Superhero (22 page)

CHAPTER 50

William Yates brought the car to a stop in front of the biggest mansion he had ever seen. He’d only been out here once, when Jack came for the first time. They were partners then and partners share everything with each other, even more than with spouses.

“Don’t tell anyone,” Jack had told him. “People knowing I have money changes their perception of me.”

William stepped out of the car and began the walk up the winding driveway. No children were out in the streets and no neighbors came to windows to check on what he was doing. A few yard workers were busy manicuring bushes and shrubs but they didn’t even look up from their work to notice him.

As the driveway wound up higher and higher, less of the neighborhood and the city could be seen. After a few minutes William began to huff and puff and wished he’d driven his car up. He hadn’t realized how big the property really was.

At the top of the driveway was a gate with an intercom on it. He pressed the call button and waited, but there was no response. He stared at the home. It looked like something a Roman emperor would own as a country villa. Jack’s wealth never seemed to grow on him. He had been right: knowing he was rich changed the way William saw him and in a slight, nearly imperceptible way made William envious and angry.

He found the lowest part of the fence and jumped up, grabbing the edge and pulling himself over. He hopped down on the other side and hurt his ankle, swearing before standing up and looking around to make sure that no guard dogs were about to rush him.

Feeling secure that he was alone, he began walking toward the house.

All the windows were large and slightly tinted though not enough that he couldn’t see inside. The place looked untouched, like no one lived there. William went from window to window and saw the same thing: furniture with dust. He tried knocking and ringing the doorbell but knew no one was in. He hadn’t heard from Jack in four days.

As he turned to leave, his cell phone rang. It was the precinct.

“Yates.”

“Detective, it’s Rhonda at dispatch. I’ve got someone on the phone that would like to be connected to you immediately. He says it’s regarding a case you’re currently working.”

“Tell him to leave a message and I’ll call later.”

“You got it. I think he’s with the Agamemnon case. I’ll get his info.”

“Wait, hold on, patch him through.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Patch him.”

“One sec.”

A click and then breathing and the sound of equipment firing up in the background.

“This is Detective Yates.”

“You know me. You saw me in the hospital.”

“Yeah, I remember,” he said, careful not to say his name as he hadn’t offered it.

“I need to talk to that dude.”

“What dude?”

“The Dragon guy. The dude that wears all black.”

“Why do you need him?”

“Don’t bullshit me, man. You sent him into my hospital room after you left.”

“Did he come visit you? What did he say?”

“Can you get me him or not?”

“Actually, I’m looking for him right now myself.”

The boy mumbled something incoherent and said, “If you see him, tell him it’s a farm off I-210. It’s like ten miles from Coyote Rock.”

“What is?”

The line went dead. William quickly put the information into a notepad app and stared at it. He was about to dial dispatch and have them reconnect, but decided he would probably just hang up again.

William got into his car and started driving. Coyote Rock was three hours away.

CHAPTER 51

Reese Stillman leaned against the barn door as Agamemnon went over the device specs. The camera and sound were rolling and Veronica Gables stood next to him with a microphone as if she were standing on a street corner interviewing someone about the weather. Every time Agamemnon moved, she would inadvertently clench up, as if she were about to be struck.

The device had been dug out of the ground two days ago. The smooth, polished steel didn’t appear like it had been buried in a desert. No one had been told exactly what it was capable of, but if the rumors were true, it was going to take out the entire city. The city Reese had been raised in. It wasn’t much of a childhood, but he had the streets. Those were his streets.

“Where did you find this type of technology?” Veronica asked.

“The place where all good technology comes from,” Agamemnon replied. “We stole it.”

“What do you intend to do with it?”

“The people of Los Angeles will have twenty-four hours to provide us with what we need. After that time expires, the device will be detonated. The human casualties will not be as high as they could be if we don’t send out a warning, but it is something we will have to deal with.”

