“I was wondering if, uh,” –gosh, this was going to sound stupid– “you could recommend any comic books to me. I’ve, uh, I’ve never read any.”
Geek-boy’s expression didn’t change. “Whaddaya looking for?”
Duh. That’s what I’m asking you. “I-I’m not sure. Something–” Tori fumbled wildly in her mind, searching for anything she knew about comic book movies. “Maybe something on the beginnings? How they become superheroes?”
Same expression, same tone of voice. “Origin stories. Sure. You want something in particular? DC? Marvel? Darkhorse? You don’t look like the Vertigo type.”
His eyes flicked over Tori’s Banana Republic wool coat and pantsuit, clearance bargains from last spring. She remembered the book she’d shoved back on the shelf was a Vertigo title. So she interpreted the look as “You’re a classy chick and probably wouldn’t like that dark shit.”
“Well,” he prompted as Tori continued to stare at him blankly.
Grabbing at straws, Tori stuttered, “I-I don’t know. What w-would you recommend? I could really use your advice.”
As if a light beamed down from heaven, Geek-boy’s face brightened. His eyes cleared, his posture straightened. “Well…”
For the next thirty minutes, Chad – Geek-boy’s real name – showered Tori with information on the comic industry. He tutored her in comic books, graphic novels, Manga, collectibles, and more. He asked her questions and piled books into her arms – Ultimate Spider-Man, Danger Girl, Powers, Kingdom Come. Looking at the prices, Tori finally called a halt to his enthusiasm.
“This is great, thanks, Chad,” she said, “but I better stop until I know if I even like them.” And before I run out of grocery money.
Joe had warned her that money was tight. She didn’t want him to think he’d married a spendthrift. Come to think of it, that was yet another topic they hadn’t discussed. No joint checking account yet. So really, she didn’t even have to tell him she spent over a hundred dollars on comic books. Yeah, that’s a conversation she didn’t want to have.
“Read Kingdom Come first,” Chad said with a knowing nod. “You’ll be totally hooked.” He plucked a business card from a pile and wrote his name on the front. He looked up at her and smiled, then he wrote his home and cell numbers on the back and handed it to her.
Assuring Chad that she would come back soon, thanking him for offering to answer any question, any time, Tori finally left with her bag full of comics. Uh, that is, graphic novels. She hoped her education into the ways of superheroes would prove to be helpful in real life. Maybe she’d even figure out how to tell Joe. Peter Parker did tell Mary Jane, didn’t he?
Tori opened Bill’s back door and started to put the bag on the back seat. On second thought, she closed the door and opened the trunk. Not that she was hiding them. She just wanted to explain when she was ready, not in a surprise ambush.
As soon as the car started, she turned the heat on high. Waiting for it to warm up, she remembered the look on Joe’s face when she told him she’d named her Honda Accord “Bill.” That car payment was the biggest bill she’d ever had – still was – so it made perfect sense to her. And it was funny. She couldn’t believe he’d never named any of his vehicles. Wasn’t that what guys did?
Tori smiled to herself. She’d have to think of a name for Joe’s black Dodge pickup, see if she could make Joe laugh. She loved his laugh.
Her smile faded as she wondered what his reaction would be when she figured out how to tell him about the super power and the visit from the SLU. How exactly did one go about revealing such a thing? And how would she explain why it only came up now? She didn’t know the answer to that herself.
The heater finally blasted warm air through the car. Tori glanced at the dash clock. Time to go to Lexie’s for dinner. If she were really, really lucky, maybe Lexie and Hayley wouldn’t completely freak out at her news. Maybe they’d even help her figure out how to tell Joe.
Tori tried to swallow the growing lump in her throat. She gripped the wheel tighter as she drove. God, you did this to me, so you better help me.
“Please,” she whispered.
“IF YOU don’t tell her soon, she’s going to figure it out.” Mickey Valient, one of Joe’s two best friends, relaxed on an oversized black sofa in the basement of his office building.
