Hero Force United Boxed Set 1

by Baron Sord

  “Me,” I said seriously.

  “I hope you plan on driving me to work every single day. I’ll be safe once I’m at SPAWAR. He’ll have to go through the United States Navy to get me there. But here? Who knows. His men might break in while I’m sleeping, like you said before. We need to kill him.”

  “I can sleep on the couch. Or upstairs outside your door.”

  “Do you plan on sleeping with one eye open?”

  “What happened to you not being worried about him? The last time I brought this up, you were completely dismissive of my concerns.”

  “Things change. Now I want him dead. When he has beetles crawling out his dead ass and eating his dead eyeballs, then and only then can I sleep soundly.”

  “We’re not killing him,” I said with finality.

  “Okay, then what are we doing?”

  “Let me see… I already know I’ll hear your distress call if they try anything. What if we both sleep in the guest house?”

  “It’s too small.”

  “Then I should sleep in one of the other bedrooms upstairs.”

  Arnold thought for a moment, “What if they put a bomb in the house while we’re both at work? Neither of us will see it coming. Ka-boom. I’m dead. We need to kill him.”

  I reasoned, “He doesn’t know our names. He doesn’t know where we live. If we keep our heads down, he’ll never figure out who we are.”

  “Good luck with that, Wildfire. The more famous you get, the more likely everyone is gonna know who we are and where we live.”

  “We can move.”

  “Hell no! I’m not moving out of my family’s house. That’s why we should kill Gray Ass before he has a chance to make a move. Unless you want to move out? Find your own place in the middle of the desert so no one else gets hurt when Gray Ass tries to bomb you in your sleep? I’m sure you can live out at Heph’s.”

  I grimaced, “The commute from there to YouDoIt would be insane.”

  He smirked, “That’s why we need to kill Gray Ass, Doug. Now, when he’s not expecting it.”

  I sighed, “Do you realize that now you sound like the bad guy?”

  He shrugged, “He almost killed me. Need I say more?”

  “I can’t kill someone in cold blood. Period.” I had killed enough people by accident. I didn’t want to carry the guilt of doing it on purpose. Gray Eyes needed to be brought to justice, not lynched. “Besides, I don’t even know where to find him.”

  “Yeah you do. At Flashbacks in a week. Stake the place out. We’ll follow him home and kill him where he sleeps.”

  “Listen to you, Arnold. You sound like a murderer.”

  “He’s the murderer. Him and his men. How many people did they kill at that warehouse? Or that guy Vince at the rock quarry. What about him?”

  “We don’t know for sure that Gray Eyes killed Vince. He only implied it.”

  “Don’t be dense, Doug. He killed Vince because he’s evil, pure and simple. Evil needs to be stopped. If we don’t stop him, he’ll kill somebody else. I guarantee it. Even better, if we kill him, we kill two birds with one stone.”

  “Which birds?”

  “Him and his plan to extort a fortune from you.”

  “Good point.” I sighed thoughtfully. “Maybe we should call Kristy and ask what she thinks. She’s on the hook for the money too.”

  “Yeah. Call her.”

  I nodded, “With her help, I could easily take down Gray Eyes when he’s leaving Flashbacks next Friday, then take him to the police.”

  “What about me?” Arnold asked.

  “Huh?”

  “I’m helping too.”

  “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

  “I won’t get hurt.”

  I leveled a glare at him. “You were shot by Gray Eyes the last time. Or did you forget already?”

  “Relax. What are the chances of me getting shot twice?”

  I simply glared at Arnold.

  He said, “Look, I can be the lookout. Flashbacks is huge. You’ll need me to keep an eye on things.”

  “Have you been there?”

  “Yeah.”

  “When?” I demanded. “Not since I met Kristy and told you not to go there, I hope.”

  “No,” he said. “The guys at work go there for lunch sometimes. I haven’t been in months.”

  “How many months?”

  “Geez, Doug. I haven’t seen Kristy there, okay? I would’ve remembered. She probably works nights. Anyway, we should call her and make plans.”

