by Lucas Flint
“Thank you, Officer Garcia,” said Officer Henry, nodding at him. “You can go back and protect the entrance. I’ll fill in Mr. McDonald and his son here on what happened.”
Officer Garcia nodded in return and turned and walked away. I was under the impression that Officer Garcia was actually glad that he didn’t have to stick around and explain anything to us. Maybe he also sensed the same tension in the air that I did.
“Officer Henry,” said Dad, looking at him urgently. “What happened to Mary? Where is she? You said on the phone that she was kidnapped by Holes.”
Officer Henry sighed, removed his glasses, and polished them on the fabric of his shirt briefly before putting them back on. “Yes, I did tell you that, but unfortunately I’m not sure there is much we can do to save her at the moment, mostly because we don’t know where Holes is.”
“Tell us what happened anyway,” Dad said. “She’s my wife. I want to know all the details and I want to know them now.”
I was almost taken aback by how vehemently Dad insisted on knowing the details of Mom’s kidnapping. Then again, it made sense, given how Mom was his wife. And I felt pretty much the same way, because she was my mother and I couldn’t bear the thought of her being in the clutches of a supervillain who hated me and wanted me dead.
“All right,” said Officer Henry. “I’m not sure what good it will do you, but I’ll tell you, starting from the beginning, by which I mean about forty-five minutes ago.”
Officer Henry gestured at the nervous cashier. “About forty-five minutes ago, Mary McDonald and three of her friends entered Clothes & Colors with the intention of buying clothes. Miss Rachel Shane here confirmed seeing all four of the women enter together at the same time.”
“What happened to Mom’s friends?” I said. “Are they still here or—”
“They were taken to the hospital,” Officer Henry said. “They were incredibly shaken by Mrs. McDonald’s kidnapping, to the point where one of them even fainted. I don’t think they were injured, but we had to rush them to the hospital anyway to help them deal with their nerves.”
“And what happened after Mom entered?” I said. “Did Holes attack?”
Officer Henry glanced at the woman he called Miss Rachel Shane. “According to Miss Shane, Mary had to go to the bathroom, so she went to the ladies’ room on the other side of the store, but before she could enter, Holes emerged from a hole in the ceiling and grabbed her.”
I glanced at the ceiling, which was perfectly solid and lacked even a single hole. “He came from the ceiling and grabbed her? Did Mom fight back?”
“She did,” said Rachel suddenly. She spoke softly and timidly, sort of like she had just gotten off a really big roller coaster. “She tried to fight Holes off with her purse, but he just knocked it out of her hands and grabbed her like she hadn’t done anything. It was really scary.”
I could not help but find the way Rachel spoke really cute. Not that I thought terror was a cute emotion or whatever, but there was something about Rachel I liked even though I had never seen her before.
“What happened after that?” said Dad, wringing his hands.
“Holes took Mary into another hole and the two of them vanished,” said Officer Henry. “All in all, the entire event happened in less than five minutes. Right, Miss Shane?”
Rachel nodded. “Yeah. M-Maybe less. But it sure seemed to take longer when it was actually happening. Scariest day of my life.”
“Is that all that he did?” said Dad in disbelief. “Just popped in, kidnapped Mary, and left? He didn’t say anything or even explain why he kidnapped her?”
“Actually, he did leave something,” said Officer Henry. He pulled a folded up piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Dad. “A note he addressed to you, regarding why he kidnapped your wife. I already read it myself, but it’s disturbing nonetheless.”
Dad took the note wordlessly and unfolded it so fast that he nearly ripped it. As for myself, I moved closer to Dad so I could read the note, too, which read thus:
To Walter McDonald,
If you are reading this note, then I already have your wife, Mary, in my possession. I imagine that the actual kidnapping was pretty easy, though it would have taken days, maybe even weeks, of preparation time on my part, because even the simplest kidnapping requires a lot of planning in order to pull off. Luckily, I specialize in kidnapping and was quite good at it in my day, which your own father, the original Trickshot, could tell you about if he was still around.
