“You know I’ve never seen her so excited before,” Echo stumbled forward as Roxie pulled and adjusted the sunglasses on her face. She looked back at Feint, making a face as she laughed at her.
“She’s cooped up on the top floor of the apartment all day,” Feint checked her phone and pointed. “Turn up here.”
As if Roxie was taking the commands this time she shifted down the street and moved toward the park. She bounded forward and then stopped and stared at the three of them her tail wagging. “I swear she’s like Yu on a good day.” Shade said walking over and rubbing her head.
“Maybe that’s why they don’t get along. They’re way too alike,” Feint suggested.
“Yumi’s just won’t show that she actually likes her,” Echo winked and moved faster to catch up to the dog. Crouching she grabbed Roxie’s face with both hands shaking it lightly. “Yumi hangs out with you at night doesn’t she Roxie? And you love her lots n lots. I know you do!”
Roxie barked licking at her face before breaking out of her grasp and darting toward a bench. Sniffing around in circles Echo talked to Roxie the entire way. Meanwhile Shade and Feint walked past, following the path of the park.
“It’s great not having to wear a damn jacket,” Shade raised his arms to the sky just wearing a long sleeved shirt and a baseball cap.
“Tell me about it,” Feint rubbed her arms feeling a breeze but sighed trying to relax in it.
“It feels weird. Not being up there at night,” Shade motioned toward the skyline.
“You didn’t used to be up there with us all the time?” Feint raised her eyebrow.
Shade laughed, “No way. I was a street level kid. Dropped out of school, got picked up by the Vanguard. Was a runner for a long time. Had my blocks to hit almost every day. Made sure people sold their supply and that my boss wasn’t getting short changed. I was good at the job.”
Shade shrugged his shoulders, “Every month someone got nominated to become an enforcer. Get a raise. A raise came with a shot of Enhance some powers.”
“You mean you took Enhance as a roll of dice?”
“I was like eighteen. Only saw what I could get. Not what could happen if it went wrong. And I got really lucky. After that I did a lot of things that I’d rather not get into. Let’s just say that young DJ with powers wasn’t a good guy. In any regard.” Staring at the ground for a long while he looked back up to the sky.
“Anyway. Even old me drew the line somewhere. Selling people. Selling kids. I did what I could to free some people and then got the fuck out. Changed my name, tried the freelance route for a bit. Away from the city. That’s when Darren found me. Working for them paid way better and was way easier on my conscious. You know the rest. Met you guys, did some jobs. Made friends and here we are.”
“That’s a big resume.”
“Yeah it is. But you live and learn,” he shrugged. He looked out toward the street and stared at a corner, watching someone with their hands deep in their pockets and looking down. “Wish I knew who the other gang on the streets are.”
“You really think Dusk is a part of another group?” Feint asked.
“I know he is. Guy was always shit talking Rook when he got the chance,” Shade smirked. “Trust me. With the Vanguard looking weak he’s looking to take what they had. Part of me wants to go digging through my old contacts just to see what they know. No way all of them are in the dark about it.”
“Then do it. Poke around and get intel. Darren doesn’t exactly look like the kind to know the streets.”
“Thought leader wanted us to lay low.”
“He does. But he also knows to trust his team. He’s just over protective.”
Shade laughed, “I’d take an over protective leader than my last boss. I’ll let some of my old friends to do some digging. Should have something to go through tonight. Start my own side project.” He pulled out his phone and already started sending out a few text messages.
“No fair. I want a side project too,” Echo said walking over to the two of them Roxie padding along. “Also Roxie wants a treat. Pretty sure she deserves a treat.”
“Do you want a treat Roxie?” Feint dropped down and she padded over again happily and sat wagging her tail. “But the real question is, can you shake?” She held out her hand and Roxie sniffed it confused and looked at her. “Come on we taught you this one.”
Roxie tilted her head and licked her hand. Shade chuckled, “She might need a bit more work.”
“I can see that,” Feint reached into her back pocket and picked out the square dog treat. She held it out and Roxie lunged picking it out of her hand crunching away.
“Speaking of side projects, how’s that new grapple glove thing you and Darren are doing? I want a shot with it.”
“It’s going. Almost ready for the round 2 of test. Just need to find a time and place where we can do it safely. Darren’s looking into it.”
Roxie’s ears perked and she sniffed at the air. She took a hesitant step and started sprinting forward catching Echo off guard. She stumbled forward as the dog pulled her along. Feint and Shade watched her and laughed following them albeit slower. The dog continued to sprint forward and Echo had to pull hard to get her under control.
