PROLOGUE

“C’mon, hurry!”
The first girl stopped and turned, shining her flashlight at her partner, who was lagging behind. The second girl scrambled forward. “Oh, relax! We’ve got twenty minutes till the loop runs out! We’re fine!” The first girl glared and turned again. “Regardless, I don’t want to exactly hang around here, this place is nasty.” “You said it.” mumbled the second girl, running a finger over a nearby rail guarding an exhibit.   
Her finger came up coated with dust.
The first girl whipped around. “Don’t touch anything!” she snapped. The second girl held up her hands in surrender. “All right, all right! Geez, Chief, you need to chill out.” The first girl sighed. “Just shut up and let’s get out of here, all right?” The second girl nodded earnestly.
“All right, here we go.” The first girl whispered, as the pair stared over the edge of a railing. Below them, at least a good forty feet, was the floor. Two guards stood unnaturally straight, like they had brooms for spines.  The first girl reached into her pack and pulled out her skateboard. “Ready?” Her partner nodded and flicked on her flashlight.
The first girl jumped onto the railing, placing the skateboard under her feet. The wheels hit the metal sharply, emitting a loud shriek. The first girl continued to grind the curved railing, throwing sparks as she turned. Her partner stood above her, holding her flashlight high and keeping it trained on her skateboarding friend. As the first girl continued to descend, the guards finally got over the fact that they were under attack and opened fire. Grinding her teeth, the first girl took a chance and leaped off, grabbing her skateboard and free-falling the rest of the way down.
She landed on her feet, but swayed slightly, like she didn’t have all her balance yet. The guards rushed her and fired point-blank. They probably expected the intruder to drop dead. They did not expect the girl’s partner to come flying out of nowhere and tackle the larger of the two guards. “Hiya!” cried the second girl, whacking the guard on the head with her heavy flashlight. He was knocked out cold, as blood started to run from his forehead.
The remaining guard stared at his fallen partner in bewilderment. “Geez, you don’t have to get so gung-ho about it.” grumbled the first girl. “I just saved your life!” The second girl shouted. The guard took advantage of their squabble to grab the smaller of the two girls and lock her in a choke hold.  The second girl made gagging sounds as her capturer blocked off her windpipe. “Tanya!” yelled the first girl, holding her flashlight up like a club.
“D-Dakota!” gasped Tanya. “Let her go.” Dakota growled, turning on the guard, her dark eyes filled with fury. In response, the guard tightened his grip on her. Tanya let out a strangled scream that echoed around the hall. Tanya’s blue eyes bulged as she continued to suffocate. “Tanya!” shouted Dakota, desperate to help but unsure how.  Every time she took a step toward the guard, he just squeezed tighter. “Stay where you are or I’ll snap her neck like a twig.” growled the guard in a deep voice. Dakota froze, her eyes drifting to the large hand that was wrapped around her partner’s neck. He was right, all he had to do was flex and Tanya would be killed.
Options, that’s what she needed. But what could she do…?
Dakota ran her eyes over the room as she laid her flashlight on the ground at the guard’s command. She lifted her hands up and intertwined her fingers behind her head, then squatted on the ground like a hostage. Dakota thought through her options rapidly. She had a knife in her boot that she could probably get to in time, but he’d see her come at him and kill Tanya. She also had a pistol in her backpack that was lying in the corner by her skateboard. Her cell phone was in there too. But what good would that do?
C’mon, Dakota, she thought, think!
The guard was reaching for his walkie-talkie. He’d be distracted for a moment. She had to act now.
Dakota lunged forward and grabbed her flashlight. “Hey!” The guard yelled. Dakota rolled to the left and came up hurling the flashlight at the side of the guard’s knee. The guard winced and automatically reached down to cup one of his hands around his busted knee.
This made him loosen his grip on Tanya.
Dakota jumped up from her crouch and wrenched Tanya free of the guard’s grip. Furious, Dakota reached into her boot and pulled out her knife. “Chief.” Tanya laid a hand on her friend’s arm. Dakota sighed and dropped the knife back in her boot, while she reached down and picked up her flashlight.
“Here,” Dakota gave Tanya the flashlight. Tanya sighed and walked over to the guard that was lying on the ground and whacked him on the head too.
A few seconds later, the girls were dragging the unconscious bodies into the corner. “There, now c’mon, we’ve got about ten more minutes.” Dakota instructed. Tanya nodded and quickly yanked off her tennis shoes and pulled on her sleek roller-skates. She wasn’t as good with a skateboard, so this was her form of quick transportation. Dakota pulled out her skateboard and threw her pack over her shoulder and started riding down the hall with Tanya at her heels. The two made it to a door with a keypad on the outside. Tanya walked up to it. “Wait a second…I think I forgot it…” She mumbled. “Tanya!” yelled Dakota.
“Kidding! Ha! And you so believed me!” Tanya smirked. Dakota ground her teeth in mute irritation as she internally kicked herself for saving this annoying excuse for a partner. Tanya typed in the code and the door slid open.
“C’mon, let’s hurry.” Tanya urged. The two girls scrambled inside and stopped in front of a stainless steel desk with a black briefcase on top. Dakota reached out and wrapped her hand around the handle.
“Well, that was easy.” Tanya mused.
Then the alarm began to wail.   

