Alpha Male (13 page)

"Eddy, you have to stop this," she said. "Please. It's not too late. They don't know where we are yet."

"I'm done talking about this," Eddy said. "I let you in here for a reason. We need to discuss our friend, Al."

Ivy's expression turned to disgust as the words left Eddy’s mouth. "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know how he's doing. I hear you two have been getting close," Eddy said, scrutinizing her face.

"Fuck you," she said and turned to walk out. Eddy signaled to his men and they blocked the doorway. She stopped and stared at them for a moment.  "What do you want me to say?" She turned to him. "He's been here a few weeks, and he still won't talk to anyone. I've taken him food almost every day and he still won't give me the time of day."

"Ivy, I gave you this task for a reason," he said. "Stay with him. Help him get comfortable, and get him on our side. We’ll need him for the important stuff coming up."

*****

Reedy sat at his desk in the small laundry room, staring at the computer screen. The digital clock read 11:50. The blue light in the dark room strained his eyes, forcing him to rub them every few minutes. Over the speakers, the soft beat of bass driven hip-hop was almost inaudible.

Two arms wrapped around his neck and he leaned back into his wife's loving embrace.

"I liked it better when you didn't have homework," she said.

"Tell me about," he replied, minimizing the photo of him in the hospital.

"So, what are you working on, Mr. Detective?"

"Just going over this case file," he said, leaning back towards the screen. "I'm looking through all the cases this guy’s been involved with, but everything seems so random. There's no pattern to pick up. It's becoming frustrating. My first case and I'm getting nowhere."

"Well, it's bullshit that this is your first case. Beat cop to detective and they give you this?" she said, looking over his shoulder.

"I know," he said, yawning. "But I don't think they are setting me up for failure or anything. Just giving me a chance to get back at that fucker."

"I don't like this," she said, turning to leave. "Come to bed soon."

"I will, Mrs. Reedy,"

"You better, Mr. Reedy. Maybe one day soon we can put a washer and dryer in here." She closed the laundry room door.

He picked up his phone and sent Vaughn a text message. "U up?"

Within a minute it chimed as a new message came through. "Yea, check UR email."

Reedy opened the browser and checked for new mail. There was one message from Vaughn.

"Hey, got a crazy theory from the television. Do you remember Beta Boy? That kid that used to run with Alpha Male? What if he's the guy we're after?"

Reedy grabbed his phone and dialed Vaughn’s number. It rang three times before his partner picked up.

"I told you it was crazy," Vaughn said.

"You realize if we follow this, we’ll have to question Alpha directly, right?" Reedy said, his words coming out fast.

"Oh yeah, and I look forward to it," Vaughn replied. "Something else too. Someone’s been wiping the scenes clean. That's why we haven't found any prints yet.”

“That’s weird, right?” Reedy asked.

“Oh yeah.”

*****

Al sat on the edge of his bed, arm out, focusing on the box before him. Inside were six empty glass bottles. He tried to lift them one at a time, but the box kept rising up into the air. He exhaled and placed it back on the ground. The glass clanked and rattled with the unsteady landing. He tried again, but the box rose too fast. It hit the ground hard and two of the glasses shattered.

He gave up and lay back onto his cot. A few minutes later, a knock came.

"It's me, Ivy," came a female’s voice.

"Come in," he said, sitting up.

Ivy entered the room with a tray of food and a bottle of water. She placed it down on the milk crate next to the cot and stepped away.

"How are you today?"

"I'm OK," he said looking at the plate. It was a sloppy mess of beans and meat and a few slices of loaf bread. "Do you have any snack cakes?"

She smiled and pulled a package from her back pocket. It was a chocolate cream cake. He grabbed it and tore the wrapper off.

"I knew you'd want one,” she said.

"Thank you," he said with his mouth full.

"Junk food will kill you, you know?" she said, sliding down the wall to sit on the ground.

"I'm not worried about that," he replied. "I can't remember anything before I woke up a few weeks ago. Could death be much worse?”

"Yeah, that…makes sense," she said, with a slight frown. "I can't imagine how scary that must be. To lose all of your memories."

He took the water and drank most of the bottle before putting it down. With the plastic fork, he stirred the food a few times and put it down, and looked up at her. "How come no one else comes down here?"