Reese saw Veronica’s jaw clench. Agamemnon routinely talked about death in numbers as if he were discussing the extermination of insects. Reese had grown used to it, but her reaction had brought back the true horror of what it was he was talking about.

“And what do they need to give you to stop this?”

“We’ll create some fabrication,” he said, looking at Reese. “It does not matter. It will occupy them, focus them on a goal rather than on me.”

“Are there more of these devices?” she asked.

“Now that is the correct question. Yes, there are more. They are currently not in my possession but soon will be.”

Veronica lowered the microphone. “Why are you doing this? Is it money? Don’t you have enough that you don’t need to hurt people to get more?”

“It is not money, Ms. Gables. It is not even power. It is a sacrifice for the betterment of mankind.”

Agamemnon turned and left as if there was nothing else to say on the matter. Veronica and her two crew members stood motionless, unsure exactly what they were supposed to do.

“He’s done for now,” Reese said. “You guys can sleep in the house. Follow me.”

The two men walked in front, Veronica behind them. Reese grabbed her before they left the barn and pressed her against the wall. She gasped and slapped him before pushing him away.

“Relax,” he said. “If I wanted that, I would’ve had it already.”

“Then what do you want?”

Reese glanced out the barn door. The two men were still walking toward the farmhouse, oblivious to the fact that they were missing Veronica.

“I want to stop him.”

She was quiet a moment. “Why?”

“That doesn’t matter. But I need you to help me.”

“How?”

“I’ll let you know. For now, don’t piss him off.”

He walked out past her, leaving her staring into an empty barn. She exhaled, and followed him.

CHAPTER 52

Jack stood at the bars, watching a guard bring in food. The massive door had a slit halfway down. Someone would come inside the cell area, the door would be locked remotely, and food would be passed to him through the slit and then distributed to the other inmates. The guard came to his cell and stared at him, smiling. He lifted his tray of food and tilted it, the food and cup of water spilling to the floor.

“I WILL KILL YOU FIRST.”

The guard unconsciously took a step back. He didn’t say anything. Just moved on to the next cell.

When he was through, Jack placed his hands on the smooth metal bars. He could feel the hum of electricity running through them. He began bending them slightly and the hum increased until he could feel the charge pulsating in his hands.

The door opened and Colonel Finley walked in. He stopped when he saw that Jack was standing. The two men glared at each other before Finley walked over in front of him, his hands behind his back to show Jack he wasn’t afraid of him.

“What’s going to happen to the old man?” Jack asked.

“It doesn’t matter. He’s dying. Everyone in here is dying. Except you. And except Agamemnon. Why is that, Jack? Why are you two the only ones that aren’t in a state of degeneration?”

“My mom always said I was special.”

Finley smirked. “Keep that sense of humor. You’ll need it down here. The walls can start closing in pretty quick.”

Finley turned and began to walk away before Jack said, “I’m a citizen. You can’t do this to me. I want a lawyer.”

Finley laughed. “You haven’t been paying much attention these last ten years have you? You don’t have the right to an attorney. You have the right to food and water, and that’s about it.” He walked out the door. “Keep joking, Jack. And you might live long enough to get out of this place.”

Jack lay on his cot. As there were no windows, he couldn’t tell what time of day it was. Two meals had come since Finley’s visit and he guessed it was probably sometime around four in the morning.

He sat up and stared at the bars. He could break through them and, according to Heidi, would not be injured. Finley had to know this. So why let him stay here and give him the chance to escape? Was it just so Habib could get information from him? But the old man was gone now. Why not move him somewhere he couldn’t get out of?

Jack rose from the cot. The questions would have to wait until later. He walked to the bars and placed his hands on them. In one, swift motion, he bent two of them as wide as they would go. An electrical burst went off like a bomb. It knocked him back across the cell and he landed on his stomach. He looked down and saw that he had caught himself by his fingertips. He rose again, and walked back to the bars.

Bending two more, he was able to fit through and was in the outside corridor. He had no doubt now: they wanted him to escape.

