“So, Ev, did you find out if your buddy is willing to help us out?”
“He's in,” I replied.
Ben smiled. “Excellent. Now we have a really good chance of actually being able to take this sucker down.”
“That we do, Ben, that we do. We just need to get the guy in a position so that we can ambush him.”
“And that's where Panetti is gonna come in.”
“That’s the plan. I sure hope this kid is gonna cooperate. He's pretty crucial to this whole strategy.”
“He sure is,” remarked Ben. “But we've got a lot of dirt on him, and he knows that. That's why he agreed to be our informant in the first place. I don’t think he’ll chicken out now; he can't afford to.”
“I guess not. But still, we're asking him to do something pretty big, and quite frankly, pretty dangerous. And I wouldn't want to put any of our students in danger, even a bad egg like Panetti. We're going to have to plan this thing carefully.”
“Don't worry; I don't want to put him in any danger either... even though that little bastard did try to stab me.”
Ben chuckled.“I know it's no laughing matter,” he remarked. “But you sure have been through a heck of a lot in your mission to stop this Rocket plague. They tried to stab you, they shot you... and yet still you kept on going after them.”
I grinned. “Persistence, Ben, persistence – with enough of it, nobody can stop you, and you can achieve pretty much anything.”
“Alright, well, when are we gonna talk to Panetti?” asked Ben.
“Let me go over my strategy for a while first,” I replied. “Maybe fourth period, or fifth, we'll get him in here.”
“Sounds good, Everett. See you in a few hours then.”
***
We called Panetti into my office during the final period of the day. He came in looking nervous and took a seat across from me and Ben. Both of us were seated behind my desk.
“Alright, Panetti,” I began, “I'm gonna cut straight to the chase. I'm guessing you've already heard about what happened to poor Kendrick Green, right?”
“Yeah, I heard he got capped. But he's gonna be alright, though, right?”
“He will be. He was lucky. The bullet didn't hit anything major.”
“That's good,” he mumbled.
“And I think you also know we've spoken to William Stevens and Leon Brownell who were present at the shooting. They've agreed to testify in court against Mr. Mask. We've got enough evidence to put him away for a long time.”
“Alright, so what do you need me for?” Panetti asked.
“We need you to help us catch him. That's the last step – we just need to find out who he is and where he is. Then we can set up a sting, with your help hopefully, and swoop in. Once we've got him, it's game over. Like I said, the evidence stacked against him is watertight. Even if he hires the best lawyer in the country, he won't be able to stay out of prison. He's going away; he's going away for a long, long time.”
Panetti looked at me with a confused expression on his face. “You, uh, you don't know who he is?”
“Why does that surprise you?” I asked, a little staggered at his reaction.
“Because you've got his picture on your board over there. And the picture of the girl who runs the operation with him.”
I almost fell out of my chair trying to turn around.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Vivienne
“Simon... you... you bastard!” I shouted, my fear overtaken by a suddenly boiling and savage rage.