by Kai Strand
“What the…?” Jeff said. He struggled to break the man’s grip, but was surprised to find it too strong.
“Relax, son. Don’t struggle, and we won’t have to hurt you.”
“What the hell did I do?” Jeff barked, still trying to pull himself from the man’s hold.
“Watch your language, son.” The old man’s voice quavered with age.
Jeff’s cheeks burned pink, because a one hundred year old hero held him captive. He stopped struggling when a woman approached up the hallway. She looked professional in a black pants suit and white blouse with thin black pinstripes. Her hair was pulled back tight behind her head, and she wore glasses with rectangular lenses and thick black frames. Instead of stopping at the gate, the woman melded right through the bars and reformed into the ultra-professional on the other side. Jeff’s mouth gaped.
Even though she wore high heels, the top of her head only crested at Jeff’s breastbone. She stood in front of him with a curled lip and flared nostrils as if he smelled like stinky cheese. “Who is it you say you are?” she asked.
“Um.” Suddenly, Jeff wasn’t sure who to claim to be. Jeff Mean? Polar Tohler? “Sarah’s son, Jeff. I thought she worked here. Do I have the wrong place?”
The woman pushed her glasses up her nose and stepped closer to Jeff, peering closely at his face. When she blinked, he thought he heard the faintest shutter click of a camera.
Jeff had to fight the desire to lean away from her. “I have my driver’s license in my back pocket, if that’ll help.”
“Government identification,” the old man scoffed. “Right.”
The woman cocked her head to the side as if someone whispered in her ear. She raised her eyebrows and looked at Jeff. “He’s clear.”
The old man dug into the front pocket of his pants. “Well, I’ll be.” He pulled out what looked like a pocketknife, but the blade he unfolded from it glowed lime green.
“Dude, what’s that for?” Jeff couldn’t see far enough over his shoulder to see what the old man planned to do, but then he felt a relief in pressure of the tape around his wrists.
The old man snapped the strange blade closed and shoved it back into his pocket before tearing the tape off Jeff’s wrists.
“Ouch!” Jeff said, rubbing the red welts the tape left behind.
“I would’ve thought he’d be a bit more to reckon with,” the old man said to the lady.
“Have you seen that movie, Accidental Hero?” the woman asked and then nodded her head toward Jeff.
Jeff huffed. “Can I see Mother now?”
The woman nodded, and the old man stepped over to the phone and dialed something that made the gates roll back into hiding. Jeff followed the woman down the hall and onto an elevator. There were no buttons to push to indicate which level they wanted to go to, and Jeff remembered the building was only a single story. Still, he was surprised when the elevator descended and his stomach did the strange flipping thing that usually happened on a roller coaster.
“What is this, like NORAD?” Jeff asked.
The woman peered at him, blinked (without a shutter click, Jeff noted) and looked back at the door.
The doors finally slid open to reveal a plush lobby. The room was so welcoming, Jeff wanted to plop into an armchair and hang out. Overstuffed brown leather furniture and walls the color of a sun-bleached clay hut filled the room. A purplish-gray carpet lay on the ground; it was so thick that Jeff considered kicking off his shoes and burying his toes.
Her heels clicked as they walked down a hall with gleaming dark wood floors. She stopped in a doorway and said, “Ma’am, your son is here.”
“Who?” Sarah asked, just as Jeff stepped into view behind the woman. “Jeff? What are you doing here?”
“We apologize for the rough reception,” the woman said to Sarah and slipped past Jeff into the hall. A pulse in Jeff’s temple kept pace with the click-clack of her heels as she retreated.
“Hi, Mother,” he said, suddenly feeling like he’d made a bad decision to come. He stepped into her office, which was also warm and inviting. Two of the walls were a light gray and the other two were a medium gray. The carpet was just as thick as the lobby’s, but was the color of the deepest part of the sea, and made Jeff yearn to hold Oceanus.
A pleasant pastel painting of a tropical beach hung on one wall, and a large white board on another; tall bookshelves leaned against the third and the door on the fourth. Jeff noticed there were no certificates, family pictures or anything personal anywhere in the office.
