“It’s a free country. You could introduce yourself as a police consultant.” Sandra cocked her head. “What did you want to ask?”
Molly stared after the briskly disappearing form of Mariah Nelson. “I don’t know. I didn’t even know Nelson was married. Was she here when her husband was killed?”
Sandra shrugged and looked at Erasmus.
“No,” he said simply. “She was in the city.” There was probably an explanation. Maybe he’d seen her give a press conference. Erasmus Tolliver, however, did not offer up explanations without first making one feel stupid that one had bothered to ask.
Molly looked at both of her handlers and came to a decision. “You two should call it a night.”
“When you do, we do.” Sandra said firmly.
“Well, then, I’m calling it a night.” Molly started to walk toward the elevators. “I hadn’t figured on that…” she pointed to the room they’d left “… being quite so hostile, so I’m out of ideas for the moment.”
“Do you need a ride home?”
“No. I’ll catch a ride with Wulfric.” She smiled at them both. “Sorry to bring you out here for such a short visit.”
They didn’t move to push the elevator button.
“What?”
Sandra looked abashed, but Erasmus did not bother with niceties. “If you are planning to further the investigation, we should be here.”
“But I’m not.”
“We don’t believe you.”
Sandra gently smacked Erasmus in the arm, but she did not deny the statement.
“Look. You have my word, I will do exactly zero investigating.” She drew an x over her heart. “I might go visit Sean in his vigil, but I promise I won’t discuss the case. I don’t have anything new I could tell him anyway.”
They exchanged a glance, and Molly saw the exhaustion behind Sandra’s eyes. She knew she’d convinced them before Erasmus finally nodded.
Molly waved to them as the elevator closed. Beth was beside her in an instant. It was not unexpected.
“Everything ok?”
Molly smiled tightly. “You heard about The Aerialist?”
“Heck yeah. What was that about?”
“Apparently it was too soon to call him one of the good guys.”
“I can fly too. Do you want me to see if I can bring him down?”
Molly regarded her. “As an official recipient of the benefits of the VAA, I do not have an opinion on what vigilante activities you choose to participate in.” She flashed a smile at the girl. “As a friend, I would say that your family seems to need you right now. I want to get this guy out of action as soon as possible, but there are a lot of capable hands in on this.”
Beth shrugged. “Maybe the best thing I can do is capture him. It would be the fastest way to clear Hunter.”
Molly had to admit the girl had a point. “Maybe,” she conceded, “but remember that we don’t really know if he’s the killer or not. The whole ‘the guilty must pay’ angle only works as a motive if he knew Nelson was guilty.”
“Who else could have done it? Haven’t you ruled out everyone else?”
“I don’t have anything strong enough to rule out anyone except, unfortunately, Stomper.”
“Does that include me and Hunter?”
Molly had been down this road with Beth before. The girl didn’t like being on a suspect list.
“You are not guilty because you told me so, and because I trust you. I think you’ll agree, though, that’s hardly evidence.”
“What about Hunter?”
“You tell me. Did you see what happened to his gun after he got knocked down?”
Beth closed her eyes and thought about that for a long moment. “I didn’t. I’m sorry.”
“All right. Don’t worry about it.” Molly put her hands on the girl’s shoulders. “I want you to be extra careful about your identity while you’re here. If you do go out hunting The Aerialist, watch out for surveillance cameras and the like. Detective Cedar doesn’t like capes, and he will go to pretty extreme measures if he thinks he can learn your secrets.”
“What’s his problem?”
“It’s a long story, but it doesn’t help that we’re dating and he kind of hates Hustle.”
Beth sucked in air. “Yipes! I’ll watch out.”
Molly gave the girl a quick hug. “Be careful.”
✽✽✽
She got into the elevator and went down a floor. Sean wouldn’t want more coffee at this time of night, but there were some vending machines. Maybe a soda would be enough of a pick-me-up. Beside the vending machines was an unoccupied waiting room. Molly ducked inside and pulled out her phone.
