The Super Jerk Trilogy (Now 3-in-1)

5. Purge the Poison

{Sarah}

We have nothing in the way of a clear plan the entire month of February. Trevor and Zach try everything: GPS, Google Maps, Find My Phone, even old-school tracking methods. But no luck in locating Cam or Mayor Green. It's like they've just disappeared off the face of the earth. Poof. Gone.

   "I knew it," Trevor says, sitting back in his swivel chair and raking his hands through his hair so it sticks up straight. "We should have implanted a chip in Mr. A.I.'s neck."

   "He's not a dog, Trevor." I sigh, looking up once again from one of my thick textbooks for my pre-law class. I don't even want to be a lawyer. Why I'm still on this track, I'll never know. It's definitely not to prove something to myself, unless that's knowing I'll never be good at torts. Or anything else in this discipline, for that matter.

   "Got any better ideas?" He rubs the back of his head vigorously, and then fiddles with his watch-slash-super-alert-system.

   "We do have more supers at our disposal you know," Zach says from his bed, taking a break from typing furiously on his laptop. "Vermillion, Sunburst, and Pink, namely."

   "They're not at our beck and call," grumbles Trevor, scowling at the wall and crossing his arms over his chest. I catch Zach's wink and quickly look away. "They've got their own problems."

   "Everybody does, Trevor," I say, bumping his elbow with the back of my hand. "Why don't you ask Kitty? I think she's feeling a little left out."

   "You think it's that easy, Campbell, but it's not," he says, unmoving. "A, she's not a super, and B, she doesn't handle situations like this very well."

   He'd been getting increasingly touchy about Kitty ever since we got back from winter break. Truthfully, I suspected that he really wasn't the type of guy to even have a girlfriend for too long, considering the dynamic he had with me. I figured he could treat Kitty the same way and get away with it. But on the other hand, we'd established a clear "just-friends" line when we met. It wasn't the same with Kitty, who'd had a crush on him for years. I mean, at least they didn't have tons of baggage like Zach and me, or Cam and Kaelie.

   I think of the information we'd gotten from Felicia when we'd decided to muster up the courage to call her personal phone number. She lived mostly as a recluse in lower Vermont, and reaffirmed everything Matt had told us about Ridley Green. Except for one thing – she'd mentioned something about HECKL's multiple locations, spread across the country. One in Sacramento, on the west coast, one in New York, on the east. And, for some reason, one in Raleigh, North Carolina. Possibly just to throw everyone off the trail.

   "I have an idea," I say suddenly as these thoughts run through my mind.

   "Finally." Zach claps his laptop shut and tosses it onto the bed, coming over to join us. "We're not getting any younger, you know."

   "Well...remember how Felicia said that HECKL has four possible locations?"

   "Yeah," Trevor says. "One of which we've already jailbroken."

   "Right. So that leaves three others. I think there's a way to narrow it down even more."

   "Don't leave us in suspense, Sarah, please." Zach says, rolling a finger forward in the air.

   "I say we split up, and we scout it out. See what we can find." It was just a thought, really, and consider calling it off when I see Trevor's less-than-enthusiastic expression.

   "Only trouble is, Sacramento's really far away." Trevor sighs.

   Now Zach jumps in. "But Vermillion can teleport, remember? She'd be able to get there faster than any of us. And I'm sure she'd be willing to help, once we explain the situation to her."