Chapter Eight
February 22nd, 12:16 AM
Margot sat in the car, waiting. Watching her phone and its Blue Lynx tracker. Waiting. In a dark parking lot outside of an office building, minutes past midnight. Alone. And waiting.
She sighed.
She loved Erin, and she was willing to do anything to assist in the Blue Lynx's crimefighting mission. It was an honor to be tech support in the war against Brent Hammerson and his goons, even if she didn't quite agree on every detail. (Like, accepting an "interview" from the reporter most obsessed with taking off your mask.)
But on nights like this, where she was just sitting in a car by herself for hours, she thought about the times when she was so much more than the dweeby girl who made Blue Lynx's gadgets. The times when she, Margot, got to be the real hero. The times when the mild-mannered twentysomething became... The Black Bobcat!
Margot smiled and almost blushed just thinking about her silly alter ego. But there was no question that she had helped Erin-- had even saved her life-- several times in the past year.
There was that first time the Blue Lynx was really in a jam, strung up in a barn and unmasked by those horny hillbillies. If Margot hadn't distracted them and fought off Erin's captor, well... The unmasking was the last thing Erin would've had to worry about.
She thought too of the night when she debuted her true Black Bobcat outfit, of that time when Erin was sick, and the Blue Lynx as at the mercy of those frat boys in that gross alley. They were seconds away from taking off her mask, and probably just minutes away from taking off a whole lot more. But then, just when everything was fading to black, in swooped Margot. A few smoke bombs later and the day was saved.
Not every night has been so successful, though. Like when Margot had gone to Todorov's house and turned her back on him. Rookie mistake! She had been knocked out, tied up, stripped down, unmasked. She had never felt less in control than that moment. Thank God Erin had been there to rescue her. And that night when Margot herself had put on the mantle of the Blue Lynx... it seemed like a good idea, but it almost immediately went south. And once again, she had to be bailed out by Erin.
Margot shook her head. As much as she wanted to do something other than, well, what she was doing at that moment, she had to admit that she just wasn't cut out to be a superheroine. She wasn't brave like Erin. She definitely couldn't fight like Erin. And when the going got tough, she just didn't have that special stuff that Erin had.
For Margot, being the Black Bobcat was a lark, a fun game. But for Erin, being the Blue Lynx was something more. Being a superheroine was Erin's life.
Margot looked up from her tracker at the news building. It was impossible to know where Erin was. Her tracker had shown movement, and then a pause-- Margot assumed Erin was being interviewed, in that moment-- and then more small movement. Nothing to be concerned about.
And then, light burst from the windows on the eighth floor.
What was going on in there?
She rolled down her window and stuck her neck out into the cold night air. She could see shadows cut through the eighth floor light. But she couldn't see any people. She couldn't see Erin.
Margot looked back at her phone. The red dot that represented Erin was still.
"Why isn't she moving?" Margot wondered. "Something's happening."
She continued to look at the tracker. Five seconds went by. Ten. Fifteen. Still no movement.
"Do I go in?" Margot thought. "Is this another night for the Black Bobcat?"
Just when Margot was ready to suit up, the red dot moved. It shook slightly, and then traced a slow, straight line. The path of a steady, confident walk.
Margot breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, so she's leaving," she thought. "Thank God."
The red dot paused-- Margot assumed for the elevator-- and then traced another slow, almost perfectly straight line. She was almost out of there.
Margot looked up from the tracker at the building's entrance. Her jaw dropped.
Emerging from the door were three figures. The first was a short old woman-- she couldn't have been more than four and a half feet tall-- covered in tattered rags. The second was a massive man clothed in a black costume-- a ninja of some kind. And the third was Erin, the Blue Lynx, unconscious or dead, draped over the thick arms of the second figure.
"Oh God!" Margot thought. "Erin!"
She looked again at the man in black, and knew immediately that this was the same ninja who had broken Erin's arm. The only man who had ever truly bested the Blue Lynx in combat, and now here he was, cradling Erin like she was nothing more than a child.
"Shit, shit," Margot thought. "What do I do? What do I do?"
She didn't even know if Erin was alive.
Margot's mind raced to come up with a plan. She's drive the car over, jump out, take Erin, and...
But then, another car seemed to drive out of nowhere. A black van shot through the parking lot and came to an abrupt stop in front of the building. Squinting her eyes, Margot could see the broad outline of the driver. It was a woman, a white woman with bleached blonde hair...
Margot gulped. She knew who it was.
The old woman and the ninja walked to the back of the van and opened its doors. They jumped into the back, Blue Lynx in tow, and slammed the doors behind them.
The van accelerated.
Margot turned around and ignited her car. She would follow them. She had to.
It wouldn't be hard as long as Erin's tracker stayed on. She wouldn't even have to tail them. She just had to be close enough to keep the red dot glowing.
Adrenaline pumped through her body.
She'd follow them. She'd find Erin. And then, she'd save the day.
But how?
She put the car in drive and left the parking lot.
How could she possibly win, this time? She could take on the old woman, surely. But Sunny? And that ninja?
And where were they going, anyway? Would she even be able to infiltrate wherever they ended up? Would there be even more thugs to deal with? Would there be Brent Hammerson, himself?
As she drove through the night, hundreds of questions darted through Margot's head. None of them had simple answers-- most only led to more questions. By the time she'd reached the city limit, maybe a quarter-mile behind Sunny's van, she was a nervous wreck.
"This was supposed to be an easy night," she thought.
She kept driving. She passed through the suburbs, through the boonies, and once again through the forests around the city. The red dot on her tracker led her up winding roads, up and down hills, way out to where there were only scattered cabins and lodges.
And then, it stopped.
Margot braked near a long dirt pathway. She could see tire tracks from the van in the mud. She turned off the car and sat still in the darkness.
The red dot remained motionless.
They had arrived.
Margot wiped sweat from her brow, trying to control her breathing.
"Okay," she thought. "I'm here. Now what?"
She turned around and grabbed her pack from the back seat. She figured the very least she could do was get in costume.
As she unbuttoned her jeans and shimmied them down her legs, the red dot moved.
They were moving Erin. Taking her somewhere. Inside?
She looked up at the muddy pathway, but whatever in led to was totally encased in darkness.
"Dammit," she thought, continuing to watch the tracker. The red dot moved north, then doubled back, then went west, and then went south, again. It was a small path of movement suggesting that they had, in fact, brought her inside.
Suddenly, it came to halt.
Margot looked at the tracker. No movement for ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds. One minute. Two minutes.
"Oh, Erin," she thought, peeling her shirt off in the dark. "What are they doing to you, in there?"
On to Chapter Nine
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