Bolt

22| Where It All Began.

"I know, but I can't just sit back and do nothing. Someone has to stop them. We have to stop them. There's no one else who's going to help us."

"No one but Nuhaila."

"Sure."

"She's cool," he said.

"If you say so."

"She isn't afraid to go after the church." He glanced at me. "Just like us."

It had been months since Caleb and I started looking for evidence against the church, and we had nothing so far. They were very careful in their dealings, making sure nothing passed through whatever small cracks they had.

Sometimes they were too careful... as if they were being protected by powerful people.

A knock came from the window behind me. Checking the side-view mirror, I spotted someone wearing a raincoat waving at me.

"That's her." Caleb pressed one of the lock switches and the door behind me unlocked. Nuhaila entered and closed it immediately.

"It's cold." She pulled back the hood of her raincoat, revealing blonde-dyed hair, wet from the rain. Dark bags sat under her eyes, while crow's feet took the corners, aging her by at least fifteen years. It looked like she hadn't slept in forever. "Why today of all days?"

"Because they wouldn't suspect it," Caleb replied.

"Is this him?" she asked.

"Yeah." Caleb looked at me. "Trey, meet Nuhaila, aka Parasite."

"It's nice to meet you, Bolt," she said, and then smiled. It looked forced.

"Nice to meet you, too," I replied.

She gave out a hand. I shook it. "We have been at the same agency all this time and today is the first time we're talking to each other. How crazy is that?"

"Like... so crazy," Caleb replied.

"Like, oh my god. Right?"

"Right."

I regretted being in the car. If they were going to speak like that for the entire time that we worked together, I would lose my mind.

"So, what do we know so far?" she asked.

"Nothing," I replied. "We are waiting for the mass to end so we can surveil the place."

"Do you know how many guards there are? How about security cameras? Or what about the church's spies?"

Caleb and I glanced at each other. For two heroes, we hadn't thought this whole thing through. There was nothing worse than leaving clues behind for your enemy to find. While we had planned on taking them out, they could have been planning on doing the same to us.

Maybe it's not bad that she's here, I thought.

"No, we don't know any of that," Caleb said. He scratched the back of his head and coughed. "That's... that's why you're here."

"So, I lead and you guys follow?" she asked.

"Yes," Caleb answered.

"Woah! Woah! Woah! I haven't agreed to that," I said.

"Hey look, they're coming out." Caleb pointed at the church.

A sizeable crowd of people came out of the building and ran to their respective cars, trying not to get too wet. After the crowd had cleared, two blue and white vans arrived, stopping in front of the entrance. We could still see when people walked in and out of the building.

"Is that..." Nuhaila didn't finish her sentence.

I knew what had caused her sudden silence. Caleb had remained quiet, too. The three most well-known priests in Tombstone—Adam, Raven, and Floyd—walked out of the building with Outlaw and Shiver in front of them like bodyguards. They entered the left van.

"What are they doing here?" she asked.

I couldn't answer. Neither could Caleb. We were completely clueless. But it didn't end there. The head bishop, Frank Vice, came out next. Beside him stood Captain Tombstone, and in front of them were Silver Hawk and Mega Woman. They entered the other van before both drove off.

"Now I know why it's so hard to find any evidence against them," I said. "They are being protected by The Mighty."

"And The Mighty work for the government," Caleb chimed.

"Shit!" Nuhaila said with a frown. "Double shits!"