by Ben Bequer
I brought the house with me, Powermaster, Moe, Ricochet, Templar, Bajeera, even Apogee. We were about to violate about a hundred international laws, and I wanted people with me that would have my back no matter what. We walked down the ramp and had police in our face almost immediately. It’s funny, I thought Brit cops didn’t carry, but these guys had assault rifles and tactical armor.
They saw us and cleared a path.
Besides, all we warranted was a parking ticket, but if these Brit bastards didn’t give me what I wanted, there was going to be another entry in my long and storied career. Things with Jason were ugly. He was out on bond, but part of the bond agreement was that he couldn’t associate with known criminals. The Feds knew all about me and my friends, so any help we offered would be tainted. Bubu, on the other hand, was being held on bullshit charges far from the country where they were filed.
This one they were not going to fuck with me about.
We strolled past the shocked cops to the main building’s entrance and right into the lobby. Ahead of us was a surprised receptionist, sipping her morning coffee. “Can I help you?” she said, thinking it was some sort of joke or a costume delivery gag.
“I’m Blackjack,” I said, leaning into her. “I’m here for my friend Bogdan Arcos.”
It took her almost ten seconds, as her face flashed from contempt to incredulity to dismay. Her arms weren’t visible, but I saw the same twitch of the shoulder I had seen from dozens of bank tellers. She had tripped a silent alarm. Good, let them come.
“W-we don't-”
“I need to talk to someone who’s in charge,” I said.
A commotion already stirred behind her, as uniformed and plainclothes officers spilled into the reception area. One guy, a redhead in plain clothes with a full mustache and beard actually had the balls to come towards us, opening the gate and approaching. “What are you on about?”
“Who are you?” I said.
“I’m DCI Blevins,” the redhead said. “What’s going on here?”
“What does DCI mean?”
The guy raised an eyebrow, only then catching my “foreign” accent. “That’s Detective Chief Inspector to you, son. Now answer me.”
“I’m Blackjack,” I said, and the same series of emotions crossed this guy’s face, only faster. “I’m here for Bogdan Arcos. Give him to me now, or I start-”
I felt a firm hand on my bicep, which stalled the threat I almost set loose. It was Apogee. She stepped past me and leaned into DCI Blevins. “He was extradited here from Romania. We’re told he’s being questioned.”
Blevins was clearly taken by her, shaking his head to clear the mental pictures his brain was plainly conjuring while also dismissing her. “I don’t know anything about this,” he said. “You have to go through proper channels.”
A second later the door exploded open behind us, and standing there was a flustered superhero. The guy was huge, like almost Epic huge, with a blonde smattering of messy hair and bright blue eyes. His uniform was a skin-tight unitard, spotless white with the red cross of Saint George on his chest. He was Crusade, the most famous superhero in the UK, leader of the Rowdy Bunch. “Sorry I’m late,” he said, strolling past us and up to Madelyne. “Apogee, my dear, you look lovelier than ever. I adore the new costume.”
He took her hand, kissed it, then they hugged and kissed cheeks.
Crusade gave me and the boys a quick once over, then with a curt nod, returned all of his attention to Apogee. “Please tell me you’re single again, darling. I want us to marry immediately.”
Apogee laughed, introducing me. “This is my boyfriend.”
That was the first time she had ever introduced me like that. I have to admit, my heart skipped and for a moment, I forgot the reason we were there. The anger at knowing Bubu was wrongly imprisoned faded, and I was left with a vision of my woman, her smile, her eyes as she regarded me.
“Oh, you’re the lucky fellow that stole her from me,” Crusade said, taking my hand and shaking hard. “Treat her nice, my friend. I’m waiting in the wings if you should fail.”
He looked around him at the other heroes, and the gathering number of police officers filling the room as if they had just blinked into existence while he flirted with Apogee. “I’m Crusade,” he said, shaking me again, then introducing himself to the others. By the time he turned his attention to DCI Blevins, the British cop was already calling his people to inquire about Bubu, and they brought him to us from a different building in the complex.
