Alien vs. Alien

And I’m sure they’re still alive.” I was. They had no bargaining power if Jeff and Chuckie were dead. And, as Naomi was demonstrating, hostages were a strong incentive to be stupid.
    I hoped ACE was going to keep Jamie safe and prevent her from time warping to Jeff in some way. That they were likely hurting Jeff and Chuckie both was, sadly, a given. I shoved the fear and heartache this knowledge gave me aside and added it to the rest of my anger. Anger I was stoking and saving for later.
    “Okay, well, I hope you’re right. Anyway, Sis and I were still searching when Clarence showed up out of nowhere. He said he’d come back to help us.”
    I snorted.
    Abigail chuckled. “Yeah, neither one of us fell for that one. So he said he knew where Chuck and Jeff were. We followed him at a distance, he led us here. Then told us to come with him so Chuck and Jeff wouldn’t be killed. Sis was ready to go, obviously. But then our Poofs went into attack mode, and they were joined by other Poofs, and then Peregrines. That’s what Clarence is fighting.”
    “Thanks for the recap, Abby. So, can I not see any of them because they’re invisible or because they’re going so fast?”
    “Speed, mostly. That and I put a protective layer around this area.”
    “Wow, even while holding Mimi back? I’m hella impressed.”
    “Despite how Sis is acting, we’ve been working with Chuck on a lot of things.”
    “Things I’m just betting we’re going to have to put into action sooner as opposed to later.”
    “All well and good, Missus Martini,” White said. “But how do we stop Clarence right now?”
    “I’m wondering if the Poofs can eat him, or if that would end up being bad for us in some way. Or if it would give the Poofs heartburn.”
    “I think if they could eat him, they would have already,” Abigail said. “They weren’t happy, believe me.”
    Potentially the smart thing to do would be to take off and let the animals handle it. Only, they might get hurt, and if that happened, they’d need me.
    Tried to look at this situation the way Chuckie would. There were pros and cons to capturing Clarence as well as to letting him go. If we caught him, great, we’d have him, and maybe we could break him. And we’d keep him off the streets, so to speak, and unable to lure someone else, like his wife or children, to the Dark Side or Hostage City, depending.
    Letting him go had merit if there was a way for us to track him. If we could actually follow him, then we had a good chance of finding the Evil Genius Lair du Jour. If we could track him, in a way that would both work and not be something he could find and destroy.
    “Any ideas, Missus Martini?”
    “Breadcrumbs are out.”
    “Excuse me?” Jennifer said.
    “We need to get a tracker into Clarence. I’d love to tag him like a wild boar, but I don’t think we have the right equipment handy.”
    “Doesn’t he already have one?” Jeremy asked.
    I turned around to look at him. Everyone else was looking at Jeremy too. “Say that again, please.”
    “We all have tracking chips in us,” Jeremy said. “If you have a job that puts you into any kind of danger, the chip is installed.”
    “The girls don’t have trackers. Clarence was a diplomat’s assistant. That hardly seems like a job that screams ‘dangerous situations.’ ”
    Jennifer raised her eyebrow. “You’re a diplomat.”
    “Excellent point. Mister White?”
    “Naomi, may I let go of you, or will you try to heroically yet stupidly do exactly what our enemies want if I release you so I can call Gladys?”
    Naomi looked sheepish. “I’m sorry, Uncle Richard.”
    White kissed her forehead. “All is forgiven.” He let go, though Jeremy held onto Naomi’s arm. Abigail still had her hand, but Jennifer let go, though I could tell she was ready to lunge at either sister if needed.
    White made the call. “Yes, Gladys, I do apologize, but this is actually of the highest need. Yes, superbeings attacking? Amazing, right where Ambassador Katt-Martini said they would. Yes, she
is
right here. No, not looking smug. She is, however, looking worried and impatient. I share those feelings. Why yes, I’d love to tell you why I called. I need you to verify the current whereabouts of Clarence Valentino. Yes, I am serious. Deadly, if you catch my meaning.”
    While White verbally wrangled with his half-sister, I tried to come up with another option if Clarence had no tracker or it was disabled. Really wasn’t