by Sonya Clark
“You’re no hero.” Holding his wrist, he climbed unsteadily to his feet. “All those bullshit stories. Beating up muggers and saving little girls. The truth is, you’re no better than me. You’re a killer, too.” He laughed. “They shouldn’t call you Ghost. They should call you Killer.”
Dani curled her hands into fists. “Shut your fucking mouth.”
“The Cabrini Killer. Yeah, I like the sound of that.”
Something snapped inside Dani. She sent the Russian into the wall with one vicious punch. The drywall caved under his weight and he perched awkwardly, half sitting in the wall, head lolling to one side.
“That’s right, killer. Just like that.” Bessonov spat blood then laughed.
Dani put everything she had into a right hook, then a left. The first blow broke his nose, the second opened an ugly cut over his cheekbone. It reverberated through her knuckles, all the way to a place inside full of rage and hate and shame.
“You killed thirteen people that night. That’s more than I’ve killed.”
She grabbed him by the throat, pulled him out of the wall, then pummeled him repeatedly. One hit after another, until his face began to resemble hamburger and her hand throbbed.
“You might even make me number fourteen tonight.” He grinned, lips and teeth covered in blood. “But those two bitches will still be dead.”
The monster inside roared. Pushed against the walls of her humanity, every bit of decency and compassion and morality in her. She wanted to kill this man. More than just that, she wanted to hurt him in the process. Make him cry, piss himself in fear, beg for mercy that didn’t exist. She wanted him to feel everything that men like him had ever made her feel. And then she wanted to treat him like something disposable and less than human, the way he had Polina and Masha.
The way she had his criminal brothers, when she tore through that house across the street like vengeance personified.
Dani released him. He slumped to the floor. She stared down at him, at what she’d done to him with just her fists. She didn’t need to carry weapons – she was a weapon. The lab had made her that way. Dr. Wolff and his initial enhancements, followed by Colonel Snyder and his training program. Helped along by every man who’d ever beat her to feel better about themselves, taken her body against her will because it made them feel powerful. She was a knife honed to a razor edge by her own fury.
She could kill Bessonov and walk away. It was living with herself after the fact that would be impossible. She found herself silently begging for mercy – not from him, but from herself, for him.
Her breathing slowed to normal. The storm of emotions in her stilled. None of the men who’d hurt her had ever shown her mercy. She wanted to be more than just a killer, a thug with nothing inside but violence and pain. If she was going to do that, she would have to find mercy within herself.
Bessonov wiped away blood with the back of his hand. “They want you dead, you know. And it won’t be quick.” He leaned forward, his smile a horrorshow. “They’ll make you hurt so bad, killer.”
“Don’t call me that,” she said. “It’s not who I am.”
“Ah, you gonna let me walk out of here alive, then? So I get to be there when they hurt you. Get to play along too. That’s nice of you, killer. You’re a good bitch.”
Dani hauled him up, jerked him around, and put him in a sleeper hold, her arm around his neck and putting pressure on his carotid artery. He put up a struggle but weakened gradually, unconscious by the time she lowered him to the ground. She searched him for weapons, taking two more knives from him. More useful were the zip ties. She bound his wrists and ankles with those then hefted him in a fireman’s carry. On the way out she texted Housecat then Kevin.
She had a plan, and she needed their help to make it work.
Chapter 30
Ilya Bessonov was dropped off in front of a police station in the wee hours of the morning, beat up, bound by zip ties, and with a flash drive taped to his forehead. On the drive was a brief video wherein he confessed to murder and human trafficking. An anonymous phone call to the Point Sable Tribune ensured questions from the media about the arrest almost immediately.
Kevin folded the morning’s Tribune to the story and tucked it into the side pocket of the breakfast tray. He hummed as he made his way upstairs. Downloading video had taken a lot out of Dani. For one thing, it caused another nosebleed, and that made him nervous no matter how much she insisted it was nothing to worry about. She’d gone to sleep right after, trusting him to edit the footage and get it delivered to Dirty South. He’d woken her once to let her know Housecat had made his own delivery. That was hours ago. Now it was midafternoon.
She sat on the edge of the bed, dressed in jeans and a tank top, barefoot, drying her hair with a towel. Her face lit up with a smile at the sight of him. “Oh my God, bring that food over here.” Okay, maybe it was the sight of the food, but he didn’t care. Her smile made him happy.
He did as asked, placing the tray carefully on the bed. “It made the paper.” He showed her the headline.
She glanced at it before forking in a mouthful of scrambled eggs. “Do you think it’s enough evidence to keep him?”
“Trafficking is taken seriously once it’s brought out into the light like this. Hopefully this will open a huge can of worms for the people responsible.”
For several minutes Dani ate quietly. Kevin sat in a chair and wondered what came next.
Plate clean, Dani spoke. “He said they’ll come after me.”
“They don’t know who you are.”
