J A X O N

We all sat in the room, combing through articles and newspapers in our search for the masked assassin's next target. We were searching for any clue as to who he'd want to kill now. Other than us, of course.

I glanced up as Hunt, who'd been sitting at the table going through news articles on his phone, excused himself from the room to take a phone call.

He'd been surprisingly helpful lately and it made me wonder. Had his heart suddenly turned to gold overnight or did he want something in return? I wanted to believe that he could do something out of the good of his heart, but I wasn't sure if that was the case.

Letting out a breath, I turned my attention back to the newspaper articles piled on my lap. I obviously had not found anything helpful and it made me angry. I felt like I should be doing something to help and I hated that I couldn't. My hands itched for the tools I kept in the toolbox in my room. I wanted to work more on the new weapons I'd been designing recently. I wanted to be useful.

One of the articles caught my eye as I rifled through them. I pulled it out of the pile and scanned the page until I found the words that had caught my eye in the first place.

Sherman Penitentiary.

An upstate prison that was infamous for the dangerous criminals it housed.

It also housed an unfortunate part of my life.

The police were everywhere. Red and blue lights were burned onto the backs of my eyelids. Sirens faded to the background.

I met the gaze of eyes identical to my own. All my life, I'd gotten compliments on my light blue eyes. People had praised me for it. Little did they know, I'd inherited them from my father.

My father and I were pushed apart by the police. Despite his part in the situation, his face was still set in firm disapproval. The lines of his face creased deeper as he looked at me.

It was the last time I'd seen him.

I inserted the article into the middle of the pile, not wanting to see it anymore. That time of my life was over.

Hunt walked back into the room, pushing his phone into his pocket. He walked into the center of the room, looking like he had something to say to us.

"I might have something," the director announced, making all the eyes in the room lay on him in expectance.

"Did you all hear about senator Steve Harding?" he asked. Had he been killed by Imperium?

"No, what did he do?" Riley asked curiously, always one for gossip.

"He got caught in a massive scandal a few days ago for getting accused of tax fraud and paying off the authorities."

"Interesting," I said, also loving gossip.

"What does this have to do with Imperium?" Gigi asked.

"I'm getting to that," Hunt insisted and went on. "He was going to have a very public press conference and an apology speech today. There was a lot of publicity for it. However, it was moved back two days and is now being held in Boston instead of Providence."

"That is suspicious," Finn said. "Do you think that someone was paid off to change the venue because he's the next target?"

"I'm not sure," the director admitted, "But it's worth investigating."

Delphinium stood up. "Then let's go. They should be setting up the place now. We can speak with whoever the event organizer is."

Hunt was quiet for a moment as he debated the idea. "Fine," he said, getting to his feet. "I can have the plane ready for when we arrive. Let's get to the car."

Everyone began to follow him out of the room, but Gigi called in a slightly timid voice, "Mr. Hunt?"

He turned, surprised. "Yes?"

She hesitated for a moment. "My mother's funeral is in two days. Do you mind if I leave to go there instead?"

"Yes, of course you can go," Hunt allowed. His face fell slightly, remembering what had happened to Gigi's mother. "I'll have a driver come to take you to the airport."

She nodded and her braids fell forward over her face. She was trying to hide her sadness.

I gave her a smile as we left.

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We walked down the sidewalk in Boston. I'd assumed that because Hunt was so powerful that we'd drive inside a fancy car, but he insisted that the place the conference was going to be held was only a few blocks away. I didn't mind much, but the heat was beginning to get to me.

Jake walked a few steps away from me, looking cold as always. I wished I could have a bit of his chilliness as I pushed my hair away from my sweaty forehead.

We turned another busy street corner. "There it is," Delphinium said, gesturing to a massive plaza down the road. I saw a podium being built and hundreds of chairs being set out. It was clearly going to be a large event.

"Do we just...walk right in?" Finn asked hesitantly.

Arlo, who was already pushing past the roped-off area, said, "Sure, why not?" He held it up once he was on the other side for Delphinium to duck under.

I shrugged, saying, "I guess I'm already a criminal," as I followed them. The rest of the group strode in behind us.

For a while, we strode through the area, dodging construction workers building the podium and workers setting out the rows of chairs. There was no sign of any overseer of the operation. Not a single person questioned why we were there; they just continued on with their work. I hoped they were getting paid well for their dedication.

Finally, Hunt approached a worker carrying a chair. "I'm Damien Hunt of the U.S. government, here to speak with the event organizer. Where can I find them?"

The woman looked daunted by Hunt's presence once she'd learned who he was. "He should be back there helping set up the sound system." She pointed past the podium. "He's the only one here wearing a suit."

Following her directions, we went to the back of the operation. Sure enough, as she'd said, there was a man in a suit speaking with two other workers.

One of the workers glanced over at the group of us approaching and pointed. The other two turned. When the suited man realized that we were coming to talk to him, he muttered something quickly to the other two and with long, striding steps, began walking away.

I narrowed my eyes at his retreating back. That was suspicious activity if I'd ever seen it.

Delphinium began to march after him and I followed. I'd be damned if he got away without a fight. He clearly had something to hide and I knew that Delphinium and I alone would be able to get it out of him.

When he noticed us approaching, the man broke into a jog. I heard footfalls behind me as the others joined in us in pursuit.

"Get down!" Delphinium yelled, brandishing her knife as she ran. The man did not comply; he turned the corner and went out of view.

I could see that using force might be the only way he'd go down. Still running, I shrugged off the ragged backpack I always wore. My hand touched the invention I was searching for and I pulled it out: a taser gun of my own design.

We approached the corner. Because of the fence surrounding the area, he should be trapped.

I whipped around the edge of the building and pulled the trigger. The wires shot out and hit only the metal fence, for the man had disappeared.

"Damn him," I cursed under my breath and turned to Delphinium, who was equally surprised. "He climbed the fence."

Her eyes dropped to my weapon. "You were going to tase him?"

"Yeah, I was." I saw the apprehensive look on her face and remembered the story she'd told us of how she'd been brought to the ONNT. "Don't worry, Delph. I'm a good shot."

"If only he'd been here for you to shoot," she replied, glancing back at the empty space.

"We need to be here for the senator's speech," Riley said, her hand on her hip.

"Something bad is definitely going to happen here in two days," Delphinium said, turning to the gathered group. "And we need to stop it before things get any worse."