Chapter Eighteen

Watchers

 

Not only was Ella at a disadvantage with her studies due to her lack of education and poor grasp of English, she was also far behind most of her classmates when it came to the physical aspects of her training. The girl was also small of stature and strength. Her health was delicate from a lifetime of malnourishment. She lost every single sparring match when she played by the rules. She was also the worst shot with a gun I had ever seen.

Most of her peers had at minimum some level of military or combat training. Ella learned by surviving on the streets. That did not translate well into the classroom. Lacking the physical and intellectual tools, Ella’s opportunities at the Academy were rapidly diminishing. That was not even considering the most important tool of all, which she of course lacked as well.

 

“What did she say?” said Josie through the earpiece. “Did she just say Roen Tan? Who is Roen… oh crap. That Roen? He’s here? Where?”

Roen Tan, currently undercover as Makita Takeshi on an off-book mission (sanctioned by his wife, until recently the Keeper of the Prophus) to the opposite end of the world to find and protect Ella Patel, sighed. He had a pretty terrible track record when it came to maintaining his cover. This time was no exception. He closed the sliding door behind him. “I guess we can skip the introductions. Why don’t we all have a seat? I’ll grab some beers. We’ll put our feet up and all have a nice chat.”

Ella continued to stare at him. “You look awful. What happened?”

“It’s called getting old and retiring. Something you’ll have the pleasure of not having to deal with if you keep up the stupid stuff you’ve been pulling.”

“What happened to all your hair?”

“It kept falling out, so I shaved it.”

“You don’t look very good bald. Your head is lumpy.”

Roen pointed at a cluster of chairs. “Thanks for that. Why don’t we sit down so you can tell me more about my ugly head.”

Ella whirled on Nabin. “This is talking in private? You bring the Prophus boss?”

“I was never the boss,” said Roen. “I’m also retired, so I’m not anything really.”

“I’m retired too,” she spat. “So I’m leaving. You two can have your stupid Prophus talk by yourselves.”

For a moment, Roen considered letting her go. Nabin obviously couldn’t even get the girl to have a conversation, let alone convince her to come with them. Roen had a feeling that if he did let her go, it could be the last time they ever saw her, and he couldn’t let that happen. But what was he going to do? Kidnap her and smuggle her to Greenland? That was probably the right call, but Roen didn’t sign up for this supposed vacation to kidnap little girls. Besides, he was pretty sure Jill wouldn’t approve.

Damn Cameron and his “Dad, I can tell you’re bored. Want to do me a favor? You’ll get to go on vacation. To Australia!” And damn Jill and her “you should go. You need to get out of the house anyway. Every time I get on a video call with you, you look like a hobo who hasn’t showered in weeks.” His wife’s assessment wasn’t exactly inaccurate.

Roen continued to block the exit as Ella tried to push past him. “Ella, at least hear what we have to say. If you don’t owe it to Nabin, you at least owe it to Cameron.”

She scowled. Roen could tell Io was talking up a storm to her. The girl hadn’t learned to mask her internal conversations. Still, she hadn’t tried to flee or knife him yet. The Quasing must have convinced her to at least listen to what he had to say.

Ella shook her head. “No, I have nothing to say to any of you.” When Roen didn’t budge, she reached for her knife. “Don’t tempt me, old man.”

Roen rolled his eyes. “What are you going to do, draw your blade? Try to cut me? Sure.” He crossed his arms to prove his point. He added, a little bitterly, “And I’m not that old.”

Ella drew her blade. She tried to cut him.

The girl was fast, but years of experience and dumb luck had kept most of Roen’s blood in his body. Also, her heart probably wasn’t really into eviscerating him.

Roen backpedaled to avoid a slice to the gut. As soon as the blade cleared, he scooted back toward her and gave her a little hip check, bouncing her off balance. He grabbed her wrist and looped an arm around her neck, then spun her around into a rear naked neck choke. She yelped and squirmed, but Roen held on.

“Now,” he continued. “The Prophus aren’t in the business of kidnapping, so I’m going to let you go, but not before you hear what we have to say. Do we have a deal?”

“Sir,” said Nabin, approaching. “I would move my arm if I were you. Ella has a habit of–”

Ella opened her chompers and tried to take a chunk out of his arm. Roen let out a sharp cry and loosened his grip. Another blade materialized in her hand – she had gotten quite good with them – and she slashed horizontally, narrowly missing his carotid artery. She wasn’t messing around this time. That was a killing blow.

Roen caught her return swing and twisted the blade out of her hand. “Look, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the fun way.”

He was about to drag her down to the ground when something semi-hard struck him in the back of the head. Roen pitched and tumbled forward. It was not a graceful landing. He missed catching his fall and ended up face-planting on the bamboo floor. He found himself sprawled with his hands and legs spread out. He rolled onto his back to retaliate against his assailant and stopped. It was a kid, barely a teenager.

