Ashton and the others had barely returned to the van when Summer and Kayla came out. Both of them looked a bit shaken, and Summer was clutching a large folder as if it were just as dangerous as the metal box Ashton held in his own hands. Could that be the suspicious contract they had come to investigate? Everything about this was far too convenient. It set off all sorts of warning bells that Ashton could not ignore.

  "We need to protect the informant," Ashton brought up as soon as everyone gathered together, "If they knew I would be here, they also knew why. We can't leave her here like this."

  "I can arrange it, but only if she agrees," Jared replied, then looked to Summer, "What do you think? Will she accept protection?"

  Summer held out the folder, and Ashton glanced inside as he took it. Definitely a contract. "Actually, she asked for protection. She has been experiencing some strange things lately, and she believes it has everything to do with the terms in the contract. Does the name Checkmate mean anything to anyone?"

  "Checkmate?" Ashton asked, "He was a hero for SI, but he ended up being fired for misusing his power. After that he disappeared. Are you saying the contract mentioned him?"

  Even though he carefully left out the majority of the chilling details about Checkmate, it seemed that everyone but Summer already knew. Then again, it was more surprising that she didn’t, considering how deeply she had been involved in the world of heroes herself. Had SI prevented her from learning about heroes gone rogue so she didn’t get any ideas? The fact that someone with the ability to control people through chess pieces had become a hero at all was a bit of a shock.

  "It does, and something about people becoming puppets and losing their will," Summer confirmed, "Kimberly told us about being followed by suspicious people who didn't even remember her when she saw them later. This means the contract must be effective."

  "Not only is Checkmate showing himself, but we have some kind of contract ability as well?" Jared checked, "This isn't something we can delve into as your first case. I would like to say I will handle things from here, but our friend made things very clear that bad things will happen if Ashton isn't involved."

  Summer glanced between Ashton, Jared, and the metal box as she wrung her hands nervously. "What happened out here?"

  "Ned left us a present," Ashton answered. Even if he hid the truth she would find out eventually, "I still need to get it checked out to see how much danger we were really in. I can't say if there was never really a bomb, or if it was disabled because I was the one there."

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "That means at least three dangerous criminals with mental abilities are working together," Summer practically whispered, as her nervous gestures became even more fidgety, "Are they trying to form some kind of team?"

  "A team, a gang, a company. It doesn't matter what you call it," Ashton scoffed. There wasn’t much he could say to comfort Summer in this situation, but he could at least help her see the truth. "They are playing at organized crime trying to make their names as villains. Villains only exist in comic books and TV shows. Reality only has criminals."

  Luckily, the idea of downgrading villains to simple criminals did seem to ease Summer’s mind at least a little. After that, Jared took over. The case had become far too big for a new team like them to handle. Ashton couldn’t help but feel envious as he watched Jared handle the proceedings with ease. With just a phone call or too, their witness was protected, the lab was on standby to investigate the threatening present, and the mission was taken out of their hands.

  Things weren’t over for Ashton once he passed off the metal box. He was dragged into the main office to fill out paperwork describing the situation in detail. Then he was called into a meeting with a contract analyst to go over the contract and its potential risks. This was only after confirming that there seemed to be no power of compulsion that made someone sign the contract against their will.

  During this session, Ashton found the paragraph that Summer had mentioned before. The one that referenced Checkmate and puppets under his control. The uncomfortable wording aside, was it truly possible for a contract to bind someone to such a promise?

  "By signing this contract you agree to be under the power of Checkmate and become his pawn. At any time or location, you will be subject to his complete control with no recollection of the events that occur under it."

  No matter how many times Ashton read it, it didn’t make sense. What kind of power would be able to make such impossible terms binding? No, more like confining. Even more concerning was the idea that it was able to extend Checkmate’s ability. If it could work for Checkmate, there was a high chance it could work for others as well. Was this the ability Maskz had? That didn’t seem right either, but it was a far more comforting thought than the idea that Ned had his own power as well as a close ally with power through contracts.

  Once the contract review was done, Ashton handed over the contract and was informed that his team would be on standby until the contents of the metal box were thoroughly examined. They had already been taken out of action faster than they had even begun. It was a bit frustrating. He would never make any progress in catching Maskz like this.

  As Ashton was contemplating their joke of a successful mission, his phone buzzed. A message popped on the screen from Summer.

  “Kayla and I are going to celebrate our first successful mission. Want to come? We are inviting the whole team.”

  For a moment Ashton was shocked, then he found himself laughing. That was right. Joke or not, their first mission had been a success. They had every right to celebrate it. It was something he likely never would have considered without Summer’s influence, and something about that made him smile.