The woman was looking at Major Maximum, but it was Hustle who spoke up first, promising more than he should have without really realizing it. “Of course.”
The woman turned away from the taller man and looked at Hustle with equal parts fear and hope. For his part, Major Maximum looked at the policewoman, trying to ascertain if this was one of those situations where the capes would be butting heads with the police. Etherya saw the ever-so-slight protrusion of the officer’s stomach. No argument was going to be had from a pregnant woman on helping to find a lost child.
“We’ll do what we can,” Maximum said cautiously. “It’s just a little complicated at the moment.”
Mister Science smiled at them and jingled the chains on his shackles. They had just managed to track him down after he escaped police custody for the third time that day. The evil genius did not succeed in his crimes as often as might be expected, given his intellect. Keeping him contained after the crime, however, was another matter entirely. To date, the longest he’d remained incarcerated had been three months.
Evidently, the mother had stopped listening after “We’ll do what we can.” She ignored Mister Science and nodded eagerly at the Defender Squad. “Her name is Emma.”
“Four years old, strawberry blonde, tall for her age, wearing a purple shirt with dancing crocodiles.” The officer read the details from the pad in front of her.
Etherya filed this away, trying to avoid thinking of these facts as merely data. This was someone’s child possibly in danger.
“You have a picture?” Etherya asked.
The woman shook her head. “No. If I take my purse, Emma always wants to get ice cream.”
“I’m on it!” Hustle was gone before the sound waves died down. This was his bit. To cover the entire park, he was more effective than a half a dozen search crews.
Major Maximum showed more deliberation. “Where did you last see her?”
The mother pointed to a picnic table a few hundred yards from them. “It was over there. I had her on a blanket taking a nap and I fell asleep myself.” The regret in her voice was palpable. “I woke up about ten minutes ago and she was gone.”
If Maximum had any recriminations, he did not share them. He simply nodded and started to rise into the air. “I’ll do a sweep and then keep an eye on the park from the sky. Ethee, you’re in charge of the convict.”
Etherya gave him a thumbs up and put a restraining hand on Mister Science’s arm. She then turned to the last two members of her squad. She tried not to be irritated that even when her teammates were named Sprite and Pixie, they were still taller than her.
“I’ll ask the squirrels,” said Pixie.
“I’ll go ask the brook,” said Sprite.
Their faces were completely straight, even earnest. Etherya blinked once, then nodded. She didn’t want to show any sign of her lack of confidence in them with the anxious mother looking on. “Go to.”
They were off like a shot and Etherya watched them for just a moment. Pixie had been stolen at birth by fairies and Sprite was the fairy who had been left in her place. Neither one of them were all that good at human interaction. Sprite’s mind just didn’t think the way human minds did, and Pixie had been raised with the fae-folk and learned their ways, including considerable skill at magic. The only ones they really seemed to understand were each other.
She turned back to the mother and the police officer, both of whom stood with mouths agape.
“They really can talk to squirrels.”
That didn’t seem to be instilling much hope.
The officer spoke up making no excuse for changing the subject. “Would you like me to get a transport down here for him?”
“Ooh! A helicopter! Can we try a helicopter this time, Etherya? I’m tired of the vans.”
She wanted to punch him in the gut to shut him up, but with a cop so nearby, it seemed like tempting fate. No sense reminding the officer that the capes didn’t have to answer to the same rules as the police.
“Quiet.” She locked eyes with him, and, although he smiled ever so slightly, he did shut up. Etherya turned to the policewoman. “I appreciate the offer, but he’s gotten away once too often today. The Squad is taking responsibility, and we plan to take him straight to C.E.L.L.”
C.E.L.L., or Cottman Enterprises Limitless Lockdown was a privately-run facility which claimed to be able to incarcerate any augmented criminal. They had the capability to contain criminals who could shoot energy beams from their mouths or crack cement with a casual flick of their fingers. It was the best option available, even though Mister Science had escaped six times before, despite having no powers at all.
Etherya gestured to the picnic table. “Why don’t I head over to where she went missing, and see if I can find anything?”
The officer cocked an eyebrow at her. “With him in tow?”
“He’s my priority, but there’s no reason I can’t multi-task here. I’ll take a look and see if I can pick up a trail.”
“You can track her?” The officer looked impressed.
“No promises, but I have a little training.” A very little training. The Grim Detective had given her some pointers, but mostly confined to tracking on city streets with the help of a bloodhound. This would be something completely different.
The two women not wearing spandex stayed behind so the policewoman could coordinate and collect any more details. Etherya walked briskly to the picnic table. Mister Science kept pace remarkably well, considering he was in leg shackles.
She switched on her communicator. “Hustle? Anything yet?”
His voice went off in her earpiece. “Not so far. Been over the whole park three times now. I’m going to try widening the circle. Out.”
Etherya frowned. There was little chance the girl had left the park on her own. That path of possibilities led to some very dark options. “Max?”
Major Maximum sounded grim. “No shortage of strawberry blondes in purple, but not a dancing alligator to be seen.”
