Outcome of Chapter 13 Plot Hinge: The homepage of the National Post did have a story about May Day at 12 noon on May 1st. As a result, the Panama Crew has decided to remain loyal to Agent Isaiah and help in his attempt to find and steal the third Ma’Chavu Key.

From behind the glass wall of her cell, Tina listened to the guards in the other room. “Do you really think it’s him?” one of them said.

“Can’t be,” the other one said. He didn’t sound so sure.

The last hour had been a crazy one. Someone had kicked this hornet’s nest and kicked it hard. And if the increasingly loud sound of gunfire was an indicator, whoever did the kicking was coming their way.

Tina looked to Isabella but she appeared just as confused.

One of the guards put a finger to his ear. “Wilkes to command. What’s going on out there?” Wilkes started pacing around the little room while his partner checked his gun for what had to be the tenth time. “Wilkes to command. Do — you — copy?”

Wilkes shook his head. “Perez, I’m getting nothing!” he said to the other guard.

A loud banging outside the door caused Wilkes and Perez to jump like a pair of schoolboys. They swung around with their weapons aimed at the door and their backs to Tina and Isabella. The noise continued. Wilkes took a couple steps back, his gun trembling in his hand.

With their attention focused on the door, and the racket coming from outside it, neither agent seemed to notice one of the ceiling tiles moving above Wilkes’ position. Tina noticed. As the noise continued, a woman dressed in Windigo uniform slowly lowered herself on a rope from the ceiling, headfirst.

“That’s gotta be Wu,” Isabella said quietly.

Dangling upside down just behind Agent Wilkes’ head, Wu tapped him on the shoulder. Wilkes spun around and Wu punched him hard in the throat before he could scream. A second later she had her arms wrapped around his torso and they were both pulled back into the ceiling, as silently as Wu had arrived.

Tina gaped at Isabella. “Yeah,” Isabella said shrugging. “She’s good.”

The noise in the hallway ended abruptly. Agent Perez, still facing the door and oblivious to his partner’s absence, was breathing hard. “What the hell is going on, Wilkes?… Wilkes?”

Perez did a double-take as he looked over his shoulder and realized Wilkes was gone. Spinning around, Perez pointed his gun at Tina and Isabella through the glass wall.

“Hey,” Tina said, raising her hands. “Don’t look at me.”

A loud clang came from the ceiling. Agent Perez looked up just in time to see Wilkes’ body come crashing through the tiles and land on top of him.

The door burst open and in strode the last person on Earth Tina wanted to see: Agent Donovan Isaiah. The man immediately behind Isaiah, however, was the person Tina wanted to see most.

“Will.” She meant to shout it. Instead it came out as a choked whisper. Tears welled up in her eyes and she moved to the glass wall. Partly to get as close to him as she could, partly so she could lean on it and keep Will and Isabella from seeing how weak in the knees she suddenly found herself. He was alive.

Will rushed to the glass wall. There were so many things Tina wanted to say to him. How worried she’d been. How much she cared for him. How scared she was that she might have lost him. They stared at each other through the wall for what seemed like an eternity but what was more likely just a couple seconds. “Nice shirt,” Tina said finally. She never was good at the mushy stuff.

“Thanks,” Will said, grinning like an idiot.

Isabella’s shouting snapped Tina back to the situation at hand. “You got a lot of nerve,” she screamed, jabbing a finger at the glass. Tina assumed it was Agent Isaiah she was yelling at. When she looked however, she saw that it was a tall, blond man.

“Bella! We don’t have time for this,” the man said in a thick Australian accent. Even though he was carrying an automatic rifle and Isabella was unarmed and locked in a cell, the Aussie looked terrified.

Wu dropped from the ceiling again. “Coyote Jack’s right,” she said to Isabella. “You two can have your lover’s quarrel later. We’ve got more important things to worry about. Like getting out of here alive.”

“Bah!” Isabella said, throwing her hands up in the air. “Coyote Jack! His name is Filbert, Wu. Filbert! Coyote Jack’s just a stupid nickname he gave himself.”

A gruff, older man in Windigo uniform came in from the hallway as Agent Isaiah unlocked Tina and Isabella’s cell. “We’re outta time, boss,” he barked. “Davidson’s gonna be here any second. So unless you’re feeling really lucky, that key of yours is going to have to wait.”

Agent Isaiah stared at Isabella who, now free from the cell, was jabbing Coyote in the chest with her finger, rambling on in Spanish. “Fine,” he said after a moment, as emotionless as ever. “Let’s go.”

Tina wrapped her arms around Will and held him tight. “Don’t you ever do that to me again,” she whispered in his ear.

A few exhausting minutes of sprinting later Agent Isaiah led them out of the facility and into a broad courtyard filled with cars and SUVs. Two more guards fell from the control towers as Isaiah’s pals made quick work of them. Tina could hear the sound of a helicopter approaching as she climbed into one of the SUVs with Will.

Isabella was about to climb in next to Tina when Coyote Jack suddenly tackled her to the ground and more gunfire filled the air. “Izzy!” Tina shouted, jumping back out of the vehicle. Isabella wasn’t the one who was in trouble however. Tina watched as a dark pool of blood grew on the back of Coyote Jack’s uniform.

“Get him in the car!” Isabella screamed. Will and Tina dragged the now-very pale Aussie into the vehicle. Isabella jumped in the front passenger seat and Wu, behind the wheel, threw the car into gear.

“You can’t let him die, Tina!” Isabella pleaded, nearly as pale as the man bleeding in the back seat.

Speeding out of the courtyard with Agent Isaiah and the others in the car behind them, Tina opened Coyote Jack’s shirt. As a nurse she’d seen a lot of serious injuries. And they didn’t get much more serious than this.

Plot Hinge: Coyotes vs. Predators – NHL Playoffs

Coyote Jack’s been shot! For this week’s Plot Hinge, we turn to the NHL playoffs. More specifically, the series between the Phoenix Coyotes and Nashville Predators.

1. If the Phoenix Coyotes win their game against Nashville on Friday, May 4th, then Tina will be able to save Coyote Jack from dying.
2. If however, Nashville wins on May 4th, then Tina will be unsuccessful in her attempts to save Coyote Jack’s life and he will die.

Bonus Content: Character Profiles – The Panama Crew

Learn all about Agent Isaiah’s five-person Panama Crew. To access this page however, you’ll need the password. You can find the password either at participating library locations or by successfully completing the Memory Match Mini Game (Note: I’ve changed the password you get from the Memory Match game so you’ll need to complete it again!)

• Click here to access the bonus content using the library password
• Click here to access the bonus content using the Memory Match password

Chapter 15 goes live on May 10th! How do you like the story so far? Feel free to leave comments below or email me your thoughts, questions and ideas. And if you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe in the top right of the screen to receive email notifications whenever a new chapter is posted.