The next morning, Ashton assembled the team first thing to fill them in on what he had learned. He noticed that Summer seemed completely out of sorts. The incident must have shaken her more than he had realized. It was completely silent for the first few minutes after the team gathered. It was Summer who finally broke it.

  “Do we have any more information on what happens when someone answers the message?” Her voice was trembling, but it was no doubt the question everyone else had been wondering.

  “We do, if we choose to believe it,” Ashton replied gravely, “The source was not one I would call trustworthy, but he hasn’t lied to us yet either.”

  Summer’s eyes widened, and Ashton could tell she immediately thought of the same person that had been tormenting them all along. “MysteriousMaskz?” Summer all but whispered.

  Ashton nodded slowly, and presented them with a copy of the chart MysteriousMaskz had provided the night before. Once again, he felt like something was off as he watched Summer look over the list. It was almost as if she was searching for something specific.

  “Summer, do you know something else about this?” Ashton questioned.

  “My cousin replied to the message,” Summer admitted, “I don’t know what he replied yet. Mason is only seven, so it could have been anything.”

  “Is there a way for you to find out? If he happened to write his name, he could be in grave danger,” Ashton asked, and turned to the others as Summer began to type furiously on her phone, “Does anyone else know someone who might have answered the message?”

  Everyone else denied it. They had either warned everyone in time, or had no one to warn in the first place. It seemed like Summer was making progress, so Ashton just waited for her to finish her conversation and report.

  “Dad is seeing what he can find out. Last night he said Aunt May was taking Mason to the police station because of the warning, so they might know more,” Summer reported.

  “I will see if we can get any information from that side, but it might be confidential,” Ashton offered.

  “What are the police even doing once people go to them? Are they just detaining potential risks?” Levi asked.

  That was a good question, one Ashton wasn’t sure about either. Yet another thing he would have to investigate once he had a chance. Summer was suddenly on her phone again, taking a call this time. It was hard to follow only half the conversation, but the panic on Summer’s face made the threat of the situation clear.

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  “You don’t mean she disappeared, right?” Summer demanded, “What about Mason? Does anyone know where he is?” A pause as the person on the other end replied. “I will ask my contacts here to help,” Summer promised, “Do any of them know what Mason replied? This is very important.”

  This time she took out a piece of paper and jotted down a note as she listened to the reply. On the note was a single phrase: “Mommy said not to talk to strangers”.

  “Thanks for finding out. Ashton might know what to do from here.”

  Ashton picked up the paper where Summer had written her note. He waited until her call ended before he asked anything about it. “Is this what your cousin replied?”

  “Not word for word, but it might be the only answer we get,” Summer answered, “What do you think happens with a reply like that?”

  “Mommy isn’t a legally binding title, but neither is maybe,” Ashton muttered, “I am concerned this might be more dangerous for your aunt than your cousin.”

  Summer winced. “This Jargon guy is terrifying. We can’t even tell for sure what he is capable of.”

  Ashton nodded in agreement. “The unknown factors definitely are what make this situation more dangerous. Even with the information Maskz gave us, we are at a disadvantage.”

  Before he had a chance to ask more about the situation, Summer’s phone chimed again. The little color her face had regained, drained in an instant. Without saying a word, she passed her phone to Ashton. Displayed on the screen was a text from an unknown number.

  “Your little cousin is very cute, Golden Reign. Unfortunately, his poor mother isn’t in a state to protect him. Your move.”

  Whether it was MysteriousMaskz, Jargon, or even Checkmate, the intent of this message was clear. They had a hostage now. The question was, who was the intended target. Summer, or him? Just in case, he pulled out his own phone to check if he had any messages from the potential kidnappers. As he suspected, there was one. Summer had the warning, and he had the demands.

  “Since you seemed reluctant to follow my plan, I have given you some incentive. I have the child, and Jargon has the mother. The only way to release the woman from Jargon’s control is to kill him or remove his powers. You should hurry. I’m not sure how much patience I have for babysitting.”

  A bitter feeling rose in Ashton’s throat. Once again Summer was being threatened and it was because of him. The only way to end this twisted game would be to catch MysteriousMaskz, but first they had no choice other than to play along.

  Just as Summer had done, Ashton passed his phone to her and let her read the text. “Things have escalated,” he muttered, “I need to report this. We need to catch Jargon before things become even worse.”

  “That disgusting rat,” Kayla growled, reading the message over Summer’s shoulder, “No matter what happens, we have your backs.”

  “That’s right,” Kai agreed enthusiastically, “Our first mission won’t be complete until we take Jargon down and rescue the hostage.”

  Ashton took his phone back and began contacting the appropriate people, from Harper, to Jared, to the emergency services Gale Research had set up for them. This was not the time to be sitting still and cowering in fear. It was time to act, even if it meant doing exactly what MysteriousMaskz wanted.