“Heads up.” Yates pulled Liliana out of her internal monologue to see a large vehicle pulling up to the prison gates. Liliana looked closer at the vehicle and saw a heavily armoured truck, big enough to fit an entire team of soldiers. The markings on the side of the truck labelled it as the National Guard, though why they would arrive at the prison, Liliana couldn’t tell. After a brief pause, it granted the truck access and pulled through to the underground parking lot. As far as they could tell, the bulk of the visitors parked underneath the administration building and disappeared inside until they left.
“There must be an internal system letting them into the building and into the prison itself. We might stand a chance of sneaking in through the parking area if we have the right passes. I’ll look into it tomorrow,” Yates theorised, while Liliana noted down the truck in her notebook.
The rest of the night passed with little more activity, another shift change at 9 am and the truck left not an hour after it arrived. The reason for its visits still a mystery to the spies on the hill.
Chapter 12
“Ms Masters, thank you for coming down,” Detective Berkowitz said, walking through a set of double doors to see Liliana standing in the police’s reception.
Liliana had to face the fact that she was about to be questioned again about Max. This time she didn’t have a raging headache to contend with, thankfully. Though she also didn’t have Rose by her side. She felt lonely without her best friend to lean on. The reception of the station was a dim grey colour. Several aging posters covered the walls, encouraging people to ‘do the right thing’ and to ‘say no to illegal drugs’, the typical sort of thing.
The receptionist behind the plexiglass seemed dull to the world. He had probably seen too many types of people pass through the station to be interested anymore. He had barely looked up from filing his nails to register Liliana’s presence. He had half-heartedly typed a few things into his computer before directing Liliana to the seating area. She hadn’t been able to sit down. The waiting area was far too busy, and she was honestly thankful because the seats looked like they were never washed.
Detective Berkowitz led Liliana back through the double doors, deeper into the station. Liliana took a deep breath as she felt like she was diving into the belly of the beast.
“We are just in here.” Berkowitz led Liliana into a small room, a table and chairs in the middle, with a small kitchenette to the side.
“Not the interrogation room?” Liliana blurted out before she could stop herself.
“This is just an interview, not an interrogation. Unless there’s a reason to treat it as an interrogation?” Detective Berkowitz replied, raising her thin eyebrow at Liliana.
“No. No reason, I was just expecting the full-on interrogation room you see on TV is all,” Liliana replied, trying to calm her racing heart.
“You shouldn’t believe everything you see on TV, Ms Masters,” Berkowitz replied with a smirk.
“Don’t I know it,” Liliana said under her breath. She sat down at the table as Berkowitz brought over a couple of coffees.
“Sugar?”
“No, thank you,” Liliana replied, taking the cup from Berkowitz.
“So, I just have a couple of questions today about your relationship with Max Victor,” Berkowitz started as soon as she sat down. She pulled out a notebook from her inside pocket, opening it on a well-worn spine. Liliana took a deep breath as she prepared for the questions.
“When did you first meet Mr Victor?” Okay, starting off with a simple question.
“A little over a year ago,” Liliana replied.
“How did you meet?”
“I ran into him, literally, in the hallway of my office building. He was doing an interview for the paper and my colleague Rose had just taken some photographs for the feature,” she replied, thinking back to that fateful day.
“You ran into him?”
“Yeah. I wasn’t looking where I was going, and he was walking out of a room just at the wrong moment for us to collide. He caught me before I could hit the floor face first.” Liliana couldn’t help a small chuckle escape as she remembered the day.
“And you began dating shortly after? Is that right?”
“Yes, he took me out to dinner a couple days after we met.”
“I see, and you had a good relationship?” Getting a bit more personal now, Liliana felt uncomfortable with the questions.
“Yes. We were happy,” Liliana replied. Then she remembered she needed to deny that she knew anything about Max’s secret identity to the police. “Although, I obviously didn’t know everything about him at this point. Only what he showed me.” Berkowitz nodded along to what she was saying.
“Of course,” she said, noting everything down in her notebook. “And where did you spend most of your time together? When you weren’t out and about in the city.” Odd question.
“We would normally be up at Hilltop or in my flat. A couple of months ago he purchased an apartment in the city for us to both use rather than have me trekking up to Hilltop whenever I spent the night. We were using it as a trial for moving in together.”
“An apartment?” Berkowitz flicked pages back and forth, her brow furrowed. “I have no record of an apartment in the city under Mr Victor’s name.”
“Like I said, it was a recent purchase. How old is your information?” Liliana enquired, curious why the apartment wouldn’t have shown up.
“What’s the address?” Berkowitz asked, ignoring Liliana’s question in favour of her own. Liliana supplied the address, which Berkowitz jotted down quickly. “One moment, I just need to pop out. I’ll be right back.” Berkowitz left the room before Liliana could reply.
Should she have mentioned the apartment? If they didn’t know about it, maybe Max wanted to keep it hidden from the authorities? Liliana’s feet started twitching, her heart thudding in her ears. The seconds ticked by without Berkowitz returning as her anxiety rising. She felt that pressure in the back of her throat, meaning she was reaching the verge of an anxiety attack.
