Chương 35

Adam reached the hideout and stopped near the door. Everyone inside looked tense, and the silence told him they had already started believing him. Hughie was standing near the table. M. M. had his phone in his hand. Frenchie kept looking from one face to another. Butcher stood at the side with a hard look. Hughie saw Adam first and came toward him. His voice was low, but everyone heard the fear inside it.

"Are you sure?" Hughie asked. Adam looked at him and answered in a casual voice, "Yes. I am absolutely sure. And if you do not trust me, wait for a while. You will know soon." That did not calm Hughie down. It made him more afraid, because Adam sounded like a man who had already seen the result. Adam saw it on his face. Hughie wanted Adam to be wrong. Everyone in the room wanted that. But Adam already knew the path had opened. M. M.' s phone buzzed again. He looked at the screen, then opened his bank app.

His face changed.

"What the hell?" M. M. said. Frenchie looked over.

"What?" M. M. stared at the phone.

"My account is frozen." The room went quiet. No one needed to ask who had enough reach to do that so fast. M. M. tried again, then clenched his jaw.

"They froze my damn bank account." Adam watched him and did not say anything.

'It started,' Adam thought. Then Hughie's phone rang. Hughie looked at the screen.

"It's my dad." He answered quickly.

"Dad?" His father's frightened voice came through the phone.

"Hughie? There is someone here." Hughie went still.

"What do you mean?" Hughie asked.

"Dad, who is there?" There was movement on the other side. Then another voice came through.

"Hughie Campbell," A-Train said.

"You need to come home. Fast." Hughie's face lost color. A-Train continued, "Your dad is okay for now. That changes if you make me wait." This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it"Do not touch him," Hughie said.

"Then move." The call ended. Hughie slowly lowered the phone. His fingers were still wrapped around it like he had forgotten how to let go. Butcher looked at him.

"A-Train?" Hughie nodded. Adam's eyes turned cold for a second. Homelander had told A-Train who Hughie was. He had also told him Robin's death and Popclaw's death were tied together through the same group. M. M. turned away and called Monique. She answered fast.

"Marvin, what is going on? The bank called. Our account is frozen. I cannot use the card." M. M. closed his eyes for one second.

"Listen to me. I need you to leave the house."

"What?"

"Take Janine and leave the house. I am sending you a location. Go there as fast as you can." Monique was silent for a moment. Then her voice changed.

"You started it again, didn't you?" M. M. did not answer at once.

"Marvin," she said, "tell me you did not go back to that life."

"I am sorry," M. M. said.

"I will explain everything when you get there. Right now, just move. Please." Monique breathed hard through the phone.

"You promised me," she said.

"I know."

"You promised our daughter too." M. M.'s hand tightened around the phone.

"I know. I am sorry. But if you stay there, they can reach you." Monique did not speak for a few seconds. Then she said, "Send me the location." M. M. ended the call and looked like he wanted to break something. Before anyone could speak, Butcher moved toward Adam.

"This is on you," Butcher said. Adam looked at him.

"What?" Butcher stepped closer.

"If you had not got attached to Starlight, this would not have gone this far." Adam frowned.

"I do not understand what Starlight has to do with this. She knows nothing."

"You told her we were FBI," Butcher said. Adam stared at him. Butcher's voice rose.

"You gave her that line, and now Homelander has her in the middle of it. You think that does not come back to us?" Adam's face became serious. M. M. stepped between them.

"Enough." Butcher did not look away from Adam. M. M. raised his voice.

"We discuss this later. Right now, we have Hughie's dad, my family, and Vought coming down on us. Pick the first fire." Frenchie nodded.

"The first fire is Hughie's father." Hughie looked at them. His hands were shaking. Adam looked at Hughie.

"A-Train will not wait long." Butcher turned toward the door.

"Then we move." The scene shifted to Hughie's apartment. A-Train was inside Hughie's room. He walked slowly near the shelves and looked at the old posters and toys. There were action figures, race photos, and small pieces of fan merchandise. To A-Train, they looked like a child's things, but the sight still annoyed him. He picked up one small figure of himself and turned it in his hand. The door opened behind him, and Hughie stepped into the room. A-Train turned and looked at him.

"I do not get it," A-Train said.

"You were my fan. Then why all this?" Hughie did not answer at first. His eyes went to the hallway, where his father was still somewhere outside the room. Then he looked back at A-Train.

"Where is my dad?"

"Close," A-Train said.

"Alive." Hughie swallowed. A-Train tossed the small figure onto the bed.

"Homelander told me what you people did. Popclaw is dead because of you." The name hit Hughie, but he did not look away. He remembered Robin's blood on his hands and forced himself to stand still. Hughie's fear twisted into anger.

"Robin is dead because of you," he said. A-Train's face tightened. For a second, neither of them moved. Hughie slowly reached into his jacket and took out the vial of Compound V. He had not wanted to bring it out this soon, but his father was not a card he could gamble with. A-Train's eyes locked onto it. The speedster looked genuinely surprised, and for the first time since Hughie entered, his attention left the doorway. Hughie held it up.

"Let my dad go." A-Train stared at the vial, then looked back at Hughie.

"Give me the V," A-Train said, "and your father walks."