"Shit, dude," Blake chided from behind. "You got a phone, and last I checked, you can read as well as I can."
"It's quicker to ask you. When did the call come in?"
"Just this morning," Blake replied. "Why do you ask?"
"Whoever tipped us off about Kingston would have to be free at the time the call came in. Most people have day jobs. They don't have time to make extended phone calls to the Police. He must have been on the line a while to communicate all that information."
Blake frowned and took out his phone. "You're right."
For no particular reason, Nate and Jo rotated around. The four friends halted right there on the sidewalk while he pulled up Chief Bates's email. "He called at eight o'clock this morning. He was on the line an hour and a half, and he even forwarded some of the documents to the Station."
"That's weird," Kat remarked. "Who has that kind of time before work every morning?"
"Maybe an entrepreneur who's independently wealthy," Nate suggested. "Someone who can make his own schedule."
"Sorry, man," Blake told him. "We also ruled out Wesley Falkner while you were laid up. He can't be the Dark Avenger."
"How did you rule him out? Did you follow up with those people who supposedly had a Zoom meeting with him while the Dark Avenger was at the docks?"
"It isn't just that," Kat told him. "We checked his whereabouts while you were getting shot at the tracks. He was being interviewed for a national TV program on business leadership. His presence was filmed by five different cameras, and about thirty stage crew and production people can testify to his presence. He can't be the Dark Avenger."
"Damn!" Nate punched his palm. "He has to be somebody!"
"Of course he has to be somebody. The question is who." Blake put his phone away again. "In the meantime, I suggest we put the Pink Panther on the back burner where he belongs and turn our attention to the task at hand. Uncovering his secret identity won't help us tomorrow, and if we flub this raid, Chief Bates is likely to pull all four of us from the Kingston case. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to risk that."
"None of us do." Jo faced the front, and they started walking again.
She did her best to put the Dark Avenger out of her mind. Blake was right that tomorrow's raid was way more important than figuring out who might be helping them put Kingston away.
They made it half a block. She scanned the town, trying to prepare her mind for every eventuality tomorrow. She ran through a list of equipment they needed to hire from Carter Transport.
When she turned her head from one side to the other, she pulled up short with a gasp of astonishment. Right there to their left, she stared through a huge glass window into the martial arts school.
Awards, trophies, and ribbons festooned the dojo's north wall. A big color print of Chief Bates occupied pride of place among the largest cluster of prizes.
A single man practiced inside the studio, and it wasn't Chief Bates. It couldn't be. Chief Bates was back at the Station running the damn Police Department.
This man wore a black practice gi tied around the waist with a black belt. He stood in front of a progressive stack of wooden boxes lined up in a half-circle. He flexed his legs and jumped onto the shortest one. Then he jumped back to the floor. His bare feet slapped the vinyl mats.
Quick as thought, he jumped up and down onto each box rising higher and higher. He sprang with light, effortless leaps onto each box, down to the floor, and up to the next highest one.
The tallest box carried him nearly to the ceiling, but even that didn't cost him much effort. He made those jumps quickly and rhythmically like he did this shit all the time.
Jo blinked at him in shock. Could this be the Dark Avenger? She seemed to be thinking that about every man she met these days. At least she didn't think that about Nate. She didn't have to because he was with her almost every time she'd seen the Dark Avenger.
The guy hopped off the tallest box and back onto the shortest without missing a beat. He went through the whole sequence again, and then he completed the circuit a third time before he stopped.
He rotated around and saw the four Detectives staring at him through the open dojo door. He snatched a towel from the floor and sauntered toward the entrance. "Can I help you folks?"
Nate squared his shoulders and stuck out his hand. "Nate Fricks. I'm a detective with the Soledad Police Department. We were just passing by. That was a very impressive display. What art do you practice?"
The guy laughed and flipped his towel over his shoulder. His blue eyes sparkled and his cheeks colored. "I don't really practice any art to tell you the truth. I'm kind of a wannabe."
Blake nodded toward the boxes. "That didn't look like a wannabe to me."