She moaned slightly but kept moving. She gave her last two partners some time to work their angle before checking in with them, and she had made it to the picnic table before she called on them. “Ladies? What do you have?”
Sprite sounded hopeful. “The brook has seen her, but it doesn’t see her now. At least I think so. Water is not very good with time.”
“And squirrels are not good at all with drawings of things. They don’t understand the concept of a picture of an alligator dancing.” Pixie sounded like she was enjoying the challenge.
Etherya shut her eyes to keep from rolling them. “Forget the alligators, ask about strawberry blonde girls in purple.”
“I tried that, but they don’t see all the colors we do, and I haven’t had much success.”
Mister Science grinned. “Based on the photoreceptors in their eye structure, our best guess is that squirrels are red-green colorblind. Did you know that, Etherya?”
She ignored him. “All right. Just keep trying. Out.”
Etherya put her hands on her hips and looked around her. Watching the prisoner and coordinating communication was the kind of job Max gave to the person least likely to have any success in the manhunt. She had to admit he was right here. His flight and Hustle’s speed gave the two of them the best odds. Silly as it seemed, if Pixie and Sprite could get nature itself looking for the girl, they would have a great chance of success.
Etherya could walk through things.
It had come in handy when searching for survivors in a building that exploded, but here in the open, it wasn’t so helpful. She took a deep breath and decided to make the best of it.
“I’m going to let go of your arm now, Doctor Sandler.” She used his real name to drive home the point that he wore no costume, had none of his nefarious weapons, and was, by any measurement, simply a slightly out of shape man in shackles. “If you try to escape, I will choose at least two of your bones to snap.”
“Of all the animals on earth, only
about three percent of them have bones. Did you know that?”
“Doctor,” she warned.
“I’m not going to run away. If I run, you stop looking for the kid, and I don’t want that. I like kids, remember? That’s how I got started in this business.”
It was true. Mister Science had started as the host of a children’s television series. The show had lost funding when one of the corporate backers had been sued for environmental damage. Infuriated that the company had withdrawn his funding rather than take the cost of the fines out of their profits, Mister Science had gone about robbing them to ensure that his show would remain on the air. It had eventually failed him. The crimes were too flashy, and the doctor could provide no explanation for the sudden increase in wealth that allowed him to fund his own show. His genius was not in money laundering. Since that time, however, he had continued his robberies, and, except for whatever funds he needed to bankroll his next scheme, the profits would always wind up in the accounts of trusts set up to help fund science education.
For all that, though, Etherya was skeptical. “You’re offering to help me?”
“At least not to hinder you. If Emma’s the next Carl Sagan, we’ve got to find her.” He smiled. “Come on, you and I both know I’m more of a nuisance than a real threat. I steal things. I don’t try to hurt people.”
“What about the security guards at the building you punched a hole in the side of this morning?”
He shrugged. “Like I say, I don’t try to hurt people. Accidents happen. And you’re wasting time.”
She frowned, and, knowing she would regret it, decided to trust him just a little.
It was fairly obvious how things had been set up. There was a blanket still set out next to the picnic table. The girl had been sleeping there and her mother had dozed off while sitting at the table. Lots of feet had trodden the grass in the area since it was last tended and she wasn’t enough of a tracker to tell one path from another.
Etherya hoped nobody was watching. She was young and she was short, and people sometimes treated her more like a teenager than a woman in her early twenties. Sadly, though, the best chance she had was to try and put herself in the mind of a four-year-old. So she lay down on the blanket.
“It’s hot. Stiflingly hot.”
“Not surprising,” Mister Science said, now in his teaching voice again. “Dark colors like that blanket absorb light instead of reflecting it. The light energy is transferred to heat.”
“Yes, thank you. I did pass fourth grade science. Now let me think.” She could only imagine the little girl waking up after sleeping on that blanket for any time at all. The July heat would have made it unbearable.
Mister Science didn’t stop talking. “Children are more susceptible to heat exhaustion than adults. It’s partly because they have less surface area. When they sweat, they don’t cool themselves as efficiently.”
“You think she might have had a heat stroke?”
“If she had a heat stroke, she’d be easy to find, being unconscious and all. Heat exhaustion is more likely.”
So the girl woke up hot and uncomfortable. With her mother asleep, would she have gone looking for shade? Etherya glanced from side to side. Then she spied the water fountain.
It wasn’t far at all. Certainly not out of earshot from where her mother would have been, and it was in a shady spot. Quick as she could, Etherya stood and jogged over to the fountain. She pulled Mister Science along by his shackles.
The ground squished under her feet, and the criminal stumbled. He was covered in mud as she helped him stand. There was a leak in the fountain, and the ground around them was receiving a steady soaking.
“You all right?”
“I’m fine.” He wiped a small dab of mud from the tip of his nose and ended up leaving a huge brown smudge across his face with his dirty hand.
“Well, you’re not the first one to slip in this mud.” She pointed to a skid mark about eight inches long. Someone had taken quite a spill.
“It took a narrow foot to make that mark. You think…?”
She wasn’t listening to him. She had already come to the same conclusion, and she went straight to the nearest trash can. She didn’t even have to root around. The purple shirt was right on the top, completely soaked in wet mud.
