I shook my head. “No, Katie. This is Maximillian. He’s one of the members of the directorate. He wouldn’t b—.” Stopping in mid-sentence, I reached for Leo’s arm.
“Oh my God,” Leo said. “Maximillian is Mark.”
I gave him a confused look. That’s when it dawned on me. He’s a member of the directorate and he’s dating Katie’s neighbor. Leo’s father knows enough to bust him for it.
Katie gasped. “Joe! Mark framed Joe.”
The photo of Maximillian’s girlfriend from the newsletter and then Serena’s image flashed in my mind. The eyes. They had the same eyes. Had he brought his girlfriend back to life? “He did it all for Serena,” I said.
Neither Katie nor Leo paid attention to me.
“Why now?” Katie asked. “Why frame Joe now when he’s known us for years?”
Leo shook his head. “My father could identify him at the Summit.”
“We have to call somebody,” Katie said. “We have to let them know that Joe is innocent.”
I pulled out my cell and dialed my mother.
“Hello,” my mother said. “Jen, what’s up?”
Beside me, Leo exclaimed, “He could be here any minute, and the door is unlocked.” Leo scrambled for the door.
“Mom!” My mind raced to determine the best way to explain this to her.
“Jen,” Katie hissed. She nodded toward the door.
I turned to see Leo, hands up, backing slowly toward us.
Maximillian himself stood with a gun trained on Leo.
Instinctively, I brought my hand down to hide the phone behind my back.
“Hands up,” Max ordered. “Both of you.”
I let the phone slip from my fingers and land on the soft carpet before raising both hands to mimic Leo’s pose.
“What are you doing, Mark?” Katie asked, her voice shaking. “Where’s Serena?”
“Shut up, Katie! You idiots are messing everything up for me!”
He was going to kill us! Being trapped in a bottle was bad, but getting shot? That’s a whole other story. Leo moved to my side and stopped.
I could feel a sneeze coming. My Karmic cold had no respect for the precariousness of my position.
I stopped breathing in hopes of keeping the sneeze at bay.
When the sneeze came, I tried to regain focus and see Max’s reaction. He jumped, startled, and squeezed off a shot.
The noise was deafening, and I couldn’t tell for sure what had happened. I’d ducked at some point. Katie and Leo had too. Was Leo shot? Was I?
Katie stood, pointing at the top of my head. I grabbed at my forehead.
“Up there,” she said. “It went high.”
I turned to see a hole in the wall. The hole was a few inches higher than the top of my head. Black spots clouded my vision, and I fell to the carpet on my knees.
“Jen,” Leo said, crouching beside me.
“Enough!” shouted Max. “Stand up or I’ll kill all three of you right now.”
Leo pulled me to my feet.
“I’m okay,” I said, though standing was a struggle.
“Hand’s up, Leo,” Max snarled.
Leo let go of me and raised his hands. I raised mine slightly, unable to find the strength to reach above my head.
“We’re getting out of here now,” Max said. “The police will be on their way.”
The police and the U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E. security teams. They’d be monitoring any violence at Katie’s place, and they’d know that a shot was fired.
Could we stall without getting killed?
Max grabbed Katie by the arm and yanked her in front of him. He held her in place with one arm around her neck and pressed the gun against her temple. “How will Daddy feel, Leo, when the love of his life is dead?”
“Leo,” Katie cautioned.
The man with the gun was getting too jumpy. “I don’t have time for this merda! I’m counting to three and I’m pulling the trigger. One. Two.”
“Don’t shoot her,” I said. “We’re moving.”
“Out the door and down the stairs. Katie first, then Jen, then Leo.” He shoved Katie toward the door and then motioned to me and Leo with his gun. “There’s a black Lexus in the parking lot. If you alert anyone, you’ll be signing their death sentence.”
The elusive black Lexus crossover. All that searching and the friggin’ thing had come to us.
I suddenly wished I’d practiced that beaming thing so we could get the heck out of there. Maybe Leo had a plan.
We reached the bottom of the stairs, and Max said, “Across the lot.”
“What are you going to do with us?” Leo asked as we moved closer and closer to the vehicle. “You can’t frame us too.”
“I can’t have you ruining everything,” Max growled from behind us. “If I can’t find a way to erase your memory, I’ll erase the three of you.”
I can’t tell you how badly I was hoping for the memory thing.
“We can’t get in the car,” Katie whispered. “They always say that decreases your chance of survival.”
Could he erase our memories? Would he even try? And if he did, what would happen to us? Katie was right. We were doomed, and we had to stay out of that Lexus.
The parking lot was dark, cold, and deserted.
“Can we beam out of here?” I whispered to Leo as he moved closer to us.
“No. I can’t handle all three of us.”
Where was the cavalry?
Leo turned to Max, startling all of us by yelling, “We aren’t taking another step you psychotic bastard!”
Max narrowed his eyes and pointed the gun at Leo’s chest.
Leo stood calm and resolute.
The gun morphed into a taser just as Max fired.
The taser charge hit Leo without any effect. He pulled the probe from his arm, and then Leo charged toward Max.
Leo was brilliant!
“Worthless piece of merda!” the older man shouted. He tossed aside the weapon and Leo knocked him to the asphalt.
Max’s fist connected with Leo’s head.
As they scuffled, I frantically searched for some way to help. I stumbled away from them. As I took a step, I accidentally kicked Max’s stun-gun.
I bent down and grabbed it. The taser wouldn’t work on us, but maybe it would work on Max.
“Stop,” I yelled, training the stun-gun on Max and Leo. “Stop now.”
Max looked up at me and sneered. He bit Leo’s arm and when Leo recoiled, Max pinned him to the ground with his elbow in Leo’s throat.
“Do it,” Katie urged. “Shoot him.”
Leo punched him in the jaw and rolled over him.
I walked over closer, ready to fire.
Leo smashed his fist into Max’s stomach and rolled out of the way.
I fired. A probe launched into the front of Max’s right shoulder.
Max seized and screamed in pain.
Leo got to his feet and touched his hand to his split lip. His jacket had protected his arms, but his jeans were ripped and his right knee was bleeding.
“Jen,” Leo said, “stop pushing that button. I’m afraid you’re going to shock him to death.”
Katie harrumphed. “I’m not sure that’s a bad thing.”
I clutched the trigger tightly in my hand. Oh. That’s why Max was still thrashing on the ground. I eased off and he calmed. “What if he gets up?”
“He won’t,” Leo said. “And if he does, you can just hit the voltage again.”
A car turned into the lot, and my heart stopped.
Did Max have friends? Or had the authorities finally responded to the gunshot?
How on earth were we going to explain the man writhing on the ground?
“I’ll pull him between the cars,” Leo said already reaching down and grabbing Max under the armpits.
Katie and I moved to stand between the car and Max, in hopes of obstructing the view.
A silver minivan drew closer with my father behind the wheel.
>
Thank God because we needed some serious help. He pulled up next to me. I glanced down to see that Max was still easily seen.
Mom jumped out of the passenger side. “Jen! What’s happening? You stopped talking and then we heard a gunshot!” She stared at Leo and then turned to me in dismay. “A male genie?”
“Mom,” I said, pointing to Maximillian. “He framed Leo’s dad.”
“I—” Mom’s mouth snapped shut as she took in the man on the ground. “You attacked a member of the Directorate?”
“He attacked us,” Leo said. “And he’s been dating a woman in this building. My dad had seen him, so he panicked. He framed my father.”
“Joe Fuller’s son,” Mom said, staring at Leo. “You’re the Leo who’s been playing drums in Ian’s band?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Leo said, holding out his hand. “Sorry about the deception.”