Trick of the Light Read online

  Karl nodded, closed his eyes again. "I know, at least as well as I can. But I made my own bed the minute I lost my temper and punched Sunrise. Hung for a lamb, hung for a lion." He set the watches down, rubbed at his eyes, and raked his hands through his hair. "I think I need more caffeine. Where did you put my cats and belongings? Thank you for doing that, by the way. You didn't have to, but I'm glad you could rescue Rolex and Hamilton. Even if I have to give them away, I'll be able to control it some. You guys have done way more for me than you've had to, given you've no reason to trust me."

  "Ah, you're good. Everybody in this business knows the insurance guy who takes care of people," Dixie said. "It's an unwritten rule amongst us villains that you're not to get hurt. Some are gonna flip knowing you've been brought low by us."

  "Nobody 'brought me low' except me," Karl said. "Matt was always careful to keep me safe." He looked back toward the bed, swallowed the lump in his throat, then let out a shuddery breath. "My cats?"

  "I dropped them at a safehouse, an associate will fetch them and your stuff, take everything to a secure location where the cats will be okay until we can retrieve them. It ain't much of a network, but it's solid and reliable, and that's about all you can ask of anyone."

  Karl nodded. "I need a suit, a mask—I don't even know, I've never done this."

  "Mask, voice modifier, those are basic enough, but clothing is up to you. If it's a suit you want, it's a suit you'll get." Dixie grinned and went to grab his hat and the car keys. He slid the hat on his head, grinning in a slow, Devil Went Down to Georgia kind of way. "Let's go supply shopping, insurance man."

  Setting the watches on the work table, Karl went over to the beds and kissed Matt softly on the mouth. "He'll be okay?"

  "Yeah," Dixie replied. "I doubt he'll even wake up. Come on, daylight's wasting."

  Karl gave Matt one last kiss, then spun around on his heel and strode to the car.

  *~*~*

  "You look remarkably not afraid for a man 'bout to face Sunrise alone while he's angry and likely to do something particularly stupid," Dixie replied as he pulled the car into a damp alleyway that smelled like piss and vomit. They climbed out, and he walked over to a dingy, grimy door and punched in a code on a keypad that Karl was grateful he didn't have to touch.

  "I'm terrified, but this is my plan, and I'm the only one who can see it through," Karl replied. "I'm getting that serum, and I'll do whatever it takes to get it, short of hurting innocent people."

  "I bet it also feels pretty good to have Sunrise by the balls," Dixie said wryly as he pulled the door open. "Lord knows how loud I crow when I get one over on them sons of bitches."

  Karl smiled faintly. "I admit I'm not feeling very sorry for him, though I do not want to make a habit of pissing off people who can kill me with a flick of their fingers."

  "Yeah, but you have the power to order them killed, and that ain't something they're accustomed to. Don't underestimate how angry and dangerous that's going to make him, especially where he won't be caught on a camera—so far as he knows, anyway, but still. I'll be nearby ready to act, but I'm gonna be busy making certain his cronies don't try nothing. You're mostly on your own, insurance man."

  "I know," Karl replied quietly. "Like I said, it's my plan. I never had any intention of anyone doing this but me. Let's hope I prove a quick study in super villainy."

  Dixie chuckled and closed the door behind them, then directed Karl up several flights of old, rusted stairs to the topmost floor of an abandoned seven-story building. Not so abandoned if it still required a keycode, but Karl had long started to suspect that no building in the city was truly unused. "What was this place?"

  "Hell if I know. I think just a generic building that rented out office space. Matt found it; I secured it. And if anyone goes investigating, they'll be a mite surprised to see that DeVine's owned it all along and it just got lost in the accounting somewhere." He winked, then motioned around the wide, open empty space. Three of the four outer walls were tinted glass and mirrored on the outside. The last wall was dark, water-stained faux stone. The elevator shaft that ran up the rest of the building didn't reach this floor. The only thing in the room was a large, scuffed and dented, half-rusted metal desk shoved up against the stone wall. "I've put cameras all over the damn place. Ain't nobody inside or out going to get a drop on us. If things go south… Well, you know what to do."

  Karl nodded. "And once the deal is concluded, I let him go on his merry way, then use the agreed upon escape route."

  "Got it in one, insurance man." Dixie winked. "We need a name for you."

  Karl shook his head but didn't reply. Frankly, he wasn't certain he was going to live long enough to need one. He was out of his league, had no clue what he was doing. If he thought about it all too hard, he would freak out.

  Dixie gripped his shoulders. "You a'right?"

  "I'm gonna have to be," Karl said. "We've got fifteen minutes, so you should probably get going. I'll meet you where we agreed, or send word if I can't." He drew a deep breath, let it out slowly, and smiled at Dixie. "Thank you for helping me."

  "Insurance man, you the one who's done in a matter of hours what we couldn't do in months. All we done for thanks is ruin your life."

