“The more dangerous ones can be sent to heaviest crime areas,” Greg smirked. “Or all of them can.”
Remy started to chuckle. “Let’s do this. One by one, let’s clear these people out.”
“Blake,” Gavin called out to me. “Lincoln just filled me in with what’s going on, do you need us?”
“Yes,” I said decisively. “I think we need Jemmy, you, and Sierra.” I then looked over at our little group. “Gavin, Sierra, Jemmy, Micah, Drake, Victoria, and I are going to take these people one at a time. It won’t raise too much suspicion, hopefully. Drake can keep us protected. Victoria will keep us invisible. Jemmy will short out the telephone lines. Sierra will boost us. Gavin will imitate as necessary.”
“We’ll start with Los Cabos, Mexico,” Drake said with a smirk as he looked up from his phone.
“The fake Troy is the most dangerous one here, but we should probably leave him last,” Greg stated with a smirk.
“Let’s get these passed out to the children and get to work,” Drake stated.
The first guy we got was reasonably easy. He was a level four and didn’t have a chance to react. We had the element of surprise on our side.
It wasn’t until we were on our fifth guy that I think they were finally getting suspicious.
“Where do you keep running off too?” Fake Troy asked as he cornered me near the arcades.
I should get an Emmy with the acting I was doing tonight. I pasted on a smile. “What do you mean? It’s Alex’s birthday, and we have a lot of kids here. I thought you were supposed to be playing laser tag with Kade? That’s all you kept talking about the last few days.” I lied.
Everyone was now on high alert. All the Knights and the other gifted people we brought with us were well aware of the situation right now. Only Alex and Ella were the only gifted ones shielded from the knowledge. We didn’t want to ruin Alex’s birthday party.
He shrugged before he attempted to embrace me. I barely repressed the shudder that threatened to course through my body.
“I changed my mind. I just want to be near you since I’ve been gone the last few days,” he crooned.
“Hey man,” Jaxson stated. “What are you doing? They’re waiting for you to play laser tag.”
“Nah,” Fake Troy shook his head. “I changed my mind.”
“Aren’t you feeling jet-lagged?” I asked him. “You’re feeling really really sleepy. You should go take a nap in the banquet room.” I compelled him as I looked deeply into his eyes.
Fake Troy yawned deeply. “I’m exhausted. I think I might go lay down.”
“I’ll go with you,” I guided him to the banquet room.
“Hey Troy,” a middle-aged man came sauntering up to us.
I paused. “Um, I’m sorry I don’t think I know who you are.”
“We’re old pals aren’t we, buddy?” the man stated exuberantly.
“Yeah, friends,” Troy mumbled. “So tired. Need to sleep.”
I felt the confusion and distrust rise within the man. “Stop,” I compelled him. “Go play basketball,” I said looking over at the basketball arcade game. One problem at a time.
“They know!” I heard Noah say in my head. “They are actively looking for their missing friends right now. We need to contain this situation before they call in back up.”
Suddenly I heard Nadia’s high pitched scream in the direction of their indoor playground. I quickly ushered Fake Troy into the banquet room, while Jaxson took off in the opposite direction.
“What’s going on?” Hazel asked in concern as she stood up from her seat at the table.
“I don’t know,” I said trying not to think that the situation had escalated. “Can you make sure he takes his nap? I’ll be right back.”
I came to a skidding halt as I ran back into the central part of the facilities. Almost everyone was frozen in place except for our gifted.
Marcel and Terrance were carefully extricating Nadia from the webbing of the play structure. It appeared that Remy and Lincoln were trying to remove a hysterical Nadia from a whitish, thick, sticky substance. It almost looked like that fake spider webbing you strung up at Halloween, but I knew it wasn’t supposed to be here. I continued to look around in shock as I advanced forward.