Hero Force United Boxed Set 1

by Baron Sord

  SLAP!

  Another whack to my shoulder.

  With the danger over, her beauty reasserted its pleasantly hypnotic effect.

  I stared.

  At her cyan eyes.

  Not the rest of her, but I wanted to.

  “What?” she giggled.

  I ran my hand through my hair nervously, “Hey, uh, I know your answer will probably be no, but can I get your phone number? In case there’s another emergency like this? So I don’t have to come barging in here a second time?”

  “I thought you said you called me from Jeff’s and left messages. Don’t you have it?”

  “I do,” I said guiltily, “but I’m trying not to remember your number without your permission.” Yes, I had memorized it.

  “Oh,” she rolled her eyes.

  At that moment, a new bouncer wearing a vest and holding a clipboard came walking up. “Lace, you’re on the main stage in two songs.”

  Kristy nodded at him, “Thanks, Eddie.”

  “Two songs,” Eddie insisted.

  “I heard you!” she grumbled.

  Eddie smirked at her then shot me a look.

  I frowned at him, “What?”

  Eddie looked at his clipboard, jotted something on it with a pen, then pointed the pen at Kristy, “Two songs. Main stage. Get moving.”

  She sneered at him, “I’m not deaf, Eddie!”

  Eddie walked away.

  Kristy shook her head with irritation then turned to me, “What were we talking about?”

  “Lace?” I grinned.

  “You have a problem with Lace? It’s better than the Masked Jumper.”

  “Is it?” I said with amusement.

  She smirked, “Oh, it is. Now get out of here before I go onstage.”

  “What happens if I don’t leave?”

  “I knee you in the beans for real.”

  “The beans?” I chuckled.

  “Just go already,” she groaned, trying to hide a giggle.

  “Give me permission to remember your phone number and I will. For Jeff’s sake.”

  She smiled and sighed, “Okaaaaay. You can remember it. But only for Jeff’s sake. I mean, if you need something for Jeff. Don’t start calling me just to chat or whatever. And don’t text me. I hate texting.”

  I nodded, “Can I call you for other emergencies?”

  “What kind?”

  “I don’t know. The emergency kind.”

  She huffed, “Fine. But only if it’s an actual emergency. Now get out of here!” She pushed me with both hands. “I need to go check my face before I go on.”

  “It’s perfect.”

  “What?”

  “Your face is perfect.”

  She rolled her cyan eyes, “You’re blind.”

  “No I’m not. Oh, can you give me Jeff’s cell number? In case he isn’t at his trailer and I have to find him at whichever hospital he’s at?”

  “Would you?” Her appreciation was genuine.

  “Of course,” I said.

  “Give me your phone and I’ll punch it in.”

  “My phone’s in the car.”

  “Can you remember it if I tell you?”

  “Easily.”

  She stood on her tiptoes and whispered Jeff’s number in my ear then said, “Now quit stalling. I really need to get backstage.” She strutted away on her platform heels without looking back.

  My heart stopped.

  That ass.

  I had never seen one so perfect.

  —: Chapter 55 :—

  Outside, I sat behind the wheel of Arnold’s Prius and created a contact card on my Robot phone for KristyLaceious. I also made one for Jeff before starting the car and driving toward Spring Valley to check up on him.

  With a 20 minute drive to get there, I couldn’t resist calling Stazia.

  On the fourth ring, her phone went to voicemail.

  She had probably gone to bed.

  I left a casual voicemail asking her to call me whenever.

  When I arrived at Jeff’s trailer, he was gone.

  I called his cell phone.

  He answered, sounding cranky as hell. Told me he was at the hospital getting stitches. I asked which one and went to get him. When the doctors finished fixing him up, I drove him back to his trailer park in Arnold’s Prius.

  The pain meds the doctors gave Jeff made him drowsy, so I helped him into the back bedroom of his trailer and laid him on his bed so he could rest. Took his shoes off, pulled a blanket over him, and turned out the lights.

  I went back to the living room area, opened the nearest long box of comics, and pulled out a random comic book to pass the time.