The guy shrugged. "I started doing karate, and then I transitioned into Aikido. Then I got bored. I kinda got interested in ninjutsu, but I couldn't find anyone who taught that, so I kind of went out on my own. I cobbled together a bunch of techniques from a bunch of different arts. Nowadays, I just do whatever. Not much to talk about, really. I don't really belong anywhere, which is why I'm in here practicing by myself."
Nate scanned the dojo. "Do you know Ian Bates? He trains here all the time, but of course, he isn't here now. That's his picture next to the State Championship trophy."
The guy spread his palms. "Sorry. I'm not from around here. I just came to town on business, and I needed somewhere to practice. I don't know him or anyone else."
Nate turned away. "We'll let you get back to it. I wish I could make a jump like that."
The guy pointed his chin down at Nate's leg. "You don't look like you could jump off the couch. What happened—did you break your ankle tripping over the cat?"
Nate chuckled, shaking his head. "Get in line, pal. I already got these three breaking my balls day and night. Hey! I forgot to ask." He turned back. "I didn't get your name."
The guy burst into a huge grin that showed a row of brilliant teeth. He stuck out his hand, and his features shone with undisguised pleasure. "Ryder. Ryder Mackenzie. It's a pleasure to meet you, Detective."
"Good to meet you. Maybe we'll meet again while you're in town."
"I hope so." Mackenzie sauntered back inside, and the four detectives resumed their slow amble down Main Street.
"There's your ninja," Nate murmured to Jo when they got a safe distance away.
"Did you see that jump?" Kat whistled through her teeth. "Amazing! I don't think even Chief Bates could do that."
"He just happened to be in town for business," Blake interjected, "just in time to tip us off about Kingston's secret vault."
"That doesn't explain how he knew," Jo pointed out. "Whoever tipped us off must also have been in town for the graveyard kidnapping."
"He definitely doesn't have a day job," Nate remarked. "He's practicing his ninjutsu at eleven o'clock in the morning. He could have made the call."
"Put a cork in it." Blake halted outside the Carter Transport yard. "Put your game faces on."
Nate furrowed his brow and took out his phone. "You go inside and hire the gear. I'm gonna stay here and do some background research on our friend Ryder."
"Why do I have to go inside?" Blake complained. "Why do I get stuck with the gimp jobs?"
"'Cuz you're the gimp on this crew." Nate sliced his finger to the side. "Chop, chop, Kato."
Blake smacked his lips. "Listen to this slacker calling me a gimp."
Nate didn't respond. He scowled at his phone and ignored everyone. Jo studied him while Blake and Kat went into the yard. Blake's grumbling dwindled into the background.
"You don't really think he's the Dark Avenger, do you?" Jo asked after they left. "What could he have against Kingston?"
"That's what I'm about to find out." He tapped his screen. "This says he was born on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. He's the only son of a single mother. He was raised without a father. He didn't even finish grade school."
Jo blinked up at him with her mouth open.
"It says all that? How?"
"He's listed on the Forbes Fortune 500 list. He's a self-made billionaire." He shot her a significant glance. "So he definitely doesn't have a day job. He's worth more than Wesley Falkner, and he's a third of Falkner's age."
"That's absolutely amazing!" she breathed. "He doesn't even have an accent."
"He came to the States when he was fourteen and started cleaning toilets at a mall. He made his first money by stitching leather carry cases in his free time. He sold them to stores in the mall at a five-hundred-percent markup."
"Incredible!" she whispered. "So what's he doing in little old Soledad?"
Nate put his phone away. "That's the million-dollar question. If he is the Dark Avenger, he probably came here specifically to sink Kingston."
Just then, Blake and Kat came back. "It's all set for tomorrow," Blake announced.
"What is?" Nate asked.
"All the equipment. We just need to contact the Chief to line up a safebreaker or two to open the safe." He nodded at Nate. "Do you want a piggyback ride? You look tired."
"How about I give you a piggyback ride on the toe of my boot, jackass?"
