AN: A preview of the summary for Heroes and Legacies Book 3 is now up on my bio, if anyone's interested.

-dmac

10. I Run Into A Friend

I took a quick bath in the sea to wash the serpent gut funk off, and after scrubbing until my bar of lemon soap was nearly gone, I still stunk. I changed into some clean clothes that I had in my pack, then took over at the wheel and resumed course toward Marathon.

By the time we docked in Marathon, the weather had really begun to get bad. The rain was steady, and the wind was gusting so hard that it nearly knocked me off my feet. Hurricane Hannah was closing in fast.

As we walked down a street toward the middle of town, I noticed most homes and businesses had their windows boarded up, and the town seemed deserted. Most people did the smart thing and evacuated.

Marathon's not a big city; it's actually just a small fishing and vacation town that covers several keys, hence the name Islands of Marathon. As we walked through the town, I caught a glimpse of a neon sign that read: OPEN. It was a restaurant.

"You guys hungry?" I asked.

Lexie nodded, "Starving."

I pointed toward the open diner. "We can plan our next move while we eat."

The diner was nearly as deserted as the rest of the town. The only customers were three scruffy old men, probably retired fishermen, sitting at a table drinking coffee and watching the weather report on the small TV mounted on the wall.

A heavy-set man wearing a white apron seated us at a booth. "You three are pretty brave venturing out into the storm," he said.

Lexie shrugged, "We were hungry."

The man smiled, "Well, you've come to the right place. What can I get you?"

We reviewed the menu and placed our order. Russ and Lexie both got the seafood platter, but after having been seafood myself today, I ordered chicken. Since we were pretty much the only customers, it wasn't long before we got our plates of food, and we stuffed our faces while we planned our next move.

"So, you're thinking a bank?" Lexie asked.

I nodded, "It looked like they were in a bank vault in my dream. There was a huge steel door and metal compartments in the wall."

"Like safety deposit boxes?"

"Yeah, that's what they were," I recalled. "It's got to be a bank."

Russ pointed his fork at me and said, "Now, explain to me how a group of kids were able to set up shop inside a bank? Cops would be on 'em in minutes."

He had a point. I was stumped with that question, but Lexie shook her head, "Not necessarily. The Islands of Marathon have been populated for two centuries, so there may be some abandoned buildings in the older parts of town. The Rebellion could've found an old abandoned bank to use as a safe-house."

"Do you know where exactly these abandoned buildings are?" I asked.

"Unfortunately not," she said. "I've actually only been here a couple of times, and even then I was just passing through."

The man who served our food came up to our booth and asked, "Anyone need a drink refill?"

None of us did, so we told him no thank you, and before he walked away he said, "You kids aren't locals, are you? I bet you're from that camp."

Our eyes widened with surprise, and I quickly asked, "Camp?"

"You know, the summer teen camp they're having down in the old business district," he said.

Bingo.

I played on his assumption, "Yeah, there's a lot of us here for summer camp, huh?"

He nodded, "Sure are. You kids have Second Avenue more alive than I've seen it in nearly forty years. But I figured they would've evacuated you guys because of the hurricane."

"The roads closed before the busses could get here, so we're stuck," Lexie said, joining the ruse. "We'll just have to ride it out."

He smiled and nodded as he placed the check on the table, "In that case, you kids be safe."

When he walked away, Lexie turned to me and smiled, "That was brilliant. You played him like a fiddle."

"So, the Rebellion's cover is teen camp," Russ said. "Clever."

"And now we know where to find them," Lexie said.

I nodded, "Second Avenue."

I left some cash on the table to pay for our meals, and I glanced up at the TV as we were walking toward the door. The current radar image was on the screen, and it wasn't pretty. Hurricane Hannah was huge and barreling straight for us. I got the distinct feeling she'd be here much sooner than forecasted.

I felt a strong, calloused hand grip my arm, and I stopped cold in my tracks. The touch sent a shiver up my spine, but it also gave me a feeling of power and strength. I turned to see it was one of the old fishermen that had been drinking coffee. The old man had long gray hair and a long gray beard, and his striking green eyes stared straight into mine.

"The storm's going to be rough, and it'll be a distraction. Use it to your advantage, but don't let it distract you," he said to me. "And be careful out there, son."

I nodded to the old man who I knew was my grandfather, "Yes, sir."

He winked at me and said, "Now, get going."

I gave him one last nod, then joined Lexie and Russ at the door. Lexie grabbed a tourist map from the brochure rack, and whispered to me, "What was that all about?"

I shrugged, "Eh, just some old man rambling about the storm."

"Boy," she shook her head. "You're just a magnet for weirdness, aren't you?"

"Tell me about it."

Lexie quickly reviewed the map of the town. "It looks like Second Avenue is about ten blocks south of here," she said.

"We'd better get going then," I said as I glanced at my watch. "It's already one o'clock. If we want to get out of here before nightfall, we'll have to act fast."

We walked the ten blocks to Second Avenue in the rain that was now blowing sideways. Leaves and branches from trees, paper and plastic trash, and even a few tarps were being blown through the streets by the hurricanes increasingly strong winds.

