Steel Life (Cape High Series Book 25), page 15
“If you’re just taking us out for fast food, I might go back to the school,” Alyssa says. “Although it HAS been a long time since I had a non-gourmet cheeseburger. Vinny’s always adding all those strange things to his.”
“I would LOVE a normal cheeseburger,” Bobby says.
“Your parents are coming home tomorrow, right?” Jack asks Aubrey as he turns his illusion on and heads out. “Did you add that into all the scheduling you’re doing?”
She goes still, and then groans. If she COULD get headaches, she would have one right now. “Think we can make a stop after we get dinner?” she asks a bit reluctantly. “I can at least get one job done now, so I can congratulate them when they get back.”
“Sure,” he says, only to blink as she grabs his arm and her eyes glow. He gives her a grin and kisses her on the cheek. “Thanks, babe,” he says as they head for the parking lot.
“Do you even have a car?” Alyssa asks him, “Because if you expect all four of us to fit on your surfboard, you’re out of luck.”
“I’m borrowing one of the black suit vans at the moment,” Jack explains as they reach one. It still has the ramshackle “paint job” look, and he presses a hand to the door, unlocking it. Alyssa and Bobby get in the back.
“Why are there chunks of glass back here?” Alyssa asks, moving one out of her seat.
“We’re cleaning up some problems,” Jack says. “Don’t worry about breakin’ it, just don’t punch it, or somethin’.”
“You know, if you two WANT to spend some time alone—” Bobby starts out, although Alyssa shoots him a look for it. Everyone knows about his crush on Aubrey.
“Nah, it’s fine,” Jack says.
“I refuse to call going out to a meal a date,” Aubrey explains as she buckles up. “I’m lucky to get five words out of him whenever we’re eating, and mostly those are about passing condiments. If he wants a date, he can take me flying sometime, just not tonight.”
“You’re going to go to that one girl’s hospital, aren’t you,” Alyssa says, since no one can argue her comment about eating.
“I need to do it,” Aubrey admits, sighing. “I’ll have to tell Mastermental before we go, and he might insist on sending some black suits or an adult with us, but it’s such a short notice thing that I hate to drag Grandpa Andre in.”
“But you’re going to do it,” Bobby says.
“I’m going to do it,” she agrees. “So… how’s the house coming, Jack?” she asks.
“Ahhh… yeah…” he says, hesitating.
“You stopped working on it, didn’t you,” she says.
“I’m gonna do it! I really am. I’m just lettin’ the norms have time to bring the metal in,” he says. “I was actually thinkin’ of bringing Sandra in to give me a hand, when I get enough. I was thinkin’ she could come up with something a little sturdier than concrete for the foundation.”
“Does it NEED something sturdier?” she asks.
“When has that question ever stopped me before?” he asks, sounding surprised that she even asked it.
“Never mind, I’m sure she’ll go along with it,” Aubrey says. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Oh… for just being you,” she says, giving him a little smile as he pulls into the drive of a fast food joint.
“So, who wants what?” he asks over his shoulder.
***
Herold frowns as his phone rings. It’s an ancient piece that he’d actually found in the dumpster on the way up here, but that’s all he needs. It’s operating on the norm system, so it’s still risky taking calls from it, and he knows it. He’s rejected several calls from Sparky, already, even though her messages have been extremely interesting. That comment about being threatened with being shipped off planet had intrigued him, especially.
He looks at the screen for a moment before inwardly groaning and answering. This one he’s just going to have to risk it on.
“Mr. Herold?” the man on the other line says.
“Speaking,” Herold says.
“We just got called by Central Hall. They say they’re going to send someone out soon.”
“Soon?” Herold repeats. “How soon?” He holds up a hand to stop Jackson from speaking as he comes out of the dingy looking reception area.
“Tonight,” the man says. “I really didn’t expect it to work. I’ve been praying for this to happen for years, but I never have trusted supers—”
“Of course,” Herold says.
“You’ll come through on your side, right?” the man asks. “You said you’d help us out. These hospital bills are outrageous.”
