A Dad in a Cape (Mr Wonder Book 1)

by Sean Stansell

Penny grabbed Mickey’s shoulder and rolled him onto his back. Mickey groaned.

  “Hey, remember me? The one with the gun? And your fucking kids? Hel-lo!”

  Chuck and Penny both turned towards the kidnapper, then back towards each other.

  “Mickey, can you hear me?” Chuck held his friend’s head in both hands. “You’re going to be ok. Can you open your eyes? We’re going to get you—“

  A gunshot cut off Chuck’s sentence. He turned to find Stupid Lackey with his gun still pointed at the ceiling.

  “Oh, do I have your attention now?” A smirk grew on the kidnapper’s face.

  Chuck looked at Penny. She nodded. “Look, I know you’ve got a gun. And you’ve got our kids. But I’ve got the cape. And you can’t take it from me. I have to give it to you. So, chill the fuck out and let me take care of my friend. Got it?”

  The smirk faded from Stupid Lackey’s face, and he lowered the gun. He looked around, uncertain of his next move. His eyes fixed on Taurus, and he holstered his gun.

  Chuck turned back to Mickey and leaned his head down to the stricken man’s chest, listening for breath. It was faint and ragged, but steady. Chuck fumbled in his pocket for his phone. “Hang in there, Mickey, I’ll get an ambulance.” It took him three tries to dial 911 with shaking fingers.

  He started talking as soon as the operator picked up. “My friend’s been electrocuted. Of course it’s an emergency. 1060 West Addison, in Sterling. It’s an abandoned factory. What? He’s like 60. 65 maybe. Huh? Yeah, he’s conscious. And breathing. No, I don’t think he’s in any more danger. Ok, we’ll stay with him. Yeah, you can reach me on this number if you need to. Please hurry.”

  He disconnected the call and turned to Penny. “About five minutes, she said. We should call back if he stops breathing.”

  A sharp BOOM filled Chuck’s ears, and he caught motion from the corner of his eye. He didn’t take his eyes off Mickey. “Is he getting away?”

  Penny looked toward the source of the noise. “Yeah, he blew a hole in the wall. Ran through it. Looks like the other guy is over his shoulder. Should we go after him?”

  Chuck hesitated. If those assholes got away, finding the kids would be tough. But going after him was dangerous. And he needed Penny’s help with Mickey.

  “No. Too dangerous. Help me here.”

  Penny grasped Mickey’s hand and rubbed it.

  Chuck leaned down until his face was only inches from his mentor’s. “Help’s on the way Mick. Mickey? Can you hear me?”

  Mickey coughed. “Not deaf. Just dying. Nice shot, kid.”

  Chuck dropped his voice an octave. “You gotta get to the hospital, Mick. You’re not as young as you used to be.”

  Mickey attempted a smile. “Rocky III. Worst one. But fitting. It’s where I got the name.” He paused and looked Chuck in the eye. “Listen, kid.”

  “I’m listening, Mick.”

  “You’re a good man. Take care of Penny and the kids. They come first. But you can help people.” A cough shook him. “You can do this. You can be a hero.”

  “But I messed it all up, Mickey. I hurt you. Have no idea where the kids are. The bad guys got away. I’m no hero. I’m a fuck up.”

  Mickey coughed again. “Stop it. You’ll figure it out. Get your kids back. Then take your time. Train. Practice. Once you figure out how all this works, you’re gonna eat lightnin’ and you’re gonna crap thunder.”

  Chuck stifled a smile. “Save your breath. We can talk about this later. Rest up until help gets here. Ok Mick? Mick?”

  Mickey didn’t answer.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “Stop it, Miss Annie! Stop!”

  “Never,” Annie said.

  Riley writhed and shrieked. “Stop!”

  Annie continued her assault.

  “Miss Annie, stop! Daddy says we stop tickling when people say ‘stop’.” Annie backed off, letting the girl’s giggles subside.

  Riley caught her breath and smiled. “Why did you stop?”

  Annie picked up where she left off. “Oh, Princess Riley, you are the silliest little princess in the world, aren’t you?”