It was the middle of the day, but the heavy cloud cover and rain made it seem much later. The darkness was about that of dusk. The storm was nothing if not annoying, and I was a little upset with my grandfather that he'd bring a hurricane to the very place where I was on a quest. Maybe Poseidon was right, though. Maybe we could use the storm to our advantage, as I'm sure the hurricane was equally annoying to the Rebellion, which made me think Poseidon probably had our best interests in mind by bringing a hurricane to the Keys.

When we reached the old business district and Second Avenue, it wasn't deserted like the rest of the town. Many cars lined the street, parallel parked outside the many old business buildings. Of the old buildings, there was a law firm, a post office, a pharmacy, and a bank.

I pointed toward the large bank. "There," I said.

There were a few people in yellow raincoats milling around outside the bank, guards maybe, and there were others who were rushing to and from the bank from cars and other buildings.

"Let's come up from behind the building across the street, so we can stake out the place," Russ suggested.

Lexie nodded, "Good idea."

We fell back a block, then came around behind the abandoned electronics store that sat directly across the street from the bank. We took cover in some shrubbery on the north side of the building where the wall was blocking the howling wind and rain. We each pulled our binoculars from our packs and surveyed the bank across the street.

Everyone I saw was young: early to late teens. There were about half a dozen of the guards wearing yellow raincoats surrounding the building, and there were four people in street clothes standing just outside the front door of the bank like they were waiting on something.

"We can take 'em," Russ said. "There's not that many."

"On the outside," Lexie said. "No telling how many are on the inside, and did you notice they're carrying pistols? We wouldn't stand a chance…well, except for CJ."

Russ bit his lip. I think he might've been jealous that I had a better chance at infiltrating the bank than he did.

"Then let's wait until nightfall," Russ said. "I can sneak around the perimeter and take out the guards. They'll never see me coming after dark."

"How do you know they won't see you?" I asked him.

Russ turned to Lexie and pointed at me, "Is he serious?"

Lexie just grinned and laughed.

I shrugged, "What? Am I missing something?"

"I'm black, you idiot."

Oh, right. He probably could sneak up on them in the dark and never be seen. He was pretty stealthy, too; he always won capture the flag…always. Nightfall would be too late, though. The hurricane would be right on top of us by then.

I heard a car door shut and raised my binoculars back to my eyes. I saw two people get out of a dark blue compact car and hurry toward the bank. When they reached the door, they stopped under the awning where the other four teens were standing. They tossed back the hoods of their green raincoats, and I immediately recognized one of them as Finn.

I couldn't help but stare at him for a few seconds. He still looked so familiar to me. Even with his shaggy blond hair now trimmed short and neat, I still got that same feeling I had last summer; I knew this guy from somewhere. Maybe it was a resemblance to the god he was descended from. He did have the blond hair and blue eyes that many children of Apollo have. Maybe he was a grandson or great grandson of Apollo.

I shifted my focus to his companion. It was a girl. She had long and straight blond hair, and she had an athletic build. When she finally turned where I could see her face, my blood ran cold. I blinked and adjusted the focus on my binoculars. I wasn't mistaken; it was her, my mortal friend from Manhattan, Nicole.

"What is she doing here?" I mumbled.

"What?" Lexie asked. "Do you know her?"

I nodded, "She's a close friend of mine from school."

"Close friend?" Lexie's voice sounded a little annoyed. "How close? Is she your girlfriend?"

"W-what? No," I stuttered. "She's just a friend." A friend that I had a bit of a crush on, but I wasn't about to tell Lexie that.

"She has clear sight?" Russ asked.

"No," I shook my head. "She doesn't."

"Then why is she with the Rebellion?"

I thought back to the dream I had last night: "Are things with the mortal progressing as planned?" Barka had asked Finn.

"She's right where we want her," he confirmed.

"We might be able to get Jackson after all."

"They're using her to get to me," I said. "I've got to get Nic away from them. I've got to get her out of this."

I began to stand up, but Lexie grabbed my arm. "Slow down, hero," she said. "If they are baiting you, you'll fall right into their trap if you go in there head on."

Lexie looked back toward the bank through her binoculars. "It doesn't look like they're holding her against her will," she said, then cut her eyes at me, "She's pretty."

I blushed, "Yeah."

"She's not a hostage, not yet, so I don't think her life's in danger. And I don't think they'd hurt a mortal-," she paused. "Unless it was absolutely necessary."

I wasn't going to let it become necessary. I'd turn myself over to the Rebellion if it meant saving Nic.

I looked back toward the bank to see everyone except the guards walk inside. "I'm going in after her," I said.

"CJ," Lexie began to protest, but Russ interrupted her.

"Let him go after her," he said. "Then he won't be in our way when we go after the Fleece."

"Russ, they'll lock that place up tighter than Fort Knox if they catch him."

"I'll sneak in," I said. "If you two can create a little distraction to get the guards away from the door, I'll sneak in, find Nic, and get her out, without being seen. And maybe I can find where they're keeping the Fleece while I'm in there."

