by Matt Abraham
And I knew this was it. I was cooked. I was headed for Impenetron, and a lifetime behind bars. I tried so hard to avoid this fate. I quit the life years ago, walked the not so straight, but mighty narrow, all for nothing.
And Pinnacle’s real killer was still free.
It was right in the middle of that depressing thought when my feet found their strength. My head cleared too, and with it my vision. I stood up, took a deep breath, and looked at the Agent. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” he said. “Just hang in there, this’ll all be over soon.”
“Yeah it will,” I said. “Anyway, for what it’s worth I appreciate the help Agent…” I looked down, and read the name on his badge. “Monday.”
Ha. TGIM.
To anyone watching he was keeping me secure, but I felt him squeeze my arm twice.
“Is topside ready yet?” Monday said. “He’s leaking over here.”
“Affirmative, prepare for transport.” Commander Clark turned to Glory. “So we’ll get him straight to the clink. No civilian hospitals, no stops on the way. I don’t want to take any chances, they got facilities at Impenetron to deal with the likes of him, ok?”
Glory nodded. “Let’s get going.”
“I’ll take him,” Monday said.
“No, he may be weak, but I still want a guy with the hard ordnance to handle this. Peters.” He nodded to the rifleman. “Bring him up.”
Monday tapped my back.
I nodded, just a bit.
Peters circled around me. With a collar on he didn’t think I was a threat. That was his first mistake. Keeping the rifle slung loose was his second.
Two mistakes.
Just enough to maybe save my life.
I threw my head back, and hit Monday in his faceplate. It hurt me more than him, but he flew backwards with Oscar worthy acting. I grabbed the stock of the Agent Peters’ Kaos, and shoved him with all of my might. I only had the strength of a normal man, but we were on uneven ground, and I had surprise on my side. He stumbled back, and fell. On the way down he got his hands around the rifle’s barrel. I snatched the grip and pulled the trigger. The shot caught him in the face, knocking him backwards.
The commander raised his weapon. I put the Kaos on my shoulder and blasted two shots. They found him dead center. That just left Glory Anna. She looked at the downed Agents. They were still alive thanks to their armor, but all were out cold.
“Please, I don’t want to hurt you,” I said.
She looked puzzled. “You can’t.”
Glory was the furthest away of my would-be captors, but I took a few steps back just to be safe. When she moved to follow I fired. The slug knocked her backwards, but didn’t break skin. I fired again. And again. The impact increased the distance between us.
Then I poured it on. She danced around as each shot pushed her further and further away. And the lights on the walls between us began to click off. When she got about forty yards her confusion turned to anger.
“Enough!” Her rage shook the walls around me.
“Yeah, I’ll say.” I took careful aim, and put one right between her eyes. She flipped backwards, and landed face down. But there was no blood. No blood and no movement, both were welcome news.
I didn’t have much time. Voices from above were leaking into the tunnel, so I jammed the Kaos’s muzzle under the collar, braced the stock against the floor, and pulled the trigger. The impact knocked me back while the collar fell to the ground, its busted edges smoking.
My head spun like it was full of too much oxygen as my strength returned.
I ran over to check on Monday. He gave me a thumbs up, but said nothing because his comms were unquestionably still active. I’d have to put on a show.
Hoisting my friend to his feet, I spun him around, and slipped an arm under his chin. “Fly lawman, or I’ll break your spine, and finish off your friends.” Then I found the small indention where his mic was, and ripped it out.
“We clear?” I said.
He nodded, engaged his rocket boots, and I rode him like a sled through Tunnel Town so fast the wall lights could barely keep up. When we came to the first fork in the road I pulled him to a stop like you would a horse, and punched the wall hard enough so that it caved in.
It would take the pursuing Agents a while to make their way through the rock, and by that time we’d be long gone.
Chapter 37
After fifteen minutes of flying we came to the tunnel’s exit, high up on the side of a mountain. At the base were trees and a road that led back to the city. Beyond that was the Pacific. Its waves crashed loud, and sent the cool smell of salt and pine. I turned to the north and saw Gold Coast’s skyline. We were so far out that every star shining above it was perfectly visible.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Monday yanked off his helmet, and got in my face. “Why did you leave the office? Did you kill Sledge?”
“Is your locator active? Can they track you?”
The man didn’t look happy. “No.”
“Good, then we have some time.”
“For what? Answer my question. Did you-”
“Of course not.” I took a deep breath, and pushed the pain away. “I was there to get his help. I didn’t kill him.”
“Then who did?”
“I don’t know.”
“And the Agents?”
“They’re fine. Their armor held up. Might be a couple of injuries…”
Monday paced back and forth, shaking his head. “This is bad. Caught at two murder scenes in one day. You’re out of control.”
“Listen, calm down. Tell me, what did you found out? About the autopsy?”
His face went a special kind of blank. “Are you serious? You want to talk about that after what just happened?”
“Yes. Did Mindgame’s tox report come back positive for Black Bleach?”
He grit his teeth, and shook his head. “No Dane, they didn’t check. And by the time I got there he’d already been cremated.”
“What?” For a second the bullet holes in my body stopped hurting. “On whose say so?”
