That the bikers worked for the mysterious evil power described by Merlin, Jack had no doubts. Somehow, the force had discovered the magician posed a threat to its plans and had sent its minions to kidnap the mage and his daughter. Why the gang hadn’t just killed the pair, Jack didn’t know. He knew for sure it wasn’t out of any feelings of mercy.
Fortunately, their unseen enemy was not omniscient. It failed to realize that Merlin had recruited Jack for the struggle. The bikers had treated him as a minor annoyance to be swatted out of the way, nothing more. Unless, he concluded gloomily, his efforts meant nothing and were doomed to failure. At present, that seemed extremely likely.
Merlin’s rambling discourses left too much unsaid. Jack had no idea how to find, much less defeat, the evil that threatened the future. A mere graduate student in mathematics, he still had not a clue as to why the magician felt he was qualified for the job of saving mankind. Solving equations, not slaying demons, was his specialty. But, he had to try.
Jack wondered if perhaps that was the reason he had been chosen. All his life, he had faced every challenge in his path, no matter what the odds. He never shirked his responsibilities. He attacked his problems with a single-minded determination that ruled out failure. Defeat was not part of his vocabulary. A relentless streak ran through him, making him a much more dangerous foe than anyone ever guessed.
Wobbly, he staggered out of the office, carefully closing the door behind him. His fingerprints were all over the place. That could cause trouble if anyone noticed Mr. Ambrose and his secretary were missing. Jack suspected supernatural entities left no such marks.
Waiting for the elevator, he suddenly remembered the Universal Charge Card. He fumbled through his pockets for a few seconds before finding it. With a sigh of relief, he slipped the rectangle into his wallet. Perhaps he could use the card to track down the missing magician. It wasn’t much of a plan, but at least it provided a starting point for further ideas.
Reaching the ground floor, Jack straightened his shirt and dusted off his clothes before confronting the security guard stationed in the front hallway. He needn’t have bothered. The grizzled police veteran didn’t even look up from his newspaper when Jack coughed.
“Whatcha want?” the officer mumbled.
“You didn’t happen to notice a gang of bikers leaving here a short while ago?” Jack hesitated, realizing how foolish he sounded. “Accompanied by an old man and a young lady?”
The guard squinted over the paper at Jack. Dark eyes peered around warily. “No gangs allowed in my building, sonny. That includes bikers. Now go away and quit bothering me. Can’t you see I’m busy?”
A talkative newspaper vendor across the street confirmed the officer’s claim. “Ain’t their territory,” the old man declared in a high-pitched voice. “They steer clear of the Loop. Too many cops around for them to try anything.”
Jack shook his head in annoyance. The kidnapers had somehow managed to enter and leave the office building unseen. Merlin claimed the teleportation spell only worked on small objects, so that was eliminated. Perhaps the gang knew the secret of invisibility. With magic real, anything was possible. Anything at all. It was not a comforting thought.
4
Despite all that had taken place in the past few hours, a few lingering doubts troubled Jack. He needed to prove to himself that Merlin had been telling him the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. There was only one sure way to find out. He decided to test the Universal Charge Card.
It didn’t take him very long to find an outdoor cash station. They were scattered all over the Loop. Even the local McDonald’s had one.
Gingerly, Jack put the plastic rectangle into the ATM. Without a flicker of hesitation, the machine sprang to life. “Please enter your four-digit identification code” appeared on the video monitor directly in front of him. Gulping, Jack typed in the special code listed on the back of the card he had memorized earlier. No alarms sounded. So far, so good.
Following the instructions on the screen, he entered “withdrawal” when asked what type of transaction he wanted to perform. Up to then, everything followed the usual routine for cash stations. Then magic took over.
Normally, the next screen should ask where he wanted the money taken from—his savings account, checking account, or as a cash advance against his credit card. Instead, large block letters merely asked, “How much, Jack?”
Licking his lips, he typed in “$250.” Jack found it somewhat unnerving to have a machine address him by name.
“Small bills okay?” flashed the new message.
“Yes,” typed in Jack.
With a hum, the machine closed up tight. When it opened a few seconds later, there was $250 in fives and tens in the money drawer. Along with Jack’s card.
“Take care” flashed across the video screen as Jack scooped up the cash and stuffed it in his pockets. There was no receipt nor did Jack ask for one.
After three more withdrawals at different machines. Jack was convinced. He had remained cautious, never taking out more than $250 at any one machine. Not that the automatic tellers questioned the amount. As far as he could tell, they would have given him as much as he wanted. Thousands at least, if not more.
At least he had been smart enough to ask for big bills when prompted by the other machines. Even then, the wad of cash bulging in his pocket made him slightly paranoid. And, he had to admit, feeling terribly tempted.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of cash machines dotted the city and surrounding suburbs. Finding them wouldn’t be difficult. It might take a few days to reach them all but he could do it. Especially considering the reward. If he withdrew a thousand bucks from each ATM, he would end up with over a million, tax free, cold cash, dollars. Enough pay to make his most decadent imaginings come true. The thought of that much money his for the taking gave him the shakes.
Jack shook his head. It was a seductive idea, but he was much too honest to do anything more than dream. Merlin obviously knew the power of the card, and yet he had still given it to Jack. There was no way he could betray the magician’s trust. Besides, a fortune wouldn’t mean much if Merlin’s ominous forecast of the future came true.
That thought in mind, Jack started walking down the street to the El. If he was going to save the world, it was time to stop daydreaming and do something. Always methodical—the mark of a good mathematician—Jack planned his next moves.
First and foremost, he needed to return to the university and get some medical attention. After that, dinner would be nice, and some time to reflect carefully on what little Merlin had told him. Then, hopefully, working from that information, he could formulate a plan of attack. Though, he suspected preventing the destruction of civilization might prove to be a bit more of a challenge than his usual routine.
Reaching the entrance to the subway, Jack hesitated. He wondered if taking the underground back to campus might be a bad idea. Money in his pockets put a new twist on things. A rash of muggings, many of them taking place near the Elevated station, had plagued the college for the past month. Walking the three blocks from the train to the school might be tempting fate. As far as he was concerned, one beating a day was more than enough.
Fingering a crisp new twenty-dollar bill, Jack contemplated taking a taxi back to campus. This was entirely different from his daydreams about spending the money on wild living. A cab ride was a perfectly legitimate expense. Merlin had given him the Universal Charge Card and told him to use it whenever necessary. Or, at least the magician seemed to imply that when he gave Jack the card back in his office. Jack couldn’t actually remember Merlin saying anything about the card one way or another.