“Jeez Roxie what’s gotten into you?” Echo said scowling but the dog was barking in front of her. She squinted and could feel another person was near her. Going down she traced the leash and pulled at Roxie’s collar who finally stopped barking. Adjusting the glasses on her face she lowered her head. “Sorry about that. She didn’t mean to bother you.”
“It’s fine. Not her fault,” he said and Echo froze on the spot. She stared at the direction of the speaker and not for the first time wished that she could see. “I shouldn’t hang around here though. Things to do. Someone to meet. Though I think I’ll be seeing you and your friends soon 144. Always wanted to meet the famous thieves.”
“What?” she said quickly as his words registered. He walked away and she reached out toward him but her hand hit the air. “Hey wait.” She almost shouted it but he didn’t stop or slow down. She turned around and looked in the direction of Shade and Feint. Her face must have been some kind of panic because they rushed over to her.
“Are you okay?” Feint asked squeezing her shoulder lightly. “What happened?”
“Did you see him?” she asked quickly and looked back over her shoulder.
“See who?” Shade asked looking in the same direction and she piggy backed off his head and he only saw the trees, a few people moving around the park but the man that she’d run into wasn’t among them. She looked back and forth and her distress didn’t get better. “Echo what happened.”
“I don’t know. Roxie ran directly to some guy. As if she knew him. I tried to apologize to him and I heard his voice and.” She grasped at the words waving her hand. “He sounded exactly like Phase,” she said and both of them started shocked. “He sounded exactly like him. And you know I, I know voices. So, I tried to read his mind to see what was going on and I couldn’t. It was like hitting a wall. A blank wall.”
Feint looked around the park but no one looked out of the ordinary and asking what he looked like wasn’t going to get them anywhere, “What did he say?” she asked.
“He said he’d see us soon. And he seemed like he knew who we were. As thieves,” Echo took a slow breath and looked at Feint this time. “And he called me 144.”
“What?” she gasped and stepped forward but stopped. She looked at the park again, looked closer this time for anyone that looked familiar. That looked like Phase, someone that she knew intimately, but she couldn’t see anyone else. “We need to get back home. Now.”
They backed off leading Roxie with them. She moved without complaint, sensing the tension in the air. They walked the few dozen blocks and got in through the front door. A pair of women were sitting in the lobby, glanced at them and quickly went back to their phones and magazines.
They took the elevator back up to their floor with a soft ding. As they were coming back the door clicked open and Phase paused looking at the three of them. Roxie bounded forward while the others stared at him. “What’s up guys? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”
“Not a ghost,” Echo walked over to him and touched his head. She closed her eyes and he frowned looking over to Feint who just nodded quickly. He sat still as Echo leaned her head back and took a slow breath. “Where were you about to go?”
“Just doing some grocery shopping,” he pointed back with his thumb. “My turn on the chore wheel.”
“Green greens?” Echo asked and he nodded. She nodded back then looked at the apartment frowning hard. “Where’s Rogue and Yumi?”
“Rogue’s doing errands for Darren. Needs a few more pieces for the new gadget. “Yumi’s still at the shelter doing work.” His eyes narrowed as he looked at them. “Seriously what’s going on? Did something happen?”
Feint motioned to Echo and she finally nodded, “We ran into someone. At the park. He. He was you. He sounded exactly like you and even Roxie recognized him. That’s even the only reason that I ran into him. And he knew who I was. Knew who we are. Said that he’d see us soon.”
“What?” Phase “Great. Okay so let me it straight. I have a doppelganger running around out there and he’s going to what? Come find us or something?”
“Who knows,” Shade sighed. “Never a dull moment with us. What do you want to do?”
“Feint, talk to Darren. Tell them what you told me. See if you guys can find some more information about my clone. Echo call Rogue and tell him to meet up with Yumi. Shade, come with me. We’ll run my errands and meet up with them and then we’ll all get back here in one piece.”
“Alright leader,” Echo nodded.
“Be careful Phase,” Feint kissed his cheek and then went inside with Roxie.
“Back out we go,” Shade said letting Phase take point. Rather than go through the elevator they went back inside, hit the balcony and took off the old fashioned way. It was still midafternoon but no one would take notice of a couple of shapes using the roof tops like their own personal obstacle course.
“Hey leader since we’re together might as well tell you about my new project,” Shade said as they jumped together the wind almost snatching his words away.
“What?” Phase looked his way and they jumped again. He took the lead flipping forward as Shade flew over his head.
“I said!” he started to shout but shook his head and pointed toward the ground. Phase nodded and they slid toward an alley. Dropping down to ground level they peaked out and joined the people on the sidewalk. They walked to the corner and waited for the light to change. “Anyway, I was talking to Feint before all of this new stuff happened. I’m going to look into Dusk and his friends.”
“The guys that were going to work with G?” Phase asked.
