Chapter 43
We had all returned home, and I was glad to note that all of my limbs were still firmly attached to their parent body, and that said body hadn’t sustained any scorch marks of any kind.
In other words: we had skirted close to the edge of disaster but had been snatched from the gaping maw of carnage at the last second. And by none other than Tex, to boot.
“Looks like Tex is the superhero this town has been craving,” said Brutus as we rode home in the good doctor’s car. “Not the Germinator, and not even Gran and her Watch. Tex is the man.”
“Tex is, indeed, the man of the hour,” said Harriet. “And we owe him a big debt of gratitude. Without Tex, we would have been toast—quite literally.”
“I don’t think I like being part of the Neighborhood Watch, you guys,” said Pippy. “I think I’d enjoy being in dog choir much more. At least I wouldn’t get locked up inside a burning garden house loaded chock-full of explosives of every kind.”
When the fire department had shown up, and also the police, they had quickly ascertained that not only had the garden house been loaded to the rafters with explosives, but also the house where Zeke lived.
Looked like the man was one of those hoarders. Only instead of old magazines and figurines of the Smurfs, he hoarded ammo and explosives by the pound.
“Do you really think he is a terrorist, Gran?” asked Dooley. “And do you think he was going to use those explosives to make stuff go boom here in Hampton Cove?”
“Oh, too right he was going to make stuff go boom,” said Gran. “For one thing, if Tex hadn’t intervened, he would have blown up his own neighborhood and not bat an eye while doing it.”
“What are you guys talking about?” asked Tex with a kindly smile.
“Oh, just that maniac who tried to kill us all,” said Gran.
“That was something else, wasn’t it?” said Tex, shaking his head.
He was steering the vehicle with a steady hand in the direction of the old homestead, and the most important part was that he did it without making us nauseous.
Also, he wasn’t running any red lights, and he wasn’t speeding—all in all, the perfect driver, in my personal opinion.
“You saved our lives, Tex,” said Gran. “You are a true hero, do you know that?”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” said the doctor deprecatingly. “I was simply at the right place at the right time.”
“And all because you wanted to say hi to the Germinator,” said Gran. “Good thing you did follow us to the house, or we would have been in some serious trouble.”
“Do you think the Germinator will ever show his face again? I mean, he let you guys down really bad.”
“He did, didn’t he?” But then she shrugged. “Maybe he had some other important business to attend to?”
“What other business could there be? A part of Hampton Cove would have been blown to smithereens if Bill and I hadn’t intervened.”
Looked like Tex had become disenchanted with the superhero already. But then I guess a superhero can’t save everyone. So much stuff goes on in a town over the course of twenty-four hours, and even superheroes have to sleep.
“I’ll bet he’s fast asleep in his lair,” I said therefore. “Or maybe he has decided to take a break? A nice little holiday?”
“Superheroes don’t take holidays, Max,” said Dooley. “Superheroes don’t need holidays because they never get tired, and they never get bored being superheroes.”
“I guess,” I said, even though I had my doubts about all of that.
We had arrived home and were greeted by our anxious-looking humans, who must have been informed about our harrowing adventure.
“Are you sure it was Zeke?” asked Odelia as she gave her grandmother a big hug.
“Yeah, it was him all right. Whole house stuffed full of enough explosives to blow up half the town.”
“He tried to run us down,” said Tex. “Bill and me.”
“What were you and Bill doing out there?” asked Marge.
“Oh, we were just…” He tried to come up with an excuse, and we could all see the wheels of his mind turning over, but in the end, it was clear that he wasn’t coming up with anything useful.
So he sagged and said, “Bill and I wanted to meet the Germinator. So we followed Vesta around, hoping she would lead us to him.”
“And a good thing he did,” said Gran when Marge frowned. “If he hadn’t, we would have been blown up.”
“Zeke has been arrested,” said Gran for Odelia’s sake. “Turns out he has been stealing from the police academy. A little at a time. That’s why his house was full of the stuff.”
“But what was he doing with all of those explosives and ammunition?” asked Chase.
“Selling them to the highest bidder,” said Gran.
“He had decided that the salary he was getting from the police academy wasn’t enough, so he decided to set up a business as a small-time arms dealer and make some extra on the side.
Only when he tried to shift some of those explosives from the armory this afternoon, he accidentally triggered an explosion. ”
“I should have believed you, Gran,” said Odelia ruefully. “You were right all along.”
“You should know by now that I’m always right, honey,” said Gran, feeling vindicated.
“The exact same thing happened in New York,” said Chase. “Zeke was let go from the force after it turned out he was taking bribes from some very dangerous people. In the end, he was picked up again and became an instructor. Something he was pretty bitter about.”
“He told me that you were the corrupt one,” said Odelia.
“Me? Corrupt?” Chase looked indignant. “I never took a dime from anyone, babe.”
“I believe you,” said Odelia as she placed a loving hand on her husband’s chest.
“He probably said that because he was jealous of you, Chase,” said Gran. “Looked like he had a score to settle, which is why I believe he’s the one who tried to set fire to the house—twice.”
“Oh, my God,” said Marge. “And now he almost got you killed, Ma.”
“Oh, well,” said Gran. “All part of the job, honey. Those are the risks that we take.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t do this whole Neighborhood Watch thing anymore. It’s far too dangerous. Going up against all of these criminals?”
“I’m fine!” said Gran. “Not a scratch on me! And we did manage to take down a corrupt cop, so it’s all good, honey.”
“I don’t know,” said Marge. “I don’t like it that you’re out there, Ma. And especially when you’re driving around in that awful tank.”
Gran’s face clouded. “The tank is currently resting at the bottom of a pool,” she said mournfully. “Where Zeke managed to put it—the crazy guy.”
“Oh, so the BearCat is gone?” asked Marge hopefully.
“Yeah, looks like it’s a total loss.” But then she perked up again. “I’m sure it’s insured, though. So I can get myself another one. And maybe even a better one. Newer model. With extra armor and everything.”
“Maybe you should take my old Peugeot again instead,” Marge suggested. “It’s still in the garage, you know.”
“You haven’t sold that old thing?”
“No, because I knew that maybe one day you might need it again.”
Gran hesitated, but finally shrugged. “I might as well take it. I mean, we all know how these insurance people work. It could be months before they pay out, and in the meantime I need wheels. For the Watch.”
“That’s settled, then,” said Marge. “You’ll do your patrols in my lovely old Peugeot. Just like before.”
“Okay,” said Gran, but she didn’t look all that excited about the prospect of doing her patrols in that old jalopy again, and neither did we, for that matter.
“I always get sick in that car,” said Brutus.
“It’s so old it smells,” said Harriet.
“I think it’s charming,” said Dooley.
“And I think it’s time that we all went to bed,” said Odelia. “Let’s go, you guys. You too, little lady,” she said when a window opened upstairs and Grace’s sleepy head appeared.
“Oh, you never let me have fun, Mom,” said Grace as she closed her window again.