He finished his sabbatical, having taken a little extra time to surf the internet on his phone. Figuring he’d get a jump on making dinner while it was quiet, he headed into the kitchen. It took him a few moments of dinner preparation before he noticed the bright orange note on the fridge:
“Your family is safe. If you want to keep them that way, come to 1060 West Addison, Sterling. 8pm tonight. Alone. No cops. Bring the cape.”
Chuck read the note again and again, disbelief turning to anger, morphing to cold calculation. He checked the clock on the microwave. Ten after six. He mapped the route on his phone, seeing it should take him 20 minutes to get there. That didn’t leave a lot of time to come up with a plan.
He realized he should be panicking. Or furious. Or bubbling over with some kind of emotion. And he had a feeling that would come. But he had a problem to solve. And the only way to do that was to keep a level head, break it down to manageable chunks, and work each one.
Step one was to call Mickey. He may have been a bastard, but he had experience. And Chuck needed every bit he could get.
He dialed the phone and waited for an answer. Come on, he thought, answer the phone. “Hey, it’s Mickey, if I wanted to talk to you I would have answered, so don’t bother leaving a voice mail.” Asshole, Chuck thought as he redialed.
The call connected. “You ready to pay for my door?”
“Not now, asshole. I’m holding a ransom note for my family. They need your help. Get over here.” Chuck paused. “Hello? Mickey? You there?” Silence. His phone disconnected.
“GODDAMN MOTHER FUCKER!” Chuck punched the fridge, desperate to take his frustration out on something. “SHIT!” His hand throbbed. The last thing he needed was to lose his calm. He had to focus. He grabbed a Hello Kitty ice pack from the freezer and held it to his aching knuckles. If he was going to do this alone, he had to put together a plan.
He thought through his options, and boiled them down to two categories: Blasting or Talking. The latter seemed like a better plan. He’d been talking his way out of jams since he was a kid, long before he had powers. And whoever was behind this probably was expecting him to come in guns-a-blazin’. After all, they knew about the cape. How do they know about the cape?
A rough plan started organizing in his brain. He’d go in, assess the situation, and try to talk his way out of it. If it came down to it, he’d trade himself for Penny and the kids. If that failed, he could always try blasting away. With the limited information he had, it was the best he could do.
He headed upstairs to put on the prototype costume Penny had pieced together. Tears welled in his eyes as he thought about the work she had put into it, not knowing its first use would be to try to save her. The sound of the front door bursting open snapped him out of his emotional breakdown. What the hell?
“Chuck! Where are you?”
“Mickey?” Chuck raced down the stairs. “You came? You came!”
“Of course I came, dipshit. What kind of asshole do you think I am?” His chest heaved as he struggled to catch his breath. “Never mind, don’t answer that. I’m not going to stand by and let your family get hurt if I can help. Got here as fast as I could with the bum wing. Now, catch me up. What do we—OOF”
Chuck’s bear hug cut off his sentence. “I take back all the nasty things I said about you. But did you have to bust in my door?”
“Call us even,” Mickey said. “Now let go and tell me what we know.”
Chuck released the older man, allowing him to catch his breath. “All I have is a note. It was on the fridge when I got home.” He ran into the kitchen to fetch it.
“Tell me everything. What time did you get home? Was anything different? What’s Penny’s normal routine?”
Mickey snatched the note from Chuck and read it. “Aside from the actual words on this paper, what does this note tell us?”
“Is now really the time to be cryptic?” Chuck looked at the clock. “I have to leave in an hour. Let’s skip the Socratic method and go straight to you telling me what to do.”
“It wasn’t a hard question. They left a goddamn note on your refrigerator. They know who you are, Chuck. Where you live. Whoever did this either knows you, or has been getting to know a lot about you.”
Chuck thought through list of people who knew about the cape. “But the only people that know about the cape are Penny and the kids, you, and the guy at the comic book shop.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I haven’t told anyone else.”
“And you think that means nobody else knows? Are you willfully stupid? Or does it just come naturally? How did I find out about it?”
Recognition lit Chuck’s face as the answer came to him. “You saw what happened at the mall.”