Joe slouched across from him, inhaling the luxurious scent of leather. His other best friend, Bull Kincaid, stretched out to his left, the four matching sofas making a big square around an area rug with a low marble-topped table in the middle. A table currently covered with chips, dips, cookies, pop cans, and a huge plate of piping hot burritos.
At the other end of the long room, a small kitchen sported every appliance a man could want – fridge, microwave, coffee machine, toaster oven, dishwasher. A couple arcade games and a pinball machine lined another wall. Mickey didn’t bring work home, he brought home to work. Best secret office ever. Joe wondered what Tori would think if he bought a pinball machine for the living room at home.
“He’s got a point,” Bull said. “She’s a smart girl.”
Joe sighed and slipped deeper into the cushions.
He’d known Mickey since college and Bull since grade school. Joe trusted them with his secrets and his life, and they trusted him. He wanted to feel the same way about his wife. He did. He just had to figure out how to tell her. Preferably in a way that didn’t send her screaming.
“I’m going to tell her,” Joe said, pulling the tab on a Coke. He sounded a little defensive even to his own ears. “I’m just waiting for the right time. I told her we play poker every Thursday night, that we always have and we always will. She’s fine with it.”
“He’s got a point,” Bull said to Mickey. “We’ve been doing this for years. Getting married’s not going to change that.”
“Today’s Tuesday,” Mickey said, reaching for the plate of homemade cookies Tori had sent over.
Bull nodded. “He’s got a point,” he said to Joe.
Joe ignored him. Bull could see seventeen sides to a six-sided die. “I’ll tell her I’m working overtime. That’s pretty much true anyway. She made the cookies when I told her you didn’t have any family around here,” he said to Mickey, “and that you needed us because you’d spent the holidays alone.” He laughed at Mickey’s scowl.
Joe leaned forward to grab a handful of corn chips. The leather squeaked under him. He loved these couches, so much better than what he had at home. He might have to buy one. But he’d kind of implied to Tori that they couldn’t afford much. He’d have to think about how to handle that. “Broke bachelor” had been his cover story for the last five years or so, even though his tax man knew differently.
“Besides,” he said, getting back to the conversation at hand, “Tori trusts me. She loves me.” Joe tried not to grin, thinking about how much she’d loved him on their honeymoon. “I’m just waiting for the right moment.”
“Been and gone,” Mickey grumbled around the food in his mouth.
“I don’t know,” Bull said. “Remember the way she looked at him when they got married? You pointed it out.” Bull turned to Joe. “I didn’t even notice till then, but Mick noticed it right away. She adores you. It’s all over her face. You’re probably fine not telling her.”
Joe looked at his team leader in surprise. He didn’t think Mickey was the type to notice the softer side of life. Mickey scowled back.
“You’re asking for trouble,” Mickey warned, eating another cookie. “When she finds out on her own, you’re going to wish you’d told her yourself. Control the situation, control the response.” Mickey owned a security and protection firm, a real company with employees and clients, and a solid cover for their superhero team. He was all about crisis management.
Joe frowned. “I tried to tell her. She didn’t want to know.”
“You tried to tell her because your dad threatened to not marry you guys if you didn’t.” Bull scratched his head. “I don’t know much abou
t brides and stuff, but I don’t think there’s much on their minds besides lace and flowers on their wedding day. Of course she didn’t care about anything else – what was it? Ten minutes before the wedding?”
Mickey smirked, brushing away cookie crumbs. “He’s got a point.”
Joe closed his eyes and pillowed his head into the leather. “I’ll take care of it. We just got home, for crying out loud.”
He wasn’t worried. Not much. He was only keeping one secret from her (well, two if you counted the money), and only because her family had made their stand quite clear. There was no such thing as superheroes and anyone who believed otherwise was a moron. But now he and Tori were their own family. They’d make their own stand. As soon as they discussed it.
“Where is she now?” Mickey asked.
Joe reached for a burrito. “With Hayley and Lexie, I think.”
“Why doesn’t Hayley like to hang out with us anyway?” Bull grabbed two burritos and a paper plate. “I mean, we’re talking about what we’re going to do. Doesn’t she want to have a say?”