He stared at the weapon that struck him. “Did you just hit me with your tennis racket?”

“Racquetball,” the kid snarled. He leveled the racket at Roen with conviction. “You leave Bosu alone.”

The room became uncomfortably packed as several more kids filed in, all wielding assorted sports equipment.

“What the hell is this?” he sputtered. “Gym class?”

“Wait,” yelled Ella. “Stop it, you guys!”

It was too late. Both sides appeared to have lost control of the situation. One kid, the smallest in the group, pulled out a butcher knife and charged Nabin. Nabin looked more bemused than threatened as he yanked the knife out of the boy’s hand mid-swing and then flicked the kid across the side of the head with a finger as if he were testing a melon’s ripeness.

Roen jumped back to his feet and stared down a young man charging at him with a lead pipe.

“Here, sir.” Nabin tossed Roen the butcher knife.

“Thanks.” Roen gently lobbed it at the onrushing teenager, sending it flying in a high graceful spinning arc. “Catch.”

The young man’s eyes widened at the throw. He stopped dead in his tracks and actually tried to catch it, juggling both the butcher knife and lead pipe. Roen was in his face a moment later. Distracted, he grabbed the guy’s shirt, pulled him sideways, and then yanked hard in the other direction to send him flying off his feet.

The boy with the racket charged him. Roen waited until the last moment, then stepped to the side and stuck his foot out. The boy continued running right past him and went flying into the opposite wall.

Roen turned to Ella. “Are these jokers with you?”

He never got his answer as a heavy thud to the side of his head sent him crumpling to the ground. Fortunately, whatever hit him was soft, and whoever hit him didn’t hit that hard. It was still hard enough to ring his head. Roen blinked away the ache and looked up to see a girl wielding what looked like a black rubber mallet. The girl grabbed Ella by the wrist and hauled her out of the room.

Ella yelled to her little friends, and the rest of the kids began scurrying out. Roen considered giving chase but thought better of it. There was no way he was going to beat a bunch of teenagers in a footrace. He rubbed the welt growing on the crown of his head. His lumpy head was about to get lumpier. A sigh escaped his body. Roen was getting his butt kicked a lot on this mission. In fact, he couldn’t remember taking so many beatings since he first met Tao.

He clambered to his feet and was immediately shoved aside by that smallest kid, whom he had tripped a few seconds before. Roen teetered, lost his balance, and fell on his rump a second time. He shook his fist after them. “That was unnecessary, you damn kids! Yeah, you keep running. Get out of my…” Roen closed his eyes. He promised he would never say that phrase.

Nabin was at his side a moment later, offering his hand. He hauled Roen to his feet. “Should we go after them, sir?”

He considered their options and decided to test an idea. “I’m not above kidnapping.”

Nabin gave him a look.

Roen sighed. “Fine. As long as she’s not in danger, we can bide our time. She needs to want to come with us. I thought you said you could talk to her.”

“I thought so too. I think Io got in the way. She has always hated my guts.”

Roen put on his earpiece, which had slipped off during the melee. “Are you guys tracking the nerd herd?”

“Yes, sir,” came the chorus of replies.

“Follow them.”

“Which ones?” asked Hekla.

“All of them. Definitely Ella, and the rest if you can. Find out where they live, where they hang out, and where they eat their meals. If we couldn’t catch them this time around, we’ll nab them next time.”

“Copy that.”

“Hey, sir,” said Pedro, his voice breaking. “Did you guys wreck the place?”

Nabin looked around. “No, your family’s summer home is still standing.”

Josie burst into the room a moment later. She stared Roen down and put her hands on her hips. “Makita,” she scowled. “I need to talk to you.”

That was not a request.

“Sure,” he said. “What can I do for you Ms Perkins?”

“Why did that girl call you Roen Tan?”

He shrugged. “Probably because that’s what she knew me by.”

Josie’s face darkened. “You’re the Keeper’s husband.”

“For now,” he quipped. “We’ll see if that remains the case after she finds out what I’ve been up to.”

“You’re a high-profile figure. You’re literally on every Genjix’s kill-on-sight list.”

“Flattery works every time.” Roen offered her a slight bow. “To be fair, that list is a little outdated. After I retired, they moved me to the kill-when-convenient list.”

“And I let you go first to Singapore, a central Genjix territory, and now Tokyo. Do you know how careless and stupid this is?”

“I guess you’re going to tell me.”

“We’re heading back to Australia right now.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Roen pulled out the note with the Keeper’s authority. “Remember, I’m in charge–”

Josie stomped up to him, knocked the tablet out of his hand, and then socked him in the face. For the second time in so many weeks, Roen’s dentures cracked.