“I can’t talk long, Molly.” Grim’s voice was a little tinny. She figured she was on his speaker phone, which meant he was in his car.
“Mariah Nelson.”
“Formerly Mariah Thompson. Sharp as a tack. She’s the most competent politician’s wife I ever met. I imagine she’ll carry on the part as his widow.”
“Did she know about his criminal activities?”
“If she did, I never saw her take an active hand. I imagine Nelson wouldn’t have wanted her to be too involved.”
“Red herring then?”
“Can’t see how she could have been involved from miles away. I need to go soon.”
“Everything okay?”
“A disturbingly big arms shipment is coming into town, and not regular ordinance either. Somebody’s making a play while Venusia and Major Maximum are off planet. It’s why I haven’t called you back about the Nelson thing. This has to take precedence. I’ve got a decent idea of where the weapons are coming in, but the window is short.”
“Fight the good fight.” Molly hung up the phone. She forced herself not to worry about the weapons or the fact that Venusia had apparently gone to join Major Maximum in his battle on Neptune. She had her own crisis to worry about.
She bought two sodas from the machine and walked to Stomper’s room. Tim stood near the door, obviously on guard duty. She flashed him a smile, and he waved enthusiastically.
“Can I go in?”
“I hear you’re working with us on this one, so sure.” He opened the door for her and smiled his usual goofy smile.
Stomper still lay in the bed, and if there was improvement, Molly couldn’t see much. She did notice that the metal frame of the bed had begun to slightly buckle. Sean sat in a chair facing the door. A second chair beside him had a substantial pile of paperwork. He started to stand when she came in, but she waved him back to his seat.
“Grape soda because I know you like it, or cola because you need a pick-me-up?” She extended both cans to him.
“If I take the cola, that leaves you with the grape soda.”
“Yes.”
“You hate grape soda.”
“Life is suffering.”
He took the grape soda. They both smiled.
“I thought you had other plans.”
“They fell through.” She picked up the file, sat down, and put it on her lap. “I should tell you that I’m under orders not to discuss the case.”
Sean took the file from her, reached around behind him and set it on the windowsill. “That is an appealing idea.”
“How stressed are you?”
“Somebody shot a rifle at kids today. I have to stay in complete control because I’m riding herd on a whole station of cops who want that somebody in the worst way.”
“And meanwhile, you want The Aerialist just as badly.”
He nodded and popped the soda can open. “Tomorrow morning my plan is to wake up early and beat my punching bag until my hands are raw. Then I’ll shower, shave, and try to pretend I’m not a seething sack of fury for another twelve hours or so.”
Sean took a long pull from the can. Molly wanted to reach out and put her hand on his knee as a sign of support. She wasn’t sure enough with where they stood as a couple to do it.
“And how are you?”
; “My mother finding me has the potential to change pretty much everything about my life. I hate not knowing what’s coming next, and I’m trying to bury myself in this case so I don’t have to deal with it.”
The words had come out without much conscious thought. Molly realized it was all true.
“I can see what you mean.” He looked like he could. “Drink your soda. You’ll feel better.”
She opened her can, and they toasted each other in silence.
The silence stretched.
“I miss you.”
Her eyes got very moist when he said it. “You really want to talk about this?”
“Yes.” He stared at his hands. “Even if we could talk about the case, I want to talk about us more.”
She took the hand that had no soda can in it. “So let’s talk.”
He squeezed her hand and met her eyes. “I want to say things to you, but I can’t.”
“You can tell me anything, Sean.”
“No. I can’t.” He gave her a sad smile. “There are some things that, if I say them to you, it will put you in a place where you don’t want to be. I don’t want to tell you that you’re the only one for me, because I know you can’t say the same to me.”
She couldn’t have responded if she’d known what to say. She felt like something was stuck in her throat. He was right. She had been horribly unfair in trying to have both Sean and Frank.