“I do think, yes.” She pointed to the dancing crocodile on the relatively clean back of the shirt. Then she reached up and tapped her communicator on. “Max, Hustle, I just found the girl’s shirt. She took a spill in some mud and threw it away. Can you guys try again looking for a girl who’s got some mud on her?”
Hustle responded with relief in his voice. “I’m making my way back. Be there in a jiffy.” She knew there was an actual unit of time called a Jiffy, but she didn’t think he was quite that fast.
Max responded next. “Ethee, I see where you are, and there’s a jungle gym to the east. I saw some girls there. Can you make your way over while I check the rest of the park?”
“Can do. Sprite and Pixie, can one of you go get the mother and the police?”
“No problem.” They said it in unison.
Mister Science grinned. “This is good, right?”
“It’s a start,” she agreed, carefully keeping her optimism in check. They hadn’t found the girl yet. “Come on.”
The jungle gym was part of a full playground. It was full of children, even with the lateness of the hour. Mothers, nannies, and a few fathers sat on benches in the shade, watching their children at play, or at least staying within earshot for the inevitable bruised hands or sand from the sandbox in someone’s eye. Etherya stopped about fifty yards away.
“Why are we stopping?”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “You really think those people are going to let a woman in a mask and a man in shackles walk into that crowd of children? If we find her, you think they’ll let us just walk off with her?”
“Point taken.” He paused. “You could always…”
“I’m not taking your shackles off.”
“Just a thought.” He shrugged. “I don’t see her from here.”
“I think I do. She’s in the sandbox on the left. I guess she figured she couldn’t get any dirtier.”
The mother, the policewoman, Sprite, and Pixie all came over the gentle rise between the picnic table and the playground together. Etherya gave them the high sign. They started to make their way over to her, but she wasn’t surprised when the mother broke into a run and went straight to her daughter. She lifted the girl out of the sand, not caring a fig about the dirt and debris.
“Well,” said the policewoman, “that looks like that.”
“It does,” said Mister Science. The shackles suddenly fell away from his wrist and he grabbed the policewoman from behind. Something flashed in his hand, and he put the gadget under the woman’s chin. “So I should probably be going, don’t you think?”
Everyone froze. Etherya cursed herself.
“Let her go!” ordered Sprite. Sparks formed around her hands as she summoned an enchantment.
“Easy!” Mister Science cautioned her. “Your magic has caused technology to malfunction. That could get really ugly right here. This puts out beta radiation. Not usually fatal, I grant you, but at these doses, I couldn’t say.”
The policewoman’s eyes were wide with fright. Etherya took a step forward and put a hand on Sprite’s arm, telling her without words to stand down. She kept her voice level as she addressed Mister Science. “Let her go. There’s no way this ends well.”
He shook his head. “Sure there is. You let me go, I get a few blocks away, I let her go. Ends well all around.”
“Except for the part where you get away.”
“Agree to disagree. That’s my favorite part.”
“Doctor…”
He cut her off. “Don’t use the calm voice with me, please. I’m not crazy. I just don’t want to go to jail again. The only way this ends happily is if you let me go.”
“You told me you
don’t like to hurt people.”
“I don’t.” He sounded exasperated. “So please don’t make me do it!”
Max’s voice came in her ear. “Keep him talking. Hustle’s on your perimeter and I’m right above you.”
Mister Science sighed theatrically. “Okay, I hacked your com systems like the second time we tangled. Even when you transmit subdermally, I can hear you. I know Hustle and Maximum are going to tail me, and you know that I can be a hard man to find if I want to be. This doesn’t have to be a big deal. I’m not a big deal. I’m a petty thief, probably pettier than most. No big thing if I just walk away.”
Etherya wasn’t listening that hard, she’d spotted a small red stain on the police-woman’s shirt. It was growing, but very slowly.
“Your wrist is bleeding.”
He spared a glance at his arm but didn’t slacken his grip. “Micro-encapsulated corrosive. I was going to use my saliva to activate it and then get out of the cuffs…”
“But then you fell in the mud. And I’m guessing you were hiding the weapon under a flap of fake skin that also dissolved?”
“A plus. Don’t worry about my wrist, though. I just need some clean water and a bandage.”
“They have those in prison, you know?”
He groaned. “Seriously? That was what you were hoping to stall me with?”
“Actually, I was wondering if the beta radiation was for me.”
This time his face lit up. “Clever! You know that I know that electricity affects you when you’re intangible, and electricity is just moving electrons.”
“While beta radiation is when a radioactive substance spits out an electron.”
“Or a positron, but yes. Very good. I don’t know if it would, in fact, hurt you, but I find that people get even more cautious when they don’t know what something is going to do.” He smiled at her. “Glad you paid attention in your science classes. Now I really must be…”
Despite the fact that nobody’s body language was terribly inviting at that point, the mother appeared next to Etherya the next instant.
“Thank you! Thank you so much! I had to…”
She stopped dead, realizing what she had just walked in on.
Ex-Cape | Book 2 | Ex-Cape From A Small Town Page 17