  Riley wiggled and squealed under Annie’s constant attack. Finally, she pulled away and caught her breath. “You’re fun to hang out with, Miss Annie.”

  “Aw, thanks Riley. You’re pretty fun yourself.”

  “Are my mommy and daddy going to come get us soon? I miss them. And I forgot Sophie. She misses me.”

  Annie’s smile faded. “Soon, Riley. It won’t be too much longer.” She hoped that was true. Orion and Taurus had already been gone longer than the plan called for. As each minute went by, her fear that something had gone wrong grew.

  Riley clapped. “Yay! Then we can all play together!”

  Annie’s smiled returned, fainter than before. “I think I’d like that.”

  “Are you ok?”

  Chuck closed the van’s door. “You were the one that got kidnapped. Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

  “I’m fine. Tired. But I meant ‘are you ok about Mickey’.”

  “He’s on his way to the hospital. There’s nothing we can do for him now. We need to focus on getting the kids back.”

  “I’m worried about the kids, too. And I’m going to get them back, and take pieces out of the assholes that did this. But I can’t do it by myself, so I need to know if you’re ok.”

  Chuck rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. “I don’t know how I am. Right now, I don’t want to know. I need to keep moving, keep focused on the kids, so I don’t think about anything else.” He looked at his wife. Her strength still amazed him. He was rarely surprised by anything she did, but tonight she showed a level of courage he could barely believe.

  She met his gaze, tried to read it. After a moment she said, “Fine. Let’s swap notes then, see what we have to work with.”

  Chuck nodded, happy to get back on track. “You know most of my part. They left a note on the fridge for me. I called Mickey, we came here. What happened to you guys?”

  Penny took a deep breath. “Some of it’s blurry. I went to school and picked up the kids. Nothing unusual. Talked to Cathie for a couple of minutes. When we walked outside a big chunk of the parking lot was roped off, with a van parked outside the door. I asked the woman in the van what was going on, and she said something about rats, and asked me to walk around behind the van. When we did, two men jumped out and grabbed us.”

  “The men we just dealt with?”

  “Yeah. They sped us away. The men tied me up, but took really good care of Riley and Pax. They had a car seat bolted to the van’s floor for Pax, and they let Riley sit on my lap.”

  “Any idea where they took you?”

  Penny shook her head. “Even if I was thinking clearly—which I wasn’t—they seemed to be turning in random places to make it hard to follow, and they kept me facing the back of the van. When we got where we were going they put a bag over my head. All I know is it was a dirty motel, and it wasn’t too far away. We only drove for 15-20 minutes.”

  “Was there much traffic? A lot of stop and go? A lot of lights?”

  “Not much, which I suppose is a clue around here. They were very polite at the motel. Had snacks and a tablet full of cartoons for Riley. Bottles and toys for Pax. They explained that I wouldn’t be there long. That the kids would stay with the woman. Once they got the cape they’d call and bring the kids.”

  Chuck thought for a minute. “They didn’t rough you up at all?”

  Penny shook her head again. “Not at all. Really, they couldn’t have been nicer. This is going to sound strange, but I didn’t get the sense that they were bad people, per se. Just decent people doing a bad thing. They even went out of their way to make sure we weren’t scared. I kind of got the sense…” She paused.

  “What? What’d you sense?”

  “I can’t really explain why, but I don’t think they were in this for themselves. None of them struck me as the type that would be after the
cape. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re working for someone.”

  Chuck sighed and let his head flop against the headrest. His energy reserves were low, and he was exhausted. “So, we have the world’s nicest kidnappers, in a motel somewhere. With our kids. And we don’t know where. And they might work for someone else. That’s a start, but not a lot to go on.”

  “Don’t forget, we know the leader called himself Taurus. That should help.”

  Chuck rubbed his eyes. “Yeah. But it’s not like I can just look him up on the internet.” He opened his eyes. “Unless…”

  Penny’s eyes widened. “The comic book guy.”

  “Bingo. You drive. I’ll call him.”

  “Hey, Albie, it’s Chuck.”

  “You realize that every phone made in the last 20 years has caller ID, right Chuck?”

