Villainous (23 page)

“Herman built the academy,” said Daniel.

Theo nodded. “He chose the spot, hired the architects, oversaw every last detail of its construction. He was weirdly secretive about it too. Now he runs the board of trustees. Dad says Herman rarely sits in on meetings, but he still calls all the shots.”

Daniel had once compared Herman to a spider sitting in a web. It was a good metaphor for the old villain, who for years had sat back and manipulated the whole town into doing his bidding, waiting for any enemies to fall into his trap.

Now Daniel had found out that Herman had built that school on the side of Mount Noble to his own exact specifications, a secret project costing millions. Shining, magical, designed to be impossible to resist.

Herman had spun himself a new web.

“Thanks, Theo,” said Daniel. “I was afraid you’d say that, but it’s what I needed to hear.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier,” said Theo. “But I didn’t think it mattered. I thought Herman was pretty much finished with the super-villain stuff. Now he’s just picking on his own family.”

“I gotta tell you something else, Theo,” said Daniel. “I think Herman’s bodyguard set fire to the mansion.”

“What? Why would he do that?”

“To win the public’s sympathy, I think. To give Herman something really terrible to blame on the Supers. And to keep me from getting too close to the truth.”

“But my mom and I almost died! If not for Johnny and Eric, we would have.”

“I don’t think Herman cared.”

Theo shook his head. “I figured that since he couldn’t be the Shroud anymore, since you busted that magic pendant of his, he’d be powerless to actually hurt anybody.”

“His real power was never the pendant,” said Daniel. “The Shroud wasn’t our real enemy; it was always Herman the man.”

“He’s got everyone in his pocket, you know,” said Theo. “The mayor, the papers. He owns just about everything in this town.”

“I know. What I don’t know is why he built the academy to begin with. Why does he want everyone there?”

“I don’t think it’s because he thinks children are the future,” said Theo.

“I wonder if it has something to do with Johnny,” said Daniel. “Herman acted like he was afraid of him, but after all these years, something has finally lured Johnny out into the open, and Herman built it. I wonder if Johnny knows.”

Daniel shook his head. That earlier brainwave was spent, and now he was staring at the wall again.

“And that’s as far as I get,” said Daniel, rising. It was so frustrating to be this close to an answer that he just couldn’t quite grab. “You get better, okay? You’ve been a big help.”

“You’ll figure it out,” said Theo. “That’s what you do, remember? Daniel the Detective!”

Sure, but would he figure it out in time? The clock was ticking, although what it was counting down to was still a mystery.

“Hey, could you do me a favor on your way out?” asked Theo. “Could you put this tray of disgusting food outside my door with my compliments to the chef? Gray meat and brown peas. It’s making me sick just looking at it.”

Daniel nodded and took the tray off of Theo’s side table. It really did look terrible, like they were trying to make their hospital food live up to its reputation.

As he turned to leave with the dinner tray, his eyes glanced over the folded copy of the
Noble Herald
. The front page was the same one the cop had been hiding behind, only now Daniel could read the headlines clearly. Above a picture of the academy were the words “Super Trouble.” Daniel groaned. The headline writers in this town were really getting lazy. Beneath that, in the lower corner, was a photo of
Mount Noble Observatory, with a much smaller headline that read “Unusual Comet Offers Local Stargazers a Show.”

The dinner tray slipped from his fingers and clattered to the floor.

“Whoa!” said Theo. “Watch what you’re doing!”

But Daniel wasn’t listening. He ignored the off-color peas rolling every which direction, the spreading lake of milk soaking his shoes. He scooped up the fallen paper instead and began reading.

The paper was shaking in his hands, making it hard to read, and Daniel realized he was trembling. With a deep breath he tried to steady himself and read on.

Daniel saw his father erecting a lightning rod on the roof of their house.

Daniel saw Johnny pointing and laughing at the metal spire standing in the exact center of the academy. Taller than any building, taller than the tallest tree, like a rod pointed at the sky.