  Sat down in Jeff’s easy chair in a pool of darkness with only a lone reading light turned on to push back the gloom. The comic I’d selected was an old 1990s issue of Venom vs. Wolverine penciled by Joe St. Pierre. While flipping through it and geeking out on the Todd McFarlane-esque artwork — call Pierre’s early style a mashup of McFarlane and Humberto Ramos — my mind eventually wandered back to Gray Eyes.

  Now there was no question — Gray Eyes and his FwCKing thugs had beat up Jeff.

  Would they come back to Jeff’s trailer tonight?

  If they did, I would be here waiting. This time, I wouldn’t play nice.

  Hopefully they would never come back.

  I couldn’t be here for Jeff 24/7.

  I had other lives to save.

  Jeff aside, I still had to worry about Gray Eyes. Would he come back for his money in a week? Probably. If Kristy and I didn’t pay, would he try and hurt Kristy or me? Probably. I wasn’t worried about me. Me I could take care of. My hope was Kristy could take care of herself too, not that I wanted her to be forced to handle Gray Eyes alone, but she seemed to want it that way.

  I also worried about Kristy’s family and friends, whoever they where and wherever they might be. From everything I knew about Gray Eyes, if he couldn’t hurt me or Kristy directly, I suspected he would go after our loved ones.

  The person I was most worried about was Arnold. If Gray Eyes and his goons somehow tracked down Arnold, they might try to execute him like they had Bloody Tied-Up Vince.

  Arnold needed to know the situation, so I called him.

  He answered with a groan, “What the hell, Doug? Do you have any idea how late it is?”

  “Yes,” I whispered. “You need to drive up to your parents’ house tonight, and you need to leave now. Pack a bag and go.”

  “No freaking way. I’m sleeping.”

  I whispered, “You’re awake now. Stop arguing and go. This is very important. You can be at their house in an hour. I’m sure your parents will be happy to see you.”

  “Not this late, they won’t.”

  “Do it, Arnold,” I insisted.

  “Okay, with what car?”

  “Huh?”

  “You have my Prius. How am I supposed to drive there?”

  “Do you know anyone whose car you can borrow?”

  “In the middle of the night?” Arnold asked, irritated.

  It was on me to figure this out.

  Arnold barked, “Forget it, Doug. I’m going to sleep. Bye!”

  “Wait! What if I can find someone to give you a ride?”

  “No, Doug! I’m going to freaking sleep.”

  “What if I can get Kristy to drive you to Newport?”

  “Kristy Kristy?”

  “Yes, her.”

  Silence from Arnold for a moment, then excitement, “I’ll be waiting outside in five minutes!”

  “Wait,” I said. “I have to text her first. Knowing her, she won’t answer.”

  “Go ahead,” Arnold said, brimming over with excitement. “I’ll wait.”

  “Let me call you back after I text her.”

  “Okay. I’ll get ready to roll.”

  I ended the call and texted Kristy: I need an emergency favor.

  Considering it was almost 3:00am, I wasn’t expecting a reply until tomorrow. Or never. My pho
ne buzzed instantly.

  KristyLaceious: Is it about Jeff?

  Me: Tangentially.

  KristyLaceious: Speak English, please.

  Me: I need you to drive Arnold to Newport Beach.

  KristyLaceious: When?

  Me: Now, if you can.

  KristyLaceious: I thought this was about Jeff.

  I groaned and texted: It’s in relation to what happened tonight.

  I waited for dancing dots from Kristy, but there weren’t any.

  Two minutes later, I got irritated and texted her: If you don’t want to help, fine. Tell me now so I can figure something else out.

  KristyLaceious: Sorry. I’m busy leaving work right now. Can’t you drive him?

  Me: I’m at Jeff’s. I have to either leave Jeff by himself or find someone who can drive Arnold.

  KristyLaceious: Oh yeah.

  KristyLaceious: Where is Arnold now?

  Me: At my house.

  KristyLaceious: Where is that again?

  Me: Where you dropped me off the day we met. In Bankers Hill. Remember?

  KristyLaceious: I forget where it is. SORRY. What’s the address already?