“Right, and if I saw it, other people could have seen it. Plus, who’s to say either me or comic book guy haven’t told someone? No, Chuck, the list of suspects is way bigger than who you think. Big enough that we can’t come up with a useful guess in the time we have. Whoever did this probably planned it that way.”
“What do we do, Mick? The only plan I had come up with was to go in there and try to talk my way out of it.”
Mickey closed his eyes, seemingly deep in thought. “As much as I’d like to call you an idiot, that’s the right direction. We’ll do some research on the location, and see if we can come up with a contingency plan, but that’ll be our Plan A. What time do we need to leave?”
Chuck did a double-take. “We? The note says to come alone.”
Mickey snorted. “They always do. But whoever has your family didn’t take them for kicks. They want something. Probably the cape. As long as you have it, you have leverage. That means you get to bend a couple of rules. And unless you think you can keep me from tagging along, I’m coming. I’m awfully fond of those kids. But, to be safe, I won’t come in the car with you. We might be able to get the element of surprise if I come separately.”
“Or we might not. If they’ve really done their research, they know we’re working together. And they’ll expect you to tag along.”
Mickey paused. “Either way, it’s our best bet. If they think I’m coming, they’ll probably have taken some precautions, which will still get in your way if I’m not there. If not, we might be able to get the jump on them. Back on track now. What time do we need to leave?”
“7:30, to be safe. You know how unpredictable traffic is around here. And we don’t want to be late.”
“Let’s make it 7:45. We do want to be late. Shows them we’re in charge.”
Chuck thought about that. His brain was screaming just give these people whatever they want, so you can get your family back. But he trusted Mickey, and he didn’t want to push back without considering all the angles. Nope, he’s wrong. “Let’s not make power plays here. We need to focus on what’s important here: getting my family back. Not showing these people up.”
“Chuck, listen to me. This ain’t my first rodeo. I’ve dealt with hostage situations before.”
“And how’d that work out, Mickey?” Chuck regretted the question before it finished coming out of his mouth. It was a low blow, and Mickey didn’t deserve it. “Sorry, Mick…”
Mickey shook his head. “It’s ok. You’re right about getting your family back being what’s important. But trust me, going in and giving them what they want isn’t the way to do it. People like this never just take what they say they want, then shuffle off to Buffalo. They have to tie up loose ends. And in this case, the loose ends are you, Penny, and the kids. We’re going to have to take them out. Can you do that?”
Chuck took a deep breath. He had hoped his first real-life hero job would be something simple like chasing down a mugger. But it hadn’t worked out that way. Now he had to buckle down and do what was necessary to get his family back. “I can do that. Walk me through the plan.”
Mickey clapped his hands and grinned. “We’ll talk while we work. There’s a lot to do before we leave. You start a fire, I’ll
gas up your generator.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chuck eased the minivan through the open gate, into a sprawling, unkempt parking lot. Weeds dotted broken asphalt. Many of the lights were burnt out, and several light poles were missing entirely, most likely stolen when scrap metal prices had been high. The only other vehicle in the lot was a white work van with “Ralph’s Pest Control” on the side. The large building at the end of the lot was missing its sign, but appeared to have been a factory of some kind. Its broken windows and rusted roof led Chuck to guess it hadn’t been occupied in years.
He checked the clock again, though he had already looked at it several times. 8:12. Late, but within the window he and Mickey had discussed. Panic swelled within him as he wondered if that was a mistake. What if they’ve already hurt Penny and the kids? No, that wouldn’t make sense. They don’t want to hurt my family. They want the cape, and I still have it. Stick to the plan.
He pulled the van into a spot near the front doors. He didn’t bother looking for Mickey. According to their plan, Mickey had arrived early, and would stay out of sight until they’d had a chance to assess the situation. Chuck’s phone sat on the passenger seat, set to speaker. “Mickey, do you see me?”
“You realize that a minivan is no way for a hero to get around, right?” Mickey was wearing an earpiece connected to his phone. He had been keeping Chuck up to speed with what he’d found, though there hadn’t been much to report.
