James Moore - Subject Seven

He looked at the camera in silence for long enough that Hunter was just reaching to turn off the VCR before he spoke again. “Look in the closet on the top shelf. You’ll find a box. There’s a few surprises in there for you. They’re my sign of good faith. I’ll find out soon enough if you decide to stay.”

After that Joe reached for the camera and the picture dissolved into snow.

It was a lot to absorb. While most of them sat in the same places and thought about that, Tina stood up and rooted around in the closet until she pulled out a shoe box that had seen better days. She sat on the bed and opened it while the others watched.

From inside the box she pulled two stacks of hundred-dollar bills, one box of. 38-caliber bullets and a handful of Polaroid pictures, the sort made with an old-fashioned instant camera.

She read the notes attached to each piece aloud. “Tina, you’ve been busy. Thanks for getting us funds.” She looked at the money for a long moment without saying anything and then set it down. “Kyrie, you’re a good little spy. Thanks for the weapons.” She looked at the pictures for a moment and then showed them around. “Not-Hunter.” The picture was of Joe Bronx. “Not-Tina.” Tina stared long and hard at that one. The girl who looked back at her was completely unfamiliar. Each of them looked at the pictures of their alter egos with a sick fascination and not a little dread.

There was one more surprise in the box, one that was almost overlooked while all of the kids looked at their other halves.

There was an envelope, and inside it was a single sheet of paper. On the paper was a short note written to the woman Joe claimed was responsible for a lot of their woes. There was also a final note from Joe Bronx.

Evelyn Hope

375 Sycamore Crest

Stanhope, IL 41125

Dear Evelyn,

I hope this letter finds you well. Just a quick note to let you know that one of your people might have developed an unhealthy sense of ethics. What we did in the past might not have been completely cleaned up. You should investigate. I think there might be a few loose ends that managed not to get tied up.

One hint: Check into the Stone Harbor Adoption Agency, Stone Harbor, New Jersey. The head administrator’s name might be familiar.

Josh Warburton

The address under Warburton’s name had been scratched out.

The note included another address in Boston. Hunter shoved both papers into his pocket.

Hunter tore the address off of the letter and held it in his hand. The rest of the letter got shoved into a pocket.

“So.” He looked around the room. “Much as I hate it, Joe is right. I don’t have any choice in this. I have to go after this lady and get answers. The rest of you, you at least know where you’re supposed to be, who you’re supposed to be. So I can’t decide for you.”

He sat down for a moment and waited.

Cody said, “Yeah, well, I go home right now and the only thing I have to look forward to is about twenty years of being grounded and a lot of time talking to shrinks.”

Gene snorted. “Think you might be exaggerating there?”

Cody shook his head. “No. You don’t know my parents. Seriously, I’ve already been to two shrinks because of the whole jail incident.”

Kyrie spoke up. “I want to go home. I do. But I can’t go there if somebody might hurt my family. Especially if she’s that somebody.” She held up the photo of her other self, a tall, muscular girl who was more handsome than pretty and looked like the sort who would break the bones of anyone who got stupid with her. “We need to find out if there’s a cure for this, and if this Hope woman has the answers, that’s who we have to talk to.”

Gene looked from one person to the next. “Look, all I know is somebody blew up the last building we were at. I think maybe the same people who work for Evelyn Hope. I don’t really want to get blown up.”

Tina snorted out a harsh laugh. “Where you gonna go, bright boy?” Her eyes glittered darkly as she stared at him. Every gesture she made bordered on being a challenge and the sneer she threw at him was pure contempt. “You want to run home to mommy and daddy and ask them to make it all better? Whoever is after us blew up a building! You think they’ll be nicer if your folks are in the way?”

Gene stared hard at her. “For all we know, those things we become are what blew up the building-what then, Tina?”

She pointed a finger at him like it was a knife and she was in the mood for murder. “Then like Kyrie said, we better find a cure first. Because I don’t think that thing you became gives a rat’s ass about your family.” She looked down and then toward the far wall. Her voice was strained when she spoke again. “I don’t think we can trust them. They’re dangerous. You want to let a killer in with your family?”

Gene thought about his uncle Robbie and once again felt that brief satisfaction in knowing what had happened to the man. Guilt and dread crushed that feeling quickly.

“Okay, so we check this out first. One more lead.” He licked his lips. He wanted this done. What if his other half decided the family needed to get slapped around the same way it had beat the hell out of Robbie? How could he live with himself if he hurt his sister, Trish?

“So let’s do this.” Hunter stood up, not letting himself think about what might be waiting on the other end of the road they were about to travel.

“How are we gonna get there?” Cody’s voice held the same wavering uncertainty it always held. Hunter thought about the boy’s Hyde, the giant that had come out of the scrawny kid, and wondered if they all changed that much, got that big. He didn’t think so. He hoped not.

Tina pointed to the money with her chin. “Guess we take a cab.”

They were on their way five minutes later.

When they pulled up in front of the small office building, Tina reached into her jeans and pulled out sixty dollars to pay the man. The bill was only forty-seven dollars, but she told the man to keep the difference.

The offices they were looking for were on the third floor. Or at least they were supposed to be on the third floor. What they found when they stepped off the elevator instead of a lot of activity was another empty office. This time the people leaving had been hasty. There were still desks and chairs and filing cabinets, but the drawers all looked to be emptied. Every knickknack and personal item had been yanked, but the walls had notices and calendars, the occasional cartoon strip taped in place.

Hunter started moving from desk to desk, seeking anything that could help them find Evelyn Hope or anyone else who supposedly worked at the Janus Mask offices.

After the third desk provided nothing, he started to lose his temper. He slammed drawers shut and cursed under his breath, his eyes rolling almost madly in his skull.

“Dude, calm down.” Cody barely had the words out of his mouth before he was recoiling from the look Hunter shot his way.

“I can’t calm down!” Hunter’s voice echoed through the nearly empty area. “I can’t calm down! I need to find this stupid bitch and get this done! I want my family back! I want my life back!”

Kyrie opened her mouth to say something, but Hunter shook his head. “No! You don’t get it! This might be new to you, but I’ve been stuck for the last five months! I can’t get away from Joe Bronx! I can’t get away from any of this and I can’t deal with it anymore!” He was starting to hyperventilate, his breaths coming in short, fast gasps. His teeth were clenched and he looked almost as menacing as Joe in that moment.

“Nobody move!” The voice came from the elevators and all of them turned at the same time to look at the police officers standing there. The Boston Police Department had sent at least four officers, all of whom looked like they ate convicts for breakfast and spit out the bones when lunch-time came around.