But enough of my own brilliance. You are likely worried about the well-being of your wife and where she is. I cannot tell you that now, because I don’t want the police, who will inevitably read this note before you do, to find out where I am.
But I can tell you that Mary is likely safe and will remain so for the foreseeable future. I say ‘the foreseeable future’ because I am perfectly willing to give you back your wife, Mary, safe and sound, if you give me what I want.
And what do I want? That’s easy to answer. The Trickshot Watch. I know that you have it, because you are the son of Gregory McDonald, the original Trickshot. I have theorized that he passed it down to you and that you must have it even if you are not currently using it yourself.
Furthermore, you must give me the Trickshot Watch in person at a time and location I will determine. And you must come alone, without any police, superheroes, or other allies. You can’t even bring your own son.
If you agree to the above conditions, then call me at the below number and we can arrange the meeting. I am giving you a day to call me so we can arrange the meeting.
If, at the end of the next 24 hours, you have not decided or even have outright refused to give me the Watch, I will kill Mary in cold blood and send her corpse to your house.
Sincerely yours, Holes.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Dad held the ransom note so tightly that his knuckles turned pure white. His hands shook and he stared at the note so hard that he seemed to be trying to set it on fire through sheer force of will alone.
“What do you think?” said Officer Henry, who rested his hands on his belt.
Dad suddenly looked up at Officer Henry, a dazed look on his face. “What do I think? I think I’m going to go home, grab my shotgun, find out where this Holes guy is, and shoot him until he stops moving, and then shoot him some more. And if he lays even one finger on Mary’s head, why, I’ll—”
“I know,” Officer Henry interrupted. “But as I already said, we don’t know where he is. We could try calling that number and setting up a fake meeting, but—”
“But Holes isn’t going to listen to anyone who isn’t Dad,” I said. “I bet if anyone other than Dad called that number, Holes would probably kill Mom outright. You shouldn’t risk it.”
“But Mary is in danger,” said Dad. “I have to save her. And I only have twenty-four hours to find her, if this letter is accurate. If I don’t call Holes before the twenty-four hours are up, he’ll kill her.”
“We know,” said Officer Henry, “but Holes is a supervillain and an incredibly dangerous one at that. It would be beyond foolish for you to confront Holes on your own. You have to let us find him while you—”
“While I what?” Dad interrupted. He waved the note in Officer Henry’s face. “Sit around and wait while Holes does God-knows-what to Mary? Hope and pray that maybe you guys will be able to find him in twenty-four hours? Just twiddle my thumbs and hope that maniac decides out of the goodness of his heart to let Mary go?”
Officer Henry actually leaned back slightly at Dad’s shouting, which was impressive, given how Officer Henry was younger and fitter than Dad. “Mr. McDonald, we’ll do whatever we can to find your wife, starting right away, but we need you to remain calm and not do anything impulsive. The last thing we need is for you to go after Holes and get yourself killed.”
“You mean you think Holes is going to murder Mary anyway?” said Dad. “That’s not very reassuring.”
“I did
n’t mean that,” said Officer Henry quickly. “I—”
“I don’t care what you meant,” said Dad. He poked Officer Henry in the chest. “If you don’t save Mary right away, I’ll—”
I grabbed Dad’s forearm, causing Dad to look at me in surprise. “Dad, please don’t threaten Officer Henry. I know how you feel about Mom, but getting angry at Officer Henry won’t solve anything.”
Dad continued to stare at me in surprise, which made sense, because I rarely challenged his authority or contradicted him on anything. But I knew that getting angry at Officer Henry wouldn’t solve anything, especially because the police were in no position to find and save Mom at the moment. Besides, I was worried that Dad might let his anger get the best of him and he might outright assault Officer Henry. That might have seemed a bit of a stretch, but Dad was incredibly protective of Mom and had a short temper. I knew for a fact that Dad could get violent when he lost control of his temper, having once seen Dad get into a fistfight with a cashier at a grocery store because the cashier treated Mom really disrespectfully.
