As always, thanks Nancy for all the hard work you put into editing this. Parts marked in *** are flashbacks. Any and all feedback is very much welcome!
PART EIGHT
Despite the advice of numerous comic books, generic crime novels, and bad movies; it is not a good idea to participate in any amount of breaking and entering while wearing all black. Think about it: If you were to see a stranger dressed head to toe in black prowling around a street at night while wearing gloves and peering at doorknobs, the first thing you would do is call the police. Also, as much as I wanted to avoid the local authorities I equally didn’t want to do anything that might cause Sproxton to get suspicious. I had pretty much ruled out the idea of video surveillance but that didn’t mean that he hadn’t posted plants along the street to keep an eye on things. So I had to be careful.
Although I labored to avoid certain predictable clichés in my work, it appeared that Sproxton had no such qualms. The place that I had followed him to a couple nights ago looked like it had been pulled out of a textbook for evil bad-guy hideouts. It was some kind of abandoned warehouse along Hobbs Bay, an area that had long since fallen into a slum.
By now, Sproxton would be sitting down for his weekly meeting with Intergang officials as they negotiated towards a deal. My work at The Gentleman’s Club had given me next to nothing so far, so I decided to give Catty Collins the night off. It was time for… umm… ‘some random homeless person’ to take charge. Okay, so maybe I hadn’t put as much background work into this disguise as I should have. If Jay were here, he would’ve chewed me out. But what I lacked in preparation I made up for in exuberance. I wore an old tattered outfit that was more patches than anything. A dark toque was pulled over my matted hair and I wore thick gloves despite the warm spring weather. The casual observer wouldn’t know that the hat and matted hair were to prevent any hairs from falling out while I was in the building and that the gloves were to prevent fingerprints. But among all that stuff, the most effective element of my disguise was the amount of dirt on my person. Seriously, dirt is the single best disguise available. First of all, it grosses people out so much that they won’t even want to look at you for very long. Also, people tend to turn away because they’re embarrassed and they won’t give you money. Not that I’ve never gotten money. A couple years ago, I was on stakeout and I made over thirty dollars in one night. But that’s beside the point.
To accompany my disguise, I walked slowly and with a hunch, barely glancing up from the dirty street. I shuffled up to the door and tried the doorknob, knowing that it would be locked. I then rummaged in my handbag, which of course matched the outfit I wore, and pulled out a rusted old pry bar. I made a show of clumsily wrenching at the door before breaking the lock and entering the warehouse.
I had left quite a mark on the door with my purposefully amateur lock jimmying, but that was all part of the plan. Sproxton was smart. He would notice if there was any signs of tampering on his door at all so my next best move was to distract him with some obvious scratches and hope he would disregard the more skilled ones.
The actual warehouse was empty, but there was a little corner office that I spotted to my right that seemed to be the only logical place for a criminal hideaway. This time I used a more delicate approach to opening the door, bringing out a series of thin metal tools, and being extra careful not to scratch the area around the lock. Once inside, I removed my dirty outdoor gloves to reveal clean latex ones. That way I wouldn’t get any suspicious dirt on any of the surfaces in here. The room inside was a sterilized version of a personal office. The walls were covered with a nasty shade of green that had last been applied some time ago. There was a desk and chair in the center of the room with a small lamp and pencil cup sitting atop it. The only other furnishing in the room was a dented metal filing cabinet in the far corner. I didn’t have much time. I was already taking a huge risk just by coming here without backup, and I didn’t need to increase that risk by hanging around this office waiting for Sproxton to come back from The Gentleman’s Club. I quickly flipped through the file folders in the cabinet, looking for names that I didn’t recognize as legit operations. ‘Project Titan’ was at the very back of the drawer. I brought it out and began taking pictures of each and every page with my digital camera. I would read the actual contents of the file when I was safer.
Once I finished taking the pictures, I slipped the papers back into the folder and placed it in the exact same spot I had found it, then eased the drawer shut. I visually scanned the room making sure everything was left exactly the way it was before I entered, then shut the door after me, making sure it was locked. Now it was time to distract Sproxton.
I took out the pry bar I had used on the outside door and made a couple of clumsy gashes on his office door, but being sure to keep the lock intact. Then I emptied the disgustingly dirty purse I carried with me and gathered all the garbage I had collected previously into a small pile which I lit on fire. The general story I was going for was that a squatter had managed to break the outside lock and come in for some shelter. The squatter tried to break the office door, maybe looking for valuables, but failed. Then the squatter used what little junk he or she had to create a small fire to warm him or herself. With luck, Sproxton would buy it, and wouldn’t look too closely at any other evidence I may have inadvertently left.
I double checked that my camera was still in my purse, and then shifted into the same pitiable women who had broken in as I shuffled back outside.
* * *
***Jon walked over to Amanda’s desk that morning cautiously, trying to gauge the mood she was in.
“Hi, Mandy,” he said hesitantly.
“Hey,” she said, glancing up at him, giving him a small smile.
“How was your night after I left?”
“I was up late,” she replied. “Thinking through things.” Jon sat down at the chair opposite her.