“For someone who’s sleeping with her, you don’t know her very well, do you?” said Mickey, finally taking a break from the homemade cookies and taking a burrito.
“I’d know her better if she talked to me,” Bull grumbled. “I don’t think she sees me as boyfriend material. I think I’m her fallback guy.”
There was nothing to say to that. It was true. But still Joe tried to think of something encouraging. “I don’t think she talks much to anybody except Tori.” Joe thought of Hayley’s secret life as Green Thumb. “And obviously, she’s never told Tori everything either. They’ve been friends since they were kids, right?”
Bull nodded, his mouth full. None of them knew much about Hayley except that she’d had an exceptionally bad home life and she’d been on her own since she was seventeen. When she found out Joe had met and was dating Tori, Hayley had laid into him. Joe hadn’t been able to figure out if she was protective of Tori, or just trying to protect her own private life.
Turns out it had been both. She’d threatened to tie off Joe’s private parts with the many vines growing out of her pockets if he did anything to hurt Tori. Including telling Tori anything about Green Thumb. The threat had endeared her to Joe. None of the team knew Hayley even had a best friend. To find out it was Tori, a woman with a heart as big as Lake Michigan, made Joe see Hayley in a new light.
Yet another reason not to worry. If Hayley could stay friends with Tori for all these years and keep her secret, so could Joe. Not that he would, of course. He’d tell her. But it didn’t have to be today, or even this week. Even though Hayley played it close to the vest, she didn’t approve of Joe keeping secrets from Tori. She’d been hounding him since she found out they were dating. But she understood. Women were like that.
A moment later, it hit him. What was he thinking? Of all the women he knew – his mom, his sisters, his sisters-in-law, friends, and old girlfriends – women certainly were more understanding than men, but when they didn’t approve of something…
He sat up abruptly, dinner momentarily forgotten. Mickey raised his eyebrows.
“You think Hayley’s gonna tell her?” Joe rubbed one hand over his forehead, thinking. There wasn’t any reason for Tori to suspect anything. He’d been so careful. Never left anything at home anymore, or in his truck.
“She is, isn’t she?” She wouldn’t! She was part of the team, sworn to secrecy. He glanced at his watch. If he called Hayley now, he could pretend he had to talk to her about a surprise for the party. No reason Tori would suspect anything. If she even realized who Hayley was talking to. Safer to wait and talk to Hayley tomorrow though. After all, Tori thought he and Hayley had only just met each other when she introduced them two months ago.
He groaned into his hand. Then he had a thought. “You call Hayley,” he told Mickey. “Tell her it’s important for the safety of the team that she not mention anything to Tori.”
Mickey looked like he was going to argue, but Joe knew Mickey counted nothing above the safety of the team. Mickey pressed a button, spoke quietly, his eyes on Joe, and hung up.
“For the safety of the team,” he said, still pinning Joe with his gaze, “fix this.”
“I will,” Joe said into his plate. He bit into his burrito. His dad, Owen Clarke, may be the head of the Guild, but Mickey was the head of this team. He had the right to be pushy. “Give me a week, will you? Just let her enjoy the wedding reception before we have our first fight, okay?”
Mickey looked at the homemade cookies and softened. “A week. No more.”
Joe made a mental note to have Tori bake Mickey more cookies. “Okay, we’re making too much of this. Let’s move on.” He leaned back on the sofa again and pulled out his smart phone, checking his notes.
Mickey pulled out his iPad, and Bull opened the leather bound diary he used for meetings.
“Spook was released from the hospital today,” Mickey announced. “He’ll be recuperating for a while, but he’s okay.”
Joe frowned. “Thank God. Poor guy.” They all willingly put themselves at risk to protect the citizens of Double Bay, but it was unnerving that two superheroes got shot on the same night.
“That’s the same holdup Tori was in, right? How’s she doing?” Mickey asked.
Joe shook his head. “She was pretty shaken up Monday night after it happened. Hell, I was pretty shaken up. I thought I saw blood on her clothes or something, but I guess it was just my imagination working overtime.” Joe didn’t want to share, even with his closest friends, that he’d had a vision of Tori with a gunman. It scared him. He didn’t want to think about it. “She’s a real trooper, though. She went to work this morning and seemed to just forget about the whole thing.”
