by Izzy Szyn
“I love the beach,” Amy commented. “Just that when we have sex on the beach, make sure there’s a towel. I don’t want to have to wash sand out of my ass.”
“Agreed,” chuckled Vanessa. “Let’s get your mom.”
“Where are you going to change?” Amy asked them. “How are we going to hide the car?”
“Press that button,” Noah pointed to one with the picture of a car on it.
Doing as he asked, Amy’s jaw dropped. She felt the car shake and a grinding type noise. “What?”
“Get out of the car for a second,” Vanessa instructed.
Doing as she was told, Amy’s mouth dropped a second time. The car looked like an ordinary car. The color was even brown. An ugly brown. “Holy Shit.”
Getting back in the car, she saw Vanessa had gotten in the backseat and was changing her clothes. “A hooker?”
“Yeah,” Vanessa replied. “No one pays attention to them.”
“Well, I don’t know about others, but I’d buy your time no questions asked,” commented Amy. Vanessa may be dressed like the kind of hooker you’d see on any street corner in any major city, but nothing could hide her sexuality, how hot she was.
“That’s because you love me,” Vanessa grinned.
“That’s got to be it,” grinned back Amy. “So what’s Noah going to change into? A homeless guy?”
“You got it,” Noah answered. He got in the back of the car and changed into clothes that had seen better days.
“I’d certainly give you a home,” Amy said after he changed.
“Let’s get your mom,” Noah kissed her.
“I need to change my clothes,” she reminded them.
“Got it covered,” Vanessa handed her jeans and a t-shirt.
“Thanks,” Amy crawled in the backseat and changed her clothes as Noah drove to the warehouse district. Parking a couple blocks from the warehouse, they walked to the building. It was a simple nondescript building that no one would pay attention to.
Together they walked to where there were boxes stacked near a window. Even standing on them, it would be hard to see into, especially for someone as short as Amy. Noah lifted her and placed her on his shoulders.
Looking inside, she saw Graham walking around, pacing. Clearly he was nervous. Probably waiting for whoever was supposed to drive to pick her up. Before leaving, the commissioner had sent police officers to arrest the driver.
“What do you see in there?” Asked Noah.
“Graham is pacing and he is near some kind of control panel, with a monitor,” answered Amy. “There’s a spot on the floor that I can see is different from the rest of the flooring. I think that’s where the floor drops down. I’m not sure if it’s mechanical or what.”
“We need to secure that floor to keep it from opening up,” Vanessa said.
“My guess is that since he likes toys so much, that the control panel might be where the mechanism is to open the floor,” Amy told them.
“How is he able to do that when the rest of the city is in a tech lockdown?” wondered Vanessa.
“Not sure, but my first instinct is to turn off the electricity. If that floor is wired like I think it is, then it might keep it from opening.” Amy suggested. “I don’t see my mom.” Amy jumped when her pocket started to vibrate. “It’s him.”
“Answer it,” Noah instructed. “Tell him you want to talk to him. That way we can see where she is.”
“Okay,” Amy agreed. “Hello?”
“Where are you?” Graham demanded.
“I’m waiting on the car,” Amy lied. “Where is it?”
“What do you mean you’re waiting on the car?” Graham’s voice started to rise.
“The car isn’t here,” Amy explained slowly. “How do I know that you really did send it? How do I know that my mom is okay? I want to talk to her.”
“Your mother is still alive,” Graham answered her.
“I want to talk to her,” Amy demanded.
They watched as he put the phone down and walked away from where they could see through the window. She watched with horror as he dragged her mother near the table. She was going to kick the living shit out of him. Her mom looked scared, but also defiant.
“Talk to her,” ordered Graham.
“Amy?” Her mother said hoarsely.
“What did he do to you?” Amy asked.
“He hit me, repeatedly in the stomach,” admitted Ruby. “I feel like I’m going to be sick.”
“I’ll be there soon,” promised Amy. “Graham? What’s the address?”
