“We’re here to help.” I say and walk calmly toward the officer. “You see, we already know who did this.” I add, and he gives me a confused look. “Save yourself some time, and call Agent Angela Forest of the F.B.I.” I say, pick up Georgia again, then rise up from the ground and fly around him and enter the lobby.
The lobby of the pet hotel is just like any other hotel lobby. Semi-circular reception desk made of some sort of wood. Tiled floor, which is very clean. Only, unlike other hotels, this one caters for the four legged customer.
The only sounds other than the policemen and chatter outside are the sounds of dogs whining, barking, and some cats meowing rather loudly, and some scratching sounds. I fly over to the reception desk and take a look over the counter. The smell hits me first. They must have soiled themselves in their final moments.
“Oh geez.” Georgia mutters and closes her eyes.
“Why Devlin?” I ask in disbelief as I look upon the lifeless forms splayed out on the tiled floor behind the desk.
Two men, and one female. They all have their skulls crushed. Blood, brains and pieces of bone are splattered all over the floor and wall, like their heads exploded.
There’s hardly any head left on any of them, just a neck and a bloody mass with some hair.
I feel queasy just looking at the scene, but angry too. I turn and look away and take some deep breaths.
I hold on to Georgia and fly down the corridor where the barking and whining is coming from.
Pet Hotel? They weren’t kidding.
Each animal has its own room, which looks more like a shower cubicle than a room, complete with glass doors, but they do have televisions in the top right corner of each room, and they all have large bean bags to lie on.
I notice the cubicle at the far end is open, well, I say open, the glass door has been ripped off and lies on the floor in the hallway. I fly us over and land near the glass door. I set Georgia down and look into the cubicle.
“You okay?” I ask as she hangs her head and takes a deep breath.
She nods her head silently. “It’s just.....I’ve never seen anything like that....before.”
“Me neither.” I reply and pat her shoulder gently.
“Not much to work with. The dog’s bed and a chew toy.” Georgia says as she enters the cubicle.
“The glass door as well.” I say and point to the door in the hall. “He would have touched it.”
She nods and crouches down and touches the dog’s bed. I hang back in the corridor and look back at the lobby. I hear some police officers talking near the lobby.
“I see a Chihuahua. It’s a female dog. It’s whining and clawing at the glass door. Something’s happening. I can hear raised voices. Now screaming, cut short. It’s quiet now, but some of the dogs are barking. He’s here, looking down at me. The man’s covered in blood, but he’s smiling. The door is ripped off. The sound frightens the dog. He picks her up, and she begins to lick his face. He’s saying something. ‘Baby is coming home with mommy, now. Yes, you’re coming home with me, darling.’ I see something, a house.”
“Where? What does it look like?” I ask quietly, but my heart is racing.
“Fancy. But something’s wrong. No, this can’t be right.” Georgia says and shakes her head and stands up.
“What’s wrong?” I ask as she turns and looks at me with a puzzled face.
“The house is on top of a building.” She says and shrugs.
“What kind of building?”
“Tall.”
“You’re right. That doesn’t sound right.” I say and turn as the forensics team show up and look down the corridor at us.
“It’s okay, fellas, we’re leaving.” I say and motion for Georgia to come closer to me.
I pick her up, then hover back to the lobby. I nod my head to the men before exiting the pet hotel. I stop and look at the police officers, and fly over to one of them.
“Please pass on my condolences to the families.” I say to the officer, and look at the ambulance staff waiting nearby. I sigh and then take to the skies.
In seconds, the crimes scene is far behind us, but that scene will forever be etched into my mind. Devlin has to be stopped.
A few seconds later and we descend silently to Devlin’s hilltop mansion. I land in his front yard, where my friends are waiting anxiously. I set Georgia down, and she walks over and sits down on the grass and begins to cry quietly.
“Okay, that’s not a good sign.” Mitchell says. Instantly he’s by my side, and I take some deep breaths and try to fight the nausea.
“Are you both...” Beth begins, then I hear her in-take of breath. “That monster.” She mutters quietly.
“Show them, I-Spy.” I say.
“Read my mind as well. I saw something that I don’t understand.” Georgia asks timidly.
In seconds, everyone knows what we saw.
“I can’t wait to meet this guy.” Mitchell growls, then stomps over to Devlin’s mansion and punches one of the walls. The whole wall explodes and shards of concrete and glass hit us.
Georgia fades quickly, and a large shard of glass passes through where she was a moment ago.
“Take it easy, buddy.” Paul says and places a white gloved-hand on Mitchell’s shoulder. “We all want a piece of this guy.”
“The only lead we have is this house on top of a building.” Stuart says calmly as he paces back and forth.
“This guy is such a drama queen. Did he watch Inception and think, Oh, what a great idea!” Paul says, while prancing around like a little girl and waving his arms.
“Could it be a house that he owns?” Beth asks.
“I thought they froze his assets. Wouldn’t that include his properties?” Stuart asks.
