James had calmed down by the time he reached his car. In the back of his mind he knew that going after a pair of armed men was foolish, but he was frustrated by not being able to do anything. Whoever they were they had threatened Dimitri. If it hadn’t been for his ability to teleport, god knows what they would have done to him. That’s what scared him the most, not knowing what they wanted.
James suppressed a shudder as he started his car and headed home. After he got there he’d call Tom and tell him that he was right. They shouldn’t go looking for these guys. It was too dangerous. He shouldn’t have blown up at his cousin like that but it bothered him that they weren’t doing anything to protect themselves. There had to be something they could do. He hated this feeling of helplessness.
As he tried to come up with some plan of action James put his conscious mind on autopilot, following the route home through the familiar streets without really paying attention. He had just pulled away from a stop sign at one of the cross roads on Coolidge Street, when he caught a sudden movement from the corner of his eye. A car was racing right at him. He immediately twisted his wheel to the right and narrowly avoided being broadsided. He stomped on the brakes and managed to stop his car just before the front tires ran up onto the sidewalk.
Once his car had stopped he sat there stunned for a moment. The idiot had almost t-boned him. Throwing his door open, James jumped out to confront the careless driver. The other car had pulled up on the side of the road but he couldn’t see who was inside because the windows were darkly tinted.
“Are you crazy?” he shouted at the idling car. “That’s a stop sign, not a slow down if you feel like it sign!”
As he approached the car both front doors opened. Two men in dark suits got out and started toward him. As they approached they reached inside their jackets and pulled out pistols which they aimed at him.
For a split second his mind froze as he realized that he was being confronted by the very men he had been so anxious to go looking for. He felt a cold lump settle in the pit of his stomach as he looked down the barrels of their guns. The reality of the situation wasn’t as exciting as he’d imagined it would be.
“James Caruso. You will come with us,” the man closest to him said.
The sound of the man’s voice snapped James out of his dazed state. They weren’t going to take him without a fight. He concentrated on the man’s gun. A moment later the stranger yelped and dropped his weapon as he began fanning his burned hand in the air. The second man hesitated briefly and glanced at his partner. Then James turned his attention to the man’s feet. Suddenly the man stopped waving his hand and began howling. He started hopping frantically on one foot as smoke curled up from his other shoe. Giving someone a hot-foot was a new trick James had thought up after their football game. As the first man dropped to the ground and began madly clawing at his laces, James turned his attention to the other man.
James met the eyes of the second stranger who was glaring at him. Before he could focus on a target James heard a pop and saw a flash from the muzzle of the man’s gun. At the same moment he felt something strike him in the stomach. A sudden weakness overcame him and he collapsed to his knees. Surprisingly it didn’t hurt. In fact, a feeling of numbness was spreading through his entire middle. As his vision darkened and he felt himself falling onto his side, he wondered what his parents would do when the police found his body.