by H. L. Burke
Panic spiked through Jake’s chest. “No, you’re not taking the fall for this.”
“Jake, you can’t either this time.” Laleh grabbed Jake’s wrist and moved directly in front of him. He pulled his hand away but didn’t break eye contact with her as she continued. “This isn’t like the first time with your curfew breaking. What this man has on us is serious, and with your history, if DOSA thinks you’re starting fires and destroying personal property—it won’t go well for you.”
A knot formed in his chest. “Does it matter? I told you I’m a lost—”
“You are not a lost cause!” Laleh shouted.
Jake flinched. Laleh flushed, and all three of them glanced at the old man. He stood a little ways from them, watching but not reacting, a smug smile on his wrinkled face.
Weariness sapped the last of Jake’s strength. He didn’t want to give up on the progress he’d made, the potential for a new life, but if it came down to him or Marco—it had to be him. Still, with a fire, even if he lied and took the blame for it completely, DOSA would figure out Marco had been involved.
Jake’s brain scrambled. As much as he hated to give into intimidation, their best way out was paying off this jackass, but Jake didn’t have a cent to his name, let alone four thousand.
Wait ... Laleh’s rich.
He focused on her. “Can you get the money?”
She hesitated. “Part of it. Maybe—”
“I thought you were, like, a billionaire,” Jake pressed.
“My parents aren’t quite billionaires, but even if they were, that’s their money. I don’t exactly have free access to it, especially not here.” She rubbed her upper arms as if suddenly cold. “I can ask my mom, but if I want much more than a couple hundred dollars, she’s going to want to know why. Telling her I need it for something like a new laptop for school might work, but she’s more likely to just send the laptop.”
“Maybe he’d take a laptop?” Marco cast an uncertain glance at the man.
“Doesn’t strike me as the technology type.” Jake closed his eyes. Things would be so much easier if he was with the gang. For one thing, no one would have the guts to try and shake down a Sand Fox. For another, they always had cash lying around—
An idea struck Jake, and his eyes snapped open. A few thousand dollars was nothing to the Sand Foxes. Caleb had even told Jake that if he got away from DOSA he should contact the gang and see if they could get him money for the journey home. While he didn’t know of any Sand Fox contacts in Oregon, there were definitely some in California where they’d be in just a few days.
“Let me talk to him.” Without waiting for a response, Jake strode away from his friends and faced down their blackmailer. “I can get you the money, but I’ll need a few days.”
The man studied Jake. “How do I know you’re not lying?”
“Can’t help you there, but you won’t get anything if you try to wring it out of me now because I don’t have it.” To prove a point Jake reached down and pulled his pockets inside out. “So turn us in if you want, but you’ll lose your chance to recover your gear.”
“So I just stay out here in the middle of nowhere waiting for you?” The stranger scoffed.
“Seems like you were already out here before we found you,” Jake pointed out.
“Yeah, but with a tent and gear,” the man said. “I’ll starve or freeze if I try to stick it out now. I’ll need to hike out and find shelter and supplies.”
Jake shifted from foot to foot. “I can bring you some stuff. Maybe not enough to replace what was lost, but enough to hold you until I can bring the money.”
The man tilted his head. “All right. I’ll give you some time. Remember, though, if you try to double-cross me—”
“I’ve got it,” Jake cut in.
He motioned to Marco and Laleh before walking away from the man, headed vaguely in the direction of camp.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Laleh whispered, “Where are you going to—”
“I’ve got a plan,” Jake said simply.
Hopefully it worked. If not, they were probably screwed.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Fade stretched out on the couch with Ruby on his chest. The baby’s soft breathing soothed him, and he rubbed her back, savoring her warmth through the thin fabric of her purple footie pajamas.
When Fade and Prism had announced their retirement from superheroing, Glint, a long time acquaintance of the couple and current DOSA committee member, had tried to bet Fade that he wouldn’t last six months without the action.
“You’ll get bored and start fighting supervillains again or maybe even go back to knocking over banks for the adrenaline rush,” he’d said. “Trust me, as someone who gave up day-to-day villain fighting for politics, it’s a struggle.”
Fade chuckled at the memory. Glint couldn’t have been more wrong. He loved the freedom of his current life, the time he got to be with his wife, daughter, and now even the three teens who had joined their tiny family. He liked spending his evenings with a cold beer, a good book—or maybe a video game—and no one trying to kill him or anyone he cared about. He could remain happily retired for pretty much forever.
“Daww, look at you two.” Prism’s voice turned Fade’s attention to the entrance to the living room. She smiled down at them, one hand resting on the swell of her stomach that was his son. Contentment spread through Fade.
“She fell asleep. I didn’t want to move and risk waking her up,” he explained.
“She really should sleep in her own crib—unless you’re planning to stay there all night.” Prism walked over and flipped off the TV which had been looping on the nature photos screen saver.
Fade settled deeper into the couch cushions. “I don’t know. I’m pretty comfortable right now.” He closed his eyes. “I think I’d need a good reason to move.”
Prism’s lips caressed his forehead. “Well, the teens are settled in for the night, and Ruby’s asleep.” She nibbled his ear. “You can stay here if you want, but if you get her in her own bed for the night and come to sleep with me instead, I might make it worth your while.”