Fifteen minutes after entering the building, we walked out with Bubu. He looked sleepless, haggard, but otherwise unharmed. I’m not sure what would have happened if they would have brought him to us with a bruise or a black eye. I hear Crusade’s pretty strong, but I doubt he, or the boys, or Apogee, could have held me back.
Bullshit, I’m basically back to what I was before Shard World. Moe and Crusade would have held me back easily, but I would have caused a hell of a fuss. DCI Blevins would have taken a good shit in his pants before they pulled me off him.
“Good to see you, bro,” I told Bubu, hugging him all the way to the Cockroach. I didn’t want to let go, in fear of losing him again.
“Thanks for coming for me,” he said. “My family?”
“They’re already headed home,” Moe said. “First class tickets for the whole bunch. You got a cute kid, dude. By the way, I’m Moe.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said. “Last time we didn’t have a chance to...you know...formally.”
“It’s cool, dude. It’s nice to have you join us.”
“Wait. Joining you how? Where are we going?”
I hugged him tightly. “Home, Bubu. Our new home.”
Mali would be home for him and his family, after a brief stop in the Netherlands. The plan was to build a city complex surrounding Superdynamic’s Tower and bring revenue in by forging a community around it. First, we had to rebuild Amsterdam, same as before. It was going to be a challenge, especially since I was wanted by the authorities. Thankfully, the local police didn’t blame me for the destruction, but my name was trash there for being involved in the first place.
Rebuilding Amsterdam was the first step in rehabilitating that name. The company would be called BLACKJACK FIXES AMSTERDAM. The name was Graydon Chase’s idea. My proposal wasn’t as robust as what his people had prepared, but when I told him about it, he couldn’t stop smiling. He used his pull to open a lot of doors for us, and had already sat down with Bubu to discuss our corporate structure. There would be no shells or pseudonyms to conceal us. We were operating in the open, and more importantly, we were doing it for free.
Bubu would lead the project at first, then the company as a whole when he made it back to Mali. The challenges in Amsterdam were great, in particular, interfacing with local business owners whose property was lost, working with the city and state governments. It was a mess, but Chase was offering his expertise, and Bubu was a fast learner. I knew working gratis was crushing him, but that’s the price I had to pay. Besides, we had projects elsewhere, and he was mastering it all.
Annit was already in Mali working out of our headquarters, a not-so-ostentatious twenty-floor structure. She was officially the CFO of the company, called BLACKJACK ENTERPRISES, again, Chase at his least subtle, whose sole purpose was to rebuild war-torn places at no cost, to build schools where there were none, and hospitals and homes for those that didn’t have. And we didn’t have to charge these people a red cent.
Once the idea was out there, we’d bring the tech to the public sector. The goodwill was benefit alone, but there already were ancillary contracts starting to come in. The Emir of Qatar was already a client. He was tired of having the tallest building in the world next door. Our plans called for a building five times the size of the Burj Khalifa. I almost wanted to do it for free - imagine the advertising.
And all our profits (minus some accounting irregularities here and there) were going to the Tower - to make Superdynamic’s dream a reality.
In time, he’d be independent of everything and everyone.
To ensure that, I made him primary shareholder and CEO of the board.
Me? I had other plans.
I spent weeks being both a businessman and lab rat. By the time we were done not only could I recite building codes in four countries, but I could also predict my resting heart rate within a factor of fives beats, plus or minus. Once I was satisfied that the companies were all set up and Bubu and Jeff weren’t going to kill each other, I packed a small bag and left for Kansas City with Apogee in tow.
We flew the Cockroach into KC International, shocking the hell out of the tower, and every plane we flew past and got a simple rent-a-car. See, I had a surprise for Apogee. I normally hated lying to her, but it was the only way to get her to lower her guard.