“The last thing I want to do is give you an ultimatum, but I need you to know that I can’t go on like this for much longer. I need to be able to give this everything I’ve got.”
She steeled herself. Tears in her eyes or turning away from him could send a message of rejection. Instead, she leaned up against him and put her head on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so unfair to you. You have to know that I care about you so, so much.” She took a breath and committed. “Right now isn’t good timing for either of us, but when this is all over, I promise I’ll find a way to make a choice.”
When she looked over at him, she thought he might be close to crying himself. That was just not going to do. She reached up to his face and kissed him.
For the briefest moment, she wondered if she was being unfair this way too. She was using Sean as an outlet for all her stress and frustration. The kiss lingered and deepened, and she knew she was being used the same way. If it didn’t make it all right, it was close enough.
He wrapped her in his arms and, to get the arms of the chair out from between them, he suddenly stood. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself tightly to him, never caring a fig that her feet were nowhere near the ground. She felt loved and safe, and forgetting about all her cares was so easy, so necessary, right now.
That came crashing down around her when she broke off the kiss and opened her eyes.
The autumn sun had set, but the lights outside the hospital offered a clear view through the window. She could clearly see The Aerialist hovering against a brilliant orange backdrop of the sky. His huge rifle was once again readied, and she was more or less looking straight down the barrel of it.
Years of crime-fighting had given her the ability to assess possibilities in an instant. She had only a few heartbeats to act.
If she called out to Sean to hit the ground, she doubted he would react in time. He was tired and, understandably, distracted.
If her feet were on the ground, she could have tried to trip him or throw him to the ground. She knew she could do it, despite the differences in their sizes. However, with her legs in the air, there was no move she had, no way to push them out of harm’s way.
She could ghost through Sean and climb onto the windowsill, but all she could do there was try to take the bullet for him. With a high-powered rifle like her opponent had, it was likely that the shot would go straight through both of them.
It was clear she had no other choice, so Molly tried to do something she had only ever done once before.
✽✽✽
The rest of the team scattered when the spheres fell, but Etherya simply closed her eyes and turned her head away. The explosion couldn’t hurt her, but its flash could blind her, and she needed her eyes just now.
After the blast, she squinted against the dust and smoke. “Gravel, the tower. Take it.” She pointed at the target, knowing the odds were good he wouldn’t be able to hear her over the cacophony.
Her companion gave a predator’s smile and spread his arms forward. Etherya felt a minor rumbling, but by the time the wave of energy spread to the tower, the metal beneath it shook as though it were liquid. The tower splintered, and the structure collapsed.
This was not their usual style. They were superheroes, and a frontal assault against a defended structure with no particular concerns about casualties was just not in the standard playbook. But the Star Hive had made their intentions clear, and against an interstellar invasion, shock and awe were the best defense.
She looked over at Gravel to congratulate him on a job well done, but her eyes widened. A trickle of blood was coming from his nose. Etherya cursed herself. He’d been their most effective method of attack, and he’d reveled in the chance to cut loose with his earth-moving powers for once. Obviously, though, he’d been pushing himself too hard, and with his adrenaline up so high, she wasn’t sure he even knew.
She looked up to their air support. Steelstrike and Zapp had it easy being airborne. They didn’t have to deal with the decreased gravity that was throwing the rest of them off. Given the difference in size, she hadn’t really believed that she would weigh less on Uranus than she did on Earth, but she hadn’t factored in the comparative densities of the planets. The difference wasn’t that great, maybe about ten pounds, but it had caused her to stumble once or twice when she’d pushed off against the ground harder than she’d intended to.
“Steel, give them something to look at would you? We need a little breathing space.” He was listening to her via radio, and he heard her loud and clear. While Zapp skimmed down lower to provide them with cover, Steelstrike revved his jet engines and made a mostly pointless strafing run at the first line of the defenders. It was a lot of flash and sound, and it drew almost every eye in the fortress onto him.