He cracked one eye open. She winked at him.
“I’ll be right there.” He grinned.
“Good.” She kissed him one more time before exiting the room.
Fade carefully peeled himself off the couch, holding Ruby close to his body. She yawned in her sleep, but her eyes stayed closed.
By the time he’d navigated to the hallway, Prism had already disappeared into their bedroom. He crept down the hall to the nursery door. Only the fluffy “cloud light” hanging over the crib lit the room, rotating through pastel shades of blue, purple, and pink. Fade eased Ruby into her crib. The room was warm enough that she shouldn’t need blankets, but he made sure she had a few soft toys around her so that she could play with them for a while when she woke up. That often bought them an extra half hour in the morning before she’d start squawking to be rescued from her “sleepy time cage.”
He stood over her for a moment, savoring the roundness of her tiny face, her adorable button nose, the way the light played over her dark curls. “Good night, Ru-Ru,” he whispered.
Easing the door shut behind him, he stepped out into the hallway. A sound caught his ears. Voices and music? The television? He could have sworn Lucia had turned that off.
Slightly on edge, he sneaked down the hall, ears perked, his powers flooding his body, ready to activate at a moment’s notice. He paused just before the entrance to the living room. Yeah, the TV was definitely on. The couch creaked as if someone was sitting on it. Could it be one of the teens? He pulled his phone out of his pocket and clicked on Prism’s tracking app. All three of their anklets registered as upstairs in their rooms.
His jaw hardened. Someone was in there, and they hadn’t announced themselves. His powers rushed through him. Fully faded, he stepped through the wall, coming into the room behind the couch. He stopped short.
A thin, pale-
faced man with greasy brown hair jumped off the couch and whirled to face him. “Dude, what’s your problem with doors?”
“What’s my—” Fade shook his head. “Cody, what the hell are you doing here?”
Cody—a bug charming sable also known as Thorax—pulled a pouty face. “Is that how you welcome an old friend?”
“I don’t know. In my experience friends at least knock before they show up in my living room unannounced.” Fade walked around Cody and paused the nature documentary playing on the television. He frowned at the screen. “Wait, how are you watching this? We don’t pay for this subscription—you didn’t activate it, did you?”
“Hacker, remember?” Cody smirked. “Getting access to streaming accounts is the least of my skills.”
“Huh.” Fade briefly mulled over the possibilities of this before addressing his unexpected guest. “You should’ve called or sent an email. Maybe a creepy crawly carrying a microchip. Whatever it is you bug charmers use to communicate. We aren’t exactly prepared for hosting visitors right now.”
“I’m not here to visit. I have a reason.” Cody crossed his arms. “A couple of weeks ago, I got contacted about a commission. Basic search and find, you know? Someone trying to locate someone who had gone off the grid.” He leaned forward. “Imagine my surprise when the search led me right to you.”
Fade recoiled. “Someone’s looking for me?”
Sure he’d had enemies off and on during his career as both a hero and a villain, but that was in the past. He didn’t think anyone had a reason to currently be after him. Plus he wasn’t that hard to find. Hardly “off the grid” whatever that meant.
“No, not you. Someone under your roof though.” Cody passed Fade a smart phone with a photo displayed on the screen. “Does the name Jake Lucas mean anything to you?”
Fade’s heart splashed into his stomach. “Yeah. It does.” He stared at the image of the teen, an older photo, maybe from when he was thirteen or fourteen, but still the same dusty brown hair, hazel eyes, and expression of constant defiance. “Who’s looking for him?” He had a guess, but better to ask than to assume.
“Sand Foxes—Vic Lucas’s gang. Apparently the kid’s a relative.”
“Nephew.” Fade nodded. “I guess it makes sense he wants the kid back.” Fade returned the phone. He’d thought Vic Lucas didn’t care enough about Jake to reclaim him, in spite of Jake’s claims of family loyalty. Not the worst thing to be wrong about. Maybe even supervillains could love their families—
Cody’s eyes widened. “He doesn’t want him back. If he did, I wouldn’t be here. He wants him dead.”
Fade’s blood ran cold. “What?”
“Yeah, they apparently took out a hit on him, but they only knew that DOSA had him in custody. When no one they hired could find him, they came to me.”
“Why you?” Fade squinted at Cody. “I thought you had a rule against working with killers?”
“I wouldn’t have taken the job if that’s how it was presented to me,” Cody said. “Like I said, when I got the commission I thought it was a basic search and find. Helping a dude, villain or not, find out where DOSA is holding his family member? That’s my version of a good deed. It was when the trail ended at your little hideaway here that I started looking into it more. Turned my attention to finding out what the Sand Foxes really wanted with the kid, hacked into some of their communication channels. It’s not good. Apparently the kid knows a lot about their inner workings, and they’re afraid he’ll squeal.”
“He’s got a brother in custody too,” Fade said. “Did they say anything about him?”
“They know where he’s being held, and they have someone on the inside making sure he doesn’t talk. My interpretation of their communication is that they don’t think he’s a risk and that he has enough value that they might attempt a prison break at some point. The younger one? Apparently he’s expendable.”
