Chapter Five
October 23rd, 9:12 PM
Margot sat in her car in the dark forest, scanning her novel using the light of her phone, but finding it difficult to stay focused. Erin had left forty minutes ago. She hadn't heard from her since.
This in itself wasn't unusual. She didn't expect Erin to update her on every single development. Margot realized how dangerous that could be for both her and for Erin. She was supposed to be there for Erin in case the Blue Lynx needed information about a place or an enemy. She was supposed to be there, too, in case of an emergency.
There hadn't been one yet. There had been times when things had got pretty dicey, though. A couple of thugs had gotten the drop on Erin one time and tied her to a chair. By the time Margot was ready to go in and help, though, Erin had been able to cut through her bonds and escape. And there was another time when that weirdo campus creep, the "DeLynxinator," he called himself, had gotten obsessed with capturing and unmasking the Blue Lynx. He actually had knocked Erin out and Margot hadn't known it-- him dragging her across campus had seemed to Margot, on her tracker, to be simply the Blue Lynx taking a stroll. He had gotten her into his dorm room and had his hand on her mask when his roommate had saved the day, fending him off and waking Erin up. It was good to have allies.
So Margot wasn't too worried. But she had to admit that this forest was pretty freaky. The two of them had never fought crime out of the city. The very act of getting here had been a challenge. And she couldn't help but think that Erin had been a little... nervous as she had left the car.
Margot tried to focus. And then her phone buzzed. She looked at the screen.
BLUE LYNX HAS BEEN INACTIVE FOR TEN MINUTES.
"What?" Margot thought. She scrolled through her phone to her tracking map. She saw a bright dot where the Blue Lynx was positioned. The dot wasn't moving.
"Shit," she said. She quickly did a time lapse of Erin's movements in the last ten minutes. She saw small, conservative movement-- probably sneaking-- followed by a quick burst of action-- presumably the Blue Lynx taking out some baddies-- and then slower, more deliberate movement again. She saw the dot do a couple of small twirls-- was she looking for something? being attacked by a group of men?-- and then stop.
"Dammit, Erin," she said. She trying dialing Erin's number. It buzzed. But there was no answer.
"Oh crap, oh crap," Margot said. She set her book on the passenger's seat and gripped the phone with both hands. What did this mean? Had Blue Lynx been captured? Had she been killed?
Margot gripped her forehead with her hand. What should she do now? She was almost certain that this house was, in fact, a drug house, and that she could call the cops and they would come out here and they could maybe make an arrest. But what would they do if they found Erin? Arrest her? Erin told her that the cops were the absolute last resort. But this did not look good.
Her phone buzzed again. BLUE LYNX HAS BEEN INACTIVE FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES.
"Okay," Margot said. She took a deep breath, then reached over into the backpack and, after a few seconds of looking, pulled out a taser and a pocketknife. She stashed the weapons in her pocket. She went over to the backpack again and, after a few more seconds, pulled out a small black mask. She affixed the mask to her face and got out of the car.
She looked into the forest. It was impenetrably dark. She lifted her phone up. It cast a small aura around her so that she could see just a few feet ahead.
"The Black Bobcat is here," she said, as she walked, hesitantly, into the forest. "Hold on, Blue Lynx, I'm coming."
On to Chapter Six
No comments:
Post a Comment