Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
Darkness surrounded Joan as she peeked inside the air duct opening on the roof. Well, the enlarged opening she’d created via some light torching.
Breaking into the auto museum on the far north end of the city wasn’t exactly what she’d envisioned for hanging out with Greta. Though hanging out with Greta often meant literally hanging from something. She had to talk to someone about her date with Sadie, and Mark had been all about Day Two of gorging on food truck offerings.
Greta checked her harness and its line, her sleek black ponytail swinging. “So you’ve been texting with her?”
“Off and on since last night.” Since the end of their date when it had nearly killed Joan to walk away. “She’s at work right now but is on a break.”
“They’ve been texting all day ,” Mark whined. He was lying on the roof, holding his stomach and moaning because his Ice getup fit too close for comfort after finishing an ill-advised second Cubano sandwich.
Joan unzipped the chest pocket on her Spark bodysuit to make sure she hadn’t missed a text. Their outfits were similar in their black and striped designs, though Mark’s was streaked with a deep blue. He’d also opted to get a dark wig attached to his facemask.
“She has some ideas for the Hot and Cold logo based on what we saw this weekend,” she told her brother.
Greta readied to slide into the ductwork. “You two and food trucks,” she drawled.
She slipped through the hole, sitting back and testing the line. Greta’s petite frame made thievery easy. It also provided a good cover for her to move about unnoticed. Unless someone called her an “exotic beauty.” Joan had borne witness to Grets throat punching more than one ignorant dude for saying that because of her half Japanese, half Filipino background.
Damn, no new response below Joan’s last text. Sadie had been teasing her with little hints about her hidden tattoos. How many were there? And where were they located?
Her heart skipped a beat seeing the magical three dots appear. Then Sadie’s text.
Two. Let’s just say you can’t see them when I’m fully clothed
What about partially clothed???
Maaaaaaybeeeee
Damn it, she could’ve seen them last night. But she had to sort out the whole You’re Catch situation before that could happen.
Mark groaned as he crawled over. “This seems like the least straightforward way to get in.”
“There are motion detectors all over and pressure sensors on the floor,” Joan told him.
“Why not turn them off?” He mimed typing on a keyboard and went, “Bleep blop blerp.”
“Why are you here again?” Greta said, her voice echoing.
“I was already with him,” Joan said. “He wanted to tag along.”
“I wanted to see you pull this off.” Mark leaned into the duct. “Which car are you eyeballing?”
“None of them,” said Greta.
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Someone bet her ten grand she couldn’t break into this place without setting off an alarm,” Joan said.
“Easiest money I’ve made all year.” Greta slowly lowered a few feet.
Mark squinted in confusion. “So you’re not taking anything?”
“What would I do with a fancy old car that needs to be unloaded fast? I want cash to renovate my apartment in France.”
“I love your apartment in France,” Joan said. It was in a gorgeous wine region. The local food was some of the best she’d ever eaten in her life.
The light from Greta’s headlamp glinted off the metal ductwork as she glanced up with a sly grin. “We had some good times there.”
“We had some great times.” They’d spent a few weeks there the last (and final) time they thought they could make things work between them.
“So, wait.” Mark still wasn’t getting it. “You’re just doing this for shits and giggles?”
“She does everything for shits and giggles,” Joan said, and Greta laughed in agreement.
“I enjoy my money,” she said. “Unlike you two. ‘I pay my rent. I bought my car with cash.’”
“Joanie steals cars.” Mark loved to point that out.
“One car, one time, when I was young and dumb,” Joan said.
Greta’s headlamp beam bobbed side to side as she shook her head. “You felt so bad, you returned it.”
“I couldn’t justify why I’d done it.”
“For fun? Because you could?”
Speaking of why it never worked between us…
The car episode should’ve been exhilarating, but had left her feeling sad. Mark had been enrolled in culinary school, and she’d felt lost without him accompanying her on Spark escapades. It’d prompted her to try going legit. The call center job she got fired from for the suspicious fire in her cubicle.
Customer service was not her strong suit.
“I didn’t need a sports car,” Joan said. Then she grinned. “But I did need that Migano statuette I picked up a few weeks later. I liberated it from a rich guy’s office.”
“Is that the bronze horse on your shelf?” Mark said.
