by Matt Abraham
“Good?” I shook my head. “No.”
“What’s up?”
“It’s Gravel. Killed last night while I was busy.”
“That’s the third board member. Wait, didn’t he find Pinnacle’s body?”
“Yeah.”
“Do they know who did it?”
“They don’t, but I do. It’s too much of a coincidence that the three board members Lynchpin was chatting up at his party have all turned up with upturned toes, one of which I was trying to contact. He’s tying loose ends.”
“Any other news?”
“Mostly just me.” I motioned to the set where I was fighting the SPECs and making my escape in Jane, all caught from news choppers up on high. “I look notorious, huh?”
“Is that pride I hear?”
“No, just glad to know I still got it.”
“Yeah.” Widow put down the bag she was carrying on my desk. “Well, whatever you got there’s not much of it left.”
“No positive ID.” I motioned toward the screen. “Thanks to my mask. I got pretty lucky there.”
“Lucky, huh?”
“Yeah, you made a good call.”
Widow handed me a cup of coffee with a smile on the side. “Here, take this.”
“Thanks.”
“And this.” She pulled out an egg sandwich and some hash browns from the bag. “Eat up, you look like you need it. And there’s more so don’t be shy.”
I dug in. I knew the place where she got it. A little greasy spoon half a block away, and while they’re not usually known for the care they put into their product, it tasted amazing. We watched the tube some more, but nothing new came up before the cycle began repeating itself. I clicked off the set, and finished the food in silence.
When I swallowed the last bite Widow sat down next to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “So, what now?”
I sighed. “That’s a great question.”
“Does it have a great answer?”
“I don’t think so.” I put my hands across my stomach, and felt the wounds there. “Ow. I’m sort of stuck.”
“Well, let’s talk it through, maybe we can figure out something.”
“Couldn’t hurt I guess.”
Widow turned to me and waited.
“Ok, here’s what I think: Lynchpin’s wanted to get rid of Pinnacle for years, and with the MAGMAs he finally sees his chance, but before he can move he needs a guaranteed way to deflect suspicion, and that’s where Humphries comes in. Lynchpin knows, through his government connections, that Pinnacle’s the sole roadblock to the SPECs national expansion. With him out of the way Humphries can go federal without a hitch, so the crime boss and the director strike an accord; one will commit the murder while the other conceals it.
“First Humphries schedules a meeting with Pinnacle in a secure Sindicate property to discuss the possible expansion while miles away Lynchpin waits with a loaded Kaos. Then, when our hero shows, he plugs him with a Black Bleach tipped MAGMA. Once Pinnacle pops, Lynchpin pulls up outside the building and uses his TK to remove the shell without entering, leaving the crime scene evidence free.
“Afterward, when the body goes public, Humphries pins the whole thing on Mindgame and destroys any evidence to the contrary. Lynchpin kills the three board members who helped him, and I’m guessing Sledge because either he was getting close or didn’t stop snooping like he was supposed to. Then with all the loose ends tied up, and the murderer found, it’s case closed, leaving both men free to expand their organizations; one across the country, the other across the sea.”
“Makes sense,” Widow said. “If Lynchpin’s shifting offshore he’d be at odds with the SPECs a whole lot less, but why would he hire you?”
“It would alleviate any suspicion that he’s involved.”
“From who?”
“The board members who weren’t in it with him, I guess. Especially his daughter. She really loved Benjamin, and would be committed to finding the killer. But what’s bothering me is would Pinnacle really show up in street clothes for a meeting with Humphries? And the MAGMA had to travel a long way to reach him, would he have stood still long enough to get hit? I want those answers, but they’ll be hard to find since to get them I’ll need to wade through both the SPECs and the Sindicate.”
“There I can’t help you. But on the plus side you’re still free, you still have options.” She looked at her lap. All twenty fingers were drumming on her leg. “I hate to say it but you can scram.”
“Monday said that, too.”