“And?”
“And I don’t know yet, Jon.” She sighed. “It’s going to take me a while to adjust to the new reality.” She picked up her mug and took a sip, grimacing at the cold coffee. “Ugh.”
“Here.” Jon pulled down his glasses and stared at the cup as the liquid inside began to heat up.
“Are you…?” Amanda wrapped her hands around the cup to feel its new warmth. “Wow. I didn’t think you did stuff like that here. You know, in public.”
“Only when other people aren’t watching,” he explained. “I don’t want to do anything to make them suspicious.” Noting her thunderstruck expression, he bent in closer to her. “Are you okay, Mandy?”
“Yes. No. Argh! I don’t know,” she admitted exasperatedly. “I’m just not sure what to do with all of this. This whole thing about being one of the only people outside your immediate family who knows the secret is scary. It puts a ton of pressure on our relationship and I guess right now I really need you to-” A police siren drowned out the words she said next.
“Could you hold onto that thought, Mandy?” Jon interrupted. “I’ve gotta run, there’s an emergency I have to help out with.” He stood and exited the newsroom, failing to hear the words she spoke next.
“I really need you to be supportive.”***
* * *
“Okay everyone!” I called the class to order. “As you all know we have a special guest coming to talk to us today so please get settled into your seats and we can get started.”
“Miss S?”
“Yes Sarah?”
“Is it that councilwoman who’s going to come today?”
“No she ditched on us, didn’t she, Miss S?”
“City council was holding a vote on a very important matter today, Rob. Mrs. Stanford had to be at the meeting.” At least Mrs. Stanford *thought* it was important. I had a different opinion, but of course I didn’t say any of that to the class. It was hard enough to teach some of these students to respect society without espousing my own contentions.
“Mrs. Burg wouldn’t tell us who was coming,” another student complained.
“That’s because Miss Stewart wouldn’t tell me either.” My friend Thea winked at me from the back of the classroom.
“Are you gonna tell us now, Miss S?”
“Yeah, who’s coming to speak to us?” Jor had probably been listening behind the door, waiting for the perfect cue to enter because right after Rob asked that question the door to the classroom burst open and Supernova strode confidently into the room.
I shared in the collective gasp with the class. His boots shone, his cape flapped majestically in the air-conditioner created breeze, and he proudly bore the crest of the House of El on his chest. He held his head erect, and his posture was flawlessly rigid. I hadn’t seen him like this since our very first meeting in that alleyway almost three months ago. Seeing him acting like a superhero again after all the time we had spent together casually gave me a bit of a shock. Luckily I was able to compose myself as he drew up to me and stuck out his hand to shake mine.
“Supernova,” I clasped his hand. “Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. All the students here are very excited to meet you. I’m sure it must’ve been difficult to come on such short notice.”
“Thank you, Miss Stewart,” he replied stoically, “Nothing is to too much trouble when it comes to giving to the community.” At that moment I couldn’t recall if he actually sounded like that when he was Supernova in public or if he was just hamming it up for my benefit. Whatever the motivation, I struggled to maintain a straight face.
“I’m sure your visit today will be something that the students will remember for years to come.”
“And I hope that Riverview as a whole will also benefit from this visit.” Jor reached behind his back, drawing out an envelope and held it out to me. “I understand you’ve been searching for funds to pay for a new computer lab here. The Superman Foundation has decided to offer their support to the cause.” The sudden gift stunned me. He hadn’t mentioned anything about possibly donating something to the school.
“T-thank you!” I squeaked, and tried to bring myself under control. “Your support is very much appreciated.” I grasped the envelope, and there was an intense pause between the two of us as we both caught each other’s eyes. At our first meeting I had found his nobler-than-thou attitude irritating, but now that I was seeing him in the suit for the first time in quite a while I found it kind of… Well, you know. A fierce blush roared across my face. I cleared my throat and hastily made my way to the back of the classroom to join Thea before my body language betrayed me any more. As it turned out, I was far from safe from the scrutiny of others.
“Okay, spill it,” Thea murmured in my ear. It was a large classroom and we were far enough out of everyone’s way for us to carry on a quiet conversation.
“What are you talking about?” I asked innocently.
“You and Supernova,” she explained. “There’s something going on between the two of you.” I forced a scoff out of the back of my throat while fighting the sudden nervousness rising in my stomach.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Thea. I just got him to come speak to the class, that’s the only reason why I know him.”
“Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get one of them to come out to an event?” Thea retorted. “You have to write to the Superman Foundation in advance and explain all about your organization, providing a ton of background information and even then there’s no guarantee someone will come. We’re talking months of planning in advance and you managed to get a hold of him in a little over a week. And I can tell just by the way you were looking at him, Kaylie. You guys have some kind of history and I want to hear all about it.” My dad had taught me that if someone has cornered you with the truth and you are forced to admit something, it is best to only admit as little as you can get away with, that way your accuser is placated but the majority of your secret is still intact.
“Okay, fine,” I surrendered. “He saved me from some muggers downtown but during the rescue I accidentally twisted my ankle. He felt bad about it, and asked me if there was anything he could do to make it up. I couldn’t think of anything at the time but when the whole Melinda Stanford problem came up I called in my favor.”