He rattled off the address, “You’ve got twenty minutes.” He said before hanging up.
Putting her phone in her pocket, she saw that Vanessa had left. Looking down at Noah she saw the same anger that was reflected in her. “He will be lucky if they have enough pieces to fit into a body bag,” Noah told her. “Vanessa went to see if there was a way inside.” He informed her before putting her down. “Go get her.”
“Okay,” Amy walked around the building, trying to find a regular door. Seeing one she opened it slowly, hoping the door didn’t squeak. She walked a few steps, when the place went dark, she hoped that it was Noah that killed the lights.
“What the Hell?” yelled Graham.
Amy followed the noise he made, as if he was trying to find something. Sensing something behind her, she saw Vanessa who raised a finger over her lips. Nodding in acknowledgement, they walked together where she saw her mother on some dirty mattresses. Rushing to her mother’s side, she tapped Ruby on the shoulder.
Ruby turned her head, widening her eyes in surprise. Once again Amy and Vanessa pressed a finger to their lips. Ruby nodded, her face wincing in pain. Vanessa gently picked her up and carried her out of the building.
Sighing in relief that her mother was safe, Amy took out her cellphone and turned on the flashlight. Walking to where she heard things smashing. Following the noise, she saw him, heard him cussing. “WHERE ARE YOU?”
“Right behind you,” she told him. “Hello, Graham.”
“What did you do?” He asked.
“Me? I haven’t done a thing, yet,” Amy answered. “But I’m about to kick your ass.”
“You touch me and your mother becomes shark bait,” he threatened.
“Really? Where is she?’ Amy challenged him.
Walking past her towards the room where her mother had been placed, Amy stuck her foot out and tripped him. Granted it was childish, but it was still funny watching him fall on his face. Watching him scramble to get up, he ran into the other room. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.” He screamed. “WHERE IS SHE?”
“You know for someone that calls himself a genius, you’re really not that smart,” commented Amy. “She’s safe. That’s all that matters. How dare you hurt her? What kind of a monster hurts a woman? Now it’s as it should be, me and you.”
“You think you’re so smart,” Graham scoffed. He walked towards the panel.
Knowing what he planned to do, she reached out and pulled him back towards her. “What’s wrong, can’t fight fair?” She challenged him. “You can beat up an older woman, but you can’t go one on one with me?”
“Quit baiting him.” Noah said in her ear. “We’re waiting on the ambulance for Ruby.”
Amy nodded and shook her head, knowing that Noah was more than likely watching. Yes, on Ruby, no on the baiting. “Answer me Graham.”
She watched as he inched closer to the control panel. “What are you doing?”
“I’ve found an efficient way of dealing with my enemies,” Graham replied.
“You mean a coward’s way?” She asked. “Dropping them into shark infested waters? You, Graham William, are nothing but a crazy, chicken-shit, coward. You’re just a waste of DNA.”
“I’M NOT CRAZY!” He yelled.
“You’re so crazy that they just might have to come up with a new term for you,” Amy continued.
“Amy? Quit baiting him,” Noah, dressed as Dark Master, said from behind
them.
Amy saw that Noah was standing on the sliding floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Graham getting closer once again to the control panel. “I’m tired of playing with him,” she admitted before flying and kicking Graham in the knee cap from behind. She heard a crunch as he landed on the floor.
“What did you do to me?” He dropped on the floor. “You crazy bitch.”
“Nice kick,” approved Noah.
“Thanks,” Amy wanted to do more, but she wasn’t sure how much Noah would let her get away with.
“You’re welcome,” Noah walked closer to her. “Your mom has been taken to the hospital. The paramedics think that she might have some internal bleeding.”
“Dark Master, look over there,” Amy pointed the opposite way.
Smiling at her, Noah seemed to know what she had in mind. But she deserved to get retribution for what he did to Ruby. “I’m going to check out the rest of the building. Making sure there are no other victims here.” He said before walking off.