  “I’ll call her later. She’s probably still sleeping after driving you to Newport last night. How was that, by the way?”

  “Fiiiine,” Arnold said cagily.

  “Are you hiding something, Arn?”

  “Noooo,” he said like he was hiding something.

  “Did you not mind your manners like I asked?”

  “No! I totally minded them! So stop asking! And don’t read my freaking thoughts, you freaking mind reader.”

  “I’m not reading your thoughts,” I grumbled. Out of respect for Arnold, I did my best to block them out.

  “You’re not reading them now, are you?”

  “Give me a second. I think I can block them out.” I focused on his mental signals for a moment. When I sensed his, I imagined them scrambling. Don’t ask how. It was more of an intuitive thing, but it worked. I said, “Okay, try now. Think something specific.”

  Arnold nodded. Looked thoughtfully around the room for a few moments, then stared right at me and said, “What am I thinking?”

  “All I’m getting is static.” It was true.

  “Good. Wait, are you sure?”

  “Yes, Arn. I’m not hearing your thoughts.”

  “Perfect. Now call Kristy already so we can tell her about Gray Ass.”

  “I told you, she’s probably asleep. I imagine she’s tired after last night.”

  “You’re not tired are you?”

  “No. I got some sleep at Jeff’s trailer. You know how I need less since getting my powers. What does that have to do with Kristy?”

  “She has powers, so she probably isn’t tired either. Call her already!”

  “Okay! Stop asking! I’ll fricking call her. Give me two minutes.”

  “Why?”

  “I have to take a fricking leak! Is that okay with you?”

  “Okay, okay.”

  —: Chapter 58 :—

  I put my Robot phone on speaker and dialed. Set it down on the kitchen table between me and Arnold.

  Even though I had talked to Stazia earlier today, I was looking forward to talking to Kristy. I always liked talking to her, no matter how annoying she could be.

  The phone rang once.

  Twice.

  Three times.

  I said, “She’s probably sleeping. It’s going to voicemail.” I grabbed the phone off the table, preparing to leave a message.

  “IS THIS DOUG?!” Kristy shouted.

  I was so startled, I dropped the phone clattering to the table.

  “THIS BETTER NOT BE DOUG!”

  Arnold snickered quietly, “She sounds pissed.”

  “Sorry,” I said to the phone. “Did we wake you?”

  Kristy shouted, “Jesus, Doug! Why are you calling me so early?!”

  I smirked, “Arnold insisted. He’s sitting right here. I’ve got you on speaker.”

  Kristy barked, “Is this an emergency, you guys?! This better be an emergency!”

  “Uhhh…” I stammered, “…not an immediate emergency. Maybe we should call you back later?”

  “No! You already woke me! Tell me what you want so I can go back to sleep!”

  I flashed a look at Arnold.

  He nodded.

  I said, “We’re calling about last night. So we can discuss what we’re going to do.”

  “Ugh! That’s not for a week! Can’t we talk about it later?”

  “There’s been a slight change of plans…” I said suggestively.

 
“Oh, please, Doug! Would you just tell me already so I can go back to sleep?! I’m working again tonight! Tell me already!”

  This would be so much easier if Kristy could read my thoughts over the phone, which she clearly couldn’t. With as much foreboding as I could manage, I said, “Arnold thinks we need to handle things. You know?”

  The other end of the line was silent.

  After a moment, I said, “Are you still there?”

  “Yes I’m still here,” she huffed. “What kind of handling?”

  Arnold said, “The kind that comes with a lifetime guarantee.”

  “What?!” She let out a confused laugh. “Wait. Are you saying… Never mind. I get it. We should meet somewhere to talk about this.”

  “Agreed,” I said. “What’s easiest for you?”

  She said, “Do you know where the lighthouse is in Oceanside Harbor? The one at the shopping center?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Meet me there in three hours. I’m going back to sleep. And don’t either of you call me before then! I don’t care if the world is blowing up! Don’t effing call me! Bye!”

  The line went dead and I ended the call on my Robot.

  Arnold grinned at me, “Don’t you just love her?”