She moved the tray away and sat cross-legged on the bed. “Bessonov is just one guy. Not even a very high up guy, at that.”
“True, but bringing him in will get the ball rolling.” He moved from the chair to a spot on the bed nearly two feet away from her. “I get what you did. I know you might not want to talk about it, and that’s fine. I just wanted you to know that I get it, and that I have tremendous respect for the decision you made, and how hard it must have been for you.”
She looked away. “Part of me wanted to kill him.”
“I know.” He wanted to reach for her, offer her comfort, but he wasn’t sure that was an appropriate thing to do with her.
“Part of me may always feel that way, about people like him.”
“I know.”
She met his gaze, her brown eyes nearly devoid of shadows for the first time since he’d met her. “I want to be more than just some thug killing machine. I want to help people.”
He couldn’t help himself then, he took her hand in his. “I know, Dani. And I believe that you can.”
She laced her fingers with his. “I did a lot of thinking in the shower. About the way things are. You know I was on the streets before the lab. Five years later, and nothing’s changed. A different city, with the same bad stuff going on. It’s like there’s this status quo, and nobody can break it.”
“Disrupting the status quo isn’t easy. Powerful people get invested in keeping things the way they are, and it’s hard to fight that much corruption. That much…inertia.”
“Disrupting the status quo,” she repeated thoughtfully. “Do you think someone like me could make a difference?”
“I think you already have, to the people you’ve helped. The lives you’ve saved.”
Dani stood and walked to the window. She looked out at the city bathed in late afternoon sunlight. “I figure I can run or I can take a stand.” She glanced back at him. “Point Sable seems like a good place to take a stand.”
The look and her words felt like an invitation. He accepted, joining her at the window. “Loyal sidekick reporting for duty.”
She laughed, and the sound washed through him like a cool summer rain. “Good, because I need you to help me with something.”
Kevin grinned. “As it happens, I’ve been doing research into exactly what it is that sidekicks do for their superheroes.” He wagged his eyebrows. “Apparently there’s a lot of boning involved.”
She
trailed one finger down his jaw, her smoldering gaze leaving his mouth dry and his cock hard. If she ever wanted him to wear tights, it might get embarrassing. “We’ll get to that.” She tapped his chest. “But first, I need you to help me with a new name.”
The we’ll get to that soothed his brief disappointment. “You want another ID packet?”
“No,” she said. “I hate being called a ghost.”
“Superhero names.” He clapped his hands together. “Let’s see. How about Riot Girl?”
“No.”
“Danger Girl?”
“Dude.”
“You’re right, that’s cheesy.” He thought for a moment. “Danger Diva?”
“Don’t make me hurt you in the not fun way.”
Kevin froze. “Does that mean you could be convinced to hurt me in the fun way?”
“If what I’m going to be doing is disrupting the status quo, then maybe I should use the name Disruptor.”
“Disruptor. Hmm. It’s not gendered. Or cheesy. It definitely makes a statement. I like it.”
“We need to get the name out there. People have been using that Cabrini Ghost hashtag. We need a way for people to know the name, and still use social media to ask for help or send me tips. Do you think we can make that work?”
“We can damn sure try. I can set up a Twitter account with settings that can make it hard for the average person to track. Nothing is perfect online but I can make it as anonymous as possible.”
“Housecat can help spread the word.”
“In the South Side, he’s better verification than a blue check mark.”
Dani turned her gaze to the window again. “This is crazy, what we’re talking about doing. And probably not strictly legal.”
She was right. They both had a lot to lose, her especially. If the lab found her, they’d take her back. Setting up an escape plan had to be a top priority, just in case. “I’m with you. You want to help people. I want to help you do that.”
She retrieved the two cups of coffee forgotten on the breakfast tray and handed him one. Raising hers in a toast she said, “Here’s to atoning for our sins.”
He clinked his cup to hers. “Here’s to fighting the good fight.”
They drank. Dani made a face. “It’s cold.”
“Let’s go downstairs. I’ll make fresh coffee and we’ll talk about cape colors.”
“Absolutely no cape.”
“At least let me get the mask bedazzled.”
“Is harassing me about my wardrobe in the sidekick’s handbook?”
“As a matter of fact, it is.”
They argued all the way down the stairs.
***
@PSDisruptor – I’m not a ghost. I’m very real.
But I will haunt the streets of Point Sable and make life hell for those who hurt the innocent.
I will target muggers and rapists and murderers.
I will target corruption, inertia, and injustice.
I will help the innocent, the victims, people who can’t stand up for themselves.
I will fight for the powerless. I will defend the weak.
I will disrupt the status quo.
***
She stood on a rooftop looking out over the Cabrini neighborhood, buildings glowing faintly green thanks to her night vision. The sound of car engines and rattling sheet metal, a mix of music genres and a few different languages, and the incessant barking of a stray dog all reached her via her enhanced hearing. She stretched her fingers in the new gloves, knuckles still sore. Brushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes, making brief contact with the mask that she hadn’t quite grown used to yet. Doubt filled her, but then a face from the past floated in her mind and filled her with resolve.
