Chapter Eighteen

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We make it to the Staten Island Ferry terminal just as the massive orange ferry pulls out of the dock. Peter takes a running leap and spreads his glider wings, and I fly up, dropping onto the hull at the same time as him. I hover behind him in the air as he hangs from the side, peaking in through the widow.

"Nice," Peter whispers. "Okay, Karen, activate Enhanced Reconnaissance Mode."

"Sure thing."

"He's up front. Main deck," says a guy I haven't seen before.

"I hate this guy," the dude from the bridge says.

"It's the guy from the bridge, right? Who's that other guy?" Peter asks.

"Just keep me posted," says the other guy.

"There's no record of him in my criminal database. Incoming call from May Parker. Should I reroute to your heads-up display?" asks Karen.

"I can't talk right now. I'll call her back." The spider drone climbs onto his head. "Hey, Dronie, keep an eye on that guy. We can't let anybody get away this time."

"We need to get a better look. Come up here." I fly to the top of the ferry roof and Peter follows me, crawling to the edge as we peer down at four men on the front deck. "Friday, who's the guy on the left?"

"Mac Gargan. Extensive criminal record, including homicide."

"Would you like me to activate Instant Kill?" Karen asks.

"No, Karen, stop it with the Instant Kill already," Peter says.

The dude from the bridge approaches Mac. "White pickup truck."

"Dronie, scan the ship for a white pickup truck."

The tiny drone scans the cargo under the deck and spots the white pickup truck. It hovers over the truck and scans its contents. One guy gets out of the car and leads the other man to the back.

"Oh, this is too perfect. We got the weapons, buyers, and sellers all in one place," Peter whispers.

"Incoming call from Tony Stark," says Karen.

"Don't answer!" I whisper.

"No, no, no, no, no."

"Mr. Parker," Tony says in greeting. "Got a sec?"

"Uh, I'm actually at school."

"No you're not," says Karen.

"Shut up, Karen," I whisper.

"That's weird, considering Pepper told me she dropped Gracee off at your house because you were at home, sick."

Peter looks at me, the eyes of his mask wide as he tries to come up with another lie. "Well, she did come over. But I, uh, ended up going back to school because I started feeling better."

"Then why isn't Gracee back yet?"

"She told me she was going to check out this... bookstore by my house."

"Not surprised. Anyway, nice work in D.C."

"Okay." I can tell Peter isn't really paying attention because if he was, he would be beaming at the compliment.

"My dad never really gave me a lot of support... And I'm just trying to break the cycle of shame."

"Uh, I'm kind of in the middle of something right now."

"Don't cut me off when I'm complimenting you. Anyway, great things are about to-" The ferry horn blares and I squeeze my eyes shut, knowing we are getting caught. "What is that?"

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