“Who knows? Probably the director’s.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Some black capes don’t get funerals, especially the ones that do truly heinous things. Their graves can become magnets for crazies, and besides, it’s not unheard of for them to burn.”
“But it’s not normal.” I shook my head. “Next question: where’d those guns come from?”
“What guns?”
“Come on. You have Kaos. God damn Azures, too. That ordnance your boys are packing back there is Sindicate property. How’d you get it?”
“We nabbed some big overseas arms shipment today, and decided to utilize the items rather than mark them as evidence. Confiscation of illicit assets is lawful under a number of statutes.” He was nodding and speaking fast with words that I could tell weren’t his.
“Humphries tell you that?”
“He announced it at tonight’s tactical meeting.”
“Really? You guys capture a weapons shipment, and didn’t have a news conference to tell the good citizens of Gold Coast just how safe you’ve been keeping them? I can’t remember a lawman making a huge bust and not taking credit for it. I’ll tell you, MAGMAs in the hands of the law. Twiddle must be furious.”
“Uh,” Monday shifted back and forth. “Twiddle’s dead.”
“Twiddle’s dead?” I spun around too quick, and was reminded of all the holes in my torso. I slumped against the wall. Monday moved to help me, but I waved him off.
“He was killed when we took Gun Guys.”
“Why would…” No. The Azures. The MAGMAs. First Mindgame and now Twiddle. “That lying son of a bitch, I can’t believe it.”
“What, what is it?”
I didn’t have time to think it through before, but there was only one way that all of it made sense. “Humphries. He’s actually working with Lynchpin.”
“What?�
�� Monday tossed his hands in the air. “You’re… That’s insane.”
“Is it? Let me ask you, who’s the anonymous source leaking impossible info? I thought it was Lynchpin, trying to guide your investigation on the sly, but now I’m sure that your boss is partnered up with him. Otherwise why’d he set a land speed record destroying Mindgame’s body? Why stop a shipment of arms and not log them as evidence? Why kill Twiddle?” I looked out at the ocean. “Why did he destroy every bit of evidence that links the murder weapon to Lynchpin?”
“Wait, the MAGMAs killed Pinnacle?”
“Tipped with Black Bleach. The combination would’ve been lethal, even to Pinnacle.
“Oh,” Monday said. He sort of went blank as he thought it over. “But even if that’s all true why would Humphries do it?”
“So you guys can go nationwide. Pinnacle’s death would kill all opposition. The way the director sees it on the one hand we have a federal police force fighting crime and saving lives, while on the other we have a lone cape. Not a hard choice for him to make. Especially since he wouldn’t even need to get his hands dirty, just cover up Lynchpin’s deed, and pin it on someone else. Afterward he’s the big hero, free to expand the SPECs across a grateful country that, thanks to Pinnacle’s absence, is already crying out for greater security.”
“But… It’s true, the director is desperate to take us federal, and I’ve got no doubt he’s capable of what you’re saying, but I can’t see him working with the Sindicate. Not directly.” Monday took the spot next to me. “Do you have any proof to back this up?”
“You mean aside from what your guys have killed, burned, or seized? No.”
“Then it’s time for you to get out of town. You’re the city’s most wanted with all the cops and all the capes.”
“I’m not running.” I turned to him. “I still got work to do.”
“If what you say is right then even if you had evidence you’d still need an army to pin it on that pair. An Army. And the last time I checked that’s something you haven’t got. So what can you do?”
“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do.” I got to my feet as slowly as I could. The pain kept me in check. “I’m heading back to the office to get some bandages and a bit of shut eye. Then I’m going to find some hard proof, and nail your boss and his partner to the wall.” I looked down at my stomach.
“Then it goes without saying that you’re a fool.” Monday stood up. “In the meantime I’ll call in some favors, and look deeper into his anonymous source. If anything turns up I’ll contact Widow.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “Now don’t take this the wrong way, but I need you to forget my number. We’re through for a very long while.”
“I figured,” I said. “I’ll see you when I see you.”
“Wait. Before you go.” He pointed at his face. “I can’t go back looking like this without raising some eyebrows.”
I knew what he was asking for. “Helmet.”
Monday put it on, and with a quick jab I cracked his faceplate. He fell back into the wall, then slid to the ground unconscious. It was a good start, but there’d need to be more. The only way to save him from suspicion would be a pretty bad beating.
So I gave him a kick. Then I gave him another. I even grabbed the blaster on his wrist and squeezed it until the metal crumpled and the bone beneath cracked. That was enough. Damaged weapons with a fractured wrist, some broken ribs, and a lot of nasty bruises. It would hold. I set him upright, and looked him over. One dozen me’s stared back from his cracked visor, and not one of them looked good.
I turned and ran down the side of the mountain towards the road. From the street I could barely see the glow of the city that I had no way back to. My wounds were bleeding worse. I put pressure on them, but that squeezed more blood out than it kept in. I surveyed my surroundings. It was completely dark. Then a pair of lights crested the hill. A car was coming up fast. I put out my thumb. If they stopped I was going to club them and take their ride.
It got closer. The lights blinded me. I covered my eyes, and the car screeched to a halt. Then a person got out, and said, “Dane, is that you?”