“So, this is where you work, huh?” he said.
“Yes, unless I’m out on a mission. You’re lucky you caught me in, as a matter of fact. I just got back and was doing the paperwork.” Sarah nodded to the laptop on the desk in front of her. “You’d like what I was just doing, as a matter of fact.”
Jeff stepped toward her desk. “Was it Oci? Did you figure out where Mystic took her?”
At first, Sarah looked confused, but then sad. “Oh, no. Nobody has put in a req for that, honey.”
Jeff stared at her.
“We can’t start a job without a requisition form.” Sarah held her hands out in front of her like she was asking his forgiveness.
“Mother! What about you? Why haven’t you submitted the form, then?” Intense anger blurred his vision. He looked around the office to see what he could throw, but started pacing instead.
“Oh! I hadn’t thought of that.” Sarah trapped her bottom lip between her teeth and immediately started tapping on her keyboard.
Jeff struggled to maintain his composure. A scream of frustration pushed hard on his throat, but he knew Mother wouldn’t react well to him losing his temper, so he continued to pace and sucked in air and blew out his breath until frost sparkled in the air around him.
“Listen, Sarah, I wonder if you… oh, company.” A man leaned up against the door jamb of Sarah’s office.
Jeff took one look at him and immediately distrusted him. It was like looking at Superman. The man had perfectly styled short hair that probably didn’t even move when he flew, a granite jaw, and chiseled cheekbones. He wore a skin tight V-neck t-shirt that accentuated his wide, strong shoulders that tapered down to a trim waist. He had long legs with muscular thighs. Jeff was pretty sure he would look up to the guy if he weren’t lounging so casually in Mother’s doorway. He was huge. He could probably snatch a thousand pounds without breaking a sweat.
“Oh, Don, I’d like you to meet my son, Jeff. Jeff, this is Don,” Mother said.
Don pushed off the jam and sauntered over to Jeff in two long strides. Not too many people made Jeff feel small, but Don made him feel miniscule. Don grabbed Jeff’s hand and squeezed hard while pumping it up and down enthusiastically. He clapped Jeff on the shoulder and nearly sent him flying across the room. His diamond bright smile made Jeff’s stomach roll.
“Well, if it isn’t the kid that balanced us all. Gotta admit, I’m glad you balanced the villains, but I’m not too happy about us heroes.” He finally let go of Jeff’s hand, but slapped his shoulder again, sending him stumbling sideways. “We were fine the way we were.”
Jeff rubbed his sore shoulder. “That’s a matter of opinion.”
Mother cleared her throat and glared at Jeff. Don didn’t look as though he’d even heard him. Planting his feet and twisting slightly toward Sarah, Don waggled his eyebrows and chuckled. He’s a poser! Jeff thought as he wandered over to a chair and flopped into it, waiting for the poser to leave.
Sarah smiled at Supersmarm. “What did you need, Don?”
“Right, well, Sarah, I was hoping I could talk you into maybe including my half of the report with yours.” Don Juan flashed his high beam smile.
“Sure, just email it to me and I’ll submit them together,” Sarah said.
Don wandered to her desk and leaned toward her, running a finger along the desktop. “Well, I was hoping you could complete it first.”
“You want me to write your report?” Sarah b
lustered.
“Well, I’ve got a date tonight and my,” he glanced over his shoulder at Jeff and then leaned forward further and mock whispered, “dyslexia makes it really hard for me to complete reports in a timely manner.”
Jeff smirked at how closely-knit Mother’s eyebrows had become while Mr. Suave talked. She may have mellowed since the balancing, but she was still a major rule follower.
“So sorry, but you’re just going to have to cancel your date, Don. I don’t do other people’s homework, and I’ve got a rather full evening myself,” Sarah said.
Jeff arched an eyebrow at Mother and the corner of her mouth twitched.
Don spun around and strode out the door mumbling, “I’m sure the book club couldn’t meet without you.”
Jeff turned to Sarah. “Mother, was that a lie I heard cross your lips?”