“Of course, of course,” Herold says, “I understand just how difficult things are. I’ll be more than happy to help you out once I’ve gotten what I need. I’ll make sure you never have to worry about bills again. ‘Your’ work will make you millions in no time.”
“Thank you,” the man says. “You’ve looked at the list of things the program needs to do, right? I know that a lot of people said it was impossible, but if anyone can do it, you can!”
“That is absolutely right,” Herold says. “I’ll see you soon.” And then he hangs up, looking at the man holding a key in front of him. “Change of plans, Jackson,” he says. “We need to head out for the afternoon.”
“Yeah, but—” Jackson says, looking at the key. It had cost all the cash he had on him just to rent the place for the night! “Will you be coming back?” he asks, half hoping that the man never shows his face again. Something is telling him that he’s completely out of his depth right now. He can paint graffiti in the dark with the best of them, but this man seems far more… everything than he’s used to.
“WE will be coming back,” Herold says, walking over and wrapping an arm around Jackson’s waist. He shoves off of the ground and suddenly they’re flying, much to the young man’s shock. “You see, I need you for this little visit. You’re a very vital part.”
“Wh—what can I do that you can’t?” Jackson asks.
“You can get close to him, close enough to steal the watch, or act as bait, either is fine with me,” Herold says with a little smile. “Cold Steel is looking for you, isn’t he? He knows your face; he probably knows where you live. I’m afraid that you signed your death warrant when you messed around in his territory.”
“But my brother—” Jackson says.
“He didn’t do the destruction,” Herold says. “Really, Jackson, do you honestly think that your little brother’s going to take the fall for your actions for the rest of your lives? Especially when Cold Steel was so quick to accept him into his fold? Don’t be a fool. You did the deed, you’re the one that’ll pay for it. There’s a very good chance that your precious brother has sold you out, already.”
Jackson swallows, feeling a bitter emotion twisting in his stomach as he realizes just how right Herold is. But… there’s something else that seems to have slipped his mind. It’s like Herold had just said something really BAD— “Wait, bait?” he yelps as they speed through the air. “I don’t want to be bait! Let me dow—” he looks down, seeing the ground miles below them. If he falls from here, he isn’t going to live, is he?
He grabs onto Herold with all his strength, closing his eyes and wishing he had stuck to graffiti.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Jack and Aubrey drop Alyssa and Bobby off outside of the school campus and wait until the two are inside to speak. “Who should we get as an overseer, since you didn’t want to drag Andre out this late?” Jack asks, leaning back in the chair and draping an arm over the back as he looks at her.
“It isn’t like one of the past graduation gigs,” Aubrey says, frowning slightly. “We’re just going to be visiting hospitals for a short amount of time. Wait, who’s overseeing your job?”
“Eh, officially it’s Nico at the moment, since all he has to do is keep the drones on me while I build. Once we do the plumbing job, I was actually thinking of asking Ariel to come up here and make sure it goes smoothly.”
“Ariel?” Aubrey repeats. “Oh, that sounds like fun!”
“Yeah, but knowing them, I might get stuck with all three,” Jack admits. “Not sure what I’d do with Skye or Doris.”
“Oh, I’m sure they’ll come up with something,” she says. She frowns, though, thinking about the more current problem. “We need someone that wouldn’t mind going out tonight. I don’t—”
“How about me?” a voice comes over the speakers, making them both almost jump.
“Summer?” Aubrey says, “I couldn’t! You’re so close to the big day that—”
“That it would be perfectly normal to see someone like me in a hospital,” Summer says. “Oh, I’m sorry, kids, I wasn’t spying, I swear—that was Nico. I just happened to overhear.”
“I was just seeing what you two were doing sitting out in the parking lot in a van for so long,” Nico says shamelessly.
Aubrey’s face turns bright red as Jack groans.
“I SHOULD have tried to get a kiss, huh?” he says. “Goin’ straight to business talk, that’s so lame.”
“We won’t argue that,” Nico says.
“Nico!” Summer says. “They’re being extremely responsible, and we’re proud of them for that!”
