QED

Chapter 24 - Joanne

1:43 p.m.

Alice sat there, like a statue. Nothing, not even her eyes, were moving. She was just staring at the paper in front of her. The pencil was ready.

"We somehow need to get her," Joanne said, trying to ease the tension in the air. Her boss looked up and spied at her. It was a stare Joanne couldn't identify. Her eyes worked like a heavy, metallic wall. You just couldn't see through it.

"That's not even the problem," Alice mumbled and spun the pencil between thumb and index finger. Her left eyebrow went to the top.

"Maybe you should..." Joanne started, then pointed at the paper in front of Alice. It was still blank. The latter huffed and pressed her lips together.

"Alright. Let's do this."

For a moment, her boss closed her eyes. She was obviously thinking about something. Joanne leaned against the comfortable looking couch. She had always wanted such a unique designer interior for her own office.

As Alice was scribbling something down, Joanne walked along the panorama window. The view wasn't as good as last time, nevertheless, she could still see every single window of the Empire State Building. And that even without a biconvex lens.

"Ninety-seven percent chance that she will actually visit the venue," Alice said and leaned back. "That are the good news."

"And the bad news?" Joanne answered almost desperate.

"A twelve percent chance to convince Lucinda Xia to join us."

2:50 p.m.

"What should we do now? Getting to the event with a bunch of unexperienced trainees isn't what I call preparation," Joanne said honestly, her face buried in her hands. Alice eyed her and nodded in agreement.

"Right. And that's the point. We two go alone."

Joanne's jaw dropped to the floor. She wasn't really serious, was she? Now, when her wrist had finally healed again, her boss came up with the idea of just meeting up with a possible client of Eden...

...alone.

"Forget it," she declined and did a cross sign with her hands. "You know what happened last time. Eden will surely know that we come. And then, she'll get us."

"Why should she?" Alice answered and tilted her head. Oddly, there was no hint of fear resting on her face.

"She wants to eliminate you?" Joanne asked rhetorically and shrugged. God, why was this woman so good in being mysterious as fuck? Deep inside, she knew that Alice already had a plan. A plan that would probably succeed.

"According to Isa's investigations, there is indeed a high possibility that Lucinda Xia is part of Eden's organization. But they wouldn't dare to arouse much attention." Her boss took a seat on her own couch.

"The chance that one of Eden's minions is with Lucinda is around sixty-seven percent. That's higher than fifty, but still just an expectancy. Through logical thinking, one can leave out Alex or Jennie. These two would just arouse too much attention when using their powers."

Slowly, Joanne sank onto the couch, listening to Alice's plan.

"Anita and Erica are also very improbable. They could be there for hand-to-hand fights, but using their powers without a source is like a fish on land: It's useless."

"Don't tell me," Joanne chuckled and raised her hands.

"I know," her boss said and smiled. "Anyways. The others, and with that I mean Eden and Rita, are the only two that have a chance to actually defend Lucinda there. Whatever Lucinda's powers might be, it will be a balanced fight."