“White hats can tell white lies,” Sarah said poising her fingers over her keyboard again. “At least now we can, thanks to you.”
Jeff chuckled, then remembered why he was there in the first place. “So, are you submitting a requisition?”
Sarah nodded. “Let me get through the basics, and then you’ll have to give me the details of the situation.”
“No problem.”
Chapter 14
“I understand that you want to find your girlfriend, but school always takes priority.” Frank popped a forkful of orange chicken and rice in his mouth; his next words were less understandable as a result. “Don’t skip classes again.”
“Frank,” Sarah said. “He felt he needed to make a big statement. Sandra, stop playing with your food.”
“I’m not hungry. Source is expecting me. Can’t I leave?” Sandra whined.
Family dinners were still sort of new to the Mean/Tohler household. For that matter, so was Mother defending Jeff to Dad. He and Oceanus really had turned the world on its ear.
“No. You will wait until we are all finished.” Sarah pointed at Sandra with her fork, and a piece of rice fell onto the tablecloth.
Frank dabbed a napkin to his mouth before speaking. “I understand that Polar didn’t feel like he was being heard. I’m just making the point that he could have visited your office after school.”
“Dad, you keep saying you understand, but I don’t think you do,” Jeff said. “I don’t think you are listening at all to what I’m trying to say. Oci was dragged away by dogs. She was spirited away by a psycho villain who has always hated her. We have to find her before it’s too late.”
Jeff felt a coolness creep across his hand and up his arm. It felt like the sensation of dipping your hand into water that is only slightly cooler than the air around you. “Dad, stop chilling me! This is serious. Oci wouldn’t be in this situation if it weren’t for me. Mystic is doing this just to get to me. It’s bonus score if she “accidentally” maims or kills Oci in the process.”
Frank sighed heavily, as if he was tired of dealing with a toddler all day. “Son, tell me, if Mystic is doing this to get to you, why haven’t we received a ransom demand by now?”
Jeff blinked stupidly at his dad. Then he looked down at his half eaten plate of food. The reddish orange sauce smeared all over the chunks of chicken and rice looked too much like a crime scene. He dropped his fork and it clattered loudly on the ceramic plate. Pushing away from the table, he strode up the stairs and slammed the door to his room.
Falling onto his bed, he whispered, “Shit.”
* * * *
“The white hats have so many rules to follow that my grandkids might be able to join the search for Oceanus.” Jeff stood perfectly still in the middle of Set’s living room. He was thankful that he at least had a good half a foot of height over Set, who paced around him with his nose tipped to the sky.
“Polar, there are no white hats and villains anymore. We are all simply Supers,” Set said in a monotone voice.
“Right. Forgive me,” Jeff said. His gaze followed Set from left to right and right to left.
“What about Daddy? I would think the fierce Chill would love the idea of surfing into a hot battle, firing his guppies at baddies like Mystic.” Set smirked.
Jeff remembered his dad in battle. It was indeed a sight to behold. His dad truly did seem to surf into the action, looking both incredibly cool and ferocious at the same time. Jeff wanted to snap Set in two for making fun of his dad, but unfortunately, he needed him. He swallowed the snide retort. “The balancing seems to have pushed rules and paperwork requirements to the dark side as well. Nobody will make a move without the proper authority.”
Set stopped in front of Jeff. “So you need me? In case you missed that, I put the emphasis on need.”
Jeff clenched his teeth and continued to look just over Set’s head at the horrible hook rug picture of sailboats hanging on the wall behind him. “I do. I’m hoping that we can combine our resources.”
“Combine resources?” Set scoffed. “Polar, what resources are you bringing to this?”
Jeff continued to grind his teeth. He knew Set could see the movement of it in his jaw and that it revealed even more weakness. This meeting was not going as planned; maybe it would be best if he just left now.
“I mean, really. Do I need you at all?” Set asked. He continued pacing.
Jeff opened his mouth to tell him to stuff it, but Set spoke first.
“Unfortunately, you know Mystic better than I do. Plus, I think you might act as a lure for her as well,” Set said.