“Yeah. I love it. I look at it every day.”
True, she loved the bold lines and deep carvings on the little sculpture. It also acted as a reminder of what she was good at. The world she belonged in. A middle finger to the norms who’d never tried to understand her.
“Wait,” Greta said. “Didn’t you take it from your old boss’s office or something?”
“The owner of the call center,” Joan said.
“That’s right.”
“I was still working through some anger management issues in my twenties.”
Mark snorted. Greta’s smile was barely visible. “Perry was so proud of you,” she said. “ I was proud of you. A Migano belonging to the man who fired you. That was a sweet score.”
“It was.”
It had been at the time. Gaining Perry’s approval used to be so important. He’d been glad when Joan took a liking to art, so he’d taught her all about what was worth money and what was to be appreciated. And that revenge was a dish best served on really nice china.
Then Mark flunked out of culinary school for always making dishes that were too cold. Their little family had been reunited. For a while, she was happy just being Spark.
A new Sadie text appeared.
Have to get back to work but I’ll think about colors for the hot and cold logo and will text you later
Looking forward to it.
At least one norm understood her desire for something different. Joan put her phone away, then called down to Greta, “Sadie’s so nice. She’s a genuinely nice person.”
“And here you are helping with some light B and E,” Greta said. “What are you going to do about the fact that you’re not a personal trainer or whatever story you told her?”
“She…” Joan glanced at Mark. He would laugh his ass off if he knew who Sadie thought she was. “I really don’t know. She thinks I’m looking for a career change with the food truck and everything.”
“Yeah, but she’ll eventually find out when you get too worked up and fire flies out of you.”
“No hiding that. You of all people know sex can be a complicated affair for me.”
Mark made a pretend grossed-out face.
Nodding, Greta said, “Like you might melt a metal headboard if you’re handcuffed to it.”
“I told you the handcuffs were a bad idea,” Joan said.
“At least I got a new bed out of it.”
“You’re welcome.”
“ Stop ,” Mark groaned. “But also, that was hilarious.”
“It was.” Greta laughed at the memory. “We were running around my house, naked, trying to put out the?—”
“We don’t have to rehash the particulars of that story,” Joan said.
She could never jump into bed with a woman. There were things she had to do first to ensure her body temperature stayed down. Shoot off a few fireballs in the shower beforehand. Plus, other women knew she was Spark. They expected a certain level of heat. Sadie would expect her to absorb energy, not emit it in a fiery blaze.
“Mark has it so much easier,” she said.
“Why?” her brother said.
“You get worked up to room temperature when excited in a personal way.”
“So? Room temperature feels good to me.”
“Is that why you’re such a little slut?” Greta teased.
“You laugh, but that’s a part of it,” Mark said. “And I have a healthy and active social life, thank you so much, common thief.”
He leaned farther into the duct opening. The empty wrapper and napkins from his Cubano fell out from where he’d tucked them in his glove and skittered down the vent.
“Oh, shit,” Joan muttered.
They froze for several long seconds, waiting, listening.
“Damn it, Mark,” Greta snarled.
“My bad,” he whispered loudly.
No alarms were audibly or visibly triggered. Greta continued her descent cautiously. There could still be a silent alarm.
Mark pulled his phone out. “I’ll send in a hot tip that Spark and Ice were seen breaking into Allegria Tower. The Supers love high-profile action more than some car museum alarm going off.”
“True,” Joan said. At most, the cops might show up. Though Greta would lose her bet, which was the far scarier possibility.
Greta landed at the horizontal split in the duct. She unclipped from the line, saying, “Let me drop into one of the cars and do a video call proving I got in. Then we can talk about what to do with this nice girl.”
As she crawled off, Mark peered over the side of the roof. “Aw, crap. We did something.”
“ You did something,” Joan pointed out.
“No, I mean…” He gestured with his chin. “Race just showed up.”
“Shit. Greta’s gonna kill you.”
“She won’t get caught.” Mark waved and called, “Hey! Up here! Long time, no see. What have you been up to?”
“The usual.” Race’s calm voice carried up from street level. “What are you up to?”
“Oh, y’know, just hanging out. Joanie’s here. Come say hi, Joanie.”
She sent Mark a wary look, but complied to take the heat off Greta. “What’s up, Zee?”