Jack walked to the front entrance and then turned, remembering that there were others here. He walked to the first cell. It was empty. As was the second, and the third, and every one he checked. He had been the only one down here.

He stood frozen: had the voices been fake?

He pushed it out of his mind and went to the door. Though it was thick metal, it was hinged. He tore off the hinges as if tearing through a cake and gently removed the door.

The outside corridor was dimly lit and ran down in both directions. Jack began to go left when the voice said, “NO THE OTHER WAY.”

Jack turned around and went down the hall. He could feel something, though he wasn’t sure what it was. Almost like a tugging in his gut, making him walk in a certain direction. At the end of the hallway he found several rooms. They looked like storage rooms. Hung up like dirty laundry in one, was his suit.

Jack went over and touched it, running his hand along the edges. He pulled it down, staring at it. He was drawn to it somehow and it made him uneasy. But the rags he’d been given to wear weren’t suitable for the cold temperatures of the desert at night. He slipped on the suit, and pulled the mask over his head.

A rush of adrenaline coursed through him. He lifted his hands, looking into his palms, and felt the sheer currents of power. He ran.

The sprint was so fast, he was up to the next floor in a few seconds. A guard patrolled this floor but his back was turned. Jack slammed into him, knocking him unconscious, and came to a set of elevators. He could see a scanner underneath the call button, and he went back to snatch the guard’s ID card. Once scanned, the elevator opened. He thought a moment, and then threw the ID card into the elevator and pushed for the top floor.

Jack ran down the hallway, checking every room. There wasn’t a chance in hell that this place didn’t have an emergency exit. Not a government facility, no matter how secretly it was kept.

Off to the side of the corridor near some offices, he found one. Jack leapt up the stairs until he was on the top floor. When he opened the door, a rifle was thrust into his face.

At least a dozen men stood with automatic rifles pointed at him. The laser scopes bouncing around his throat and forehead. Finley stood behind them, sucking on a cigar.

“Now how did I know you’d try that?”

“You read my horoscope, didn’t you?” Jack said.

Finley took out the cigar and with the back of the same hand wiped a bit of drool that was hanging on his lip. “I never liked humor much.”

Jack glanced to the men. Their faces were stern, but he could sense fear underneath him. They were simply following orders they weren’t sure they wanted to follow.

“You’d kill an unarmed man?” Jack asked.

“Son, there is not a damned thing I wouldn’t do for the safety of my country. You got that? I’d be a dictator, a rapist, a murderer, whatever I needed to be.”

“Maybe you’re okay with being a murderer, but I bet these young kids aren’t.” Finley looked to his men as if noticing them for the first time. “You’re about to make murderers of them all, Colonel. I don’t know what type of leader that would sit well with.”

Finley’s jaw clenched and he threw the cigar to the floor. “Kill him.”

Before the words were out of his mouth, Jack wasn’t there anymore.

Jack had leapt into air and the soldiers didn’t look up. Glancing around them, they thought he had leapt off the side of the building.

When the Dragon landed, breaking two of the soldier’s backs, his feet pounded on the floor with such force that it began to collapse. The Dragon flipped backward away from the rippling effects of what had just occurred. One of the soldiers fired at point-blank range at the Dragon’s face. Sparks flew off the mask in a barrage of violence as the Dragon walked toward the solider and snapped away his rifle, breaking it in half. He struck the soldier with an open palm against the chest, sending him off his feet.

He flipped around and kicked one of the other soldiers before spinning and knocking him off his feet. Another came at him with a knife. The Dragon twisted the man’s wrist as if he were wringing out a wet towel, flipped him onto his back, and knocked him unconscious with a kick to his jaw. He turned to Finley when he felt burning in his shoulder that nearly brought him to his knees.

Finley stood with his pistol held out, smoke drizzling out of the barrel. He turned to the one soldier still standing and said, “Pick ‘em up and go inside.”

Jack noticed blood coming down over his suit. A small hole adorned the shoulder and the pain was so intense he felt like ripping off the suit.