue whisk the kids away, grabbing them and then totally disappearing. It’s not a hell of a lot to go on, and her strikes are so random we’re like a million steps behind her. We’re getting an accounting of all the super powered kids we know of, but it’s imperfect because the parents are more likely to keep it a secret, trying to protect their kids from undue attention.”

I nodded. “And what about—“

At that moment, alarms started going off on the monitors behind her desk. The monitor labelled “biometrics” was flashing.

“What the hell?” she muttered.

And then we heard noise coming over the speaker on her desk. “Portia! Somebody! Caine’s down.” Lindsey’s voice was full of panic.

“Where- Jolene, we don’t even know where they are!” Portia shouted at me, but I was already gone. I made my way to the nearest exit, pulling my mask back on, and then I flew toward where they were supposed to be patrolling, on the east side.

“Jo, they’re near Outer Drive and Mack,” David said over my comm.

“Thank you.”

I flew fast. The last time I’d flown that quickly had been the day I’d gone to Mama’s work after Death had poisoned her. I had the same sick feeling in my stomach now.

“Daystar. Render’s there. We have a team on the way. Do not engage until we’re in place.” Portia said.

I flew faster. I saw the mini jet below, parked on a residential street lined with brick colonials, and I landed fast, hard. Ryan was on the ground, shooting at Render, who couldn’t seem to move because Ryan kept hitting him with blasts from the stun gun.

Despite the fact that Ryan’s uniform was soaked in blood.

“Motherfucker,” I roared, sending a hard blast of power out at Render, just as he took another hit from Ryan’s gun. He fell back and tried to get up and I hit him again. I’ve heard people say the phrase “I just saw red” before to talk about intense rage, but I’d never actually experienced it, until this moment. I blasted him with my power again. And again. And again. He lunged at me, frantically trying to move his hands in that weird gesture he did when he was about to slice someone open. I leapt at him and grabbed his arm. And I twisted.

I heard bone snap beneath my fingers, and he screamed. He tried to run, his arm dangling helplessly at his side, and I sent another blast of power at him and he still kept trying to run. I stalked over to him, picked him up, and hurled him into the side of a parked truck. He flew into it with a crunching sound.

I grabbed the front of his shirt and punched him in the face.

Again.

Again.

He stopped moving.

“Jolene!’ Jenson shouted, and then I felt a hand on my arm. “Jolene. Stop. Stop. You got him, babe. You got him,” she said quietly.

Portia was there then, standing over Render, placing a collar over his neck. I spun to look for Ryan.

“Where?”

“Portia moved him to the hospital wing while you were dealing with Render.”

I threw the villain an angry glare. He was still.

“Did I kill him?” I asked Portia.

“He’s still alive. Barely.”

“If Caine’s not okay, he’s gonna wish I had,” I said. Jenson tried talking to me, but I leapt up into the air and raced toward Command. Once I got there, I stormed to the hospital wing. I could see where Dr. Ali and here team were working on Ryan in one of the rooms off to the right, and I stepped in.

“You can’t be here,” Dr. Ali said.

“Just do your job, doc,” I said. “I’m not leaving.”

“This is not okay—“

“Last time he was in here, someone took a vial of his blood to give to a madman. I’m. Not. Leaving. Now get to work.”

She turned back to Ryan and went back to work. “Just stay over there. And don’t freak out on us. It’s going to be stressful enough without that.”

I didn’t answer. I stood, arms crossed, and watched. I tried not to feel sick. He was sliced across his stomach, and then again from his sternum down to his navel. The armor seemed to have blunted some of the impact of Render’s powers, but he’d done a good amount of damage nonetheless.

“Rupture to internal organs, including stomach, large intestine. Additional wound to the pancreas,” Dr. Ali said. After that, I didn’t understand much that was said. All I could do was watch as Dr. Ali and her team worked alongside several machines that seemed to add membranes and other materials to Ryan’s body.

I tore my eyes away from the glimpses I kept getting of his gaping wounds to the monitors near his head. His heart beat was slow, and I tried not to freak out over that. Another machine was breathing for him, and a transfusion of blood dripped into his veins from a bag nearby. I averted my gaze, staring at the monitor again.

I lost track of time, staring at that monitor. I couldn’t look at his body. And looking at his face hurt too much. His pallor was too similar to how Mama had looked— no. I wasn’t going to think about that.

What felt like an eternity later, Dr. Ali spoke in a more normal tone. “Stitching him closed now,” Dr. Ali muttered in my general direction. “He’ll be fine.”

“Thank you,” I said, feeling like I could finally breathe.

“You know, I didn’t give anybody’s blood to anybody. He had people come into do that,” she said angrily.

“I’m actually relieved to hear that. But you know as well as I do that none of us are sure who to trust anymore.” She didn't answer. “Thank you for saving his life,” I added.