Aubrey leans over and kisses Jack on the cheek, just because he looks so regretful. “But, Summer, are you sure?” she asks.
“A trip to a regular hospital isn’t going to hurt me, Aubrey, you’ve already said I’m healthy as a horse,” Summer says. “And I want to help with this. You’ve been doing so much for me and the baby!”
“Nico, is that okay?” Aubrey asks.
“I think, as long as I send a drone and some black suits along, and maybe I should come as well—” he starts out.
“It’s a ten-minute trip to a hospital in the area,” Summer says dryly. “You don’t need to go that far. Although I suppose we can take a few black suits, if that’s okay?” she asks.
“Sure. We’ve got the van, we can fit some in the back,” Jack says.
“Then I’m coming out,” Summer says. Jack moves, heading to the apartments and parking right in front. “Maybe I should say I’m there for prenatal care,” she says jokingly as she steps out of the security field. Aubrey gets out, offering the front seat to her. “Oh, you don’t need to—”
“It’s fine,” Aubrey says. “I would usually insist on you riding in the back because of the better protection, but, well, this IS a Technico,” she says. “You’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, and if any car almost hits us, I can take care of it,” Jack says as Summer straps in and Aubrey gets in the back. “We’ll just head over to the Hall and see what black suits they have on hand—”
“We aren’t shopping for black suits, Jack,” Aubrey says.
“They actually fought over who got to help paint houses with me,” Jack says, “they’re strange. That’s why I plan on giving them back when I’m done.”
“Well, you do have to admit that by working with you they don’t have to wear the suit and tie,” Summer offers, moving around to try and get comfortable. Jack looks over, his eyes widening as he sees her stomach move. “He’s kicking,” she says, seeing that look. “Want to feel?”
“Can I?” Jack asks. She takes his hand, placing it on her stomach and laughing as he looks startled. “That kid kicks hard!” he says.
“He’s going to be a handful,” Aubrey says, laughing, as well. “I can’t wait.”
“Neither can I,” Summer says as Jack starts driving. “I have to be honest, I’ve been a little jealous of the people that get to oversee these graduation gigs. Reaper seemed to enjoy his job a lot.”
“Well, thank you for being mine,” Aubrey says. “But that’s only up until the baby is born, okay? I’m not going to drag you around the country when you have a baby back home to take care of!”
“Oh, but that’s when I’ll need to get out of the house the most,” Summer says, patting her stomach fondly. “I raised two of them all on my own, this time I plan on Nico pulling his weight.”
“I’m going to,” Nico says. “I’ve already got the nanny bot planned out—”
“A robot is NOT raising our child, Nico,” Summer says.
“I just planned for it to prepare all the meals and clean the house,” he says. “That way we can focus on the baby.”
She thinks about it for a moment. “Well, I might accept that,” she says. “But you could hire someone for that.”
They pull to a stop at the back of the Hall and Jack pulls out his phone, calling the black suits. A minute later two female black suits come out wearing civilian wear. They’re grinning from ear to ear as they get in the back with Aubrey.
“We were told to bring these,” one of the suits says, opening a case and revealing three small drones. “They have the cloaking setting, so people shouldn’t notice. We’re also fully teched out with the newest black suit watches,” she says. “I’m Riley, she’s Hazel, we’re here to offer emotional support.”
“In other words, we’re huge fans and the boys got to do the construction work, so it’s our turn,” Hazel says.
“You’re welcome to come help tomorrow,” Jack says, glancing at them in the rear-view mirror. “I figure we need as many hands as we can get. I have to start MY house sooner or later.”
“We figured you wouldn’t have that many female followers,” Riley says. “We wanted to keep it authentic. We even chose the youngest looking of the guys for it—well, other than Derrick. Derrick won an arm wrestling competition to get in.”
“He is REALLY strong,” Hazel points out. “I’m guessing he’s a super.”
“Oh, he definitely is,” Riley tells her.
“Makes sense,” Jack says. “Wait, which one was Derrick?” he asks.