Anger heated Fade’s chest only to be overwhelmed by worry. “I’m assuming you didn’t tell them where he is, but how close do you think they are to finding out? You probably weren’t the only one they hired.”
“I’ve got you, bro.” Cody shot Fade a confident smile. “DOSA could do a lot better locking down their internal systems, but basically, I erased the kid. Everything leading to his current location and status with the agency, poof! Gone. If anyone tries to follow the leads I did, they’re going to think he disappeared off the face of the earth.”
Fade’s shoulders relaxed. “Thanks for that.”
“No problem. Would’ve done it even if we didn’t have a history. I may not be a hero, but I don’t like people who go after kids.” Cody’s smile hardened into a look of contempt. “That said, I thought you should know.”
Fade wiped his hand across his brow. Prism was probably wondering what was taking him so long. He needed to tell her about this—but what about Jake? This could crush him ... if he’d even believe Fade. “Do you have any proof of all this?”
Cody held his hand to his heart, a pained expression on his face. “You doubt me?”
“No, I don’t, but ... the kid will. He’s been brainwashed into thinking his gang has his back. He’s not going to believe they’re trying to kill him on my word alone.”
“Can’t help you there.” Cody held his hands up. “I don’t keep any record of my business transactions. For many, many reasons. Especially ones that involve interacting with people like the Sand Foxes. Leave No Trace Cody. That’s what they call me.”
“Sure it is.” Fade indulged in an eye roll. “Do you need a room for the night? It’s pretty late.”
“Nah, I need to get back.” Cody stretched. “I have a former client who has a small plane and owed me a favor, so I had him get me up to the municipal airport. Catch was he couldn’t stay long, so I can’t either.”
“How’d you get out here anyway?” Fade craned his neck towards the window. It was dark out, but the light from the windows did seep into the driveway, and he didn’t see any vehicles parked there. “I didn’t hear a car pull up.”
“I brought my smartcycle on the plane so I wouldn’t have to mess with ride-shares, if that’s even a thing out here in the land of trees and terrible cell phone service.” Cody made a face.
“Smartcycle?” Fade arched an eyebrow.
“It’s my own invention. It’s kind of like a motorcycle, but smaller and more souped up from a tech standpoint.” Cody stuck his chest out. “The thing can practically drive itself if I want it to, plus it’s light and portable—”
“So essentially it’s a moped,” Fade mocked.
Cody blanched. “It’s a highly advanced piece of transportation technology.”
“Sure.” Fade drew the word out. “Thanks again, though, Cody. You don’t know Jake, but I do. I’d hate myself forever if something happened to him under my watch.”
“If anyone can keep the kid safe, from both DOSA and the Sand Foxes, it’s you and your lady.” Cody started towards the door. “But you know what they say, it takes a village.”
“Yeah, they say that.” Fade walked Cody out to the front porch where a small motorbike with a lot of complications, including what appeared to be a touch screen between the handlebars, waited. Cody put on a helmet but pushed up his visor to bid Fade a quick farewell.
“Take care of yourself—and Prism. Tell her I keep up on her Instagram. Even with the second baby, she still looks—”
“Cody.” Fade used his best “warning tone.”
“Just kidding, just kidding.” Cody waved his hand before pushing his visor back in place. “You DOSA types are so sensitive. Must be all that sexual harassment training. See you around.”
“Stay creepy, Cody.” Fade stepped back into the house as Cody started his bike’s engine and motored off into the darkness.
As soon as the bike’s taillight disappeared among the tree, Fade turned off the lights in the hall and the living room. Rather than head straight to bed, he stood for a moment in the darkness.
Fade hadn’t been exaggerating. If something happened to Jake, he’d never forgive himself. That said, with the kid’s stubborn loyalty to his uncle and skepticism of all things DOSA, would Jake even let Fade protect him?
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jake stepped out onto the floor of the empty warehouse, his footsteps echoing in the cavernous space.
Where is everyone?
“Hey, it’s me! Jake! I’m back!”
Only his own voice, bouncing faintly from the ceiling, answered him.
He swallowed. The Sand Foxes’s hideouts were never this quiet. Had the gang pulled up stakes while he was gone? How would he find them again?
“Uncle Vic? Caleb? Guys?” His voice came out weak and reedy.
“Where’ve you been?”
His heart leaped to his throat, and he spun to face the speaker. Uncle Vic stood in the center of the room, disapproval etched on his always stern face.
Jake tried to calm his panic. I’m here for a reason. I need to focus. Why am I here? I needed something. What did I need? If I can’t remember, something bad will happen.
Uncle Vic stalked towards him. Cold sweat broke out across the back of Jake’s neck.
“You forgot who you are, boy. What you are.” Vic sneered. “Loyalty is everything, and you’ve lost it.”
“No, I haven’t! I’m back now!” Jake stammered.
The warehouse seemed to shrink with every step closer Uncle Vic took.
I need to get what I came for. I can’t—
“Then prove it. I have a job for you.” Uncle Vic loomed over Jake, his cold blue eyes piercing.