“Yeah. If anything like that’s popping off behind the scenes I’ll definitely have at least one guy who knows what’s going on. I can at least have something get started.”
Phase made a face as he looked at him, took a breath and nodded. “Alright. Work your contacts. See if they’re still going to be working with G. And don’t make any moves on your own. I’m getting the feeling that the moment one of us is on their own we’re going to be in trouble.”
“Yeah. I’ll grab someone before I go out.”
They crossed the street and walked about a couple of blocks ahead to the grocery store. A decently sized local place that they tried to make a point to shop at. At least Echo made a point for them to shop there consistently. The six of them ate so much that usually someone had to go grocery shopping twice a week. His turn this time.
Pulling out his phone he cycled through it to find a list. More like a spread sheet from a shared google document. Shade did the same and pointed, “I’ll do the bottom half you do the top?”
“Yeah. Meet in the middle.”
Shade split off going down toward frozen food looking at the list. He picked up a basket and slung it over his arm as he went over the mental list, especially after the last few meals they’d eaten together. Frozen vegetables had to be done individually. The mix that was in the stores never hit the right spot. Carrots, broccoli, green beans, corn, the works.
“DJ. Is that you?”
Shade stared at a shorter man, tight braids in his hair, dark skin, lower half of his face covered by fuzzy hair. He was wearing a vest over a long sleeve shirt and a gold cross around his neck. He looked at Shade and approached raising his hand. Shade gripped it clapping him on the back. “Man I ain’t seen you in years DJ. You just dropped off the fucking map one day.”
“Yeah well things happened. Had to get some things set straight,” Shade shrugged. “What about you 2×4. You still hanging in there.”
“Yeah you know how it is man. Making an honest living after being in the game ain’t easy. Especially with a kid.”
“How is the little brat,” Shade grinned and 2×4 laughed.
“Evolved into a full-blown Diva. She’s going on ten.”
“Is she really? Damn she was like a speck last time I remember.”
His face lit up a bit and he puffed out his chest, “Yeah she’s something special.” He laughed. “And she’s now a big sister.”
“No kidding?”
“Yeah. Little boy. Barely a year old now.”
Shade pat him on the back lightly and smiled, “Hey man congrats. I mean that.”
“Thanks man. So what are you doing out here? This is way off the beaten path from old man Kingsley’s gas station.”
“You go that right,” he grinned. “One of my roommates likes it. Only place she’ll let us shop. Gotta support a local business, right?”
“That’s what’s up,” but his face turned to a harder frown. “I got your text. And I’ve been keeping out of things as much as I can, but you know the streets talk. Hard not to hear something after a while.”
They walked together moving on from frozen vegetables to meat. Ground beef and steak. 2×4 picked up a ham turning it in his hand slowly. “Vanguard have been fucked up since Rook bit the bullet. About six months ago another group started coming along. Taking over Vanguard territory. It was small at first here and there but you heard about that big shooting around New Years?”
“Yeah. Down by the lake. Some innocent people got killed. Thought it was some kids getting into a fight. Nothing more than that.”
“That’s what the news thought too. But it was an initiation for the new group. Out with the old in with the new.”
“Who the hell are these guys?”
“They’re calling themselves the N Kings.”
“N Kings?” Shade repeated.
2×4 nodded, “Nigga Kings. N Kings for short.”
“Oh for fucks sake,” Shade put a hand to his face. “You know anything else about them?”
“Nothing more than that. Been keeping as much distance from them as I can. Don’t want no part in any of this.”
“Hey you’re telling me more than I knew five minutes ago. So I appreciate that much,” Shade reached for a few of the packages of ground beef and dropped them into the basket.
“Why you looking into them? Thought you were out of the game,” 2×4 said as they walked together and Shade nodded.
“I am out. Of our game at least. But the game period? Sometimes you get dragged back into things. But things are going to get dangerous on the streets. Real soon.” They met each other’s eyes again and 2×4 nodded quickly. “You’ve got kids now. Be careful when moving around.”
“First that building comes crashing down and now a gang war gonna break out. Cities going crazy,” he sighed but looked at Shade. “Dunno how you’re involved but be careful man. Don’t get yourself killed.”
“Hey that’s the plan. Good seeing you.”
They clasped hands and embraced and went their separate ways. Actually, following the list of things, he was supposed to get Shade met Phase in an aisle with cereal and granola bars. “Who was that guy?” he asked glancing around the aisle.
“Old friend from my Vanguard days. Happy accident that I met him here. But I’m glad I got to meet him. He knows a lot more about what’s going on with Dusk. I’ll tell you more about when we get back home.” He paused and checked his phone and saw a few more text messages and smirked. “Hey Phase. What are you doing tonight?”
The Harlequin Library 