Ticking rang across the room as the clock on the wall seemed to get louder every time it announced that time was slipping away from Liliana. After what seemed like an age, the doorhandle creaked open once more, Berkowitz came back in, unaware of how her actions had almost sent Liliana spiralling. She struggled to take several deep breaths, bringing her heart rate back under control as Berkowitz resettled herself at the table and sat opposite Liliana.
“So, a search of the address you gave me has shown that the apartment in question is under the ownership of a certain Yates Ayad. We could not track this Yates down; however, we have a record of a note allowing Mr Victor and yourself to remain at the property until further notice. A strange situation we haven’t seen before.” Berkowitz stared at Liliana, waiting for information she didn’t have.
Max must have known she might need the apartment as a refuge. He must have known they could capture him. He kept the apartment as a safe house the authorities couldn’t seize, somewhere for Liliana to retreat if needed. It was smart keeping it under Yates’s name; they weren’t in the investigation’s eye. Though, Liliana couldn’t figure out why. If she were investigating a rich supervillain, the first person she would question would be the person who spent the most amount of time with him. And that was Yates, plain and simple.
“Odd. I thought Max owned it himself,” Liliana replied, offering no information on Yates. She felt like she was in the middle of a secret and she did not know her role in it, just deciding as and when needed, hoping she was heading in the right direction.
“Yes. Strange.” Berkowitz lingered, looking Liliana straight in the eye, waiting for her to falter. After a moment or two, she slowly turned back to her trusty notebook. “Were there any times when you suspected Mr Victor was hiding anything from you?”
“Not that I recall. I trusted him.” Liliana remembered she needed to be against Max publicly. This interview was public enough to warrant some acting on her
part. “Of course, I feel silly now, not seeing it. I can’t trust him, not if he were planning something like this.” The words felt heavy in her mouth, the lie jumping out far too easily. She never expected to be in this situation, telling lies to the police to protect herself and her boyfriend. It was wrong, but it needed to be done. Otherwise, they would watch her far too closely. She needed them off her back for the next couple of months.
“Of course,” Berkowitz replied. “I’m sure you would have reported him if you had any idea before now.” Liliana wasn’t sure Berkowitz believed what either of them was saying. She tried to smile in agreement, but she was sure she ended up looking like she had gas or something.
“Mr Victor is being detained and any contact he may make is being monitored. If he tries to contact you, you’ll be brought back for further questioning,” Berkowitz reeled off. “If, in the meantime, Yates Ayad contacts you, please call the station.” Liliana took the card Berkowitz handed over to her, detailing her direct line and email address.
“Thank you for coming down today. We’ll be in contact, so please don’t leave town.” Berkowitz ended the interview and escorted Liliana back outside and into the sunshine.
Chapter 13
The air outside the police station had never felt so fresh on her face. She hadn’t realised how suffocating the station had felt until she was free from its grasp. Though she wasn’t truly free, they would watch her. She did not know how she was going to continue with her plans with Yates with the police breathing down her neck.
Liliana wandered aimlessly down the street as she tried to come up with a plan going forward. She followed her feet back towards the city centre. She wound her way through the hustle and bustle. Most people were getting back to normal already. They trusted Sentinel had locked the bad guy up, that he was watching over them.
If only they knew.
She finally settled on getting herself a steaming hot latte while she thought out her next steps. She sat down outside a small café as she waited for her drink to arrive. She watched the citizens hurry past her, rushing off. The surrounding street was full of different businesses: a bookstore here, a clothes shop there, and right across the road from the café was an electronics shop. TV screens filled the shop window, showing various channels. One screen even showed a live feed of a camera pointed towards the street; she could see a small version of herself sitting outside the café.
The steaming hot latte distracted her for a moment. She thanked the server with a small smile before returning to watching the world carry on around her. One disruption soon followed another as the TV screens across the street blinked over to the same channel, one of the local news stations.
“Welcome to The News at Twelve. I am Joshua Harding,” the newsreader introduced himself before shuffling the papers in front of him. “The latest update from City Hall regarding the recent battle between Sentinel and Dark Warrior has revealed the identity of the Dark Warrior and his closest companions. Max Victor, the well-known tech mogul, was revealed to be the man behind the mask. His girlfriend, Liliana Masters, a journalist in our own city, has been avoiding the media ever since the battle took place.”
“Pinche mierda.” They knew who she was. She would not get another job in her field ever again after this.
The reporter continued to report on her relationship with Max as they showed her photo alongside the live view.
“Avoiding the media, that is, until now. Liliana Masters has given an exclusive interview with our own Tanya Netting. The interview, which is to be covered in the evening paper, shows Ms Masters denying any knowledge of Max Victor’s secret identity. Although, one must wonder if what Ms Masters is saying is true, or is she trying to save her own back after they captured her boyfriend at the end of the battle that tore through our beloved city?”