Amy walked over to Graham, who struggled to stand up by holding onto the chair near the control panel. She waited until he was nearly upright again, when she kicked him in the other knee. Taking pride in the fact that he once again buckled to the floor. “How dare you lay a hand on her? She never did anything to you. You’re going to spend the rest of your miserable life in a cage. You’re awfully pretty, I’m sure there are some guys there looking for someone to keep them warm at night.”
“I’ll sue,” he ground out. “I’ll have you arrested for assault.”
“Let’s see, it’s your word against mine,” Amy walked closer. “Considering everything that you’ve done, who do you think the authorities will believe?” She walked by the control panel where there were several computers. Each monitor was focused on a different area of the city. Each one was conveniently marked, power, Internet, cell towers. Sitting on the chair, she started on the first one, power. “Graham, you’ve been a bad boy. Now what’s the password?”
“Go fuck yourself,” Graham replied.
“That’s not nice,” Amy told him. Deciding to type it in just in case he wasn’t lying, she got an immediate ACCESS DENIED, message on the screens.
“What are you doing?” Noah asked when he came back.
“I’m trying to bypass what he’s got programmed in here, to restore services,” answered Amy. “Keep getting an error message.”
“He’s still awake,” Noah nodded his head at Graham.
“Yeah, as much as I’d love to wipe the floor with him, I don’t want to take the chance that he could get out on an assault technicality,” Amy replied. Running into a dead end she sighed. Taking her cell phone out, she put in a call to Greg Diamond. Greg was her contact at the federal government she kept in touch with. “Hey Greg.”
“Hi Amy. Or should I say Artemis?” Greg’s deep voice came over the phone. “Welcome back, by the way.”
“Thanks,” Amy replied. “I need a favor.”
“Of course you do,” Greg sighed. “When are we going out to dinner?”
“Sorry, she’s spoken for,” Noah said over the phone before she could reply.
“Who’s that?” Greg asked.
“Greg Diamond, meet Dark Master,” introduced Amy.
“Nice to meet you,” Greg said to him. “I thought that you were with Calypso?”
“I’m with both of them,” commented Noah.
“Some men have all the luck,” sighed Greg. “You’ve got the two hottest women.”
“Don’t I know it,” agreed Noah.
“So Amy, what do you need?” Greg asked.
She explained to him what had happened. “I wanted to know if the universal bypass password remained the same,” she questioned him.
“Yeah, as far as I know,” answered Greg. “I heard about what had been happening in Quail City. I take it you got the asshole behind everything?”
“Yeah, we got him,” admitted Amy. She keyed in the universal passcode that was created by her and the government in case someone tried to overtake the system. She’d always known that someone would try to do what she did. She watched as she saw the city lights come back on. Soon everything was back up.
“Did it work?” Greg asked.
“Yeah, it did,” Amy answered “Thanks for your help Greg.”
“Happy to help,” Greg told her. “Dark Master?”
“Yes?” Noah answered.
“Take care of her, or you’ll answer to me,” Greg said.
“Understood,” Noah agreed. “Next time you’re in Quail City, maybe we can arrange to get together over dinner?”
“I’d like that,” Greg accepted before hanging up.
Amy started to hear sirens in the distance. “I take it the cops are on their way?”
“Yeah,” Noah nodded. “They’re going to need another ambulance to take him to go get checked. His kneecap looks funny.”
“Just dislocated,” shrugged Amy.
The next few minutes were a blur as the police swarmed in, followed by Commissioner James. “Good work.”
“Thanks,” Amy grinned. “I’ve got the systems back up and running.”
“Thanks Artemis,” the commissioner turned to Noah. “Good job on bringing her on the team. She’s going to be a valuable asset to us.”
“Agreed,” Noah stared into Amy’s eyes with a heat that had her curling her toes in her shoes.
“I need to go to the hospital to see my mom,” Amy told them.
“I’ll take you,” promised Noah.