Lexie looked like she was chewing on her tongue as she mulled over my plan. "Fine," she said, finally.

"Okay," I nodded. "Give me about thirty minutes, and if I'm not back by then, assume something went wrong."

She nodded, "Got it."

Lexie and Russ ran around to the other side of the building, and I hunkered down behind a car that was parked by the curb. I was waiting for the guards to abandon their posts so I could make a break for the door. In just a few minutes, the alarms on three cars parked on down the street began blaring. That was the diversion, and it worked. The guards ran toward the sounding alarms, and I made a mad dash for the door.

I made it without being spotted, and I kept the hood of my raincoat up and the bill of my cap pulled down, so if I were to be seen by any members of the Rebellion, then maybe they wouldn't recognize me, and they'd just think I was another member.

The bank lobby was empty, and the door to the vault at the back of the room was closed. As I made my way down a hallway, I only saw one person, and he paid no attention to me. As I walked, I took in my surroundings. The building was three stories tall, and was a rather large bank for it's time. It likely had offices not only for bankers, but for other professionals as well. The first floor was rather deserted, so I took the stairs the second floor, which was bustling with activity. The second floor was made up of large adjoining conference rooms and a few smaller offices.

I tried to act as natural as I could as I walked down the hallway. As I pretended to know exactly where I was going and what I was doing, the members of the Rebellion who were all around never gave me a second glance. I finally spotted Nic when I was nearing the end of the corridor. She was sitting at a table near the door in a conference room. There were about ten other people in the room, but none were near Nic at that time, so I figured it was now or never.

I poked my head into the conference room through the open door. "Nic," I said softly. "Psst, Nic."

She looked over her shoulder to see who was saying her name, then she saw me. "Chase?" she said with surprise. "Chase, what are you doing here?"

I waved her over to me. "I need to talk to you…alone."

As she walked over to me, she still had that shocked look on her face. "Um, okay," she said.

I took her by the arm and cautiously led her down the hallway. I pulled her into an empty office and closed the door and the shades.

"What are you doing here?" we asked simultaneously.

"I thought you were at baseball camp," she continued.

"I am. I mean, I was," I stuttered.

"Then what are you doing in Marathon?" she asked.

"What are you doing in Marathon?" I countered.

"I told you I was coming to Florida for summer break to stay with my aunt. She lives here in Marathon."

Everything clicked. Nic was here in Marathon, the Rebellion was here in Marathon, the Fleece was here in Marathon, I was here in Marathon. It was all part of Barka's well-constructed plan. He was trying to get to me, and he planned to use Nic and the Fleece to do it. It was a good plan. He was using the two girls I cared about most, Nic and Lexie, as bait, and it was working.

"Chase," Nic said, bringing me out of my thoughts. "If you didn't know I was here, then why exactly are you here? And why do you smell like rotten fish?"

"It's a long story…a very long story, and I'll explain it to you later, but right now, you need to get out of here."

"Why?"

"These people are dangerous," I said.

She laughed, "No, they're not. They're my friends."

"No, they're not your friends."

She put her hands on her hips, "What gives you the right to tell me who I can or can't be friends with?"

"Nic, you've got to believe me. These people are just using you."

"Using me for what, Chase?" she asked. "They've been nothing but nice to me."

"They're manipulating you. They're using you to get to me."

"That's quite an ego you have," she laughed. "And why on earth would they want to get to you…whatever that means?"

"It…it's hard to explain."

"What is going on with you?" she asked. "You show up here out of nowhere and start ordering me around like you're the boss of me…just tell me the truth."

"The truth is I care about you, and I don't want to see you get caught up in all of this, and I definitely don't want to see you get hurt."

"Chase, these are good people. I don't know what gives you the idea that they'd want to hurt me."

"They're not good people," I snapped in frustration. "And it's not about you. You're just a pawn in their little game."

She threw her hands up in surrender and began walking toward the door. "I don't have to listen to this," she said. "If you're not going to be honest with me then-"

I grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the door and toward me. I guess I temporarily lost all common sense, because when she spun around, I leaned forward and kissed her. I don't know what I was thinking; I don't actually think I was, and I got what I deserved for my impulsive behavior. Her eyes widened when my lips pressed against hers, then she reared back and punched me in the gut, and I hit my knees.

I gasped for breath at being hit in my Achilles spot. Pain was something I rarely experienced, and when I did feel it, it always took my breath away. Pain is a horrible, helpless feeling, and I pity those who have to deal with it on a regular basis, which is pretty much everyone except me. Really, how do normal people make it through the day?

"Ugh," I coughed as I clutched my throbbing and aching stomach.

"Jeez, Chase, you act like I hit you in the nuts."

"Oh, I wish you would've," I groaned.

"What?"

"Never mind, just help me up," I said as I offered her my arm, and she helped me get back to my feet. "I'm sorry, Nic."

"I feel like I should be the one apologizing," she said. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's okay," I assured her. "I'm okay."

I was going to try to explain things to Nic as best I could, but the office door opened before I got the chance. Finn stepped into the room wearing a smirk on his face. He crossed his arms and said, "Well, look what we have here."