“I don’t like this,” Summer spoke up immediately.

  Ashton frowned. “It is too dangerous for either of us to go,” he agreed, “but we can’t just ignore it either.”

  As he was trying to figure out what to do, Summer started doing something on her phone. Whatever it was seemed to be working as her face quickly lit up with triumph. She turned the phone to show Ashton too, revealing a satellite image from maps.

  “It’s a house,” she reported.

  It was definitely a house. The building looked shockingly normal for a place that MysteriousMaskz would direct them to. There was no chance that Maskz himself lived there, but Checkmate might, or another person who was connected to him. Either way it was far too dangerous to go there, but if it really was a house they might not have to.

  “We might not have to go there,” Ashton considered, “I have an idea, but you will have to distract Harper so I can smuggle out some Untouchable.”

  “What are you going to do?” Summer asked.

  Ashton tapped his watch and shook his head. “Trust me. I won’t go there in person.”

  “Alright,” Summer gave in.

  It looked like she understood the message. Good. Ashton got to work as soon as Summer left. She would try to buy him time with a distraction, but there was no telling how long that would last. He needed to at least disguise Untouchable before anyone came to check his stock. He rifled through his kitchen for something to put it in and came across an empty bottle of vanilla extract. This would do. The brown tinted glass would make it impossible to see what was inside.

  Since it was dangerous to risk any vanilla getting into the serum, Ashton took the time to wash the bottle out properly and dry it so no water or soap got in either. Once he was certain the bottle was completely clean and dry, he began the careful transfer of a single dose of Untouchable. He secured the lid with tape after putting it on just to buy even the slightest bit more time.

  The next challenge was leaving some kind of message. How could he explain exactly what was inside for the intended recipient without any potential inspections catching on? Ashton couldn't guarantee any code would work. In that case, maybe he should take another page out of MysteriousMaskz's book and try some kind of fake number. The first thought was getting a burner phone, but he didn't have time for that.

  Weren't there apps that gave you random temporary numbers for free? It seemed a bit shady, but Ashton looked it up. He chose the one that looked the least shady and made an account. With a number secured, he wrote it down on a note card and attached it to the bottle. Next came the careful packaging. Once that was all taken care of, Ashton removed his watch. Letting Maskz listen in now would give too much away.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  His next destination was the post office. It was suspiciously easy to place the package in his car and drive off. Maybe it was a testament to how much they trusted him, but it might also mean that he was being watched. Ashton couldn’t ignore either possibility but there wasn’t much he could do about it if the latter was the case. He purchased the express delivery complete with tracking in his options and immediately headed back.

  Now all he had to do was wait. Ashton checked the tracking updates from time to time, but even though the address he had sent it to was in the same city, it still took two days to deliver. During those two days, Harper questioned him about the watch. He was able to convince her that it was better to keep it around, especially given Ned’s promise not to listen in when he removed it. They had some time for joint training, and Ashton made sure to send Derrick on errands outside to give him plenty of opportunity to be framed.

  Once the third day passed, Ashton was growing concerned that whoever received the package would not contact him. The bottle might end up being used as regular vanilla extract, or even thrown away. It wasn’t until the fourth day that Ashton received a message for his temporary number.

  “Who is this?”

  That was an excellent question. What was he supposed to say? The truth would probably be best, but only what they absolutely needed to know.

  “I am the one who sent you the gift. I left you my number so I could explain what is inside.”

  There. Concise and to the point. That might not put them at ease, but they should at least understand what he was trying to say and why. It was better not to tell them he had gotten the address from a criminal mastermind.

  “Do you even know who I am?” the recipient questioned.

  “No,” Ashton replied honestly. Was this going well or not? He couldn’t be certain.

  There was a pause before another message came through. “Tell me about the gift.”

  “The liquid in the bottle is a special formula called Untouchable that can permanently erase powers,” Ashton explained, “There is only one dose, so use it carefully.”

  “Why have you given this to me?”

  “I need to be sure it works.” The same excuse he used for Maskz should work fine here, “Even if the serum fails, there won’t be any harm. It will be like nothing happened at all.”

  “Did you choose this container so it would be easier to slip into someone’s food?” the recipient asked.

  Ashton honestly hadn’t thought of that, so he took another page out of Ned’s book. “Feel free to think whatever you want.”

  “This stinks of a trap, but sure. I’ll bite. If you are who I think you are, I will see you tonight. If not, thanks for the gift. I will use it well.”

  Who did they think he was? Ashton only took a moment to come to a probably answer. An unknown number with a cryptic gift and messages full of hidden intentions and mysteries. These were all the trademarks of MysteriousMaskz. Given that he had gotten the address from him, it made sense for them to know about him.

  “Be sure to tell me how it goes.”

  That should be enough to make them doubt that he was Maskz, right? He couldn’t tell them who he really was, though now he was curious about who they were as well.