When no one was around, they usually reverted to real names with Zee. The Heroes also knew all the Villains’ actual first names. Irving was especially bad about inadvertently using them in public. His invisibility made him forget he could still be heard.
Zee stood with hands on hips, off-white Race gear bright in the harsh floodlight. “We got a report of some suspicious activity,” they said.
Mark gasped. “How terrible. We’ll keep our eyes open for anything untoward.”
“Uh-huh. You, uh…” Zee cocked their head. “You wouldn’t mind coming down here, would you?”
“Aww, what’s the problem? You can’t zigzag up the side of a building?”
“Not yet.”
Resting his arms on the roof’s edge, Mark said, “Where’s your flyboy? Why don’t you send Flight up here?”
A long pause, and then: “He’s on vacation.”
“What?” Mark turned to make a face at Joan. “You get vacation days?”
“Deservedly so, yes,” Zee said.
“Are they paid?”
“Of course.”
“My tax dollars pay for you to take vacations?”
“Do you pay tax dollars?” Zee said at the same time Joan said, “You don’t pay taxes.”
Mark hunched over the ledge. “Do you get medical and dental insurance?”
“That’s all taken care of,” Zee said. “Vision, too.”
“Come on. Nobody gets vision coverage. That’s an urban legend.”
“We do.”
Mark grumbled to himself. Joan shared a look with Zee. She never really minded dealing with them. Race had always been the least greedy of the Supers. The least Justice no matter what . They were actually kind of chill considering super speed was their forte. She’d never admit to it, but Zee cracked her up with their dry wit. In another life, they would’ve been friends.
A black SUV careened around the corner and screeched to a stop. The rear door flew open, and Lunk charged out.
“Yippee!” Mark cheered. “It’s a party now.”
A young white guy scuttled out from the driver’s side. He looked uncomfortable in the dark suit hugging his thick frame.
“New sidekick?” Joan guessed.
“Hi, New Sidekick,” Mark said. “I’d learn your name, but the Supers go through you so fast.”
The floodlight glinted off New Sidekick’s glasses. “The main entrance is to the right,” he said, looking at his phone. “There’s a rear entrance to the left, and a big garage door beyond that.”
Zee pointed up. “They’re on the roof.”
Joan and Mark waved. “Greta had better hurry up,” she muttered through her teeth.
“Give me a boost,” Zee told Lunk.
Lunk cupped his huge hands under one of Zee’s feet. Mark shot down a blast of ice, covering the blacktop. Lunk wobbled like a newborn colt but managed to fling Zee into the air. He then slipped and fell on his ass.
Zee tumbled awkwardly onto the roof. “You wanna take this one?” Mark asked, gesturing to them.
“It’s all you, Mr. Second Cubano with the Errant Wrapper,” Joan said.
Mark cracked his knuckles. “I’ve gotta work off that second Cubano, anyway.”
Zee raced over. Mark sprayed ice around both of them so Zee couldn’t get a solid footing. Joan left them to their sliding and fighting and moved to the duct hole. The faint beam of Greta’s headlamp bounced around the metal.
“I’ll have to piggyback you out of here,” Joan said. “Race and Lunk showed up.”
A string of angry curses echoed upward.
“I don’t think it was an alarm. Probably just us being up here, or that little fire I created.”
“It better not be an alarm. I called my guy from a sweet cherry-red convertible. Even took a few selfies.”
“I’ll vouch for you making good on the terms of your bet.”
“Damn right you will,” Greta stated.
“Joanie?” Mark called. “A little help?”
“In a second,” Joan said. Zee and Mark were across the roof inside a flurry of ice shavings.
She blocked Greta creeping out of the hole as best as she could. Greta unhooked from the line and said, “Let’s go.”
“Hang back for a sec. I don’t want anyone to see you.”
Lunk stood with New Sidekick at the rear entrance. “They have to be misdirecting you,” New Sidekick said. “There’s something going on inside.”
“Stand back. I’ll put a stop to it.” Lunk dug his fingers into each side of the steel door and wrenched it free. The top of the door recoiled and clonked him on the head. He went down like a felled tree.
“Daaaamn,” Greta cackled. Joan simply shook her head.