“He’s a smart guy, for a cop.” She reached into her pocket. “This might help. I picked it up before breakfast in the off chance you might need it.”
I took it from her and gave it a gander. I couldn’t believe it. Widow had bought me a train ticket. Destination: New York. “You want me to run?”
“It’s the safe play.”
She was right, it was safe. And smart. Nobody knew me in the Apple. If I could find Lynx, and convince her to come then we might be able to take a knee, let the heat blow over, and then return to finish the job. But I thought of Pinnacle. I remembered how he looked. And I remembered my promise to find the killer.
I put the ticket on my coffee table, and slid it away from me. “No, nothing doing.”
“Fine.” Widow headed out to her desk. “Go tilt against some windmills. It’s a shame you pissed off Glory Anna.”
“No choice on that front, she was going put me in the clink.”
“Yeah, there’s that. But I doubt she’s got any love for the Sindicate, and after last night maybe even less for the SPECs. Who better to help if you want to nail them both?”
I laughed to myself. That was true enough, but go near Glory Anna again? Fat chance. I joked about it about last night, but deep down and all around I knew my escape was pure, uncut luck. And besides, how would I even go about finding her? There was a Team Supreme hotline, but it must’ve been ringing steadily over the past two days, and even if I did get through how could I convince them to help?
The idea was a fantasy.
Pure sci-fi.
I jumped to my feet, and said, “Yes!” Retrieving my iron I walked into the waiting room. “I need your car, I’m going out.”
“What?” Widow’s jaw nearly fell off her face. “Are you serious?”
“Yes I am. I need to run an errand.”
She blocked the door, shaking her head hard enough to knock out the brunette bun. “No. Not unless you’re driving east until you hit a place famous for pizza you’re not.”
“Sorry kid.” I picked up Widow, and moved her to the side as gentle as I could. “I got to go see about some heroes.”
“And where will you do that?”
“Where else? A comic book shop.”
Widow’s face dropped even further. “You think she can help with Glory Anna?”
“It’s not Glory I’m gunning for,” I said, and slipped on my overcoat along with my last hat. “It’s all of Team Supreme.”
Chapter 40
It took some convincing, but Widow lent me her car, and I drove straight to Comics and Robots. It was just like I remembered, except that in the middle of the store sat a new tabletop display, though shrine’s a more fitting term. It was covered with framed pictures of Pinnacle, action figures, limited edition comics, and even a copy of the very rare, and very unauthorized cookbook The Pinnacle Diet: How To Put On Super Muscle, Super Fast.
After a few minutes of perusing I took a seat at the counter, grabbed the TV remote, and filled the room with morning news chatter. I hoped it was loud enough to rouse the slumbering geek one floor up, because if not I’d have to wake her by hand, but to both our benefit not thirty seconds later I heard the patter of tiny feet.
“Hello?” she called from the top of the stairs. “If anybody’s there you better get the hell out, I’m armed and pissed and in no mood for play.”
She crept down one step at a time, her weapon raised and ready.
“Morn
ing slugger,” I said, “nice bat. It new?”
“God damn, Dane.” Fangirl relaxed and trudged down the last four steps. She had on two different socks, an extra large t-shirt, and her puffy, pale face was half hidden by a mop of black hair that looked like she plucked it from the drain. “Don’t you ever knock?”
“Just heads. What’d you get into last night? It looks like you got banged by the whole Russian army.”
“Look who’s talking.” She sat down on the opposite side of the counter, and pointed the bat at me. “What happened to your face?”
“Ran into a door.”
“Must’ve been some door.”
“It’s was certainly harder to get past than yours. By the way, I thought you might like to know that nugget panned out.”
“Cool. Listen, I don’t mean to sound harsh, but it’s not a good time.”
I covered one of her hands with mine. “I can tell. How you been?”
“Drunk. Ever since I heard the news.” A tear and a sniffle tried to make a break for it, but she caught both before they got far. “Since then, I’ve spent so much time in the bottom of a bottle I’m thinking of having my mail forwarded there.”