“I can’t understand why you don’t just show me the pictures of the place,” she said. That was the only way to ensnare someone like Apogee. You had to cast long and be patient. Then you let her take the bite and let her reel herself in.
“You’re going to love it,” I said.
“I don’t know. You have fucked up taste sometimes.”
I shrugged, driving away from the airport in a blue sedan. “I don’t know, I wonder about my taste sometimes.”
Apogee slapped my arm and I flinched, pretending it hurt. “Oh, shit. You okay?”
“I’m good,” I said, rubbing my arm. I had her in my net. My only regret was not having a camera, but then she would have known something was up.
“I forget you’re ‘Bitchy Blackjack’ now,” she said, laughing.
“You just be careful with me, woman. I’m supposed to outlast you.”
She shook her head, still laughing at her joke, “I just don’t like moving into a place that I don’t know.”
That was the basis of my lie: I had found us a new home for our stay in Kansas City.
“And you say it’s got enough rooms?” she said, reiterating her primary concern. All the places we had looked at were inadequate because of one of many reasons, starting from not enough rooms - she needed office space, a gym, storage room - to not enough backyard space or no pool. Nothing was good enough.
One night, before we left Mali, I pulled out the CAD software and started designing a place, but in order to fit all of her requests, I had to build a palace worthy of Saddam Hussein. And when I was done, she called it too ostentatious.
“It has enough rooms,” I lied. The place I was taking her didn’t. It was tiny; no backyard, no pool. Nothing she had requested.
But that wasn’t the surprise.
“I don’t believe you,” she said.
“I wouldn’t believe me either,” I said. “I’m kind of a lying bastard, or didn’t you know?”
Then it happened, she softened up. Reaching over, Apogee took my hand and caressed it softly. “You’re the kindest man I’ve ever known.”
“Nah,” I scoffed. “I’m a villain. A bad motherfucker.”
She reached over and caressed my face, “I love you, Dale. And I love that we’re doing this.”
If I hadn’t been driving, I would have leaned over and kissed her. As it was, all I could do was give her a loving stare. “I do too. Now that you’re retired, you can cook for me, and clean the house for me, and when I get home from being an All-Star and saving the day, you can wait for me at the door, with our dog and our 2.5 children.”
Apogee said nothing, giving me a curious look.
“I’m being silly, of course. You run your empire, make a ton of money. I’ll play superhero and you’re in charge of everything.”
She still didn’t say anything, looking out the window.
“What?”
“Is what’s happening what I think is happening?” she said.
We stopped at a red light, so I gave her my full attention. “What’s happening?”
She smiled, “I don’t know.”
Then it hit me. Oh, shit - oh shit.
“Oh, you thought…”
Apogee swallowed hard, then I saw some moisture pooling at the edges of her eyes.
“Do you want me to?” I said.
She got serious, “No. No, of course not.” Apogee wiped one of her eyes. “I mean, I wouldn’t expect that...Look it’s-”
“Do you want me to ask you to marry me?”
Another swallow, more tears. An endless pause. “Yes.”
“Holy shit,” I said. “Do you want to marry me?”
Her face changed, an expression I’ll never forget as long as I live. It was a slight smile, a smirk, followed by a soft nod. She was capable of nothing more.
“You want to marry me?”
Her hand was holding me tight. “Yes.”
A car behind us honked. The light had changed. I drove, holding her hand in silence for a few blocks. “Holy shit, we’re getting married!” I said.
“Oh, God,” she said, leaning in and kissed me. Keeping an eye on the road, I kissed her back.
“I don’t have a ring or anything. I hadn’t planned for this at all.”
She shook her head, weeping in joy. “I don’t care.”
I turned off on a familiar road and drove down the rows of townhouses, coming to a stop at one of them. Apogee was so stunned she didn’t recognize the street. It was the only part of the plan that I couldn’t find a way around. A marriage proposal did the trick. “Wait,” she said. “You didn’t...I thought that’s what this was about?”
