“We’re agreed, then?” Alison looked at Alexa for confirmation. She still felt her sister wasn’t completely on board with the plan.
“Yes,” Alexa said hesitantly.
“What’s your concern?”
“What if this really is Mom’s target? I don’t think that killing him would be part of the plan. He would just be playing a part.”
“We’ve discussed that. Mom wouldn’t deliberately add drugs to the mix. Real drugs. I think we’ve completely missed her training mission.” Alison smiled. “I think she’s probably going crazy right now, wondering what happened to us. I’m sure all her players have checked in and told her we haven’t been seen.”
Alexa laughed slightly. “I’m sure you’re right. But it does beg the question, how did we get so off track?”
“Her target was probably behind the one we focused on. Hadn’t arrived on the scene yet. We were already gone and into this whole mess before they’d even started their role playing.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I know I am,” Alison said it confidently although privately, she had a few doubts as well.
Alexa checked the time. “We should probably head towards the park. We don’t want to get there too early and be conspicuous, but we don’t want the thing to be in full swing. We might miss him.”
“Yeah. Let’s go. We need to find the delivery method and scope this place out a bit, anyway.”
The girls left the shop and detoured through several alleys on their way to the park. They watched from a distance as people began to assemble. A few adults stood along the sidelines, away from the main groupings. Alison assumed they were probably parents keeping an eye on their kids. Or perhaps someone from the community who volunteered to be available.
“We’ve been wearing these communication things all day. Let’s double check the batteries.”
Alison fiddled with hers before replacing it. She spoke and waited for Alexa to confirm she was hearing through the device. Alexa gave a thumbs up.
“Okay. Let’s get in position. I’ll wait until you’re fully integrated into one of the groups before moving. Let’s hope this guy shows up early so we can get out of here.”
Alexa nodded and began walking towards the main grouping of kids. As she approached, a couple of boys turned and smiled at her, welcoming her into the group. Alison watched as her sister laughed at something one of them said.
Small lights in the trees and bushes began turning on. Alison realized dusk was falling fast. It wouldn’t be long before this party blossomed into a noisy unorganized mass of people. Keeping her distance from the group, she began making her way towards a large tree that was situated amongst several large bushy plants. Alison hoped none of them had thorns. She figured this was a likely place for the man to conduct business. It was close enough to the action that kids could drift towards it without causing suspicion, yet far enough away that most would be unaware of the transactions occurring.
She had just reached her cover when she heard voices approaching. She couldn’t hear the words, but the conversation was intense. The speaker sounded angry. The voices stopped right next to her. She calmed her breathing and remained still. Her position kept her from seeing who was there.
“What do you mean you don’t have the second package? I saw you pick it up.” The man she’d encountered twice was talking. She recognized his voice.
“I don’t have it! When we left the arcade, I checked my pockets. There was only the one.”
“That girl must have taken it somehow.”
“What girl?”
“The one that bumped into your loser friend and who caused all the ruckus.”
Alison realized they were talking about Alexa. Please don’t remember what she looked like!
“Oh, that one. Nah, I don’t think so. She was just trying to get to the bathroom and wasn’t watching where she was going. Nose stuck in her phone.”
“Do you remember what she looked like? Would you recognize her if you saw her again?”
“Didn’t really look at her.”
“Well if it wasn’t her, then explain why you don’t have both packages. You know what happens to those who hold out on me, right?”
“I’m not holding out! I don’t have it and I don’t know where it is!” Alison heard the fear in the boy’s voice. She felt marginally sorry for him. But she was more relieved that Alexa appeared to be safe.
“You better figure out how you two idiots are going to make up the value of the lost product. I’ll give you a week. That’s it. Now start sending the others over here. Make sure they don’t run into each other coming and going.”
“Yes. Yes sir,” the boy’s voice cracked a bit as he hurried away.
Alison’s leg was starting to cramp. She hadn’t chosen the most comfortable position to maintain, but then again, she hadn’t had much time. She eased her leg straight, being careful not to make noise. She heard the man shift positions and froze. Turning her head, she was just able to see him and realized he was closer than she had earlier thought. That’s good and bad. I don’t have to move as far to reach him, but he might feel me being so close if he has any special awareness of such things.
She slowly withdrew the syringe in her pocket. It had taken awhile, and the search had been dirty and disgusting. But they’d found an intact used syringe in an alley dumpster. They filled half of it by crushing the pills and adding the white powder into it. Filling the rest with water, they shook it until all the powder had dissolved. Alexa worried the mixture wouldn’t be strong enough to do the job. Alison was also worried but had faith that using the full syringe would make up for their lack of knowledge on the ingredients.
