AGENT 23 BLACKOUT (Agent 23 Book 1)

CHAPTER 26

I think of certain things at the strangest moments, like I wonder what they did with my dad's Jeep Gladiator when they tossed us in the back of the van and drove off? Is it still sitting there in the parking lot of the old fort? I stare down at the floor where Zero stands in front of me in her block-heeled shoes. It's a nice SUV slash truck. I wouldn't mind having one myself, so I wouldn't have to hitch a ride to Lattes with my grandparents and then walk to work. Come to think of it, I have a lot of categorizing to do in the basement. Vivian Payne is going to freak out and fire me, or worse, make me work overtime.

But if I get fired, I'll have more time to study and spend with Kayla. I would love to show her the mammoth exhibit. She would like that, although it would be awkward showing up at the museum and seeing Mrs. Payne after she fired me.

Am I delirious? Is this happening to me? Did I go toe-to-toe with a secret agent in a legendary death match and come out alive?

I did. And I am delirious. I'm losing it. My mind is scraping the bottom of this warehouse floor.

"Aiden." Zero's voice sounds irritated.

How do I get out of this? What am I going to do?

"Aiden." Her voice gets louder.

No. Wait a second. I'm not delirious. I'm in full control of my mental faculties.

"Aiden." This time, her voice is much louder.

I ignore the annoying sound of her calling my name, trying to shatter the protective mental shell that I've built around my mind.

I wonder what time it is? It's still dark outside, but it has to be in the early morning hours. That means today is Sunday. I'm off today, and I usually spend Sunday evening studying at Lattes.

"Aiden, you need to snap out of it." I look at Zero, who's bent over with her hands on her hips. "Reality check, Mr. Quick. You need to listen up because this is where it gets good. It's extremely important that you make the right choices and come out on top, at least for your sake."

"What do you mean?"

"I was about to get to that before you winked out."

"I'm listening now." I wrinkle my brow and scrunch my nose.

"Good."

"Wait..."

"What?"

"Are you really Zero?"

"Do I need to rehash everything?" She straightens and crosses her arms. "I can, but it'll be on your time, not mine."

I raise my arm to relieve the pressure on my wrist. The cuff is digging into my skin.

"Hello? Earth to Aiden?" She snaps her fingers. "Do I need to go over everything again?"

I shake my head. "No, I got it the first time. I was listening. It's right here in this brain of mine."

"Good, because you only have twenty-three minutes. And if I have to spend any of it giving a history review, you'll have less time to save the person you love the most."

I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose, inhale a calming breath. Look at Zero. "I'm ready. Tell me what I have to do."

She tuts her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "As I was saying—in honor of your title as Agent 23—you have twenty-three minutes to escape the warehouse and save your dad or Kayla."

"What do you mean by saving my dad, or Kayla?"

"First things first, Mr. Quick. First, escape this room. It's an enormous room with a lot of ground to cover, and one gigantic obstacle to hurtle."

I swallow. "What obstacle? Getting out of these handcuffs?"

"No. That's the simple part. The hard part is killing Agent 24."

"What?"

"You heard me." Zero huffs. "I'm growing irritated with your wandering mind and stupid questions. Are you ready to listen?"

"Yes, I'm ready."

"First, free yourself from the cuffs, and then kill Agent 24. After that, leave this room in order to find your dad and your girlfriend."

Technically, she's not my girlfriend yet, I think but don't say because my Aunt Zero is a little testy at the moment.

"You must get through that door, Aiden." She turns and points to the open passageway leading off into the unknown, the only path to freedom blocked by a lethal assassin. "After you dispatch of Agent 24—if you dispatch of him—you'll proceed down that hall which will lead you to our control center. That's where we have two smaller versions of the Mind Bender, holding your dad and girlfriend in a trancelike state. Once you get there, you'll have to make a choice about whom to save, Kayla or your dad."

My eyes burn holes in Zero's face. I don't care if she looks like my mom. She's an evil and vindictive person.

"You can only save one of them." She pauses for effect. "The latest version of the Mind Bender can permanently capture and control the mind of whoever I subject to its immeasurable power. I subjected you to it, but your dad interfered with my plans. Now, I'm going to let you choose who you want to save. Since I couldn't get you, I'm going to take someone who is important to you. You should be grateful. I could take them both, but I'm only going to take one. Your choice."

I nod without a reply.

"Here's how this is going to work. Both your dad and girlfriend are in the control room, under stasis, in a sleeplike trance. Currently, they are being subjected to a lighter, initial phase of the Mind Bender. If you reach them in time, you'll be able to wake one of them up and avoid any permanent effects. But the moment you revive one of them, the Mind Bender will subject the other at full strength. In which case, that person will forever be under the spell of my little rogue group of assassins called The Collective."

"What happens if I don't reach them in the allotted time of twenty-three minutes?"

Zero flattens her expression. "If that occurs, you will lose both forever. I suppose I'll have an extra team member."

"Don't worry about all the ifs," Agent 24 says while standing guard at his post near the door. "You'll never get past me."

Even though he's close to a hundred feet away, his voice carries in the empty warehouse. That's how he heard our entire conversation.

"Here are the rules for this fight to the death," Zero says. "For you, there are no rules. Anything goes, including swiping Agent 24's gun and shooting him. As for him, he can do whatever it takes to kill you, except pull his gun and shoot you. Understood?"

I sense the preliminaries are about to conclude and the fight is about to begin.

My heart thunders in my chest. The lump to beat all lumps forms in my throat and closes off my windpipe. I remember the first three times I faced Agent 24. The first two; I had help from Kayla and her penchant for finding stray objects to clunk the assassin with. At our last meeting, I had her shooting darts at 24, at least providing a distraction. She's not here now. This time it's all on me.

I remember the power of his destructive upper cut, and pretty much every other punch and kick in his bone-crushing arsenal. In our previous encounters, Agent 24 had at least some misgivings about killing me. At the fort, I don't think he intended to kill me at all, just capture me. Now, his orders are to murder me, in whatever way he sees fit, or finds necessary.

"Are you ready, Mr. Quick?"

I try to swallow the massive lump in my throat, but it doesn't budge.

"Ready or not, the time starts now." With those words, Zero tosses the keys to the handcuffs into my lap and waltzes off.

"Don't go easy on him." I hear my beloved aunt say to Agent 24 as she passes him on her way out.

When she gets to the door, she shuts it and locks it behind her, sealing me inside with a man whose professional talent is breaking bones and snapping necks, not to mention pulverizing faces and entire bodies into bloody piles of mush.