I could only see her outline, but I swear it had an angel’s wings. “Widow?” I said. “I don’t believe it.”
She ran over, stuck a shoulder under my arm, and dragged me into the car.
Chapter 38
“How’d you find me?”
“Be quiet. Try to rest.” She shifted, and we bombed down a hill roller coaster style.
“But I’m shot.”
“I noticed. I have to get you to a doctor.” We were now clear of the mountains, and the city was rising up ahead like Oz.
“No, no doctors. You do it. Take me to the office.”
“Are you sure?” Widow glanced at me. “You look pretty bad.”
“I’m positive. How did you find me? That was some trick.”
“Yeah, trick.” We drove beneath the famous Welcome to Gold Coast City sign. The thing takes up four inbound lanes, and has a green background with lettering made from actual gold dust. “You were on the news. All the news.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you and Humphries. He was on the TV, the radio, all the media outlets, right after the first shots were fired telling the city that the SPECs were in pursuit of the mastermind behind Pinnacle’s murder.”
“Really?” I laughed a little. It hurt. “That man’s smart.” Humphries was keeping everybody staring at the train wreck, making them think that he was catching those responsible. “Wait, how’d you know where to pick me up?”
“I saw Glory Anna crash through the pavement outside Humbart’s.” Widow took the next off ramp, accelerating through the turn.
“And?”
“And you’re not the only one who’s used Tunnel Town before.”
“So you saw where I was, and met me at the exit.”
“That’s making it sound easier than it was. That particular tunnel has three different outs. I tried the southernmost one first, figuring you’d go as far from the city as possible. I waited there for a long while.”
“Then you headed north.”
“Got lucky on my second guess.”
#
Four hands slapped me in quick succession.
“Wake up.” Widow was hovering over me.
“Where are we?”
“The office.”
I looked around. She was right. Widow had dragged me up to my suite and dumped me on the couch.
“Come on, let’s get you stitched up.”
“Stitches don’t work on me.”
“I know. It’s a figure of speech.” She walked to my desk, and opened a drawer. “I’m going to get the bullets out of you, then I’m going to seal the holes. I want you with me until I do.”
I nodded. “Get me some whiskey while you’re over there.”
She mumbled, “I’ll get you some whiskey,” but came back with a small bag instead. Inside was gauze, a handheld industrial strength magnet, and a tube of sealant. “Ok palooka, this may hurt a bit.” She ran the magnet over my stomach. I felt the metal inside me tug against my skin right before the wound spat out all the shrapnel it had. My eyes got wet and nearly jumped out of their sockets as I took big gulps of air. “You ok?” she asked.
I nodded, but it hurt worse than when they went in.
“Good.” Widow shoved some gauze in my hand, and I used it to soak up the blood as she pulled me forward. Then she ran the magnet over my back, my arm, and by the time she finished with my legs I was in agony. “Here, hold on to these,” she said, and handed me all the slugs.
I took the bullets and gave them a once over. “You got some bedside manner.”
“Quiet.” Widow reached over and grabbed the tube of sealant. The thing was filled with liquid skin, a sweet little invention that helped plug up wounds for those of us who know not the joys of sutures or staples. She carefully injected just enough into each wound, and it dried into a pale plug almost immediately, which felt
strange but stopped the bleeding.
When she finished she surveyed her work, gave it an approving nod, and returned the tools to the desk. “So, you want to tell me how you got away? I thought you were cooked for certain. That was Glory Anna you fought.”
“I asked her to let me go. Politely. She places a high premium on manners.” My eyelids were getting heavy. “Then I shot her.”
“Are you joking?”
“Nope,” I said.
“What’d you shoot her with, Lois? I didn’t see any-”
“A devilish grin.”
“Whatever.”
“Why don’t you get me some fresh threads? There’s some in the closet.”
“How about a pillow and blanket? Wait here.” She walked out front, and returned with the linen. After she draped the covers over me, Widow took extra care to ensure my pillow was fluffed. “Is there anything else?”
I shook my head.
“Right answer. I’ll be in the next room. If you need anything just let me know, ok?”
I nodded. The darkness began to seep in. “They say I killed Pinnacle, Widow.”
She sighed, kissed my forehead, and turned off the lamp. “Nothing you can do about that now, just get some shut eye.”
Chapter 39
Morning came quick and with it a lot of pain. Everywhere hurt, even the places that weren’t perforated. After a few deep breathes I got to my feet and made it to the bathroom mirror to take inventory. A purple shiner covered my left eye and was pushing westward like it declared manifest destiny, while beneath it a muzzle full of fuzz had grown like thorns around a split lip.
I carefully washed up, shaved, and put on some fresh clothes, then went into the waiting room. Widow was gone, but on the couch, folded neatly, were a second set of linens along with a note that read: Getting breakfast, DO NOT LEAVE – W.
“Aye aye, cap,” I said, then returned to my couch. I needed a distraction, so I grabbed the remote and turned on the tube. I figured a little news wouldn’t hurt.
Wrong again.
#
I was watching when Widow returned. She had a white paper bag with her. “Anything good on?”