I gave here the friendliest smile I had. “Well if you want some company, I’m your man.”
“Now that’s a good idea.” Fangirl leaned over and pulled two bottles out of the fridge below the counter. “Which one you want?” She had tequila in one hand, and vodka in the other.
“Too early for cactus,” I said.
“Ivan it is.” She placed the bottle of vodka in front of me. “Anything with it? We got orange juice.”
“Yes please, I could use the vitamins.”
“You ok with pulp?”
“What do you think?”
“Right. Stupid question.” She retrieved the carton from the same fridge along with a glass, and I fixed myself a screwdriver clear enough to read the paper through.
“Cheers.” I took half down in one gulp.
Fangirl sighed. “Whatever.” She took her pull straight from the bottle, and we sat for a few moments enjoying the feeling of a good morning buzz. “It’s not like I don’t enjoy the suspense, but I got to ask, what’s with the house call?”
“I need a favor.”
“Ha, that should be your battle cry.” She got to her feet with one hand on her hip and the other pointed up. “Do your worst, for I’m Dane Curse. But first... I need a favor!” She laughed at her own joke, a sweet little thing made of equal parts sugar, spice, and agave, but it melted away like one of Dali’s clocks just as quick as it came. “So, what do I get in return?”
“Nothing. Just that special feeling that comes from doing the right thing.”
“Really?” she said. “That doesn’t seem right. Pachy-dermis aside you’re a soft touch, and the sack I keep my charity in is running kind of low.”
“Sorry kitten, today’s visit isn’t about info you’d trade for. It would be,” I searched for the right words in my cocktail. “Beneath you.”
She leaned forward. “Is this about Pinnacle? You’re not buying the Mindgame theory?”
“Nope, and I need to speak with a member of Team Supreme about it.”
“Why not call their hotline?”
“That will only get me someone whose day consist of calls from geeked out fans and ten cent crazies. I don’t need one of them. I need one of those other people. The ones who will take what I have to say seriously.”
“Then you’re here for a direct number to TS heavy hitters.” Fangirl took another mouthful of tequila. “This can be done. Easier than easily in fact, because I have more than one connection to the top of Top Tower, but before I hand it over I need to know what this involves. Exactly.”
“I can’t say. Exactly. But I don’t buy the tale they’re telling because I think some very serious people are involved in Pinnacle’s death, and if justice is to be served then I’ll need some equally serious back up. Can you help?”
“Point of fact I can, but why do you care?”
“How do you mean?”
“I looked into you after our last meeting.”
“And?”
“And there’s not much to find. You haven’t made the papers in the last fifteen years, at least. There are no pics of you with Dread Division, no listings of your business. There’s some murmurs here and there, but all of it points to you being small potatoes. So what I want to know is why are you working so hard to find Pinnacle’s killer, instead of popping champagne with the rest of the black cape community?”
“He and I.” I took a deep breath. This story wasn’t one I shared that often. “We met once, a while back. It was about a case, actually. When I first started working solo a guy named Landslide bought it, and nobody knew how. His girlfriend suspected his partners so she asked me to help. First thing I did was locate the last person to see him alive. It turned out to be Pinnacle.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. So I waited on one of the rooftops, and when he passed by I called out. I figured it was a long shot, but it worked, the Red Wonder came down and landed a few feet from me. I remember how dumb I felt standing there, stuttering like some reg, but I found my tongue, and told him what I needed, and why I needed it, and he answered all my questions.”
“That’s it? He helped you with a case? That’s why you’re walking through the grinder?”
“No, that’s not all. At the time my mother was sick, dying in the hospital. She still blamed me for my brother’s death. And more. During one of my last visits she begged me to go straight so I could atone for my mistakes. I told her that I already had, but she didn’t believe me. You know, she loved Pinnacle. Almost as much as you. So I dropped his name, and said he’d vouch for me. I was upset, so I was kind of being sarcastic about it, but she wrote him to check up on my story, and-”
“He visited her.”
