With no more reason left to stall, Ashton began to explain everything that had happened. He kept most of the details of their plan to outsmart Maskz vague, only delving into further details when he brought up his conversation with Claudia. Just as he had hoped, Ms. Gale focused on that rather than his reckless plan and potential insubordination. Her answer was almost too perfect, as if she knew exactly what he wanted to hear.

  Could she be connected with MysteriousMaskz after all? At least he could be confident that Untouchable and Maskz were not the same person. All of these doubts were the reason he couldn’t reveal his plan to influence Maskz’s ‘story’. It may have been a mess, but their test had worked. He just had to figure out how best to continue.

  “If what you say is true, we need to put all of our focus on rescuing Ms. Jones,” Amber recommended, “I will arrange a team of professionals to support you, but based on his past behavior you cannot avoid going. Prepare your team for a rescue mission.”

  “The address I was given is probably a trap,” Ashton muttered.

  “Which is why you must go,” Ms. Gale pointed out, “MysteriousMaskz has made one thing abundantly clear. He holds you in high esteem and would never endanger your life.”

  “He has,” Ashton agreed, “but Claudia claims he no longer has his power. We can’t even be sure he is still watching.”

  “It is best to always assume the worst in any situation,” Ms. Gale advised, “We can discuss things further after we successfully extract Claudia Jones.”

  Meaning that she probably did make note of all of the questionable things he did, but was waiting to punish him until after the immediate concern was dealt with. That was fair. Ashton would take full advantage of her generosity. Perhaps he might even use this opportunity to find out the truth that Amber Gale could not tell him. Part of him wished he had taken Maskz up on his offer sooner.

  Ashton left the meeting before she could change her mind and prepared to update his team. They were researching potential Maskz candidates when he left. Hopefully they had managed to find something useful, or at least narrow down some suspects. When Ashton arrived at the spare apartment, they were putting away the various files and research materials that had become a disorganized mess.

  “Finished already?” he asked.

  “With what we can do for now,” Derrick replied, “We have our most likely suspects, but we can’t tell if they are Checkmate, Maskz, or someone working with them.”

  “How many?” Ashton asked.

  “Three,” Levi replied, “Well, three we can all agree on.”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Kai handed Ashton the three files that had been set aside. The first was the file of the founder and CEO of Heroix, Gerald Moore. Ashton had also been suspicious of his connections with MysteriousMaskz, especially after Summer’s meeting there. The second was the file on the owner of the Golden Club, with a highlight on the section mentioning his hospitalized son, Edmund Gould. The last was on the ever suspicious Gilbert Rook.

  Whether or not any of these were Maskz, it was hard to say they were completely disconnected. The hardest one to investigate would be Edmund Gould, so they might have to save him for last. It would be hard to create justification to interrogate a bedridden patient, especially considering how personally involved Maskz had seemed to be thus far. However, if Ned really was fake as Claudia had suggested, that didn’t mean anything.

  “Were there some you didn’t agree on, then?” Ashton asked.

  “Claudia Jones, Amos Wyndart, and Amber Gale,” Kayla reported.

  “Claudia, huh,” Ashton repeated, choosing to worry about the names of the two famous CEOs at a later point, “Then Claudia is where we will start. Ms. Gale is assembling a team to support us in her rescue. We will be paying a visit to the address Maskz gave me.”

  “Are you sure?” Summer asked, looking nervous, “Last time we did what he wanted…”

  “This time we will be prepared,” Ashton said, “and his hostage is a suspect and our potential enemy. He should know he can’t use her against me.”

  Summer nodded. “Still, what if he left you another suspicious gift?”

  Right. There was no guarantee something like that bomb was a one time occurance. He would have set everything up before he lost his powers, even if they truly were gone now. This time Ashton had a plan to distract him if nothing else.

  “Then I will open it, but not before I mess with him first,” Ashton said, “I have a plan to test if he is still listening in. Can you help me research common death flags?”

  “Are you trying to get him to kill you?” Derrick asked with a frown.

  “Not exactly. MysteriousMaskz doesn’t want me to die, but if I start triggering all the cliches for characters doomed to die, it might at least throw him off a bit.”

  “Or he might kill you,” Levi pointed out, “We can’t guarantee you are more important than his dedication to the perfect story.”

  “I have no intention of just lying down and dying,” Ashton said.

  “That is one, right there,” Derrick muttered, “You might be unexpectedly good at triggering death flags.”

  “Now all you need to do is promise to confess your undying love for Summer once this is all over,” Kai said with a smirk, “And don’t forget to talk about all the things you are going to do once you make it out alive.”

  Ashton had expected it, but most of the things he would end up having to say were incredibly embarrassing. “Let’s wait for all of that until we are somewhere he is sure to be listening,” he told them, “Summer, I need your help to recognize Ms. Jones. Her profile has pictures, but you and Kayla met her in person so you will have a better idea of what we are looking for.”

  “I won’t let you down,” Summer promised.

  “There is another one,” Levi muttered, “Though I guess that is more of a failure flag than a death flag.”

  Ashton was already regretting bringing up his plan with the others. He would probably never live this down even after everything was over. Was thinking this a death flag too? Great. Now he was overthinking everything.