  Chuck fought back the urge to scream. “Yeah. Look, it’s kind of an emergency, so can we cut to the chase?”

  “Sure thing.” Albie’s tone was more serious. “What’s up?”

  “I need to know everything you can tell me about a real person who goes by the code name ‘Taurus’. Might work with a couple of other folks.”

  There was a pause, almost long enough that Chuck thought the call was disconnected. “What’s going on, Chuck?”

  “Long story. Reader’s Digest version is that someone kidnapped my wife and kids. I got my wife back, but they have my kids. They have my kids, Albie. There are three of them. Leader called himself Taurus. They knew a real super hero’s true name, so I figured you might know who they are.”

  Silence. “Albie? You still there?” “Yeah. Can you come to the shop? I, uh, would rather not talk about this on the phone.”

  “Already on our way. Be there in 15 minutes.”

  Albie unlocked the door, poked his head out, and scanned the area outside. “You weren’t followed, were you?”

  Chuck shrugged. “No clue. Now let us in. Time is not our friend.”

  Albie looked around again, then pulled back inside the door and waved Chuck and Penny in. The only light in the shop came from Albie’s office. He led them towards it. They crammed into the tiny office, and Albie gestured for Penny to sit.

  “Tell me everything. Wait, you guys need anything? Water? Coffee? Something harder?”

  “Water, please,” Penny said. “I’m Penny, by the way.”

  “Right. How rude of me. I’m Albie. Welcome to my shop.” He reached into a mini fridge under his desk and grabbed two bottles of water, handed one to each of them. “Now, tell me everything.”

  Chuck stood silent while Penny recounted the day’s events, only interjecting pieces she didn’t see. Albie listened, asking occasional qualifying questions.

  When the story was finished, Albie leaned back, hands behind his head, eyes closed. “Well, I’m not going to lie to you. This is bad. Really bad.”

  Chuck and Penny exchanged confused glances. “We already knew that,” Chuck said. “These people have our kids.”

  Albie shook his head. “It’s these people that make it bad, Chuck. You’re not dealing with a bunch of amateurs here. These guys call themselves The Constellations. Been working on the scene for years. They specialize in tracking down hero identities and using that info to blackmail the hero. They’re down to three members, because the founder died a few years back. A real badass called Ares. He started the group to get back at the heroes who put him in prison. Became an obsession for him. His first job when he got out? He kidnapped the wife and daughter of a hero called The Crimson Blur.”

  Chuck shook his head. “Wait a second. You’re telling me the guy that killed Mickey’s wife started the group that’s behind this?”

  Penny put her head in her hands. “That explains how Taurus knew his real name,” Penny said.

  “Yeah. It also explains how they were ready for both him and Chuck. They’ve gotten really good at neutralizing the powers of the heroes they mess with. They do their research, lots of surveillance, plan things down to the smallest detail.”

  Chuck paced as best he could in the small office. “Let’s run down what we know. Our kids are being held by a group that specifically knows how to stop me, and has lots of experience tangling with heroes way more experienced than us. We don’t know where the kids are. And the one experienced hero we knew is in the hospital. Did I miss anything?”

  Albie frowned. “There’s one part that doesn’t quite add up. Usually they blackmail a hero into leaving town, or for money. Maybe a favor. Seems like this time they wanted the cape, so they’re trying to get powers for one of their members. That’s not their normal modus operandi.”

  Penny lifted her head out of her hands. “Who cares? The only thing I want to know is whether they will give my kids back if we give them what they want.”

  Albie leaned forward and looked Penny in the eye. “There’s no way to be sure, of course, but I think they will. From what I’ve heard, most of the time they hold up their end of the bargain. The Crimson Blur’s case was different, because it wasn’t business. It was personal to Ares. But since then they seem to play it straight.”

  Chuck stopped pacing and turned toward Albie, eyeing him suspiciously. “How do you know so much about these guys?”

  Albie’s hands shot up in a classic “take it easy” pose. “Whoa, Chuck. Don’t look at me like that. Knowing this kind of stuff is practically my job. When you run a website about real life super heroes, it pays to keep tabs on a vigilante group that fucks with them. These guys are a constant source of debate in our little community.”