  I smirked, “Actually, I was thinking that Stazia is not even 1/100th as annoying as Kristy.”

  “What happened with her anyway? Have you talked to her since she kicked you to the curb?”

  I grinned, “She texted me last night. We talked this morning.”

  “Good for you, Doug! Are things back on with her? Tell me they are. Tell me she figured out how awesome you are.”

  “We’ll see,” I beamed. “I’m hoping so.”

  “Me too. She totally deserves a guy like you.”

  “You think?” I said with some disbelief.

  “Are you kidding?! What’s not to love about you, Doug?! Just don’t do anything dumb with her, and she’s yours. I saw the way she kissed you. She wants you, dude. Stazia is all yours if you want her. You want her, right?”

  “Of course,” I snorted. “Who wouldn’t want a woman like Stazia?”

  “I know, right?!” Arnold said, his eyes twinkling.

  “What?”

  “Nothing! I’m just happy for you! Can’t I be happy for you?!” he said defensively.

  “Yeah,” I nodded thoughtfully for a moment. “But what about Kristy? She’s… I don’t know. There’s just something about her…”

  “Kristy?!” he snorted. “You mean you and her together?”

  “Yeah.”

  Arnold shook his head vigorously, “No way, man! You heard Kristy on the phone! She isn’t into anyone!”

  “True.”

  “But Stazia? Dude, she is totally into you! Don’t waste your time on Kristy, I’m telling you. It’s Stazia all the way! She wants you.”

  “Yeah,” I grinned. “You might be right.”

  —: Chapter 59 :—

  Kristy was thrilled Doug’d called.

  But she’d never tell him that.

  It might go to his stupid gorgeous muscled head.

  After Doug’d left Flashbacks the other night, Kristy’d heard the other girls gossiping about how hot Doug was.

  If he could read minds, which he could, he’d heard them too.

  He definitely didn’t need any more fawning than he was already getting.

  Especially not from Kristy.

  Men never took fawning women seriously.

  Kristy’d learned that freshman year in high school from a certain senior on the football team. After she’d given him what he’d wanted, the obvious, he’d immediately treated her like dirt.

  Talk about cliched.

  Not doing that again!

  —: Chapter 60 :—

  The lighthouse was part of the Oceanside Harbor Village, a collection of quaint shops and restaurants overlooking the sailboats that were anchored in the South Harbor slips. The shops all had that New England saltbox fishing village sensibility. Pick a bright color and add white trim. The big lighthouse was used as a gift shop, but it was a full six stories tall and looked authentic from the outside.

  Arnold and I parked his Prius in the lot.

  He was done with his crutches and now walked with a cane, which he referred to as his pimp cane. We passed a blue building that housed Helgren’s Sport Fishing.

  “Dude! Look!” Arnold pointed at the sign out front and said. “Helgren’s has whale watching trips! We should totally do that! I bet Kristy would think it’s totally romantic! I should… I mean we should ask her!”

  “We’re not going whale watching, Arnold. We’re here for a reason, remember? To talk about…” I didn’t want to say it. “…fun stuff.”

  “We can talk fun stuff on the boat.”

  “Not with other people around.”

  “You’re such a bore, Doug. Why can’t you live a little? The whales are waiting.”

  “Live a little?” I stopped short. “You’re kidding, right? I’m up to my eyeballs in high adventure every single night.”

  “I’m not. I’ve barely left the house in weeks. Nothing like a boat trip to go whale watching to cure my cabin fever.”

  “No, Arnold.”

  We continued along the boardwalk between the harbor and the shops until we reached the lighthouse.

  “You see Kristy anywhere?” Arnold asked.

  “No. We’re early.”

  We stared at the ships in the harbor for almost an hour with no sign of her showing.

  “She’s not coming,” I grumbled, checking the time.

  “Maybe she’s still sleeping,” Arnold said, sounding as disappointed as I felt. “You should call her.”

  “I don’t see the point.”

  “Maybe she overslept. Just call her,” Arnold insisted.

  “Fine.”