Jeff slammed his mouth shut. Maybe silence was a better route for him at this point.
Set suddenly turned on his heel and strode to a hallway leading farther into the house. “Let’s get to work. I’ll show you what I’ve come up with so far.”
Jeff was so shocked by how quickly the tone of conversation turned that he stood in the living room staring into the dark hallway. Set reappeared. “Polar!”
“Right,” Jeff said, jumping into step behind him.
Chapter 15
Scratching his head, Jeff drove away from Set’s house after two hours of strategic planning. “What just happened there?” he asked out loud.
It was all he could do to keep from strangling the snark out of Set as he explained the research he’d done and the steps he’d taken up to that point. It rankled Jeff the way the guy acted like no one would have thought to research Mystic’s last known address or if she had any friends; though, honestly, Jeff really hadn’t considered the friend angle. Maybe he was more of a villain than he gave himself credit for. Regardless of whether or not Jeff liked Set, he admitted to himself it felt frickin’ fantastic to leave the jerk’s house with action items. He now had things to research and some places to check out.
He sniffed his shirt and frowned. The scent of sun-warmed woods in autumn tickled his nose. Savannah had draped herself on him as often as she could. Obviously, Set and Savannah weren’t a couple. Why were they in that house together? Set had said his parents bought him the house for his eighteenth birthday. It clearly showed that he was spoiled, but didn’t explain Savannah’s presence. Jeff growled, remembering the brush of her long hair when it swung forward and coated his arm like a fur blanket each time she settled her chin on his shoulder, or how the warmth of her whisper as it reached his ear made the wrong body parts quiver. It was wrong, because he was there to concentrate on Oci. He felt like he just spent two hours cheating on her. “Both of them are annoying,” Jeff grumbled.
He pulled into a parking place at FVA. He hoped it escaped his dad’s attention that he had missed his morning classes. Set was in his final semester at SVA and only had two classes, but Jeff didn’t have such an open schedule. It was the lunch hour, so kids milled in the hall in front of the cafeteria. Jeff headed toward the administrative offices. He sauntered into the small front office Hans sat in, hoping he didn’t look guilty. “Hey Hans, just here to see my dad. Is he available?”
“Well, no sir, Mr. Mean isn’t here,” Hans blustered, his gaze shot back and forth between Jeff and Frank’s office do
or.
Relief coursed through Jeff. He would’ve had to make up some bogus excuse for visiting if his dad had actually been in his office. “That’s okay, I’ll just take the envelope and go. I don’t want to bother you.”
Hans frowned. “What envelope?”
Jeff made a show of looking at the contents of Hans’ desk. “He said he’d drop it with you if he had to leave.”
“He left no envelope, sir.”
Jeff smiled. “Hans, you gotta stop with the ‘sir’ business.”
“I can’t… sir.” Blushing, Hans dropped his gaze. “What was it that Mr. Mean was supposed to leave?”
Jeff shoved his hands in his front pockets and tried to look as unconcerned as possible. “Just the address from Mystic’s records.”
Hans peered suspiciously at Jeff. “Those are confidential records.”
Jeff shrugged. “Not once you become a criminal.”
Strolling toward the door to hide that the lie made his own cheeks red, Jeff said, “Don’t worry, I’ll check back later.”
“No, Mr. Tohler, I’ll get the information for you.” Hans perched in his chair and leaned over his keyboard.
While he accessed the info, Jeff asked, “Why do you call my dad Mean and me Tohler? Technically, we’re all Means.”
Hans blinked nervously at him, his fingers frozen over the keyboard. “Yes, sir, I suppose you’re right. I’ll amend that from now on.”
“I didn’t mean to make you nervous, Hans, old man.” Jeff issued a fake series of ha, ha, ha’s. “Truth is, I’m not even sure what to call myself anymore. We’re all Tohlers, too. Call me what you’d like.”
It looked like Hans was getting more nervous rather than relaxing, so Jeff decided to shut up and let him work. He watched him scratch something onto a paper and leaned forward to read it. “Is that a seven or a two?”