  Her annoyance came through perfectly clearly.

  Grumbling, I texted her the address and added: Can you get him now? Not in an hour? This is very important.

  KristyLaceious: Yes now. I said I would.

  Me: Are you going there now?

  KristyLaceious: YES! STOP ASKING! I’LL BE THERE IN 10 MINUTES!

  Smirking, I called Arnold.

  He answered excitedly, “Did she say yes?”

  “Yeah. She’s on her way.”

  “Awesome! I’m waiting outside!”

  “Arn?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Mind your manners with Kristy.”

  “Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You figure it out,” I grumbled.

  “I’m offended, Doug.”

  “Just behave, okay?”

  “Why? She’s my ex-girlfriend, not yours,” he said with amusement.

  I grumbled, “She was never your girlfriend! She was your pretend girlfriend! And that didn’t even last 24 hours! Twelve at best!”

  “I think it was closer to 24,” Arnold snickered.

  “No, sixteen! At best! We took you to the hospital in the middle of the night and she was gone before dinner! That’s less than sixteen hours!”

  “Seriously, Doug?” Arnold chortled, “Why do you care about who gets Kristy?”

  “I don’t care who gets her!”

  “Ah ha ha ha,” Arnold chuckled. “Your denial is paper thin, Doug. Tracing paper thin. I can see right through it.”

  Irritated, I said, “I need to go. Call me if you need anything. And text me when you get to your parents house so I know you’re there. Otherwise, we’ll talk tomorrow.”

  Tomorrow, I would get Arnold up to speed about the latest developments involving Gray Eyes, but we would have to do it in person. I’d work out the logistics of that in the morning.

  —: Chapter 56 :—

  Arnold Beaks was buzzing with excitement when he saw the car drive up to the gate in front of his house. He never stopped to think it might be Gray Eyes or one of his goons because Doug hadn’t yet told him about what had happened to Jeff Strickland at his trailer or about going to Flashbacks where he and Kristy had run into Gray Eyes.

  Arnold trotted into the street and opened the car door without a second thought.

  His mind was blown a moment later.

  An explosion of hotness smacked him in the face.

  Every time he saw Kristy, he got wood.

  She was wearing a tight T-shirt and tight jeans. The shirt was so short, her stomach showed. With her big hair and big boobs and tiny waist, she was so freaking hot, Arnold couldn’t stand it. He couldn’t help his wood either.

  “Hey, Arnold,” Kristy smiled.

  “Hey, Kristy,” Arnold said is he dropped into the passenger seat, trying to hide his wood.

  Ever since the hospital, when she had almost convinced him she was his girlfriend — it was the happiest day of Arnold’s life, even though he knew she was faking — he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Every night since, he had fantasized about having sex with her in every position possible. Some nights he fantasized with his left hand, some nights with his right, some nights with both at the same time.

  “Where are we going?” Kristy asked.

  “My parents house.”

  “They live in Newport Beach?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay.”

  “Do you know how to get to the freeway from here?”

  “Totally,” Kristy said and started driving.

  Arnold said, “Sorry to bother you like this. I don’t know what’s up Doug’s ass tonight.”

  “A gerbil,” Kristy snickered.

  “Ten gerbils,” Arnold laughed.

  “Ten million,” Kristy giggled.

  Arnold chuckled, “It’s too tight to hold that many.”

  “Right?!” Kristy grinned, her cyan eyes gleaming. Kristy didn’t know Doug nearly as well as Arnold did, but she had a good sense for people’s personalities from dancing for a living, and she knew Doug was a total tight-ass. In the good way and the bad way.

  For the next hour, Arnold had Kristy laughing continuously by making jokes about Doug or by sharing funny stories about Doug’s past. Arnold knew Doug better than anybody.

  Arnold also told her stories about the distress missions he did with Doug.

  Obviously, Kristy was impressed.

  Arnold knew how badass the stories made him look. He didn’t even have to stretch the truth. He and Doug had gotten into all kinds of crazy drama since Doug got his powers. Too bad he couldn’t tell the stories to any other women. Doug had made him promise not to tell anybody. Doug wouldn’t care if he told Kristy. They knew her secret and she knew theirs. It wasn’t a problem.

