underneath. Working from memory, he charted the converging paths Claudia had plotted before. An easy-erase grease pencil defaced the map.
“You know, you could just use my computer,” she suggested.
“Quiet,” he shushed her. “I think better this way.” After marking up the map, he stepped back to absorb the picture. “Let’s see. The right glove is heading south. The left glove is traveling north.” He applied the marker once more, connecting the dots. “From the looks of things, they’re due to come together somewhere around . . .”
Claudia raced him on the computer.
“Fairfield, Connecticut,” they said in unison.
Artie shot her a bemused look. “All right, genius. Where in Fairfield? And when?”
“Already on it.” She fired up multiple search engines, all of which came back with the same answer. A rush of adrenaline woke her up faster than caffeine. “Eureka!”
“The town?”
“No. You having a senior moment or something? Stay with me.” She gloated over her discovery. “Wanna take a wild guess where a ‘celebrated psychic healer’ is appearing tomorrow evening?”
Artie hurried over to check out the links. “Fairfield?”
“Bingo. Give the old guy a prize.”
“I’ll take Nadia’s glove,” he said, “now that we know where she’s going to be.”
And where one glove was, could the other be far behind?
CHAPTER
10
FAIRFIELD, CONNECTICUT
“Okay, this could be a problem.”
A large crowd had turned out for Nadia’s latest public appearance, which had taken over a local high school gym for the evening. The bleachers were packed with people who had found out about the event from announcements on the Internet. Pete thought he recognized a few faces from the audience at the carnival. According to Claudia, “Princess Nefertiti” already had several fan Web sites devoted to her. Her abilities and appearances were much buzzed about in chat rooms and message boards—which made the agents’ job both easier and harder.
Easier because Nadia’s growing fame made her easier to locate. Harder because they were obviously not the only ones eager to see her.
“And then some,” Myka agreed. “How are we going to get to her with all these people around?”
The agents lurked at the rear of the gym, trying to keep a low profile. A stage had been erected at the opposite end of the gym. Pete spotted Jim Doherty peeking out through a curtain at the crowd. He guessed that Nadia was waiting backstage for her introduction. The strong man, Atlas, stood guard near the base of the stage. Having shed his leopard-print trunks for a tight gray T-shirt and slacks, he looked more like a bodyguard or bouncer than a sideshow attraction. Arms crossed atop his chest, he scanned the crowd for any potential troublemakers.
Pete made sure to keep out of the strong man’s line of sight. His ribs were still sore from that bear hug back at the carnival. “We can’t just rush in without a plan,” he said. “The big guy there isn’t going to give Nadia up without a fight. And he’s not the only one who isn’t going to take kindly to us barging in. We try to confront Nadia in front of her fan club here, we could be talking a riot.” His face remained bruised from the free-for-all at the carnival and ensuing car crash. “Personally, I’d prefer a little less excitement this time around.”
Myka considered their options. “I suppose we could wait until after the show and try to catch her when she leaves?”
“Nah,” Pete said. It was tempting to let Nadia heal a few more people before they shut her down, but they still didn’t know enough about what the glove was doing to her. Or where the mysterious second glove fit in. “Artie’s right. We need to get that glove out of commission as soon as possible, if only so we can concentrate on finding the other one.”
He inspected the audience. Was the second glove already here? According to the gang back at the Warehouse, it was heading this way.
“All right,”
“You know, you could just use my computer,” she suggested.
“Quiet,” he shushed her. “I think better this way.” After marking up the map, he stepped back to absorb the picture. “Let’s see. The right glove is heading south. The left glove is traveling north.” He applied the marker once more, connecting the dots. “From the looks of things, they’re due to come together somewhere around . . .”
Claudia raced him on the computer.
“Fairfield, Connecticut,” they said in unison.
Artie shot her a bemused look. “All right, genius. Where in Fairfield? And when?”
“Already on it.” She fired up multiple search engines, all of which came back with the same answer. A rush of adrenaline woke her up faster than caffeine. “Eureka!”
“The town?”
“No. You having a senior moment or something? Stay with me.” She gloated over her discovery. “Wanna take a wild guess where a ‘celebrated psychic healer’ is appearing tomorrow evening?”
Artie hurried over to check out the links. “Fairfield?”
“Bingo. Give the old guy a prize.”
“I’ll take Nadia’s glove,” he said, “now that we know where she’s going to be.”
And where one glove was, could the other be far behind?
CHAPTER
10
FAIRFIELD, CONNECTICUT
“Okay, this could be a problem.”
A large crowd had turned out for Nadia’s latest public appearance, which had taken over a local high school gym for the evening. The bleachers were packed with people who had found out about the event from announcements on the Internet. Pete thought he recognized a few faces from the audience at the carnival. According to Claudia, “Princess Nefertiti” already had several fan Web sites devoted to her. Her abilities and appearances were much buzzed about in chat rooms and message boards—which made the agents’ job both easier and harder.
Easier because Nadia’s growing fame made her easier to locate. Harder because they were obviously not the only ones eager to see her.
“And then some,” Myka agreed. “How are we going to get to her with all these people around?”
The agents lurked at the rear of the gym, trying to keep a low profile. A stage had been erected at the opposite end of the gym. Pete spotted Jim Doherty peeking out through a curtain at the crowd. He guessed that Nadia was waiting backstage for her introduction. The strong man, Atlas, stood guard near the base of the stage. Having shed his leopard-print trunks for a tight gray T-shirt and slacks, he looked more like a bodyguard or bouncer than a sideshow attraction. Arms crossed atop his chest, he scanned the crowd for any potential troublemakers.
Pete made sure to keep out of the strong man’s line of sight. His ribs were still sore from that bear hug back at the carnival. “We can’t just rush in without a plan,” he said. “The big guy there isn’t going to give Nadia up without a fight. And he’s not the only one who isn’t going to take kindly to us barging in. We try to confront Nadia in front of her fan club here, we could be talking a riot.” His face remained bruised from the free-for-all at the carnival and ensuing car crash. “Personally, I’d prefer a little less excitement this time around.”
Myka considered their options. “I suppose we could wait until after the show and try to catch her when she leaves?”
“Nah,” Pete said. It was tempting to let Nadia heal a few more people before they shut her down, but they still didn’t know enough about what the glove was doing to her. Or where the mysterious second glove fit in. “Artie’s right. We need to get that glove out of commission as soon as possible, if only so we can concentrate on finding the other one.”
He inspected the audience. Was the second glove already here? According to the gang back at the Warehouse, it was heading this way.
“All right,”
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