THE HOSPITAL
Amy got to the hospital as they were wheeling her mom into a hospital room. She’d been informed they’d had to do emergency surgery. The doctor informed her that she had to have her spleen removed and received two blood transfusions.
Her mom looked so tiny in the bed. She smiled when she saw that Al was standing next to her, tucking her in. “How is she?” She said to Al.
“She woke up briefly, said hi and went back to sleep,” Al answered. “Did you get him?”
“Yeah,” Amy stood by the bed.
“Hi,” Vanessa walked into the room with a can of Pepsi. “I heard that you broke Hinderer’s kneecaps. Considering what he did to your mom, the restraint you had in not kicking his ass even more is admirable.”
“Speaking of which, where did you learn to kick like that?” Noah asked.
“I’ve taken a few self-defense classes at the local gym,” answered Amy.
“You’ve taken more than a few self-defense classes,” Noah told her. “And who is this Greg Diamond guy?”
“Greg Diamond?” questioned Vanessa.
“Yeah, he invited her on a date.”
“Did you tell him that she was taken?” Vanessa asked.
“He’s just a friend I have with the feds. We became friends when I helped them put the safeguards in place,” replied Amy. “Were you jealous?”
“She did go on a date with him once,” Ruby said from the bed.
“Mom, you’re awake,” Amy walked by the bed. “It wasn’t a date, we just had dinner.”
“He was interested in her, but she never noticed,” explained Ruby.
“Is that right?” Noah looked at her.
“Don’t get all huffy,” Amy told him. “I’m with the two of you.”
“Damn straight you are,” Vanessa agreed.
“Glad to see the patient is awake,” the doctor walked in. “Only family is allowed here.”
“Doctor, they are my family,” Ruby informed him. “My daughter Amy and Dark Master and Calypso.”
“I see. What about him?” The doctor looked at Al.
“I’m a friend, and I’m not going anywhere,” Al told him.
“Well, everyone is going to have to leave while I examine the patient.” The doctor ordered them.
Amy walked out of the room, she wanted to do nothing but hug them. She sat in one of the chairs near the room waiting, with Vanessa and Noah sitting on either side of her, holding her ha
nd. “She’s going to be okay,” promised Vanessa.
“I know. Thanks for getting her to the hospital,” Amy told her.
“Hey, I love her, too,” Vanessa looked down the hallway before kissing Amy.
“Ms. Wilson?” the doctor came out of the room.
“Yeah?”
“She will need to stay in the hospital for a couple more days, than she’ll be allowed to go home as long as she’s on complete bedrest for a week,” the doctor told her.
“Oh, joy,” Amy replied. Keeping her mom in bed wasn’t going to be as easy as it sounded. “Can I see her now?”
“Yes, but she needs her rest,” the doctor warned her.
“I won’t be long,” Amy promised.
Al spoke up. “I’m going home to fix something to eat.”
“We’ll be there shortly, Al,” Noah promised.
FINAL
Amy stepped out of the shower and toweled herself dry. It’d been a few days since everything had happened. Her mother was sleeping down the hall, and Amy was about to go to court to get her ban lifted.
It’d been a nice peaceful few days. The city was almost back to normal, or as close to normal as a city with superheroes and criminals. Noah had already made plans with a neighboring city for them to keep an eye on things while they went to one of the islands in the Caribbean.
Walking into the bedroom, her heart flipped when she saw them. She doubted if the heart flip would ever go away. “We just got off the phone with the commissioner,” Noah pulled her in his arms and kissed her.
“What did he say?” asked Amy, goose bumps littering her skin as Noah kissed his way down her neck. He hadn’t shaved yet and the five o’clock shadow tickled.
“He said that Williams has been indicted, and that the bank where he works have replaced him for the time being by one of the vice presidents. Also, Graham is still under psychiatric observation and the doctors said in their words, he is a complete schizophrenic, and that he may never leave the hospital.”
“Well, damn,” Amy slid her arms around his neck. “I want him in jail, but rooms with rubber walls might not be a bad alternative. Where’s Vanessa?”
