The Acolytes of Crane (Theodore Crane, #1)(53)

Putting me to bed, as if I were a child, they both gazed at me with fondness, and they said they loved me. They said they would talk to me about it in the morning.

Tossing and turning, I kept tormenting myself. What did Odion mean by “research?” Did Odion mean the investigation Lincoln and I did on The Intervention? But we never left anything behind, no papers.

I sat straight up in my bed, my eyes wide open in fear.

The papers!

Marvin’s papers in the basement. The ones he didn’t want me to see. What could Odion possibly want from them? But once my curiosity was triggered, I could not even consider shutting it off.

I had to tiptoe past my sleeping grandparents, and check out the basement myself.

There was a scuffling noise in the kitchen. The light was on. My beat pounded so hard I thought it would burst. Hopefully, it was just my grandpa, helping himself to a piece of late-night raisin toast.

It was Travis. I froze as he turned his head and looked at me malevolently.

He mocked me by using a sing-song voice, rocking his head from side to side. ‘Ted. The little turd from the Red Bricks. The flyboy, or should I say—freak-boy.’ He showed absolutely no fear. My hands balled into fists.

‘Finally, you show up, you coward,’ I snarled. ‘I’m sick and tired of waiting for you.’

Travis spurted into a sudden and uncontrolled rage at being accused of cowardice. He screamed, pointing his finger at me. ‘You killed my best friend! Odion told me that you pushed him over the cliff!’

‘Odion’s been lying!’ I yelled back.

Shouts of “Ted!” echoed out from across the hallway. My stomach sank as I realized my grandparents would be on their way—for the second time that night. And this was more dangerous this time—much more. Because this was happening at home, in real life.

‘Oh yeah?’ Travis raged, unleashing his pent-up torment of the past two years. He’d waited so long for this day. ‘Odion told me about your necklace. It’s made you evil!’

‘That’s not true. The necklace does not do that,’ I said.

Footsteps rang out near the kitchen.

Travis’ face transformed into a revolting spectacle as he viciously squinted and grinned at once. ‘I’ve lost so much, Flyboy. Now it’s your turn!’

The kitchen door burst open.

I reached out, but it was too late. ‘NO, TRAVIS!’

Travis swiveled and instantly extended his arm, fingers outstretched.

Hollering so much that he shook the rafters with his booming voice, and angrily tensing every muscle in his body so much that he appeared ready to explode, Travis did the unthinkable.

He had two bracelets on his wrists that were emitting a red light that turned the room a dull crimson. My grandpa, dressed in pajamas, hovered motionless with his head inches away from the kitchen ceiling.

‘Marv, dear Marv,’ Travis intoned in a nasty voice, ‘Odion sent me, and we know you have it.’

My grandpa’s eyes widened as he gasped for breath.

My grandma entered, rushing from behind with a phone in hand. She was in her usual purple patterned nightgown. Travis, too, used a laser beam to suspend her in the air, right beside Marvin.

I leapt forward to punch Travis in the face, but he anticipated my move, and I, too, was suddenly suspended into the air, opposite my grandparents.

‘Ted!’ Laverne shrieked, holding out her arm, even as she attempted to gulp in precious oxygen. I instinctively caressed my throat, feeling once more the unseen clutches at my larynx.

‘Now, Marv,’ Travis spoke calmly, ‘Let’s make this easy. Your research, very nasty stuff. Where is it?’

Despite his near-suffocation, my grandpa registered his shock. ‘Travis. Something’s happened to you!’

‘Where is it?’ Travis growled.

‘I have no idea what you’re talking about!’

‘The storm! Where are your papers?’

My grandpa finally understood. He said defiantly, even as he pulled away at his collar, ‘You’ll never get it.’

Proudly, I knew my grandpa would not divulge anything to him. He wasn’t just a veteran, but also a prisoner of war. He was tough as nails and had two bronze stars with a v-device to prove it.

‘Travis, it is me you want, let them go!’ I hoarsely yelled through a constricted throat.

‘That is where you are wrong, freak-boy. Marvin knows why I am here. Tell me where your research is and this will all end right now.’


My grandpa held the hand of my grandma, even as they both struggled for their lives. He closed his eyes as if totally at peace, and whispered, ‘Never.’

‘So be it!’ Travis screamed. He gleefully collapsed both his arms at his side, and watched my grandparents as they fell to the floor, lifeless. I, too, collapsed onto the floor, but quickly sprang to my feet.

Hot fury enveloped me and would not let go. I jumped off the bed and pulverized Travis in his abdomen with punches until I lay exhausted at his feet, gasping for air. I must have punched him fifty times. He was wearing a lightweight armor that was leathery, like the hide of a cow, but with scales.

Travis was laughing at my pitiful attempt to crush him, and said, ‘You know why you can’t do anything? It is because you are not as driven as I am. I’m not the coward. You are.’

I attempted taking him down, but he didn’t budge an inch—it was like tackling a parking meter. It was now time to bring out the heavy weapons.