  As I was dialing, a familiar Audi A4 pulled into a space in the parking lot. A woman with her dark hair back in a ponytail and wearing huge movie star sunglasses stepped out and thunked the door shut with her hip. She held a Starbuck’s grande thermos in her hand and a giant key ring in the other. Despite her baggy sweats, tank top, and flip flops, I recognized her perfection anywhere.

  Kristy.

  Stazia or no Stazia, seeing Kristy always made my heart skip a beat.

  I grinned, “That’s her.”

  Arnold said, “How is it she can look like a ragamuffin and I still want to bang her?”

  “I know, right?” I chuckled, waving to her.

  She trudged over and snarled, “This better be good, you guys.”

  “Hey, Kristy,” Arnold said.

  She rolled her eyes and grumbled, “Hey, Arnold.”

  I joked, “Are you awake? I can’t tell with your shades.”

  “No,” she growled. “So make it quick.”

  “Ahhh, well…” I looked around to make sure nobody was listening. People were wandering in and out of the shops and loitering around the edge of the harbor, enjoying the view. Exactly what you would expect on a Sunday. Too many listening ears. “Uhhh… Maybe we should go someplace more private?”

  She grumbled, “Are you hungry? Because I’m starving.”

  “You want to get some food?”

  “Yes.” She barged past me and Arnold, heading toward Rockin’ Baja Coastal Cantina. It was your standard semi-corporate overly flamboyant Mexican-style restaurant that screamed, “We are trying to look authentic but we’re trying way too hard!”

  A hostess sat the three of us at a table outside on the patio. Like the other tables, ours had its own thatched palm-frond umbrella. The hostess handed us menus. It was well past lunch, so the patio was mostly empty, but there were a few people at other tables drinking margaritas while enjoying the view of the harbor. We would have to keep our voices down.

  Arnold and I sat across from Kristy.

  She dropped her keys on the table with a bang.

  “Got enough keys?” Arnold asked.

  “No,” she gr
umbled. “Do you have any manners?”

  Arnold chuckled and grinned at me, “I like her. Have I said that before?”

  He had — a hundred times since the day she had posed as his fake girlfriend at the hospital, and several more today.

  “Well?” she said after swallowing the last of her coffee.

  “Should we order first?” I said.

  “Sure,” she sighed.

  The hostess returned with a bowl of chips and salsa. Kristy hogged the chips and finished them by the time the waitress returned and asked for our orders. When Kristy recited hers, she nearly blew the waitress’ mind by ordering more food than I did. Four entrees to my two.

  The waitress said to Kristy, “You must have a fast metabolism.”

  “Trust me,” Kristy said, handing over her menu. “It’s a hassle.”

  “Yeah, but you look great.”

  “Thanks,” Kristy shrugged. When the waitress was gone, she said to the two of us, “Okay, what?”

  I tossed a glance over to Arnold.

  “You tell her,” he said. “It’s your idea.”

  I glared at him, “My idea? You’re the one who wants to…” kill Gray Eyes, I thought.

  “Who what?” Kristy prompted.

  I sighed, “Remember Gray Eyes from last night?”

  “Gray Ass,” Arnold added.

  “What about him?” Kristy said. She looked around impatiently for the waitress. “Do they have more chips? I need more chips.”

  “I can get some,” Arnold offered.

  “Forget it,” Kristy said. She wiped the crumbs off her hands with her napkin while saying, “Just hurry up and tell me so I can eat and go home. I was out really late last night helping people. So if I’m a little bit bitchy, sorry not sorry. I have to work tonight and I need to take another nap before my shift, otherwise I’ll look haggard.”

  Arnold laughed, “You couldn’t look haggard if you tried.”

  “You need to get a new prescription for your eyeglasses, Arnold,” Kristy said.

  He pushed his glasses up his nose and said, “No I don’t. My eyes are fine.”

  She smirked and rolled hers.

  I said to Kristy, “I thought you slept in after we called.”

  “I’m still tired,” she grumbled.

  “I can tell,” Arnold snickered under his breath.

  “Shut up,” Kristy barked.