And the answer was right in front of him, like a lightning bolt … like a comet.

“Oh no,” breathed Daniel. “I know what Herman’s planning, Theo. I’ve gotta go. I know what he’s trying to do.”

“What? Hey, wait!” shouted Theo. “What about the dinner all over my floor?” But Daniel was already halfway down the hall. People were giving him looks, a kid rushing through the hospital corridor, but he didn’t care. He only slowed down when he passed the intensive care ward, but the cop was no longer there, so he full-out ran until he found his mom and Georgie, sitting near the water fountain.

Daniel was so breathless that he could barely get out the words.
We have to leave now. No time to explain
.

Johnny was wrong when he’d said that spire in the middle of the academy served no purpose. It had been built by Herman Plunkett, and as insane as he was, Herman never did anything without a purpose.

It wasn’t art and it wasn’t a mistake. It was a lightning rod aimed at the sky, and it was designed to attract just one thing.

The Witch Fire Comet was coming back tonight, and the Noble Academy for the Gifted would be ground zero.

“I don’t know how Herman’s done it,” Daniel was saying, “but I think that spire is designed to work like a lightning rod, only instead of attracting electricity, it’ll somehow attract the Witch Fire Comet. The last time the comet appeared in the sky, a meteorite burned down St. Alban’s. Tonight it’ll hit the school. At least that’s what he thinks is going to happen.”

“The academy? But that’s where—”

“Where most of the Supers are, yes! And Johnny! Herman’s got them all trapped right where he wants them. The kids he despises, and the only person the Shroud ever feared. After tonight—boom!—all his problems solved.”

“Daniel, slow down,” his mom said. “Start from the beginning. What is a Shroud exactly?”

Daniel put his head in his hands. This was hopeless. They’d gotten as far as the car before she’d demanded he tell her everything. Why were they rushing out of the hospital? What had Theo said that upset him so? Just what was Daniel involved in?

He’d tried. He honestly had. He had tried to tell her everything, in a sort of Cliff’s Notes version, but she’d understandably had trouble following along.

He realized early on that to explain everything, he’d have to start at the beginning, all the way back to that long-ago night when the Witch Fire Comet had appeared in the sky over Mount Noble—the night Johnny Noble and the first Supers had been born in the ashes of the St. Alban’s fire. He tried to lay it all out for her, to describe how that alien meteorite had killed the rest of the adults and had changed Johnny and the children.

Because the Witch Fire Comet was coming back tonight, and if Herman was right and there was going to be a meteorite strike on the academy, many lives would be lost. Johnny and the Supers would be at ground zero, and the same comet that had given them their powers would take them away. In the aftermath of that explosion, they’d be at best powerless, at worst dead.

But there was still time to warn Johnny and the Supers. The hospital wasn’t that far away from the academy. A ten-minute drive at most. Cell phone coverage was spotty up on
the mountain, and Daniel hadn’t been able to reach Mollie, but he’d already sent her several messages telling her that the academy was in danger and to get Johnny and the students far away. There was still time to save everyone if they acted now.

If he could only get his mom to cooperate. She was driving along the mountain road now, and soon they’d pass up their exit. Just one turn and they could be there within minutes.

“Really, Daniel,” she was saying. “It all just sounds like … such a story! Even if you’re right, and Mr. Plunkett is this Shroud person, how do you know what he’s up to? This whole comet thing sounds crazy, I have to tell you.”

“I know,” said Daniel. “It is crazy, but that’s how Herman thinks. There has to be a reason he built the academy in the first place, and I think this is it.”

“And even if I did believe you,” said his mother, “why would I want you closer to that academy when it looks so dangerous as it is—”

“Mom! Stop!” shouted Daniel, and his mother slammed on the brakes, squealing to a halt on the side of the road.

“Whoa!” shouted Georgie, clapping.

“What? Are you okay?” asked his mother. “Did I hit something?”

