Consuming Fire

Chapter 34 (copy)

The woman smiled, her cheeks filling with color. "It's fine, it's laundry day anyway. Could you hold this for me?" she asked and handed him her bag.

"Uh, sure."

She started removing her gray cardigan, carefully holding her hair up as she did. Her blouse was very see-through. "It's a little busy here today, huh?"

"B-big board meeting upstairs," he replied.

"It's about the hunt, right? For Dr. Winston Wolfe?"

Zac nodded. "I'm not supposed to reveal that kind of information," he said. Though, he wondered whether Lewis Carpenter actually would reveal it under the pressure of such a beautiful woman as she slowly brushed her fingers through her hair.

"You can tell me, you know. I'm good at keeping secrets."

He laughed nervously. "Well it's no secret that Wolfe is hiding out. The FBI don't have a location though. If you ask me, they're on a wild goose-chase."

"Really? What about these people with special abilities?" she asked as he handed her the purse. "Would you say they're dangerous?"

"Some of them are," he said. "The good guys, though, they're the heroes. They're going to stop Wolfe. There's this one guy called Zac - he can shape shift. He's the most attractive one of all of them."

"He's a shape shifter. Of course he's attractive."

Zac almost re-butted, but something caught his eye. The lobby of the FBI building was swarming with people, but somehow he managed to see them standing outside on the street. They wore suits, dark glasses and there was just enough of them for him to jump immediately to conclusions.

Zac's heart leapt into his chest.

Holy fuckballs. The Agents are here.

"Are you okay?" asked the woman.

"Fl ... psh ..." Words weren't forming. His eyes darted around, looking for an escape. Even though he was in a disguise, he was positive they were there to catch him. Somehow, they knew who he was. "I have to go."

"But-"

He started walking to the door, and as he turned he shouted back at her. "You have a smoking body, by the way!"

Several people in the building turned to glare at him. The woman only blushed.

Zac turned back to the door and moved stealthily through the crowd. The Agents were looking around. If anything, they were more suspicious than he was. Seven suits coming out of a tinted, black van? If that didn't scream terrorist or highly organized bank robbery, nothing did.

When Zac passed through the revolving doors, he knew for sure that they didn't recognize him. They seemed to be waiting for someone else. Perhaps they were chasing a lead with the FBI and had no idea he was there. Zac stood idly by the door for a moment and spotted a man and a woman having a smoke nearby. He sidled up to them, glancing back over his shoulder. Excitement bubbled up inside of him. He hadn't been this close to the Agents since they caught him. And they had no idea who he was.

Evil bastards. I should bomb them.

"Hey, can I bum a smoke guys?" he asked.

The woman gave him a lighter and he shoved the cigarette in his mouth. He'd never smoked before, but it seemed like the time to start. Besides, it wasn't his body he was infecting. Kind of.

Through the busy street and a haze of smoke, he watched the Agents. He observed their actions, their glances inside the building, the way they spoke closely with the driver and then in their earpieces. Crazy, wild ideas were flowing through his mind. He knew that this was suicidal, but he couldn't help it. It was about time they had the upper hand with these dick-wipes.

"Thanks guys, see you inside?" he said to the other agents.

They muttered in agreement. Zac shoved one hand in the pocket of his trench coat and started walking toward the van. As he passed, he waited for the perfect moment and then, he tripped.

His cigarette went flying into the first Agent he came in contact with.

"Whoops!"

The Agent caught him, if only to stop Zac from knocking him over. Mad Dog was a pretty buff guy, which is partly what gave Zac his confidence. The Agent gripped him with strong hands and grunted before shoving him away.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry pal," Zac said as he straightened himself. There was ash on the Agent's black suit. Zac slapped at it, but the Agent backed away.

"What's going on?" asked one of them.

"I really didn't mean to-"

"It's fine," said the Agent whose suit he'd nearly burnt a hole in. "Don't worry."

"You wouldn't believe it, but that's the second time I've been clumsy today!" Zac laughed theatrically. "I mean I am just the biggest klutz. If they gave an award to the clumsiest person in the world-" He raised his hand and grinned, "-I would win it."

They all gazed at him in stoic bafflement.

Zac glanced down at the van and gasped. "Oh, no way! Are those special edition rims? Those are sick!" He stepped down from the curb and only just managed to touch the wheel of the van when the door opened and the last Agent stepped out. Zac backed up with his hands in the air. "Sorry, didn't mean to pry. I'm a car enthusiast," he added, looking each of them in the eye. Suddenly he realized he was talking to lethal minions of Dr. Wolfe who kidnap kids. I'm literally insane. "M-my girlfriend hates cars, but I love them. I'm gonna go get a hotdog." Then, without another word, he walked off.

Zac only looked back over his shoulder when he was two streets away from the building and the Agents. He saw no sign of a black van following him. He breathed out the air he'd been holding in and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

Chevie picked up after two rings. "Zac? How'd you go?"

"Peachy," said Zac. "I just put a tracking device on the Agent's death-mobile."

"You did what?"

"I know," he said, "I'm amazing. Now could you please start tracking them immediately to make sure they're not hunting me down?" He glanced over his shoulder again. Still not being followed.

"No problem. Nice work Zac! Are you ready to be picked up?"

"Not just yet," he said and cracked his neck to the side. "I'm gonna get a hotdog, then you can come."