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With the FBI gone, I find myself still at Andrew’s palatial condo.
I’d removed the memory of me and Kingsley appearing and disappearing on the security footage, and also commanded one of their tech guys to delete the footage, as well. I trusted Agent Lindsey Aeon with our secrets. Heck, what were a few more?
“Sam, again, I’m sorry,” Andrew was saying. “I had to give them something.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I say. Tammy and Anthony are playing a 4D video game in Andrew’s living room, ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing.’ In the 4D version, both my kids can seemingly join the battle, which appears projected above the floor before them. Yeah, pretty cool. Guess that’s what a billion bucks buys you. Meanwhile, Paxton is with her Aunt Mary Lou, slumming it with a Nintendo.
“So what’s the game plan, Sammy?” asks Allison.
“I can teleport to the yacht,” I say, the memory of it in the marina security footage still fresh in my memory. “Once on board, I’ll find Norm, subdue him, and bring him...” I look at Andrew, “...back here or back to your Fullerton office?”
“Ideally, straight into surgery, Sam. I’ll show you a picture of the surgical room, if that helps?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Sam,” says Kingsley. “He might have that whole damn yacht booby-trapped by now, and once you arrive— kablooie! —the whole thing explodes, including my little nugget.”
“Nugget?” I say, raising an eyebrow.
“Thought I would try it out.”
“Me likey,” I say.
“Oh, goodie.”
“Gag,” says Tammy.
“He’s right, Sam,” says Allison. “This could be another trap. We can’t put it beyond him. For all we know, he’s already abandoned the ship and is currently racing back to shore on that powerboat of his.”
“But,” I say, “would he believe I can teleport to a moving object? In this case, a yacht?”
“He could just weigh anchor,” says Allison. “And can you teleport to a moving object?”
“I can,” I say. “I think.”
“He would have considered all options,” says Andrew. “And we don’t know what he concluded. He’s probably all too aware that you saw footage of the stolen yacht and could find him. Next, like Allison suggested, he would likely cut the engine to guarantee your arrival. And yeah, there’s a high likelihood he’s waiting for you with some surprises. But, I think it’s less likely that he could have acquired enough explosives to cause the kind of damage Kingsley is suggesting. Maybe enough to hamper the yacht, but not blow it to smithereens.”
“So, if there is a trap, it may not be fatal,” says Allie.
“Unless he has a small army of archers on board, each with their own silver-tipped arrows,” says Anthony randomly from the living room.
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” I mumble.
“You got a suit of armor in this place?” asks Allison.
I shake my head. “Wouldn’t help. I would just teleport right out of it.”
“Then why don’t you teleport out of your clothing?”
I shrug. “I don’t make the rules, remember?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“That said, I do have an idea,” I say. “Tammy, hun, can you come here?”
She snaps her head around while a 4-D Chinese dragon undulates around her ankles. She carefully steps away and comes over to where we’re standing around a table. “Yeah, Ma?”
“You want to help me catch this guy?”
“Hey, I want to help, too!” shouts Ant from the living room, tumbling to his side, then coming up in a full run, skidding to a stop next to me. “Fire Warrior at your service!”
“Actually, kiddo, I’m looking for something a little more subtle.”
Tammy nods, winking at me. “I got you, Ma. Let’s do this.”