Everybody laughed. They started to head back the way they came when a thunderous boom made them all spin around fast. Jo's heart leaped into her throat as a massive attack helicopter lifted over the docks. It's bulky grey body rotated in mid-air, revealing four identical rotary gun clusters on its sides.
Its blades thumped the air and sent shivers down Jo's spine. She jumped out of her skin when the giant vehicle swiveled in mid-air and opened fire. Its machine guns pounded warehouses and buildings.
Blake nearly knocked her and Nate overcharged past. "Holy fucking Christ! Look!"
She caught a second's glimpse of a black-clad figure darting across a storehouse roof against the dockyard's northern fence. Gunfire chased him leaping and vaulting from one parapet to the next. A tiny pink face stared out from a black mask.
The Dark Avenger took a flying jump and landed on another warehouse. The chopper swiveled around a huge shipping freighter parked at the jetty. A rocket separated from its belly and screamed forward, leaving a corkscrew vapor trail in its wake.
Dockworkers bolted for cover. The Dark Avenger streaked for the roof edge as the rocket smashed into the building. The structure detonated under him, and he hurtled clear of the blast. Fire and burning rubber plumed skyward.
The four friends charged the security gate. Nate slapped his badge against the guard post window. "Open this gate! Open it now!"
The guard fumbled, trying to work his controls. Jo stared over the fence at the Dark Avenger, flying from roof to roof barely out of range of the chopper's guns. When the chopper pivoted in her direction, her stomach dropped. The craft had no cockpit windows and no doors. It was a drone.
The electronic gate purred aside. Blake and Kat squeezed around it, but Nate still slowed everybody down. He waved them ahead. "Go! Just go."
Kat and Blake charged into the yard. They narrowly missed getting flattened by a container forklift whizzing past. They ran toward a scene of unfettered pandemonium over by the freighter.
Jo slowed to wait for Nate, but her instincts itched to rush into the fray. The chopper twirled, vibrating the ground with its pounding blades. The Dark Avenger soared off the exploding building and tucked and rolled right in front of the detectives.
He vaulted to his feet, took several running steps, and launched into a series of handsprings that carried him toward the freighter.
The chopper completely ignored the officers on the ground. Drumming machine gun fire tore up pavement following inches behind the Dark Avenger's heels. Asphalt peppered Jo's cheeks, and she hid behind her arm. She couldn't give chase with bullets smashing into the ground in front of her face.
The Dark Avenger hurtled toward the jetty as another rocket detached from the chopper. He took a flying leap wheeling his arms and legs in the air. The missile exploded into the ground where he just stood.
He arced over the water and smacked into the ship's side. He gripped the rail by his fingernails, hauled himself aboard, and took off for the stacks of containers. The chopper angled to chase him down. It unleashed one rocket after another that tore the containers out from under the Dark Avenger's feet.
He hurdled from one tower to the next, barely keeping ahead of the blasts. Blake raced to the nearest crane and shrieked into the control room. "Get it down! Get that chopper down here. Knock it down if you have to."
The operators screamed back at him, but Jo couldn't make out the words. The Dark Avenger commanded all her attention. He sprang higher and higher with piles of containers crumbling under his heels. He took one more unfathomable leap and landed spread-eagle, grappling his way up the freighter's radio tower.
The chopper inched closer, oblivious to everything else. It snuck right up to the tower, taking aim at the tiny figure clinging for life to bare steel. Jo's blood raced in her veins. She couldn't stand here and watch him die, but what else could she do?
Nate bellowed into his phone at her side, but there was absolutely nothing anyone could do. How did this happen?
The Dark Avenger cast a desperate glance over his shoulder at the craft stalking closer. With one last frantic effort, he scrambled up the tower and gained the top. Now he had nowhere in the world to run. He was trapped.
The chopper veered backward and unloaded on the ship. It swiveled right to left, releasing countless rockets. They punctured the hull, and the ship burst into a mushroom cloud of flame. The machine guns opened up and sliced through the radio tower.