"They’re afraid of you," she said.

"Yeah. They probably should be."

"You really should eat," she said. "That stuff will give you strength.”

"I'm not hungry," he said, laying back down. "So, why are you down here?"

"There's nowhere else for me to go," she said. "I'm tired of living on the street."

"I meant, why are you down here, with me?" he asked, examining her face.

"I know what you meant. I guess I'm just intrigued by you," she said. "I think you’re amazing."

"I don't feel amazing," he said, lowering his head. "I feel pretty bad. All I've done is hurt people since I woke up."

She got up, walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked up, staring into her deep eyes.

"So stop," she said.

"It's not that easy," he said, water building up in his eyes. "I get so angry and just lose control.”

She pulled him to her shoulder and he began to weep. Both of his arms slide around her waist and tightened until their bodies we pressed together.

"I just don't understand," he said. "I can't think about him without getting angry, but I can't stop myself from thinking about him."

"It's OK," she said, rubbing his back. "It's OK."

Chapter Fifteen.

"I can't believe I'm letting you do this," Rose said, to Vaughn and Reedy.

The three of them stood atop the police building, watching the sky for Alpha Male. A few minutes later, the hero appeared over a skyscraper, flying towards them. As he landed, Rose lit up a cigarette and inhaled deep.

"Detectives Vaughn and Reedy have a few questions to ask you," she said to Alpha Male, while exhaling.

"Reedy, it's good to see you," Alpha said, shaking Reedy's hand. "I stopped by the hospital."

"Yeah. My wife told me. Thank you for the flowers."

"Don't mention it," he said "I'm just glad you are OK. Vaughn, it's good to see you again."

Vaughn nodded.

"We have a few questions. If you don't mind," Vaughn said.

"Of course. How can I help?"

"Well, we think this supervillain may be an old acquaintance of yours. Beta Boy," Vaughn said. Alpha’s eyes went wide for just a second, but he regained composure.

"Yeah, I thought the same thing at first, but I saw his face. It's not him," Alpha said. “Hell, their powers aren't even the same. Beta has similar powers to mine. This guy has telekinesis. It just doesn't make sense, you know?"

"Yeah, that's a valid point," Vaughn said, with a tight lipped smile. "Now, if you could just tell me how I can get in touch with Beta Boy, we can question him ourselves."

Alpha’s face went sour, "Vaughn, you know my answer. We’ve gone through this before.  When I first volunteered to help you guys, and again when you accused me of endangering Beta's life. My answer hasn't changed."

"If you don't, you'll be obstructing a police investigation; a crime in this city," Vaughn said, his lip curling.

"Look, this has stuck with you for a while now, so I want to clear this up for you," Alpha said, taking a step forward. "This mask protects my friends, and my family. If I give an inch on this, then I’m risking that information on getting out. If that happens, what's to stop freaks like this guy from killing everyone I love?"

"Funny use of the word freak, don't you think?" Vaughn asked, with a sneer.

"Man, you need to calm down," Reedy said to Vaughn.

Rose gave Alpha a dismissive nod, so Alpha lifted himself into the air and flew off. Vaughn charged up to the edge and yelled out, "Run away you fuck!"

"I knew this was a mistake," she said, tamping out her cigarette. "Vaughn, leave it alone."

"You heard him! He thinks he's above the law!" Vaughn yelled.

"On this, he is," she said, walking to the door. "And if you don't calm down, you will lose this case."

She closed the door and left the two detectives standing on the roof. Reedy was still shocked, but the click of the door latch snapped him back to reality.

"Man, why didn't you tell me about any of this?" Reedy asked.

"It wasn't important," Vaughn replied, waving him off.

"Fuck you, it's very important! We almost lost the case!"

"Look, I'm sorry," Vaughn said. "It won't happen again. That guy…He just gets under my skin."

"I gotta know," Reedy said.  "Do you think this guy could be Beta Boy, or are you stirring up the past for your own reasons?"

"I…I think there’s a possibility," Vaughn replied. "He's the only other known super person and no one's seen him in years."

"If that's true, then that means Alpha Male's possibly lying and that kinda scares me," Reedy said.

"Yeah," Vaughn replied. "Me too."