Daniel calmly pointed over his shoulder to the turnoff they’d just missed. The Old Quarry Road.

“Please, Mom,” he said. “The academy’s that way. My friends need me.”

She looked at him, not saying anything.

It wasn’t going to work, Daniel could tell. She wasn’t
about to let her son get involved any more than he already was. He thought about making a run for it. He could hop from the car while they were parked here and head for the trees. It would take longer to cut through the woods on foot, but he knew the way, as long as he kept the road somewhat in sight. He could be there in half an hour. After dark, but at least he’d get there.

“Uh-oh,” his mom said.
Uh-oh?
That wasn’t the answer he’d been expecting.

Then he saw that she was looking in the rearview mirror at an approaching car, its red lights flashing as it slowed to a stop behind them.

“You have a taillight out or something?” asked Daniel. She certainly hadn’t been speeding.

“He probably just wants to make sure we’re okay,” said his mother.

Daniel took his hand off the door handle. He could hardly make a run for it now with a cop standing outside.

The police officer got out of his car and crossed over to the driver’s side door. He was shining a flashlight into the car even though it was only dusk. There was still plenty of light to see by.

Daniel’s mother rolled down her window. “Hello, officer.”

“Evening, ma’am.”

“My son and I were just having a talk—well, an argument really—so I pulled over. There’s nothing wrong.”

“He your son?” the officer asked, gesturing to Daniel with his flashlight. From where he was sitting, Daniel couldn’t see the officer’s face.

“Well, yes,” answered Daniel’s mother. “These are both my sons.” She gestured back to Georgie.

“Hi,” said Georgie.

The officer ignored him and placed his hand on the door. “I’m going to have to ask you and your son there to step away from the car,” he said.

“What?” said Daniel’s mother. “Why?”

“Just cooperate, lady.”

Daniel could see his mother tensing up, and he felt it too. Something was not right.

“Officer,” said Daniel’s mother, “why haven’t you asked to see my driver’s license?”

Daniel saw his mother’s hand slowly drifting back to the ignition.

The cop didn’t answer for a moment. Then he said, “Can I see your license?”

With one hand on the keys, she handed him her license, but when he reached down to take it from her, it slipped from her fingers. Daniel didn’t have time to wonder whether it was an accident or on purpose, because as soon as the officer bent down to catch the falling license, Daniel got a glimpse of a dragon tattoo crawling up the man’s neck.

“Mom!” Daniel shouted. “Drive!”

There wasn’t any time for an explanation, but Daniel’s
mother didn’t need one. She twisted the key in the ignition, and the car turned over … and nothing happened. She gave it another try and the engine started to come to life, but by this time the tattooed-neck man had reached in through the window and grabbed the key from her hand, yanking it out of the ignition.

Georgie started crying.

It’s me he wants
, thought Daniel.
Herman sent him to get me
.

“Wait,” said Daniel. “I’ll go with you! Just leave my mom and brother alone. Lawrence, please.” Daniel remembered that was tattooed-neck man’s name: Lawrence. Together they’d saved Mr. Madison from the fire. Of course, that had all been a setup. Daniel was willing to bet that Lawrence’s missing partner had started the fire in the first place.

“Get out of the car, kid,” said Lawrence, and Daniel opened his door.

“Daniel! No!” said his mom.

“I’ll be all right, Mom,” Daniel lied, and he stepped out of the car.

He could hear his little brother crying and saying his name as his mom pleaded with Lawrence to leave them alone, but Daniel knew that wasn’t about to happen. If he would just let Daniel’s mom and brother go, maybe Daniel could find a way to escape. There was always a way.

He walked around the back of the car. Lawrence was standing outside his mom’s door. One hand held her keys; with the other, he’d drawn his pistol.

“Give my mom back her keys and let her go,” said Daniel.

“You’re not in a position to tell me to do anything, kid,” said Lawrence. “Go get in the car.” He gestured to the police car and took a step forward.