She was through running away.
A voice screamed for help in the night. Disruptor ran toward it.
Epilogue
Dr. Natalie Hurd removed her glasses for the retinal scanner. A tiny light at the bottom of the wall plate flashed green and the door slid open. She replaced her glasses and stepped across the threshold.
Her assistant, Kenner, stood waiting in the foyer. “How was Washington?” He gave her a slim plain folder with a report of the lab’s activities in the days she’d been away and took the handle of her suitcase.
“Overflowing with bullshit.” She glanced through the pages of the report as they walked briskly to her office. “Good to see the smart contact trial is going well.”
“Yes, so well in fact, the team is convinced it will work as a replacement for the more invasive retinal implant. In circumstances where it would be more appropriate, of course.”
Hurd flipped to another page, scanned its contents, and sighed. “Angel’s in confinement again, I see.”
“She had an altercation with a new recruit.”
“And I see he’s in the infirmary.” Angel had the potential to become a problem without the influence of Danielle. Well, a bigger problem. “Don’t keep her isolated long. Have her training with Nicole as much as possible.”
Once they reached the security of her office, Kenner asked the question she knew he’d been dying to ask. “What was their decision?”
Hurd tossed the folder onto her desk. “I got her six months. Then they’ll evaluate again, but I don’t hold out much hope of them allowing her to stay in Point Sable. And if she kills again, we have to bring her in immediately.”
“Even self-defense?”
She nodded. “Any circumstances. They don’t care. No killing, and no revealing her secrets. We get proof she’s done either of those things, we have to go get her.”
Kenner cleared his throat and tilted his head. “We don’t have proof she’s told Moynihan anything, but it’s possible.”
“If he’s helping her, he knows.” They both knew she meant helping with Danielle’s new-found calling.
“But we don’t have proof.” Kenner straightened, hands clasped behind his back.
“No,” she said thoughtfully. “We don’t.”
“What about a replacement for Col. Snyder?”
Disgust boiled in her gut like lava. “They’re still tripping all over themselves about him. The people who championed him when he was first brought in are too busy rewriting history and pretending they never trusted him.”
“Just like with Wolff,” Kenner said, naming her notorious predecessor.
Hurd gave him a sharp look. “Do you have the latest on her activities?”
Kenner moved to the wall safe and unlocked it with his own retinal scan then removed another folder. This one was black and stamped with the letters ASTRA in white on the front. “Ready for your review. Let me know what to redact and I’ll forward it to Washington.”
Hurd took the folder with a halfhearted glare. She would have him edit the report before sending it on. Until a replacement for Snyder was named and she knew if she could trust that person, she’d be keeping things very close to the vest. “I’d like some fresh coffee.”
Kenner nodded once. “Of course.” He left her office, closing the door behind him.
Hurd settled in to read. She went through the report carefully, first reading for herself, then with a red pen to notate what needed to be left out of the final version. A series of photographs followed the report. In one, Dani stood on a street corner, waiting for traffic to pause so she could cross. The next showed her outside the homeless shelter in Cabrini, in conversation with Kevin Moynihan. Both wore tentative smiles.
In the last photo, she wore a mask and was in the process of dumping a tied-up man on the steps of a police precinct. A Russian gangster involved in human trafficking, and Dani had turned him in to authorities rather than kill him.
Hurd held the picture aloft and studied it carefully. Wishing she could see through it, all the way to Dani’s troubled heart. “Disruptor,” she whispered. “I’m rooting for you, Dani. Oh, God, I’m rooting for you.”
The phone rang. She put everything back in the folder and moved on to other things. The la
b had no shortage of issues that required her attention.
Acknowledgements
Big thanks go out to Angela Campbell, Nicole Luiken, and Amy Lee Burgess for help and encouragement with this book.
Thanks and so much love to my husband, who still calls me his favorite author.
My daughter is only four right now, but she’s a big part of why I wrote a book about a female superhero. She already loves Wonder Woman and Batman, and she loves to put on her cape and swoop through the house saving the good guys from the bad guys. She inspires me to strive to be a better person, to find the best within myself and within others. For that, she’s my hero.
Other Books By Sonya Clark
The Roxie Mathis Series
Mojo Queen
Red House
Hoodoo Woman
The Magic Born Trilogy
Trancehack
Witchlight
Firewall
Standalone Titles
Bring On The Night
Good Time Bad Boy
Learn more at my website, www.sonyaclark.net. If you’d like to keep up with future releases, you can subscribe to my announcements list at http://eepurl.com/bT3NL.
Copyright Information
Copyright © 2016 by Sonya Clark.
Cover design by Sonya Clark using images from DepositPhotos.com.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.