Moving as slowly as a sloth she’d seen in a TV nature show, Alison shifted her position until she was situated in a manner that would allow her to literally pounce on the man if he stayed where he was. Please stay where you are, she thought.
She heard someone approaching and calmed her breathing. Hiding in the bushes as she was, took her mentally back to her training at the farm. Except this was real. Not training. She wouldn’t be sent home to write a paper if she was caught. She didn’t want to contemplate what might happen to her if she didn’t make it out. Therefore, she focused only on the mission, pushing all other thoughts away.
It was getting quite dark. The lights in the trees and bushes didn’t extend this far. She smiled grimly, realizing the darkness was her friend. She continued to wait.
The first transaction apparently went smoothly for both parties. Alison counted silently to herself while she waited for the next kid to show. She didn’t know how many kids would be coming over, but she wanted a sense of the time lapse between transactions. She heard the next kid coming. Again, all went smoothly, and again Alison counted.
Her second count was only two off from her first. She readied herself. When the third kid left, she counted to ten, then quickly stood and moved towards the man. He turned just as she was reaching out to stab him with the syringe.
“What the—”
He moved to knock Alison’s hand carrying the syringe away from him, but she had anticipated that and shifted her weight to avoid direct contact. Still, he’d managed to jar her arm almost causing her to lose the syringe. But his movement had put him off balance. Knowing she didn’t have time to engage in a prolonged tussle, Alison kicked out with her foot. She made strong contact with his knee, and he began to collapse forward. As he reached out his hands to catch himself, she leaned in and slammed the needle into his shoulder. Pushing the plunger, she could only hope all of the liquid had been administered, since his forward movement cause the syringe to disengage.
Not waiting to find out, she turned and quickly moved off into the dark. Every fiber of her being cried out to run, but she maintained a fast pace just short of that. She figured a running figure would garner more attention, something she didn’t need right now.
She reached the edge of the park as the alarm was raised. She could hear shouting and glanced over her shoulder. She saw total chaos. She hoped Alexa used that chaos to slip away. Crossing the street, she ducked down an alley. Wiping the syringe, she dropped it and crushed it beneath her foot. Kicking the pieces in several different directions, she hurried to the prearranged meeting place.
“T1, away clean.”
“Roger. Not quite on my end.”
Alison felt a chill when she heard those words. What’s that mean? Did she get held for questioning, or is she simply still in transit?
“Status?”
No response. Alison’s anxiety increased. She was afraid to say more, not knowing what Alexa’s situation was. But the silence was excruciating.
The next twenty minutes equated to two lifetimes for Alison. Just as she was about to circle back to the park, she heard Alexa’s voice in her ear.
“On my way T2. Five minutes max.”
Alison breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the tension ease from her body. Still, her mind was racing with various thoughts. All bad ones. She heard footsteps and moved further into the shadows. The sound of a hoot owl signaled Alexa’s approach. Alison stepped out.
“Here,” she said in a loud whisper.
Alexa joined her. Alison looked her over quickly, satisfying herself there were no injuries.
“Let’s go. We’ll talk later.”
They hurried down the street, then seeing a city bus, ran for the stop and arrived just in time to get aboard. Asking what the fare was, they dropped coins in the collection box and made their way to the back.
“You good?” Alison asked quietly.
“Yes. You?”
“Yes.”
“Any idea where this bus goes?”
“No clue. We’ll stay on it for a few blocks, then make our way back to the hotel.”
They sat in silence. The bus turned down the same street that bordered the park. Flashing lights of medical first responders and police bounced off the trees and buildings. The scene was a mess of backed up traffic and people milling about. Alison saw a news truck.
“Make yourself comfortable, folks. We may be a while,” the bus driver called out. “Don’t know what’s going on, but it looks major. Hopefully they’ll get things moving soon.”
The girls slid down in their seats but kept watch on the activities outside their window. They saw the medics wheeling a stretcher towards the ambulance. The body on top of it was fully covered in a sheet. They exchanged glances.
“Why are they using an ambulance? If he’s dead, wouldn’t they put him in a coroner’s van or something?” Alexa whispered.
“I don’t know. Maybe each city does things differently.” Alison whispered back.
“But if the body is fully covered, that usually means death, right?”
“Yes. I think so.”
Alison reached in her back pocket and pulled out her phone. She saw that she’d missed several texts from her mother. She showed the screen to Alexa.
“Uh-oh. We’re in for it,” Alexa said. She reached for her own phone and saw a similar display.
“I’ll answer her. You see if you can find any breaking news about this on the internet. That might answer some of our questions.”
As they began tapping on their phones, the bus jerked into motion. Both looked up and realized they were being directed out of the area by a traffic cop.
“Let’s stay on this thing a little longer than originally planned,” Alison murmured as she responded to yet another text from her mom.
“Agreed.”