“I promise, when I finish my custom Wondermobile, I’ll take you on a test drive. You can be the first to test the ejector seat. Did you find anything?” They had decided that having Chuck wear an earpiece was too risky, since neither of them had access to the military grade ones that were hard to spot. Once Chuck got out of the car he wouldn’t be able to hear Mickey, so he wanted to be sure he had all the information.
“Not a lot. The van was here when I got here, so I didn’t see anyone get out. The place looks big and abandoned. I didn’t risk trying to get in, so I don’t know what’s waiting for us in there. Once you go in there, I’ll be able to hear everything. Listen for the signals. Stay as calm as you can. Stick to the plan, and we all walk out of there. Got it?”
Chuck closed his eyes and took a deep breath. You can do this. You have to do this. No choice. So suck it up. “Yeah, I got it. Let’s do this.”
“Hello? Anyone home?” Chuck stood in the doorway, trying to get his eyes to adjust. It was twilight outside, but pitch black inside.
“Welcome Chuck!” The voice was deep, powerful. It echoed through the cavernous space. “You’re a bit late. Trouble finding the place?”
“Um, yeah. The stupid GPS on my phone got all turned around. Tried to get me to go the wrong way down a one-way street.” Chuck fired the words out at torrid pace, partially due to nerves, but also because Mickey told him to stall once they made contact, so he could get a feel for the place. Chuck didn’t want the kidnapper to pounce on a pause and take control of the conversation. “Then I swear it tried to kill me. Told me to go straight into a pond. Sometimes I think the folks that make those things program in some random screw ups, just to mess with people. It’s what I would do. Because I imagine that’s a pretty dull job after a while. Needs something to spice it up. I mean, I’ve never programmed anything, but—“
“Got it Chuck, thanks.” The voice didn’t sound annoyed, just authoritative. “Perhaps some other time we can talk about your GPS. Right now, I think we each have something the other wants. I see you have the cape. Go ahead and take it off. Lay it on the ground in front of you.”
“Not so fast. You know I have what you want, but how do I know you have my family?” Chuck realized that the guy had revealed something in that last bit. As dark as it was in the factory, and with the cape fully behind Chuck, the guy had some kind of night vision, or really good surveillance. And he’d seen Silence of the Lambs enough times to know that stumbling around in the dark with a psychopath wearing night vision goggles was a bad idea. “Let’s get some lights on in here, and you can show me that my wife and kids are safe.”
“Chuck!” Penny’s voice was strong, though the fear in it rose his hackles.
“I’m here Pen. Are you and the kids ok?”
In the brief pause that followed, Chuck’s active imagination tore through terrible scenario after terrible scenario. “We’re all fine. At least I am, and they were. They gave Riley a juice box and goldfish. She was watching a movie on a tablet. The girl gave Pax a bottle. But they’re not here. They left them at—“
A loud SMACK cut off Penny’s sentence. Chuck winced, but was proud of his wife at the same time. She had to know the risk, but she still managed to get vital information out in the open. It wasn’t a lone kidnapper. There were at least two: the voice he’d heard, and a woman. And the kids weren’t here.
“Penny? You ok?”
“Sorry about that, Chuck.” There still wasn’t any frustration in the deep voice. “I don’t want to hurt your family. They seem lovely. I want nothing more than to make an exchange and reunite you all. Simply take off the cape, lay it at your feet, and back away. It’s easy.”
“We were on the right track there, Mr… sorry, didn’t catch your name, how rude of me. We haven’t been properly introduced. I’m Chuck, though you already know that. And you are?”
“I appreciate good manners as much as anyone, Chuck.” The man’s voice still betrayed no hint of frustration. “However, in this case, I’ll give you a pass. You can call me Mr. X, if you need something to call me.”
Chuck was impressed. He was a well-practiced pain in the ass, and could usually get under someone’s skin right away. He needed to press harder. “How about just ‘X’? Once you’ve kidnapped someone’s family and left a ransom note in their home, you can probably drop the ‘Mr’, am I right?”
“’X’ will be fine, Chuck. Now, the cape, if you please.”