With Liliana’s picture glaring at her from across the street, she couldn’t help but notice that the server, who was standing at the next table watching the news, was side-eyeing her. This was going to be her life now, being noticed for being the girlfriend of a known supervillain. Before anyone could say anything to her, Liliana stood and quickly stomped her way down the street and back to the apartment she shared with Max. She felt the need to hide out, away from prying eyes.
Her pace was a mistake. A mistake that was soon pointed out to her when even more people recognised her. A teenager with an obnoxious look on his pointed face shoved a phone camera into her face as she tried to walk past his group of friends.
“Why didn’t you try to stop him?” the teenager asked, repeatedly stepping into her path to stop her from escaping his questioning. “How can you love a villain like Victor?”
“Leave me alone,” she barked at the teenager, putting her hand up to the camera lens.
“Why didn’t you call the police?” the teenager shouted back, grabbing onto her arm as she tried to pass.
“I didn’t know! Didn’t you listen to the reporter?” Liliana yanked her arm out of his grip, which was painful given how weedy the kid was. Unexpectedly, the movement of her pulling away knocked the phone out of his other hand and sent it tumbling to the concrete slab they were standing on. Liliana was sure she heard a clink of broken glass as she stepped back, the teenager now shouting about his broken phone. It was his own fault; Liliana knew the brand broke repeatedly. She hurried off before he could shout some more at her, but she noticed some of his other friends had been recording them as well. Great, that was sure to make the rounds on YouTube later.
Liliana darted around the corner, leaving the teenager moaning about his broken phone to his friends, only to see some more curious citizens recognising her from the newscast. She was about to resign herself to being questioned all the way home when a compact car pulled up beside her. Yates was at the wheel.
“Quick, get in,” Yates ordered, throwing open the passenger side door for her to jump in. They pulled away just as quickly as Yates had stopped. They were an excellent driver, even if they picked such a cramped car sometimes. “I saw the news. Safe to say your cover is blown.”
“Recent interview, my ass. Tanya confronted me at work and tried to get anything she could out of me,” Liliana replied, glad she no longer worked for the she-devil. “I don’t think I’m going to show my face in the city for a while.”
Even though she was a journalist herself, she never expected to be in the spotlight like this. Her face was on every screen as they drove past. Was this going to be her life now? All her experiences being boiled down to being the girlfriend of the bad guy. It just made her want to shout the truth about Max and Sentinel.
Yates was swerving through the city traffic with ease. They were an amazing driver. They cut off a couple people here and there but, oddly, no one seemed to mind very much. There was something about Yates that Liliana couldn’t quite put her finger on. Before she could wonder very much, they took a sharp left turn, almost throwing Liliana about the car, with the seatbelt saving her at the last moment. She was quickly brought back to her current situation.
“What am I going to do, Yates? What can I do about this?” Liliana despaired.
“You can prepare for the mission.” Yates was straight to the point. “Your life will not be the same again, although I think you already knew that.”
She did. She felt it in the pit of her stomach. Her life as she knew it was over. She would now just be the girlfriend of a villain. Forever cast in Max’s shadow. As much as she loved him, that didn’t sit right with her. She would not live in his shadow. She needed to get ahead of this.
Her thoughts returned to the website she ran for several years. She had paid little attention to it in recent months, getting caught up between work and Max. Maybe it was time to bring it out of hiding again, start reporting on what’s really going on in the city rather than letting the public believe what they were being spoon-fed by the Supers. It had been a while since she performed some real investigative journalism.
“I’ve collected some things from you
r apartment. I believe you won’t want to stay there while this is all going on. I saw a group of paparazzi outside of your building as I left.” Yates pointed towards the back seat which had two full duffle bags sat on them. “I hope you don’t mind that I broke into your place.”
“A small price to pay for avoiding the cameras, I suppose. Thanks,” Liliana replied, balancing the pros and cons of the break-in. “Where are we heading?”
“Hilltop,” Yates replied as they took the road out of the city towards Max’s secret base. Liliana was still getting her head around the fact that Max had a secret base. “I cut the base off from the rest of the house without the passcode, we’ll be safe there from the police.”
Liliana breathed a sigh of relief when they left the city behind them, sinking into the seat of the car as the houses became more spread out around them. She could see a glint in the distance, the sunlight bouncing off the windows of Hilltop. The only thing that could convince her to relax fully was knowing that Max was going to be there waiting for her, if only that were possible.
“You won’t have long to relax, I’m afraid.” Yates pulled her attention back into the car.
“I’m sorry?” She replied.
“We have a lot of work to do if we are going to get Mr Victor back. We need to start a training regime. As far as I’m aware, you have little in the way of fighting skills. Or stealth.” Yates seemed to appraise her as she was sitting in the car.
“Fair, I suppose. What do you have in mind?” Liliana asked, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer.
“Fighting. We’re going to spar, and I’ll teach you what I know,” Yates replied. Somehow, that didn’t help settle her nerves.
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