It started to fall, and the Dark Avenger jumped. He shot upward in a graceful swoop, turned a single somersault in the air, and dove straight down into the black water of the bay.
Chapter 3
Jo, Nate, and Kat stood together by the Cholo Café. "How did he get here so fast? That's what I don't understand," Nate muttered. "We talked to him not ten minutes before."
"You're assuming Mackenzie is the Dark Avenger." Jo kept her voice low. She didn't want anyone hearing.
"Who the Christ else could he be?" Nate fired back.
"We have no reason to suspect him," Jo told him. "We just met him. He could be nobody."
"He's definitely not nobody," Nate murmured. "That is the one thing he isn't."
"So what was the Dark Avenger doing at Kingston's depot building?" Kat interjected. "He's supposed to be helping us, not alerting Kingston that the depot is under threat."
"What makes you think he was at the depot building?" Nate asked.
"Bitch, please," Kat chided. "We all saw him. He appeared there when the chopper opened fire. It was trying to stop him from getting near it."
"Maybe he ran there after the chopper attacked him somewhere else."
Just then, Blake strode through the security gate coming from the Port. He trotted across the street to join his friends. "What a pain in the ass! Thank God that's over."
"How bad is it?" Jo asked.
"You mean besides Chief Bates going on the warpath and threatening to pull us off tomorrow's raid? It couldn't be worse if you ask me."
Jo nodded. "He said the same thing to me."
"And me," Kat added.
Blake peered into the café. "Let's go get something to eat. I'm starved."
They entered and took the rearmost booth, where no one would disturb them. They waited until the waitress took their drink orders before Nate broke the silence. "I'll tell you one thing. I don't want to raid Kingston's building if this is the kind of shit we can look forward to. There are too many unknowns. If there's the chance this Dark Avenger asshole can show up and turn the whole thing into a goddamn bullet fest, you can count me out. I already got shot once, thank you very much. Someone else can take the next one."
"I'm with you, brother," Blake replied. "What the hell difference does it make if some Russian military chopper is shooting at us or at him? He's a liability. I'd rather solve our cases the old fashioned way. No tip
is worth this."
"What if he isn't the one tipping us off?" Jo asked.
The others rounded on her as one. "What the hell are you talking about?" Blake blurted out. "Who else could possibly be tipping us off?"
"Anyone could be tipping us off. That's the whole point of an anonymous hotline. We never know who's sending us these tips. They could be coming from Kingston for all we know."
Nate gasped out loud. "Are you out of your mind? Why would Kingston tip us off about evidence that could put him away for life?"
"If he was the one who called the hotline, there might not be any such evidence. He could have made it all up to get us to raid his depot."
"Why would he do that?" Kat asked.
"How should I know? Maybe he wants to flush out the Dark Avenger."
"We don't know shit," Blake grumbled. "We don't even know it was Kingston who sent that chopper to shoot at him."
"We know the Dark Avenger is against Kingston," Jo remarked. "He stopped Julian and his buddies from killing Molly, and he stopped Kingston from killing me. He saved both me and Nate at the tracks."
"He was the one who tipped us off about Molly's kidnapping in the first place," Kat added.
"Not necessarily," Jo argued. "According to Molly, we interfered with the Dark Avenger finishing Julian and his friends when he had the chance. If we hadn't shown up, the Dark Avenger would have retrieved Molly and the disks. He got away with the disks because we showed up."
"That makes no sense at all," Blake snapped. "Kingston or whoever couldn't have known the Dark Avenger was going to show up and throw a wrench in the works."
Jo shook her head and gazed out the window. Police cars and SWAT officers swarmed all over the dockyard. "The whole thing is falling apart. We don't even know it was the same source that tipped us off each time."
Nate held up his hand. "We have to think about this for a second. Let's just concentrate on today and leave the rest for later. Let's assume for the sake of argument that you're right, and Kingston told us about that non-existent evidence to flush out the Dark Avenger."
"I'm listening."
"If that's true, then he must have put it together that the Dark Avenger is after him. Kingston must know who it is and why he wants to screw Kingston's operation."
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