“Hmm,” she mused. “I would’ve asked for a thorough kissing if I was you.”
“Thea!” I exclaimed, my face instantly heating up as I tried desperately to avoid thinking of all the times he *had* given me a thorough kissing. Very thorough.
“What?” she asked calmly. “Supernova hands you carte blanche and all you can think of is your class? Kaylie, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: you need to get yourself some action.”
* * *
Thea’s comments worried me more than I wanted to admit. Hiding my real emotions and motives should have been something close to second nature for me, but apparently all it took was keen observance on Thea’s part to see right through me. I also received another blow to my esteem when I was finally able to review the pictures I had taken from Sproxton’s office.
Project Titan appeared to be some kind of satellite guided, heat signature targeted “elimination system”. The problem was that the designated targets were never referred to by name throughout the whole file. In keeping with the Greek mythology theme they were only referred to as “Kronos and his children”. I couldn’t nail him for authorizing illegal weapons testing unless I could be sure that the targets weren’t actually official ones.
So my big risk had had almost no payoff. Now more than ever I was lamenting the loss of my brother. He was my conduit into the underground and without him I had to plan every contact I made carefully to avoid drawing attention to myself. I had received a postcard from him last week saying that “Aunt Ethel is faring well” which was our basic code to tell each other that we were still alive doing whatever it was that we were doing at the moment. But even though Jay was doing well, I knew it could be weeks if not months before he eliminated the other possibilities and I was growing frustrated with my inability to find any hard proof to stick onto Sproxton.
That was how Jor found me that night, sitting amidst a pile of marking that needed to be done the next day wallowing in self disgust.
“Hey,” he greeted me as he came in from the balcony.
“Hey,” I responded shortly, not looking up from my task.
“What’s going on? I thought we had a date tonight.”
“I have to cancel. This grading needs to be done for tomorrow and I’ll be up all night trying to finish it.” I didn’t mean to sound so curt with him but he must’ve picked up something in my tone.
“Kaylie, are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I told him shortly.
“Is this about that money I brought for the school today? I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable but when I told my dad that I was coming he suggested that I bring a donation and-”
“Do you know how unfair it is that you can talk to your family about me and I can’t talk to anyone about you?” I interrupted.
“Is that what’s upsetting you?” he asked warily.
“No, it’s not.” I scrunched my face up and relaxed it to relieve some of the tension that was building up inside me. “I’m sorry I snapped at you, Jor. It’s just that Thea came pretty close to figuring us out earlier today and that worries me. And work is getting stressful right now and I hate having to cancel on you. And it bugs me that when I have to cancel our date I couldn’t just call you like in a normal relationship, I had to wait around for you to come pick me up and then disappoint you.” I sighed deeply. “But none of that is your fault and I shouldn’t be taking it out on you.”
“It may not be my fault Kaylie, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about it. If something is worrying you you shouldn’t have to hide it.” He crossed the room and sat beside me on the sofa. “So you said that Thea was suspicious of our relationship?”
“Yeah.” I twiddled with my pen restlessly. “She knew that you can’t get Supernova to come to a dinky third rate school without some kind of inside influence, and apparently she noticed some of the chemistry going on between us when you first came in. I told her an edited version of our first meeting and just said that I was calling in a favor to get you to come.”
“And she bought it?”
“Yeah.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“The problem is that it shouldn’t have happened at all,” I told him in frustration. “I shouldn’t be that transparent and it worries me that the first time we’re ever seen in public together all it takes is a little observation to come dangerously close to the truth.” Jor placed his arm around my shoulder to calm me.
“Relax, Kaylie. It’ll be okay,” he reassured me.
“How?” I demanded.
“Well I don’t know about you but I can’t really think of any other circumstances where Supernova and Kaylie Stewart would appear in public together. And even if we did, now we know to be extra careful. I don’t think either of us felt a need to be cautious in that classroom today, I know I wasn’t exactly as subtle as I should’ve been. But I’m sure we will be in the future.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
“And now about the other thing…”
“Jor, I didn’t really mean the thing about not having a way to contact you. I was just venting.”
“No, you have a point, Kaylie. It’s hardly fair that I just drop in on you whenever I want but you have no way of finding me.” He thought for a moment. “I think I may have something that might work. I’ll see if I can get it for our date tomorrow night.”
“We don’t have a date tomorrow night,” I pointed out.
“That was before you cancelled tonight,” he retorted. “Tomorrow is a remedial date.”
“Okay,” I smiled.
“That is unless you want me to take care of all this pesky marking for you. It’ll only take a couple seconds.”
“I wish,” I sighed wistfully. “But that would be a breach of my confidentiality agreement. I have to do it all myself.”
“Well,” Jor stood up. “Until tomorrow then.”
“Definitely tomorrow,” I agreed, and then stood up so we were level enough to kiss. “Thank you for listening.”
“Just being a good boyfriend,” he replied.
“Mmm. And you are. The best I could ever hope for.”