  Chuck eased up a bit. That did make sense. “Sorry, I’m a little on edge.”

  “Understandable. And based on what Penny just told me, you’re probably working through some pretty strong emotions.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re just stubborn. Too stubborn to admit when you’re hurting. Or when you’re not up to the task.”

  Chuck’s gaze hardened. “What, exactly, do you mean by that?”

  This time Albie didn’t raise his hands. He leaned forward and matched Chuck’s hard stare. “I’m saying that if you knew what you were doing, this would all be over already.”

  Chuck seethed, but kept his tone neutral. “What do you know about trying to tame a super power?” His voice rose as the anger bubbled up. “You sit behind your stupid counter all day, while I struggle to figure out how to use this ridiculous cape.” He was yelling now, the emotion he’d kept in check throughout the day pouring out. “And you have the gall to sit here and say that if I were more prepared I could have beaten a team of people who specialize in taking out fully-trained heroes? A team that nearly killed a veteran hero—my friend—in the process? Fuck you Albie. Either help get my kids back or fuck off.”

  He realized he had leaned forward, his face inches from Albie’s. He shook.

  Albie sat still, not backing away, not showing any fear. “I didn’t say that to piss you off. We don’t know each other very well. We’re not friends. But when you tell me that your kids are being held by these dangerous people, it pisses me off. And I want to help. The only way I know to do that is to be honest with you. Honestly, Chuck, you’re not ready.”

  Chuck held his ground, his heavy breath in Albie’s face, as he thought through what Albie said. There was nothing I could have done better. Except not zap Mickey...

  Albie pressed on. “Your plan sucked. It had no chance of succeeding. Once you realized your kids weren’t there, why did you fight? What did you hope to do? Kill the kidnappers? And then what? Wander around shouting for your kids, hoping to stumble on their hiding place? No, you needed the kidnappers alive.

  “Were you hoping to take one hostage? Trade him for your kids? There’s no way you could have done that with your training. Or maybe you didn’t have a plan. You were just making it up on the fly. Does that sound like the way a hero works?

  “Face it Chuck, you have no idea what you’re doing.”

  “And you do?�
�� Chuck trembled, struggling to contain his anger. “You think that reading comics all day has prepared you for doing this in real life?”

  Albie shook his head. “Of course not. But it’s helped. I know as much as anyone about Mr. Wonder’s powers. More than you. Did you know he could make a sword out of plasma? Or absorb the sound around him, so he could sneak up on opponents? How about a trick he called ‘The Nolan Ryan’, where he’d charge a small object with kinetic energy and throw it at incredible speeds? My guess is that you know a couple of basic tricks, and you think that will get you by. But you haven’t even scratched the surface.”

  Chuck leaned back and considered Albie’s speech. It was true, he didn’t know any of those things. And, in hindsight, the plan to fight the kidnappers once he knew the kids weren’t there wasn’t perfect. “What’s your suggestion then?”

  It was Albie’s turn to lean forward. “Give me the cape, Chuck. Let me lead the charge to get your kids back. After they’re safe, you can decide if you want it back. I’m guessing you might not.”

  “You can’t be serious,” Penny said. “It took him weeks to learn the little he knows. We don’t have weeks for you to figure it all out. In fact, we shouldn’t be having this conversation. We should be finding Riley and Pax.”

  Albie turned toward Penny. If her outburst bothered him it didn’t show on his face. “Would you say Chuck is a good athlete, Penny? Is he disciplined? I’m a black belt in Taekwondo. Been studying it since I was a kid. It helped me cope with being small and scrawny. It’s taught me to focus. Honed my body and mind. It won’t take me weeks to get where Chuck is Penny. More like hours. And we won’t have to find your kids. The kidnappers will reach out to you again, when they’re ready.”

  Chuck stood up straight and cocked an eyebrow. “You really have a black belt?”

  “You’re not actually considering this, are you?” Penny stood and faced her husband, her face contorted in disbelief. “You can’t possibly trust this stranger to take the cape and get our kids back? It’s crazy. Not to mention dangerous.”