I put the car in park and turned to her, expecting a million kisses, but instead, she was concerned. The air grew thick and dangerous with static that was almost visible. Part of this was the emotion of the moment, but she’d also been moodier recently, prone to sudden anger. I looked at the bracers around her wrists, still absorbing her stray emissions. I guess I would be angry too, having to go through it alone.
“No, no. Wait a minute. Don’t just do it because I said something,” she said. “That’s total bulls-”
I showed her my palms. “I want to,” I said, ending that whole line of discussion. And I did. It wasn’t until that moment, sitting in the tiny rental car, that I realized I wanted to be with her forever - in whatever contract she found necessary. I’d marry her in a church, and if I had to give a dowry, I’d wrangle the hundred sheep, whatever was required to make her mine.
“You do?”
I nodded, “Yes. I swear. But this wasn’t...I had a different surprise for you,” I said, turning to the townhouse. It was the same place I’d been living in since I moved to K.C. Terry agreed to sell it to me, and I had to convince him not to give it to me. And then I had to browbeat him into accepting market value. It was small but homey, and there was no place I’d rather start my life with Apogee.
“We’re living here?”
“Yes,” I said. “You’ll love it.” I wanted to tell her about the folks next door, and about my new friends across the street, and about the weekend BBQ’s - about all the normal-life things that I’d been denied in the past that were now part of our lives.
But there was more.
“Come on,” I said, getting out of the car. She got out and gave the place another look. The street was quaint, a few kids played ball half a block down, and the houses were all cute. But it wasn’t what she had wanted and I could sense her hiding her disappointment. Especially with what just happened in the car. She didn’t want to ruin the moment, and Apogee was nothing if not proper and knowledgeable in etiquette.
I walked around the car and led her to the door. There, I grasped her shoulders “Look at me Madelyne,” I said, as serious as I’ve ever been.
“Yeah, what?”
“I want to make my life with you,” I said. “I want to marry you - today if you want. But this…” I paused, looking at the door. “I need you to open your mind, okay?”
She shrugged me off, crossing her arms. “Okay. We’re living in the little house. Wait, what’s going on?”
“I need you to promise,” I said. “Promise you won’t go cra
zy.”
Apogee raised a playful eyebrow. “I don’t know, Dale. I don’t know.”
“Well, promise me you’ll listen. That you won’t do anything rash.”
I’d lost all the goodwill I’d built up on the ride with my suspicious talk, but this was something I was going to have to risk. Apogee wasn’t the best when it came to surprises, and this one was a doozy.
I knocked on the door, “We’re all going to be real cool, right?”
“What the fuck are you on about?”
Footsteps on the wooden stairs. Knocking against the floor as my surprise reached the foyer. Her jaw dropped as the door opened and standing there was Whisper. She flashed me a surprised look, angry and astonished at the same time.
Whisper broke into tears, covering her mouth.
The two women inched towards each other, slowly opening their arms and falling into each other’s embrace. “I’ll just...I’ll be next door,” I said as they wept and held onto each other. Inside, they had lunch and coffee, and all afternoon to talk. I was going to have a beer with Terry next door, and maybe chase his girls around the house.
As I reached the edge of the walkway and turned on the sidewalk to his townhouse, I looked back at the two women. They were still hugging, still crying. Across the street, Lucas was watering the lawn, staring in our direction with concern.
“Everything okay?” he asked as I started up Terry’s walkway.
I shot another glance at the women as they moved into the house, Whisper holding Apogee’s hand, leading her inside. The door closed behind them, the only sound along the street was the laughing of children and the occasional birdsong.
“Everything’s good.”
CHAPTER FIFTY
Acknowledgements
And here we are, at book four, and I frankly can't believe we made it. We actually turned it around faster than any of our other works, and book 5 is just around the corner. After book 3, it's so much easier and I don't know why.