“Yeah. He did. He told her that she should be proud of me, and what I was doing. Two weeks later she died. But in that time we made our peace.”
Fangirl put her bottle down. “Well ok then.” She grabbed the remote and turned up the volume. “You watch some news, I’ll go dig up what you need.” She headed upstairs, while I sat listening to the happenings around town. I ignored it as best I could, but snapped to when I heard the anchorman say, “And now we go to Team Supreme for breaking news on the murder of Pinnacle.”
The camera switched over to the lobby of Top Tower where Team Supreme was standing shoulder to shoulder, looking every inch the world’s greatest heroes they were. It’s a rare thing to see them all together like that. Usually one or more would be out on patrol or battling the forces of evil, but not right then. Right then they were all present and accounted for.
All except Pinnacle.
Glory Anna had taken his spot in the center. She was in her standard battle armor, no worse for last night’s wear, while Doctor Velocity looking streamlined in black, and the kid master of energy Boy Mercury, stood to her right. On the other side was Blastema, the lady with the metal arms of might, and Hayflick, who was clad in yellow and could clone himself at will.
There was a murmur going through the room full of reporters, but Glory Anna cleared her throat and silenced it. “As all of you know through exhaustive investigating Director Humphries has discovered significant evidence to Mindgame’s involvement in the murder of Pinnacle. Initially we were convinced he acted alone, however, due to recent events, we believe that is not the case. The body of a criminal known as Sledge was discovered last night among proof that he too, was involved with the cowardly murder of our greatest champion.”
She paused to let the words sink in.
“Furthermore, there is strong evidence that the man seen here is the mastermind behind it all.” Two pictures appeared in the corner of the screen. One was of me fighting the SPECs outside Sledge’s, and the other was from when I found the Kapowitzer in Mindgame’s lab. “He was present in both crime scenes, and while he is yet unidentified no ef
fort is being spared to find him. If any citizen has information to this person’s identity, or his whereabouts, please contact Team Supreme or any of the city’s law enforcement agencies.” Glory paused and took a deep breath. I had seen moments like this before, the stoic hero, the flashing bulbs. I knew what was next.
“And it is to that vile coward that I now speak: You can run and you can hide, but you cannot evade justice forever. We will find you and we will bring you in. That’s our promise, my guarantee. Glory Anna and Team Supreme have the power and the will, and if need be we’ll scour the Earth and we. Will. Find you.”
Questions exploded through the room.
All things considered I should’ve been scared since I was that vile coward she was talking directly to, but instead I couldn’t help but be bolstered by the bravado. It made me feel safer. Maybe it was the pauses in the end of her speech, they were a nice touch, or maybe it was because I truly believed that she wouldn’t stop until she got justice for Pinnacle, and if anyone could help me get it, it was her and the crew she led.
And why wouldn’t they join team Dane? Righting wrongs is like white cape catnip, and the wrong I was bringing them needed some heavy-handed righting by the absolute best. As I watched Glory answer questions I couldn’t help but think that she was a fitting replacement for Pinnacle.
“That girl is such a dick.” Fangirl returned and hit the mute button. “Here.” She slid one of her cards to me. A number was scrawled on its back. “This’ll get you the ear of a person who can help.”
“Excuse me?”
“You asked for an inside number to Top Tower, and here it is. It’ll get you their public liaison, a woman by the name of Shelly Bernheart. She works directly with the team, so if you got info about Pinnacle, and it’s the real thing, she’ll see that it gets to the right people.”
“No. Not that part, the first part.”
“What? Glory?” She gave the TV a disapproving shake of her head. “She’s a dick. And I don’t mean slang for a detective.”
“Seems heroic to me. You should’ve heard her a minute ago, I practically got chills.”
“Yeah, she can do that. But let’s be clear, she’s not a real hero. Real heroes, they sacrifice, Glory is just in it for… well, the glory. Did she do the whole ‘power and will’ thing?”