  “Wow, Arnold,” Kristy said after hearing yet another insane story from Arnold. “That’s really brave of you to go out there with Doug like that. You don’t have any powers.”

  Arnold shrugged, “It’s no big deal. I wear a bulletproof vest.”

  “Try not to get shot again, okay?” Kristy warned with genuine concern.

  “Eh. So what? Cops get shot all the time.”

  “I’m serious, Arnold. You could die out there.”

  “I haven’t yet,” Arnold grinned.

  For the first time in his life, Arnold realized how cool he was becoming. He also knew it was a stretch that a hottie like Kristy would ever be interested in a fat slob like him. Women never liked Arnold. Not even the ugly ones. Not in that way. Anyway, Kristy wasn’t acting interested. Or was she? Arnold wasn’t sure, because he couldn’t read her mind like Doug could, but she was laughing at his stories like she liked him. Laughing like crazy.

  Did that mean she did like him?

  Arnold hid a smile.

  A very happy smile.

  —: o o o :—

  “Is this it?” Kristy asked when her car stopped outside Arnold’s parents’ Newport Beach estate. “It’s huge.”

  “It’s nothing,” Arnold said. “I have to punch in a code at the gate.” He climbed out of the car, left the passenger door open, trotted up to the stone column, and poked the buttons on the keypad until the gate opened. Then he ran back to the car and dropped back in the seat. “You better drive in before the gate closes.”

  Kristy nodded and drove up a long driveway.

  It was 4:15am and still dark out, but the driveway was lit with custom lights starting at the gate, and going along the large lawns, and all the way up to the sprawling mansion.

  “Wow, Arnold,” Kristy marveled while they drove. “How rich are you guys?”

  Arnold’s parents had drilled it into his head that he should never tell women about his money. If he did, they wouldn’t want him for him. Arnold had ignored their advice several times during his college years, but it ha
d never gotten him laid, or even gotten him a date. Now, he knew better. The last thing he wanted was Kristy pretending she liked him because of his money, which wasn’t even his. It was his parents’.

  He said uncomfortably, “It’s nothing.”

  “Okaaaay,” Kristy laughed a denial.

  She drove the car around the circle driveway until they were turned around, then stopped.

  Arnold said, “Thanks again for the ride.”

  Kristy smiled, “No worries.”

  Arnold was shaking with excitement when he said, “I know it’s really late. You can sleep here if you want. I mean, if you’re tired or whatever. My parents won’t mind. They have lots of guest rooms and they like you.”

  Kristy said, “Oh, it’s cool. I’m always wired after work. I can’t sleep for hours. Plus, people need my help, especially up here.”

  “Distress missions?”

  “Yeah, those,” she grinned. “LA is always crazy on Friday nights.”

  “Totally,” Arnold nodded. He could tell she was making excuses to leave, but he wasn’t giving up. He said, “Hey, if you get tired on your way home from Los Angeles later, you can always crash here.”

  “Oh, thanks, Arnold. I really appreciate it, but I’m good.”

  “My parents won’t mind.”

  Kristy smiled, “If I’m really tired, maybe I will.”

  “Yeah,” Arnold said hopefully, but he had heard more excuses from women over the years than he could remember. He thought about leaning over and kissing her. But Doug had told him to behave himself.

  “I should go, Arnold,” Kristy said flatly.

  “Yeah,” Arnold muttered. “Hey, you wouldn’t want to…”

  Kristy reached over and put her hand on Arnold’s chubby forearm. She said, “Arnold, you’re really nice. I mean that. And funny too. Wicked funny. I know there’s a woman out there for you, but she isn’t me.”

  “Huh? What ever gave you that idea?” He snorted a laugh. “That’s ridiculous.”

  Kristy smirked, “Didn’t Doug tell you I can read minds like he can?”

  “Yeah,” Arnold sighed with disappointment. “He did. He tells me everything.”

  “Did he tell you I fly solo?”

  “He did.”

  “It’s not you, Arnold. I promise. It’s me.”