*****

Alpha Male was soaring between the buildings with the precision of a hawk. He banked turns at full speed, zooming through the city in anger. His teeth gritted as he fought to keep control at that speed. His body began to wobble, and he slowed to a stop. Huffing, he hovered in place.

He exhaled and floated down to street level, hovering over the traffic lights. His eyes scanned the intersection for danger, then he moved on. The pedestrians below couldn't see him. They went on with their daily lives while he patrolled their city, his city.

Hours flew by as he wound his way down the streets. The city was calm, subdued as the sun began its tangerine descent into deep vermilion. He sighed as the town went dark with night.

Down the road, he heard a man yelling. Alpha rushed toward the sound, flying through an alley way, to the street on the other side. He was there in less than a minute.

"What's the problem?" he asked.

"Some punk just shoplifted from my store," the man said. "I'd go after him, but I can't leave!"

"Don't worry," Alpha said. "I'll get him."

Alpha jumped into the air, flying over the heads of the people walking. Within seconds, he saw the thief barreling through anyone in his way. Alpha watched him panic and take off faster. He slammed through a few small groups before turning down a corner. Alpha followed.

Alpha was soon on the runner, grabbing at his jacket. He spun him around and against a wall. Anger filled his eyes and he readied himself to dole out justice. The thief screamed, flinching as Alpha balled his fist to strike him. There, in his grip cried a young boy, barely in his teens.

"Please, don't!" the boy said, tears welling up in his eyes. "I'm sorry." The kid dropped the handful of candy bars to the ground and started bawling. Alpha released him and flew away.

*****

"I'm worried Mac," Rose said, nursing two fingers of cheap sour mash whiskey.

"Ah, I wouldn't be," Mac said, sipping his own drink. "This city always bounces back."

"It's not that," she replied, looking up at herself in the bar mirror. She was tired, and it showed. Her eyes were dark and baggy and her hair was frizzed out and unkempt. She ran a few fingers through it, but only succeeded in finding painful knots. "It's Alpha Male. He's become…different, you know?"

"Not really," Mac said, sifting through the bowl of mixed nuts. He pulled out a peanut and dropped it into his mouth. "But, I don't really see him much."

"Yeah, I don't know either," she said. She reached into her bag and pulled out the little black device. "They want me to bring him down if he steps outta line."

"You serious?" Mac asked, surprised.

"Yeah, they gave me this," she said, showing him the device. He picked it up and looked at it.

"What's it do?" he asked.

“It’s some kind of sound weapon," she said.  "I haven't tried it out yet. It came with ear plugs"

“What do you mean, you haven’t tried it out yet?” He asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I just…I don’t know how I feel about it. They are asking me to use it on him.”

"You want to try it out now?" he asked, with a mischievous grin.

"Fuck it," she said. "It's got a knob for turning down the power. Let’s see what the lowest level does."

"We should go somewhere safe," Mac said, getting up.

"Well, no shit." Rose laughed and dropped a few dollars down onto the bar.

“Let’s go down to the loading docks,” he said. “We shouldn’t have to worry about much there. I’ll drive, since you’re…”

“Yeah, you drive,” she said, finishing her drink.

Once at the docks, she handed him a pair of special ear plugs, and inserted her own. She watched his lips moving, but she couldn't hear a word he was saying. She pointed towards her ear and shook her head. He waved it off with a gesture of "never mind."

They took a few items from his car, and placed them against a brick wall. The building stood tall with two other buildings near it. They were the shipping offices for all the things that came and went out of the city.

She pointed the device towards a few scattered beer bottles and looked at Mac with a nod. He smiled in agreement. She flipped the switch and watched the red power light come on. Using the dial, she turned it up one notch until the read-out said "1". Her finger slid atop the button and she held it there for a moment. Mac was giddy with excitement. She smiled and pressed the button.

The bottles shook, clinking across the ground before tumbling over. They rolled on the ground for a moment and popped. She jumped a bit, then started laughing with excitement. Turning to Mac, she shot him a big thumbs up and he reciprocated the gesture with a laugh she couldn't hear. She went to hit the switch but stopped when glass began to rain down on them. She covered her head and felt the shards cutting into the skin of her hands.