“Derrick Johnson,” she says.
“He’s Hy-bo’s dad,” Hazel says, grinning widely. “We’ve been wallpapering his area of the garage with Nightstep posters for weeks. He gets so irritated, and complains his little girl is too young to date.”
Jack starts roaring with laughter. Aubrey has a reluctant look of amusement on her face. “He’s right, though!” she says. “I like Rocco, but Carla is still pretty young. We live really long lives; it can wait until she’s older!” Jack shoots her a look.
“If he ever manages to ask her out,” he says dryly.
The conversation is cheerful and fast paced all the way to the hospital, to the point where it really does seem like Hazel and Riley are close friends of the family by the time they get there. They’re still chatting as they get out of the van and head for the hospital. They head to the front, even as one of the nurses in the hospital runs off to get a wheelchair for Summer.
“Wait, no, I’m not going into labor,” Summer says as she sees that.
“Then is there something we can help you with?” the receptionist asks, although her eyes keep going to Summer’s extremely large stomach. “Is it a checkup? Do we have you in our files?” she asks, bringing it up on the computer.
Summer smiles, and then places a hand on Aubrey’s back. “We’ve come here on Hall business,” she says, touching her face. A mask appears out of nowhere.
“New illusion?” Jack asks. “I didn’t even notice.”
“It comes in handy,” Summer says as the receptionist’s mouth drops open for a brief second.
“Oh, my—I just—I SAW that you were pregnant in the wedding!” she says, excitedly. “Oh, I can’t wait to see the baby! Do you know what sort of powers they’re going to have? Can I get your autograph? Will you be coming here—no, of course you won’t, you have the Hall ER—”
“And I have a very good healer helping me,” Summer says, with a sweet smile.
“Oh, yes, of course! Life Light! I would LOVE to meet…” she stops, seeing that Aubrey’s put a mask on while they were speaking. For a second it looks like she’s about to faint.
“I received a shout-out from one of your patients,” Aubrey says, bringing out her phone to show the information. “If you don’t mind, I would really like to see her. I might have a bit of time for your other hard cases, as well, if you want.”
“But we need to get home before bedtime,” Summer says. “Life Light has a very packed schedule to keep, she needs her sleep.”
“Oh, of course she does!” the receptionist says. “If you would wait just a moment, I’ll have someone come to escort you. I wish I could do it, myself, but someone needs to be at the desk at all times for emergencies.”
They nod and wait, but are soon met with a nurse tech. “This way, please!” the nurse tech says, ecstatically. “I’m your BIGGEST fan, by the way. I’ve been following all the stories I can get my hands on!” She pauses, and then looks at Jack for a long, long moment. “I like your hair,” she says, almost blandly.
“Thanks,” Jack says, “So do I.”
None of them even notice the two men that walk into the hospital behind them.
***
Kelly’s parents are in her room when Aubrey and the others get there. They both stand, the father coming forward and holding out his hand. He looks close to tears. “I can’t… you have no idea how much this means to me—”
“To all of us,” the mother says, looking at the group. “I… I didn’t realize you came with an entourage. Are all of you healers?”
“No, I’m the only healer,” Aubrey says. “Um, why don’t you and the girls wait in the hall, honey?” she asks Jack. “This room is a bit small for all of us.”
“Yeah, sure,” Jack says, stepping out. Aubrey reaches out, taking Summer’s hand before she can follow.
“You can stay,” she says with a little smile, “If you don’t mind?”
“No, of course not,” Summer says, her attention falling on the girl in the bed. She’s watching the two visitors with wonder.
“You’re… you’re really Life Light?” she asks Summer.
“No, sweetie, I’m not,” Summer says, placing a hand on Aubrey’s shoulder. “THIS is Life Light.”
That… Aubrey finds herself frowning, wondering how the little girl had heard of her if she doesn’t even know what she looks like. There had been the illusion, of course, but her picture had gotten out over time—especially among her fans. And of course Summer looks more like a super than she does, even pregnant, but how could Kelly know to do a shout-out if she hasn’t done her research?
