Free Lady Superior by Alex Ziebart Page A

his mouth to say something, but she held up a hand to silence him.
    Outside, she jumped into the sedan and popped the glovebox, plucking the phone Jane had given her from its posh depths. She dialed as fast as her fingers would move. Jane answered on the second ring.
    “Hello?”
    “Hey. It’s Kris.”
    “Hey!”
    “...hey? I think we did that part already.”
    “How’re you feeling? Ready to talk?”
    “Uh, yeah.”
     

Chapter 5
    “You'll keep an eye out? That's it?” Kristen's voice grew louder. “Are you serious? You don't have anything else you can say?”
    “Hey, keep it down a bit, alright?” Jane flipped a burger. “I know you're freaked out. You have that right. But there isn't a lot we can do right now.”
    They'd gathered in a public park and claimed a picnic table. Jane hadn't wasted any time setting up a grill and stoking charcoal. How she'd managed to bring along a full-size grill and a cooler on a Harley, Kristen could only guess. Though the park was full—families with their children out in force on a warm summer day—everyone gave them a wide berth. Smoke from the grill kept them at bay as if they were mosquitoes.
    Kristen slammed an open palm on the picnic table. “You’re acting like this is no big deal. Something could be wearing my face. That’s messed up!”
    Jane stooped over and reached into the cooler. She tossed a bottle of water to Kristen, who caught it with ease, then pulled out a pack of bacon. Tearing it open, she slapped a few thick slices on the grill with a sizzle. She pushed her sunglasses up onto her head to avoid dirtying them with popping grease. “That’s not how it is. I know it’s a big deal. In fact, it’s a serious problem, but not one we can fix right now. I know Milwaukee isn’t LA or Shanghai, but it’s still a city. If one of the Sea People can become you—and we’re not sure anyone survived that warehouse—we won’t know until they turn up. Taking faces is what they do. They could be anyone. Even if every single person I know was walking the streets looking for them, we wouldn’t find them. But when they show up, we’ll deal with it. I promise.”
    “Yeah, like that’ll help. I’ve already been on the news three times. If someone else starts screwing around with my face, that’ll be on the news, too. What if they kill someone? I’m a nerd, I watch TV. I know how this stuff works.”
    Jane flipped the other burger. “Then we’ll make sure you’re the one who deals with the imposter. We’ll make sure there’s footage, and we’ll make sure that makes the news, too. Why don’t we talk about something we can actually resolve?”
    “Like what?” Kristen snapped.
    “Whether or not you’re going to work with us.”
    “If you want me on board, a good first step is telling me who you are.” Kristen waved her water bottle as she spoke. “And don’t tell me you already told me. I know your name is Jane and you work for Temple. I’m not even sure if I believe your name is actually Jane. Let me guess—your last name is Doe?”
    Jane took a Ziploc bag of sliced cheddar from her cooler and laid slices on the browning burgers. “Miller, actually. Let me start by saying I’m sorry. You’re right, our intro wasn’t the best, but it never is. Temple has been doing what it does for a long time, and there’s still no accepted method of making first contact with someone. There’s no good way to do it. When you tell someone you know they’re gifted—gifted the way you’re gifted—it scares them. It makes them feel backed into a corner.”
    Kristen threw her arms out with the bottle still in-hand. “Well, yeah. You literally backed me into a corner.”
    “Because if it’s going to happen anyway, you might as well do it. When you’re in a corner, you’re going to throw punches, but at least you can’t go anywhere. You’ll listen to what we have to say. There are more friendly methods, but they tend to be worse in the end.”
    “Worse