To my relief, Dad lowered his arm, but he didn’t look very happy. He just looked at Officer Henry and said, “My apologies, officer. I lost control of my temper.”
“I understand,” said Officer Henry, who sounded quite relieved that I had managed to deescalate the situation. “If my wife was kidnapped, I’d probably feel the same way you do.”
“Right,” said Dad. But then he leaned toward Officer Henry, a harsh expression on his face. “But I expect you to find and rescue Mary as soon as possible. Understood?”
Officer Henry nodded quickly. “Completely, Mr. McDonald. We’ll find and bring your wife back to you as soon as possible.”
Dad leaned back, though he still didn’t look quite satisfied. “Thank you, officer. I wish you the best of luck.”
Then Dad nodded at me. “Come on, Jack. Let’s go home. No point in sticking around here if Mary isn’t here.”
“We’ll call you if we have any luck finding your wife,” said Officer Henry. “Just to let you know.”
“All right,” said Dad.
Dad turned and walked toward the exit. I followed silently, hoping that Dad wasn’t too angry at me for stopping him from picking a fight with Officer Henry. But perhaps I was getting worried for no reason, because Dad seemed more depressed and frustrated than anything.
-
The car ride home was very silent. Neither Dad nor I said anything. I figured Dad was probably lost in worry over Mom’s well-being and safety. So was I, but I had other things on my mind as well, things I wasn’t sure I could share with Dad just yet.
For one, Holes’ ransom note was still on my mind. Holes wanted my Watch. Dad, of course, didn’t have it, but I did. Even if Dad had agreed to Holes’ demands, it would have become obvious that Dad did not have the Watch. Therefore, even if Dad had gone to meet with Holes, the situation probably would have ended with Mom’s death anyway, and likely Dad’s, too, given how Holes hated Grandfather and wanted to kill everyone related to him.
But I hesitated to tell Dad that. For the past three months, I’d kept my secret identity as Trickshot a secret from my parents. They were just as ignorant as everyone else about the true identity of the new Trickshot running around Rumsfeld. It had been tricky to do, of course, because I lived in the same house as my parents, but through a combination of skill and luck, I’d managed to avoid drawing their suspicion onto me.
But I wasn’t sure I could do that any longer. With Mom kidnapped and about to be killed in 24 hours, events seemed to be trying to force me to reveal my secret identity to Dad. If I did that, we might be able to put together a plan to save Mom, but I resisted the idea anyway because I was worried about how Dad might react.
It was no secret that Dad did not like Grandfather being a superhero. He had even explicitly told me and my late brother Thomas that he did not want us to become superheroes when we grew up. He didn’t think much of the lifestyle because of how dangerous it was. If I told him that I had been doing superhero work behind his back illegally, he might very well disown me and kick me out of the house. Hell, he might even blame me for Mom’s kidnapping. After all, if I hadn’t started using the Watch, Holes would never have come back to Rumsfeld seeking revenge.
Yet I hated seeing Dad so sad, even depressed. ‘Depressed’ was a word I had never used to describe Dad before, but it fit his current mood to a T right now. If I told him I was Trickshot, he might not be depressed anymore, though he’d probably get angry instead. And trust me, Dad’s anger was NOT something you wanted to be on the receiving end of, as Officer Henry learned earlier.
“TW,” I said in my mind. “What do you think I should do?”
“I can’t tell you what to do,” said TW. “Ultimately, whether you reveal your secret identity to your father is your choice, not mine.”
“You sure are helpful.”
“Sometimes, I can be more helpful when I don’t tell you what to do.”
That seemed like a cop out to me, but at the same time, I knew that I couldn’t make TW do anything. This decision really did fall on my shoulders, even though I wished it didn’t. That meant I and I alone was responsible for making this decision, regardless of the consequences. I mean, I always knew that, but now it was starting to seem far more real than it did before.