She turned to me and took her gloves off. “Of course. And I guess you’re still not leaving.”

I shook my head.

“Okay. Daystar is allowed into his recovery room. Leave her be,” Dr. Ali said. She met my eyes, then patted my shoulder lightly and walked out while her team finished up working on Ryan. They got him settled in a small recovery room, a nurse checked all of his monitors, and someone pulled in a chair for me to sit on. It was an ugly old recliner.

“This is from one of the regular rooms. You know. The ones that we usually allow visitors in,” the nurse said, giving me a wink.

“Thanks,” I said.

“He’s going to be out for a good amount of time. Usually about six hours, maybe longer before it wears off. Are you staying the whole time?”

I nodded. There wasn’t even a question.

She nodded, then turned and left. A few minutes later, she came back with a stack of magazines and paperback novels, as well as a bottle of water and a granola bar. “Because you’re going to be bored and please also eat because I don’t want you passing out on me,” she said.

“Thank you.”

“I’m Sarah. Press the button by the door if you need me. I’ll be back to check on him again in a bit.”

I nodded, and she left. I pushed the recliner closer to the bed, where I could see him better.

I sat with Ryan, listening to his monitors beeping. I hated seeing him this way, pale, tubes coming out of him in too many places. The sight of him, uniform soaked in blood, laying on the ground and shooting at Render, not giving up, flashed through my mind.

“You’re just as stubborn as I am,” I murmured to him. “No wonder you make me crazy.”

I forced myself to drink the water and eat the granola bar. I still had my comm in my ear and I pressed it once, to get Jenson.

“Jenson,” I said.

“Hey! How’s he doing? Dr. Ali said he was out of surgery,” she said.

“He is. He’s in recovery now. She says he’ll be fine.” My throat tightened, and I cleared my throat to try to get it back to normal.

“She also says you’re staying there.”

“Until he’s up. Yeah.”

“Okay. We shuffled your patrol schedule for the next few days. Don’t worry about it. Okay?”

“Thanks.”

“How are you holding up?” she asked softly, a bit of a curious note in her voice.

“I’m fine. I almost wasn’t,” I said.

“Yeah. Um. His partner’s in the waiting room there. She’s pretty shaken up.”

I pushed my first thought away, that if I had been there, this never would have happened. “Someone should tell her to leave. He’s fine.”

She took a breath. “I got the impression that she maybe wants to talk to you,” Jenson said.

“I’m not in the mood for this shit right now,” I said.

“She’s blaming herself.”

“She couldn’t do anything against fucking Render. And Caine wouldn’t have let her. He was laying there shooting while he was bleeding out,” I said. Now that the fear was mostly passed, all I could think about was that moment, the fierce look in his eyes as he pulled the trigger over and over again.

Stubborn man.

“I think she needs to hear that.”

“I’m not a counselor, Jenson,” I muttered.

She didn’t answer. “Okay. Fine,” I said.

“Okay. Call if you need anything. Or if you just want to talk while you wait.”

“I will. Thanks.”

I stood up, glancing down at Ryan for a second. I patted his shoulder gently, then I stepped out of the small room and into the waiting room beyond. Lindsey sat on one of the chairs in the corner, arms wrapped around herself. She was pale, and her eyes were red. I walked over to her and sat down, glad that I could still see Ryan’s recovery room from this spot.

“Hey. He’s okay,” I said.

She nodded. “I’m so glad. He saved my life. And…” she started sobbing, and I patted her leg. “I totally froze, Daystar. Just froze. It was like I forgot that I even had powers, let alone how to use them. Render came at us and I just stood there!” I could hear the anger in her voice, the guilt. “Caine got a shot off, then he and Render kind of threw a few punches, and Caine told me to run and to call for backup. And the next second…” she shook her head, tears flowing from her eyes. “He was down. I froze.”

I bit the inside of my lip. I didn’t blame Lindsey. But I also knew that I’d never be okay with him patrolling with anyone else again.

“You’re new at this. And fighting Render so soon into your career is like baptism by fire. So you froze. Now you know that you need to do better next time. Right?”

She was still crying.
“Right?” I pressed. “Because I don’t blame you for this. There is no way I would have handled this type of thing well my first week out. But now you see how serious this shit is. You have to be better. Not for him, but for you. Learn from this.”

“I was sure you’d want to kill me,” she said, pulling a tissue out of the box on the table next to her. “I know neither one of you wanted to switch partners And you’re both so protective of one another,” she shook her head. “This wouldn’t have happened if you’d been out there with him.”

Damn right, I thought, but I had enough tact not to say it.

“Well. We don’t know that. You did what mattered. You got backup there. You moved quickly enough to save him. Nobody blames you. The only one that needs to be blamed is Render, and he’s going to get his.”