***
Dakota swore as she threw the briefcase in her bag. “All right, new plan: get out of here alive.” Dakota told her partner as they raced back through the museum. Tanya laughed bitterly. “I think we might have a little bit of trouble with that, Chief.” The two continued to dash through the halls, turning and twisting, avoiding packs of security guards. Five minutes later, it happened.
Two groups blocked their path forward and backward, guns pointing at the two girls.
Dakota and Tanya stood back to back as the guards surrounded them. “Well, it was nice knowing ya, Chief.” whispered Tanya. A minute passed. “This isn’t right, why aren’t they attacking us?” Dakota mumbled. “Why are you complaining, Chief?” Tanya asked. Dakota scanned the dome-like room they were trapped in. Then someone started clapping.
A man walked in, the source of the clapping. He wore a black suit and a red tie. There was a silver key in his hand encrusted with rubies. Dakota narrowed her eyes. This man had trouble written all over himself. “Dakota, well done, fight, fight, fight, eh?” He smiled good-naturedly. Tanya leaned around Dakota to get a look at the newcomer. “Who is this wack job?” She asked.
The man’s smile wavered, breaking his perfect façade. “That’s not very polite.” The man scolded. He turned to Dakota. “Now, you’ve done very well, but might I ask you to give me the briefcase?” He flashed a smile.
Dakota tightened her grip on the briefcase. “Sure, feel free to ask. I’m not gonna give it to you though.” She snapped. His smile wavered again. He sighed. “Fine, go ahead; keep it. It’s only extra baggage though.” Dakota was confused.
Here’s the whole reason why Dakota was in the museum in the first place: Dakota had “connections” in the police world (A fact that the police were not quite aware of.) and used them to find out information. She’d heard that there was going to be a bomb exchange in a museum in Maine, so she’d come up to Augusta to try and stop it. There was no way she’d just risked her life and Tanya’s for some extra baggage.
Tanya snorted. “Yeah, good one. You don’t believe this kook, do ya, Chief?” The man raised his eyebrows. “Chief, hm? Well, we have a management do we?” “Tanya, just shut up for a sec, okay?” Dakota mumbled. She held up the briefcase. “This isn’t extra baggage, it’s a bomb.” She said firmly. The man’s eyes gleamed. “You don’t believe me?” Dakota shook her head. “Open it.” He encouraged. Dakota had never seen a bomb, but she was pretty sure she’d know one when she saw one. She unlatched the briefcase and opened it.
It was empty.
Dakota’s mouth dropped open as she stared at the case. No, that was not possible! She felt like she’d been punched in the gut. (And Dakota knew what that felt like first-hand.)
The man gave a little tsk tsk. “So disappointing, hm?” He chuckled. “You run across the country to stop a bomb! You fight through security only to find that there is no bomb.” He grinned. “Such a disappointment, eh?” Dakota couldn’t respond.
Luckily, Tanya could.
“Shut up!” yelled the girl, balling her hands into fists and glaring at the man. She picked up the empty case and hurled it at him. It caught him in the chest and knocked the wind out of him. “There, you wanted to take it off our hands.” She snapped. The man doubled over, clutching his stomach. After a moment, he straightened. “Well, you might not want to be throwing things at the man who could order you to be killed in a moment, hm? Now come along, that is, if you want to know what’s going on.” “And what if we don’t want to know what’s going on?” Tanya snapped. The man started out of the room. “Let me rephrase: Now come along, that is, if you want to live.”

***
The man led them into a larger room that couldn’t be part of the museum. Another man was waiting for them, lounging lazily on a high-backed chair. Three other chairs sat in front of him. The man in red walked forward and sat in one of the chairs.
Tanya walked forward and started to sit in one. Dakota kicked the back of the chair. “What?” Tanya muttered, scrambling out of the chair. The new man had a black suit as well, and a blue tie. He was also holding a silver key, this one had sapphires.
“So, Dakota, you consider yourself a crime fighter, hm?” Dakota nodded. “I’ve caught thirteen crooks.” She said. “With my help,” Tanya added quickly. Dakota rolled her eyes, but let it go. “I see,” The man in blue murmured. Then he seemed to gather his thoughts. He clapped his hands and stood. “Well, thank you for all your help! We’ll be seeing you later!” He smiled and the man in red stepped forward and began ushering the two girls out.
“Wait, where are we going?” Dakota demanded. The man in red didn’t respond. Fury rose in Dakota. She’d been through enough today and taken it all in silence. It was time for some answers. She whipped around and grabbed the man by the front of his suit. “Hey, I’m talking to you! What the heck is going on?! I want some answers, got it?” She yelled. The man in red wrenched himself free from her grasp. “Hm, I’m not sure if we’ll be able to tame a beast like you.” He murmured. Tanya grabbed Dakota by the arm. “C’mon Chief.” She hissed. Dakota stared back at the building, glaring at the man in red.