A shrill alarm began to wail, instantly sobering Greta. “Son of a bitch,” she ground out.
“Mr. Lunk?” New Sidekick bent down, gently slapping the prone Super’s cheeks. “Mr. Lunk? Can you hear me?”
He’d be fine. Hard to tell if Lunk was concussed since he lived in a perpetual state of confusion.
New Sidekick prodded Lunk some more.
“He’s better than the robotic sidekicks were in Destine,” Joan noted.
Greta winced. “Ooh, yeah. That was a whole mess.”
“ Joanie! ” Mark shrieked.
Whoops. Zee had swirled Mark into an ice shell with their super speediness.
“Light it up,” she yelled, running over to him.
Mark managed to get one hand free. He blasted ice at the same time Joan shot a steady stream of fire. The elements connected to form a burst of steam. It rose and thickened, clouding across the rooftop.
Joan set her other hand on the frozen shell and melted it enough for Mark to get free. They used the haze to sprint across the roof and lose Race.
As soon as she spied Greta, Joan called, “Get on.”
Greta hopped up and pressed herself flush against Joan’s back. Joan took several running steps and blazed fire from both hands, careful to keep it out to the sides. They floated over Lunk stirring into consciousness.
“What happened there?” Mark said as he flew alongside them.
“Knocked himself out,” Joan said.
“Again?”
A few blocks later, they coasted down to the dark alley where Greta’s van full of equipment was parked. She pushed off Joan, shaking her arms and legs. “You get hot when you fly,” she said.
“You say that every time,” Joan said.
“Not a complaint. I would love to be able to do what you do. Without all the side effects.”
“Yeah, well, those are part of the deal.”
They got into the back of the van, Joan and Mark quickly pulling off their masks. Joan unzipped her suit to air out. Her white tank top stuck to her sweaty skin.
Her phone vibrated. She pulled it out, smiling at Sadie’s name on the screen.
What about a few rainbows and pride flags on your food truck? Represent LOL
Her smile faded. Here Sadie was, thinking about Hot and Cold at her regular person job while Joan was making a getaway from the Supers with her Supervillain brother and thief best friend. She’d told Sadie she was having a quiet night with them. This didn’t exactly qualify as a quiet night.
Mark chuckled at his phone. “I love SuperWatch. Catch went to Allegria Tower to get us. She’s so predictable.”
Catch. Ugh. Shit. Would Sadie know Catch was out and about? Would she think Joan was texting her while patrolling the streets?
“Sadie again?” Greta said. She set her harness on the narrow work counter.
“Yeah.”
“Then why the long face?”
“She thinks I’m someone else,” Joan said. “A way better person than I am.”
“And that’s a problem?”
“Of course it’s a problem.”
“You can’t tell her who you are.” Greta stated this as fact.
“I just wish I could steer her away from assuming I’m a good guy.”
“You’re the most decent person I know.”
Mark beat Joan in quipping, “That’s not saying much.”
Greta gave them both a withering glare. “I’d tread lightly here. If this goes on for any length of time, the truth will literally come out. She’ll freak the fuck out if you have one of your melty sex-plosions. And you’re too horny not to sleep with her. I’m surprised you haven’t already.”
“Because I’m lying to her,” Joan said. “I don’t like lying to her.”
“But you can’t tell her ,” Greta emphasized.
“ I know. That’s why this sucks.”
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you. Be a skeeze like your brother and hit it and quit it.”
Mark shot her a stink eye and said, “Nobody says skeeze anymore, you sad, pitiful norm who dreams of having superpowers.”
“I’d do a hell of a lot more with them than you.”
The two of them playfully ribbed each other while Joan stripped out of her Spark suit. She was completely stuck in this situation with Sadie. The actual truth couldn’t be an option. She’d be putting more than herself at risk.
Telling her she wasn’t Catch was the obvious solution, but that sucked, too. Sadie would be all, “Why did you lead me to believe you were a Superhero?” And Joan would have to be all, “Because I like you and didn’t want to correct you and also so you’d think I was good and honorable and not know I’m who Catch fights against.”
It would only open the door to more questions she couldn’t answer. Or more lies that would repel Sadie. Telling her she wasn’t a Super meant she was a liar. Another jerk in Sadie’s long line of jerks. No coming back from that.
Shit.