Etherya grabbed Gravel by the arm. “You’re bleeding.”
“I’m all right.”
“I can’t carry you.” She shook him slightly. “You’re doing great, Andrew, but I need you to dial it back. You can’t keep up this pace, and you know it.”
He nodded brusquely. “All right. Not sure I have much choice.”
She noticed how pale he was, but she kept the worry out of her eyes. Instead she pointed her chin to the wall about seventy yards in front of them. “We’re going through the door on the left side. That ought to give us a defensible position. Can you make it?”
“I can.” There was iron in his voice.
She looked up at her last teammate. Way up in fact. Grust was over eight feet tall. “Make us a hole, big guy.”
The grin on his face would have terrified her if he hadn’t been on her side. He tightened grips on the swords in each of his four hands and charged. Grust had literally been bred for battle. He had been the first of a race of mutated humans meant to be a conquering army. The rest of his people had settled on an island off the coast of Peru to live out their lives in relative peace. Grust couldn’t take the quiet.
There were four stages to the life cycle of the Star Hive. Despite their name, they weren’t particularly insect-like in appearance, simply in the way their society was structured. Etherya had never seen the larval stage. The juveniles looked like intelligent Komodo dragons with wings. Their flight capabilities were limited, but they made excellent scouts and half-decent bombers. In adulthood, the wings shriveled, and Etherya had always thought they ended up looking like upright tortoises. In the last stage of their lives, the Star Hive’s members went into a cocoon of sorts and came out more than double their size. Their intelligence was mostly gone, and they became viciou
s fanged behemoths. It was the stuff of nightmares.
Unless you were Grust. For Grust, the prospect of a score of the late adult beasts in front of him was the reason he got up in the mornings.
His battle cry was unintelligible, but it echoed like thunder. Etherya gave him a lead and then pushed Gravel in front of her to follow in the wake of the devastation Grust made.
Gravel was their most vulnerable member, even wearing the body armor that was part of his suit. The Star Hive had few weapons that could even touch Etherya. Grust had bullet-proof skin and wore titanium armor besides. Steelstrike’s armor was somehow even more impenetrable, and Zapp was mostly made from electricity. Etherya kept an eye on Gravel’s back, watching for a stumble that might be the sign of a sniper’s attack. Keeping her eyes forward also kept the gore and assorted bits that Grust left behind out of her line of sight.
The door did not open for them immediately, but it was no deterrent for her. She walked through and opened it from the inside. The rest of the team scrambled inside after her.
“Zapp, can you put up a static shield on the other side of the door? Grust, keep an eye on it. Anything comes through, pulverize it.” She turned to Steelstrike. “I think you’re up next.”
“I can do it,” said Gravel testily.
“Any of us can do it.” Zapp’s oddly modulated voice nevertheless carried a congenial tone. “The point is, Steelstrike’s got a gadget specifically for this. Let the man work.”
Etherya pointed at the air vents above them on either side of the room. “Gravel, I need you watching the vent on your side. Some of the juveniles could probably fit through there. If you hear anything, give us a heads up. I’ll take the other one.”
Giving orders just seemed odd, but she was, technically, the senior member of the team. Still, she hadn’t done too badly on her first command. They’d reached their objective. Now they just needed to hold it for a while until Steelstrike could finish the mission for them.
No, they hadn’t done badly for the B team. Major Maximum, Venusia, Moondancer, and a few of the others were taking on the main attack fleet. That had been a terrifying prospect. This floating citadel hidden in the atmosphere of Uranus was meant to be the fallback position for the fleet. As well-defended as it was, it was more of a refueling station than a war-base, but taking it out would mean that the Star Hive would need to fall back outside of the solar system. The energy required to hyper-jump the fleet to another star system would be enough to keep the marauders away for years at least.
Ex-Cape | Book 2 | Ex-Cape From A Small Town Page 21