“Only ones that they know of.” Mitchell says, turns and looks at me.
“We need to speak to a fan.” Stuart says and smiles as I frown.
“You want to get Metal Girl involved in this again?” I ask.
“You see any other solution?” Beth asks.
“Who’s Metal Girl?” Georgia asks as she reappears and stands up.
Eleven
That night, as I sit down to eat dinner with my dad and my sister Jessica, I keep thinking of how to ask her.
“What’s eating you?” Jessica asks as I push my food around my plate.
“Devlin.” I say simply, as I spear a piece of chicken with my fork and look at it.
“What’s he done now?” Dad asks warily as he sips his coffee.
“Murder. But it’s what he’s gonna do that worries me.” I say.
“Like what?” Jessica asks and puts her knife and fork down.
“There’s a whole bunch of nasty terrorists out there looking for him.” I begin and lean back in my chair. “They probably want what he did to me.”
“Holy shit!” Jessica blurts out.
“Jessica, language!” Dad says, then runs his hands through his hair.
“Terrorists with super powers? Hell, no.” Jessica says and pounds her fists on the table.
“I agree.” Dad says gravely. “How do you find him first?”
“That’s what we need help with. We know he’s staying in a house on top of some tall building. But we don’t know where.” I say.
“What? A house on top of a building?” Dad asks.
I nod.
“I’ve never heard of anything like that before.” Dad says and paces while scratching his head.
“What kind of house?” Jessica asks.
I try and think about the image that Beth showed me from Georgia.
“It was large, like a mansion. Pink stone work. It had a flat roof. Mexican-like, I guess. Like a hacienda.” I say as I try to describe it.
“You think he might be in Mexico?” Dad asks as he stops pacing and looks at us both.
I shrug. “I have no idea. Do you know of any houses like this, that Devlin bought? Have you heard of anything like this?” I ask Jessica, hoping that she would know something.
She was his number one fan once.
“It doesn’t sound familiar. Sorry.” Jessica says and shrugs her shoulders.
“Damn.” I grumble.
“You think maybe your F.B.I. friend might know something?” Jessica asks.
“It’s worth a shot.” I agree. I get up from the table and leave the kitchen.
I head upstairs to my room and grab my cell phone from my desk. I call Agent Forest. All I get is her answer machine after a few rings.
“Hi, this is you-know-who. Can you call me as soon as you can? I have a lead on Fancy Pants, and I need your help.” I say and hang up. I’m never sure who else may be checking her messages, so I tend to use nicknames.
I open my laptop and do a quick Google search for Devlin. The first page is full of official news articles from the world press. I check the next few pages, and I see something that catches my eye. There’s a small image of something dark in the sky over a freeway.
Next to it are the words: Flying man seen over Las Vegas. Could this be the now infamous Devlin De Marco?
It’s a YouTube video, so I click on the image. The image quality is grainy. It looks like it was taken on someone’s smart phone. It’s just after sunset.
I can see the last rays of light hitting the casinos on the left side of the image. The camera pans up as people shout and point. Something small and dark is flying through the air above them, and quickly vanishes from sight. The figure was heading southwest.
I check the date on the video. It was uploaded yesterday. I open another browser window and search for Las Vegas news.
“Oh no.” I mutter as I read the first article.
Owner of The Bellagio was found bludgeoned to death yesterday in his own bed. Several security guards were also found dead at the scene. Las Vegas police arrived on the scene after eight O’clock, June 8th after reports of gunfire at the famous casino. I stop reading and close my laptop.
What was he doing? Why kill Tony Bardino? The mob are gonna be pissed about this.
“Whoa!” I blurt out, as the idea strikes like lightning from a clear sky.
The Mob!
I open my laptop again and Google Tony Bardino.
Here we go.
A news article written a few years ago by the New York Times. The reporter, Jacob Jones, details Tony Bardino’s ties to New York mob boss of the Bonanno crime family, Michael Mancuso. The list of events linking them is impressive. Extortion, murder, kidnapping, bribery, you name it, Tony had done it.
Then he fled New York back in 1984, and headed to Nevada. This is where he came into contact with Anthony Sorvino, the head of the Sorvino crime family. He worked as a soldier under Frankie Gazzara for ten years, before eventually becoming consigliore to Anthony Sorvino himself.
I did a search for Anthony Sorvino. He died four years ago due to a long term illness. Frankie Gazzara took over, and he lives.....come on, where?
I scroll down the page and the only information about his whereabouts is a photo taken by the paparazzi. The grainy image is of him coming out of a movie theatre in Hollywood. Okay, so he might be in California, possibly Los Angeles. Not much to go on, but it’s a start.
I close my laptop as my bedroom door opens. Jessica enters sipping a glass of lemonade.
“Hey.” I say and turn around to face her.
“Any luck?” Jessica asks, and sits down on my bed.
“Angela’s not answering.” I say and nod to my cell phone. “But, I do have an idea of where I can go next.” I say and smile mischievously.