Joe watched Bull toss a couch pillow in the air as they talked, a burrito in his other hand. The man found it difficult to sit still. Even when they were on a job, he was constantly moving.
“Hayley’s been hyper ever since she heard about it,” Bull said. “She says we should look into it. I called Art and he said the dude was on drugs. Hayley won’t let it go, though.” Bull looked at Mickey expectantly. “Have you heard anything?”
“Nothing more than you have,” Mickey said. “I’ll stay in touch with Art and Casey, but they seem to think it’s a closed case. Art did say they’ve got a Pop-Up on the radar. I assume it’s related to the robbery, but he wouldn’t say anymore.”
“A real Pop-Up?” Joe asked. “They know he’s not a Pretender?”
“That’s what he says.”
Interesting. A new superhero in Double Bay – what they referred to as a Pop-Up – was fairly unusual. Now, someone who says they’re a superhero and makes sure the media hears about it, they’re as common as snowmen in winter. And as likely to last.
“It’s kind of weird, isn’t it,” Bull said, “that Tori gets involved in a superhero mess as soon as you guys get married?” He turned to Joe, chewing the last of his burrito.
Joe hadn’t thought of it that way before. Should he be more worried? Even without the visions and voices, his wife’s safety was his prime concern. Maybe he should talk to his dad about these things, find out if and how they related to his super powers.
Another thought struck him – what if it was a spiritual thing? Some kind of warning? Not everyone with powers believed in their origin story, but Joe sure did. Experience had taught him God was right in the middle of it all.
Mickey shook his head, interrupting Joe’s train of thought. “It’s an unusual situation, but I don’t see how there’s anything more to it than bizarre coincidence.”
“That what you want me to tell Hayley?” Bull asked.
Mickey nodded. “If something else comes up, we’ll check it out, but right now let’s follow SLU’s lead and move on.”
Joe shrugged off his unease. If Mickey and the SLU didn’t believe there was anything to worry about, Joe wouldn’t let himself get riled up. But he would treat these weir
d “feelings” about Tori with a little more respect until he could figure them out.
Bull’s expression darkened. “Fine. You’re the security man. I’m just the sweaty wrestling coach.” He tossed the pillow higher. “All brawn, no brains.”
“Aw, don’t start with that!” Mickey rolled his eyes.
Joe blinked and tried to get back in the conversation. “Hey, relax, guys. Both of you.”
He didn’t know what they were arguing about, but Bull had always been sensitive to people thinking he was stupid just because he was big. That notion came courtesy of Bull’s dad, the shit-for-brains. While Mickey never ascribed to that mindset, he wasn’t the kind of guy to tiptoe around someone else’s feelings either.
The two men backed off as quickly as they’d gotten into it. The three of them talked about the recent muggings in Memorial Park. Stretch, from another team, stopped one of them. Sonic had stopped another. No one had been hurt, thank God, all snatch-and-grabs. They agreed to watch the park more.
No new missing children reported. Unfortunately, nothing new in terms of leads for those already missing either. The police hoped the extra vigilance on the part of Double Bay’s superheroes would continue to scare off the kidnappers.
The hospital reported some unexplained deaths to the police. Younger men dying from heart attacks, autopsies showing healthy hearts. One looked like he might’ve been poisoned, but no poisons were found in his system. They’d keep their ears open for any word on the street.
Mickey had heard about some gardening on the east side, and Bull agreed to take Hayley over to kill all the plants. One of his boys got kicked off the wrestling team last semester for smoking pot, and it pissed Bull off. He’d been hell-bent ever since to reduce the availability of any illegal substance to minors. Joe was afraid Bull would offer to be the superhero poster boy for the anti-drugs war. But he couldn’t. The team was still trying to get more undercover work from the SLU. Poster boy status would definitely hinder that.
Unexpected Superhero (Adventures of Lewis and Clarke Book 1) Page 6