“Right, that’s where we were. I got a little sidetracked with the intros. But I was saying, we were on the right track a minute ago. When I asked if my family was ok, you let Penny talk, letting me know they were fine. But, now we have two problems. First, you hit Penny. That was a mistake. My wife is a formidable woman, X. She doesn’t need anyone to fight her battles. She’s going to beat the ever-loving shit out of you. That’s not hyperbole, either. I literally mean she’s going to pummel you until you shit yourself. Second, if the kids aren’t here, how are we supposed to make a trade? Tell you what. Let’s get some light in here, let me see my wife, and we can talk through this, man to kidnapper. We’ll get ourselves back on track. Heck, who knows, maybe we’ll even get to know each other a bit. And once we do that, we might actually like each other. Wouldn’t it be funny if we got to be friends, and I had to introduce you to other friends as the guy who kidnapped my family for a fucking cape? Just imagine the look on their faces. Priceless. Of course, that’s assuming you want to be my friend after Penny kicks your ass.”
Another nerve wracking pause followed. Chuck’s mind filled with doubts. Had he pushed too far? Should he have threatened the guy? Probably not. Penny really was going to beat the shit out of him. Still, did he have to point it out?
“I’m fine, Chuck.” Penny sounded pissed. “He’s not going to turn the lights on though.”
Chuck let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He hadn’t managed to talk a bad situation into a worse one yet. “Glad to hear you’re ok. Try not to kill him, ok baby? I don’t want the kids visiting their mom in jail, and you really don’t look that great in orange. Don’t worry about the lights, though. I’ve got it covered.”
As punctuation, Chuck shot a pillar of flame as wide as his arm into the air, casting a warm glow on the inside of the factory. He had gambled that the roof would be metallic, or at least flame-resistant. The gamble paid off.
He didn’t have enough heat stored to keep that going for long, so he only kept it lit for a few seconds. But that was long enough for him to get a rough layout of the factory
. He hoped Mickey had done the same.
His spot, just inside the door, connected to a catwalk that looked over three sides of the factory floor. The floor itself was a giant rectangle, with rows of industrial machinery covering most of the available space. The once-neat walkways between machines were covered in trash and debris. An office occupied one of the far corners, its large windows giving the manager a good view of what was happening on the line. The door to the office was open, and a tall man stood in the doorway.
“Impressive.” To the man’s credit, he did sound impressed. “Time for tricks is over though. Cape please. On the floor. Then we can reunite you with your family, and we can all go home.”
Deep breaths. Mickey must have seen something. “Hey, X-Man. Do you have a family? People that you care about? Wait, let me guess, you’re not going to answer that. Ok, let’s assume you do. Maybe not a nice Mrs. X and little baby Xs, but at the very least Mama and Papa X, or some X cousins or something. What would you do if someone threatened them? Would you just give in and hope it all worked out? Huh? Take your time, it’s a tricky moral dilemma. I’ll wait for you to think it through.” Just need to give Mickey some more time.
Several seconds of silence passed. “Still there, X? Or did you pack up and —“
A loud CRACK echoed through the vast room, immediately followed by a PING behind Chuck. Acting on animal instinct he threw himself to the ground.
Was that a gunshot? Holy shit. Hurry up, Mickey.
“Now that you’re on the floor, would you please remove your cape and set it in front of you?” X’s voice finally showed signs of impatience. Chuck knew he was getting to him, but he wondered if he could keep pushing the man without getting someone hurt. Just need to buy a little more time.
Chuck picked himself up and made a show of dusting off his shirt. “Congratulations, X. That’s the first time I’ve ever been shot at. Know what? I’m not a fan. Pretty scary stuff, actually. I may have peed myself a little. One problem, though. When I get scared, I get a little…unpredictable.” With the last word, he raised his hands and shot a lightning bolt, aiming just above the man’s head. Electricity arced down the length of the factory floor, but instead of hitting above the kidnapper, it jumped at the hooks and pulleys hanging from the ceiling.
A Dad in a Cape (Mr Wonder Book 1) Page 16