“Uh, oh. What crazy idea have you had now?” She asks warily.
“I just found out that Devlin has killed Tony Bardino, and a whole bunch of people at The Bellagio yesterday.” I say.
“Oh my god. Has he lost his mind?”
“I think we’re way past that now. But he just killed a senior member of the Sorvino crime family.” I reply.
“But what can they do about it? He’s unstoppable now.”
“But they might be willing to help me catch him. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and all that jazz.” I say.
“You’re nuts.” Jessica laughs.
“Maybe.” I shrug.
“Well, if you want them to take you seriously, I would leave your silly backpack.”
“Hey, Stewie is not silly.” I say and frown at her.
“Don’t tell me you named it?” Jessica bursts into mad chuckles.
I frown and pout. I ignore her and turn away as she starts snorting, and open my laptop again. I check a map of Los Angeles, and make a list of Italian restaurants on my notepad and tear off the page when I’m done.
“You’re serious about finding the mob?” Jessica asks as she stops laughing.
I nod and fold the piece of paper and put it in my backpack.
Twelve
The next day in school is so boring. I was wishing I had Georgia’s gift, and that I could just fade away and get the hell out of there. But as my attention drifted from the tasks at hand in my classes, I was beginning to notice some of the other kids. Some were with us in the cage in San Francisco, and I begin to pay attention to them, like I’m seeing them for the first time.
Before the incident that gave me my powers, I guess I just drifted through school. I had my friends, and I was happy. I wasn’t really bothered in having hundreds of friends. That’s just not me. So I never really gave anyone else much attention.
But now? Well, things are different.
I smile at Georgia, and notice the flame kid, Ryan, looking back at me from time to time. The teleporter, Pamela, is sitting two desks away to my right, next to Stuart. I see a few more that were with us in San Francisco. I wonder what they can do now?
On the surface, we all look ordinary, well except for my eyes. I still wear the colored contact lenses to cover up the pulsing blue lights in my eyes. I grab my compact mirror from the top of my desk and check my eyes quickly.
“Whoa!” I shout out and twist in my seat to check behind me. The chair breaks into splinters in my panic, and my desk collapses when I lean against it. I quickly stand up and look around me, searching.
“What on earth is going on over there?” I hear Mr. Cooper call out.
What had I just seen?
“Miss Brookes, what have you done?” I hear Mr. Cooper, the science teacher, sounding very alarmed behind me.
I calm down enough to turn and face Mr. Cooper.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. It just broke.” I say and try to hide the blind panic from my eyes.
“Go. Sit next to Mr. Archer.” He says and waves his arm dismissively towards Tyler Archer, who sits near the door.
I nod numbly, and head over to the desk next to Tyler, as other kids smirk and clap.
I sit down and glance quickly at Tyler once, before taking a deep breath and resting my trembling hands in my lap.
I’m still trying to shake the image from my mind. For a second, I swear I had seen Devlin in my compact mirror. He was right behind me, dressed all in red.
Red velvet pants, red silk shirt, unbuttoned to show his bare chest as usual. And a long red velvet overcoat. His hair was slightly longer now and he had dark stubble.
He had been right there. Hadn’t he? I don’t know. Maybe I really am losing my mind.
At lunch I take my tray straight to our usual table in the corner. I keep my head down as I walk.
“Hey. You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Mitchell says as soon as I sit down next to him.
I reach down and take his hand.
“Geez, you’re trembling.” Mitchell says and puts his arm around me.
“What happened, Britney?” Stuart asks from across the table.
I shake my head. “I don’t know. But for a second, just a second, I thought that I saw Devlin behind me in my mirror.” I say and try to drink my soda.
“Whoa. That’s freaky.” Paul says, then nudges Stuart next to him. “What did she do?”
“Nothing.” Stuart say
s quietly.
“Nothing? She totally trashed her desk and chair. It was awesome.” Ryan says and grins at me.
I almost smile in return. I close my eyes and enjoy Mitchell’s hold on me as I lean into his side.
“Beth? I got an update. Pass it on to the others.” I say as I keep my eyes closed and lean into Mitchell.
Why was I so spooked?
A few seconds later and the objections begin.
“You can’t just knock on the mob’s front door.” Beth says.
“Why not? We need to bust those guys anyway.” Paul says in reply.
“Let sleeping dogs lie, man.” Ryan says.
After a few more minutes, I feel Mitchell’s arm release me and he takes my hand again. “What do you need?” He asks quietly.
“Just you.” I reply quietly and squeeze his hand.
I only manage a few mouthfuls of my Tuna-fish sandwich. I don’t have much of an appetite.
“Oh, boy!” I hear Stuart say sharply. I look over and see him staring in disbelief at his cell phone.
“What is it?” I ask Stuart.
“He’s just robbed a bank.” Stuart says and looks at me, stunned.
Cosmic Girl: Looking For Trouble: superhero series for young adults - Book Two Page 8
