They paced their way through the congested traffic, as it was late evening and people were getting off work. Arena yawned, suffering considerable jet lag. The bar was on the edge of town and looked a bit seedy. They didn’t see Lorna outside, but there were a number of cars in the parking lot.

  They rushed inside. Most of the patrons gave them flat stares. Several TVs played an Australian football match.

  “I don’t see her,” said Arena.

  “No, go look in the ladies room. Maybe she’s in there,” said Sterling.

  Arena headed for the bathroom. She pushed on the door, and it stopped partway open.

  “Watch where your…” snarled a male voice. Thick fingers clamped onto the door from the inside.

  There was a croak, then a thump on the ground. She pushed the door opened wider to see Lorna snatch the gun from his hand and point it at him. He slid to the floor, dazed, but not unconscious, and weakly held up his hands.

  “Lorna!” Arena leaped over the man, but didn’t hug Lorna while she held the gun. A large bruise covered the left side of her face. Arena could see other bruises and cuts on her arms, and it looked like she had needle marks on the inside of her elbow.

  The Decoy pushed open the door behind her and took the gun over from Lorna. “I’ve got him.”

  Sterling followed. “We can’t really do much here outside of jurisdiction, so I’ll just do this.” He pulled out a taser and gave him a shock. He shook a little bit. “It’s just a mild dose, but should knock him out for a while. They should get here before he wakes up. I’ll send a tip to some contacts here, and I’m sure they can take care of him.” Sterling handed Arena the taser, and started whispering into his handheld. They slipped out the side door.

  “Hey!” A man in sunglasses came running at them from a white van, still running and with the driver’s side door open. He tried to grab Lorna, but she kicked him in the knee. He grunted, but didn’t let go. Arena tased him, and he fell on the ground, seizing. Vibration shot up her arm, and she stared at the taser.

  Sterling pushed Arena into the van, then got in next to her. Lorna threw herself into the front seat. The van took off out of the parking lot, wheels squealing. Arena gingerly handed the taser to Sterling. He took it absently as he whispered into his handheld, then cast his eyes back to the parking lot.

  “That should do it," Sterling muttered.

  “Do what?” said Lorna.

  “Oh, I just hacked his GPS to take him to the middle of the outback, no matter what address he tries to put in it. All roads lead to nowhere.”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “You inspire country songs,” said Lorna, who smiled faintly. “I missed you guys.”

  "We're so glad you're okay! What happened to Nate?" asked Arena.

  "We were taken to some sort of office building. They tried a few different things, but they didn't seem to interested in me. It was Nate that Celeste wanted. And by 'wanted', I think she has more interest in him than just professional. Apparently, one of the other guys said she stalked Nate when he worked with her and he rejected her. She threatened to have him fired and a number of other things if he didn't give into her. He even tried filing a sexual harassment complaint after his request to transfer was denied. Apparently, it just disappeared. This group might have more influence than we think. They had us separated for most of it, but I overheard some things. Then they got word that someone was after them, and moved everything. I was in the back of a van, and Nate wasn't in it. I'm not sure where he was. I managed to kick the door open at a stop and get away, but the driver and that guy from the bathroom were following me. I got away from them used a computer in an internet cafe to send the message, but they found me shortly after and followed me to the bar, where you found me."

  Sterling put a hand on her shoulder over the seat, "We are glad you are alright. We'll find Nate, I promise. And we'll take care of Celeste, and whatever group she is representing." Lorna smiled at them weakly.

  The Decoy named Richards seemed relieved to see them when they got out of the car at the townhouse.

  "They're asking a lot of questions, but I don't know what to tell them,” Richards said.

  Yates and Sophia did indeed have many questions. Lorna took one look at Yates and about turned and went back out the door. Sterling stopped her with a hand on her arm. "It's okay, we've got it worked out." She gawked open-mouthed for a moment, but reluctantly turned back into the room.

  Sterling explained what happened while they found Lorna, and Sophia and Yates said there wasn't much after the search of the office building. Sophia did offer a trash bag found in the men's bathroom. She got out plastic gloves and began to sort through it. Most of it was paper towels, but a flyer about an Australian surfing competition seemed wildly out of place.

  "You think they might trade the hoverboards at this competition?" asked Yates. "It would be a logical cover."

  “That’s probably why they were in California at that tiny surfing competition?” asked Arena.

  "Seems like a silly cover knowing we have a surfer on our team," said Sterling.

  Yates shook his head. "That's not in her file, intentionally. We didn't want to give any reason for this project to be assigned to…" He hesitated. "..STATUS."

  "You can say the Misfits," said Sterling. "It's sort of a badge of honor."

  "The Misfits." Yates stumbled over the words. "At any rate, we should check it out." He turned to Arena, "I know you wanted to sit out, but we should have a reason for being there. Care to enter for us? It might let us have someone closer to the competitors."

  Arena hesitated, and looked at Sterling. His eyes pleaded with her to say "no". But she couldn't think of a better way.

  "I will enter," she said. "It's not like I haven't done that before, even though it looks like this competition is higher-level than I normally go for. But if it's just about getting access, then I can do that."

  Yates nodded. Sterling crossed his arms and looked angry. Lorna put a hand on her arm, "You don't have to, Arena."

  "I know, but I want to," she said. "But won't they recognize me? And all of you?"

  Sterling smiled grimly, "We'll do what we do best--stick out to the point of being unnoticed."