When we got home, we still didn’t say much. Dad went into the kitchen and turned on the sink and started washing dishes and putting the spaghetti away. My own bowl of half-eaten spaghetti was still on the table, but I wasn’t in the mood to finish it, given everything that had just happened. Besides, I was too nervous trying to figure out whether to tell Dad I was Trickshot to eat. I covered my spaghetti with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge, intending to finish it later, though at the moment I didn’t give much thought as to what ‘later’ even meant at this point.
Looking over at Dad, who was busily washing and drying the dishes, I said, “Hey, Dad, do you need any help with the dishes? I’m willing to help if you need it.”
Dad didn’t even look at me. “Nah, Jack, I’ve got this. You can go to your room if you want or go outside or whatever. I’ll put away everything in the kitchen. Don’t worry yourself.”
I bit my lower lip. It was very uncharacteristic of Dad to refuse my offer for help. He was usually enthusiastic if I offered to help with or do chores. That he didn’t want me to help told me just what kind of state his mind was in … and was the motivation I needed to do what I needed to do, whatever the consequences may be.
Taking a deep breath, I looked at Dad again and said, “Dad, I have something I need to tell you.”
“Can it wait until later?” said Dad in an emotionless voice. “These dishes aren’t going to wash themselves and unless it’s important—”
“I’m Trickshot.”
The sound of shattering glass told me that Dad had accidentally broken one of the plates in the sink, but he apparently didn’t care, because he finally turned around to look at me, a dumbfounded look on his face. “What did you just say?”
This was it. I could take back what I said and pretend I had meant to say something else. But there was no going back now.
So I said, “You heard me, but I’ll repeat it again anyway. I’m Trickshot.”
Dad was silent for what felt like an eternity, staring at me with an expression I found hard to read. Though I wasn’t sure how he was going to respond, I had a feeling that I should not have dropped this revelation on him so soon after Mom’s kidnapping. I just hoped that he wouldn’t get too angry at me for it.
Finally, Dad said, “How long?”
“What?” I said.
“How long have you been Trickshot?” said Dad. He looked and sounded calm, which was not what I had been expecting at all.
“Uh, three months,” I said. “Almost four at this point. Why?”
Dad was silent for another moment, as if what I said was still sinking in. “I see. I always suspected, but I never knew f
or sure.”
I looked at Dad in surprise. “You always suspected I was Trickshot? Why?”
“Because it made a lot of sense,” said Dad. “I’ve never been a very deep or observant thinker or anything like that, but even I can put two and two together. I just found it odd that someone wearing the original Trickshot costume would just show up out of nowhere exactly ten years after my father’s disappearance and start fighting crime again.”
“Yeah, but—”
“And you know, I didn’t think anyone else would have the suit or the Watch,” Dad continued. “If there was one thing I knew, it was that when my father disappeared, he took the Trickshot Watch and the costume with him. Trust me, when he disappeared and it was clear that no one knew where he was, I searched all of his belongings myself for the Watch, but I never found it. And it made sense to me that if my father was still alive somewhere, then he would want to give the Watch to one of his grandchildren if he absolutely had to give it up.”
Huh. While I never thought Dad was an idiot, I had not realized that he could make such simple but logical deductions based off available evidence. I guess doing all that work in the construction field didn’t mean he couldn’t use his brain. It made me wonder what other evidence Dad may have used to figure out who I was.
“Well, you’re absolutely right,” I said. I held up my Watch. “See this? This is the Trickshot Watch, the one that belonged to Grandfather. Right now, it looks like an ordinary Watch, but when I put on my costume, it looks like how it normally does.”
Dad nodded. “I suspected as much. You got it in the mail for your sixteenth birthday, didn’t you?”
“Uh, yeah,” I said. “How did you guess?”
“Your mother told me about the package you got in the mail on your birthday,” said Dad. “She said there was just a watch in it and that she didn’t know who sent it. I thought it might be the Watch, but when I first saw you wearing it and noticed it didn’t look like the Trickshot Watch, I just thought I’d made a mistake.”