  "It's not ruined," Karl said quietly. "I have Matt, and I'm no longer just sitting around doing nothing but bitching. I'll probably get myself killed, but it's better to die doing something."

  Dixie smiled, gripped his shoulders one last time, then drew back and touched his fingertips to the brim of his hat. "Be careful. Show that bastard what for. You remember it all?"

  "Every terrifying step," Karl said. "See you in a little while."

  "You'd best, boy," Dixie said with a parting grin before he slipped back down the stairs.

  Leaving Karl alone with his thoughts and his crazy plan. He stood in front of the desk, reached into the pocket of his black, silver-pinstripe slacks, and pulled out the leather gloves he'd bought along with everything else. The suit was Armani, all black and silver, the cuffs decorated with dark gray flowers and vines, same on the vest and shirt collar.

  The mask was the weirdest part, some strange electronic net thing that wrapped around his whole head and projected a black mask. Borrowed tech, Dixie had said with a grin, on which he'd vastly improved. It was light-weight, faintly scratchy, but Karl could see like he wasn't wearing anything at all. Only slightly less strange was the small black square attached to his throat to alter his voice, giving it that faintly tinny quality he knew so well from Matt.

  He ran gloved fingers down his tie, dark gray and dotted with silver Rolex crowns, a tie bar that simply had Rolex engraved across it in minimalist font. A beautiful circa 1863 Howard Type I pocket watch was tucked in the front pocket of his vest.

  On his wrist was the digital watch that said Sunrise had six minutes thirty-seven seconds and counting.

  A prickle ran across the back of his neck five minutes twenty-three seconds later, right before he heard footsteps on the stairs. A hand appeared on the rusted railing, followed a beat later by the head, then the rest of Sunrise. He was still dressed in red with touches of black, appropriate colors for a black-hearted killer.

  Or maybe all this crap was going to Karl's head and getting the better of him. "Mirrors," Karl murmured softly, and all around them, the glass walls shimmered, mirrored over, leaving him and Sunrise in a creepy little funhouse.

  "You're new," Sunrise said as he turned the stairs and saw Karl. "But I'm not surprised. The whole countdown thing isn't really Turncoat's style, and Trick of the Light is a cockroach. They're both too smart for their own good, but they're not the conniving sort. You, though, you're conniving."

  "I think a mass murderer who paints himself a hero is in no position to judge others."

  "Compliment, not judgment," Sunrise replied, a grin in his metallic voice.

  "Do you have the serum?" Karl asked.

  The levity was gone from Sunrise's voice as he replied, "You didn't lea
ve me much fucking choice, did you? How the hell did you know? I deserve to know that much."

  "The only thing you deserve is a hole in the ground and a marble slab with your name on it," Karl replied. "But I'm not an executioner. I merely hire them."

  "But you'll call that British bitch off once I give you the damn serum."

  Karl tamped down on the hysteria that wanted out, but used the laughter that bubbled up to better effect. "Come now, Sunrise, you're the one who just called me conniving. Do you think I can be conniving and stupid at the same time? I know your identity, and I'll know it for as long as we both live. You try to kill me, or my companions, I'll give Scones a call. You'd also better keep a better eye on your body count, because if I decide you're slipping back into your mass murdering ways, Sunrise, that earns a phone call as well. In fact, you should get accustomed to living your life by my watch."

  Sunrise's voice came out an angry snarl. "I could kill you right now. What the fuck would you be able to do about it?"

  Karl laughed again. "Nothing, of course, but how many times do I have to remind you: I'm not stupid," he barked the last word, gratified that Sunrise jumped, taking courage from such an obvious sign that he had the man rattled. "You could leave me a cold, dead body that nobody ever finds, but that wouldn't save your life. You'd snicker over my corpse, but it's still my watch counting down the seconds of your life now, Sunrise. You kill me, you'll be counting your life in days. So go ahead and kill me."

  Sunrise didn't move.

  "That's what I thought." Karl reached his hand back and pulled open one of the drawers of the desk, not needing to look as he pulled out a small, heavy black box. He threw it across the room to land at Sunrise's feet. "Put the serum in the box, throw it back to me."

  He didn't need to see Sunrise's face to know the hateful glare being cast his way. Sunrise pulled a small vial from his jacket, the kind Karl had seen in hospitals a few times, and placed it in the box. He closed it, slowly stood, and threw it back toward the desk. It landed with an echoing thud.

  "You're free to go," Karl said. "Remember to watch yourself, Sunrise. Clock can start counting down at any time."

  Sunrise went, but he paused at the top of the stairs. "You won't always have the upper hand, you little bitch."

  "Tick tock, tick tock," Karl replied.

  He nearly dropped to his knees when Sunrise was gone, wanted to throw up from all the terror running through him, making him fever hot and ice cold by turns. He reached into the open drawer again, pulled out another small, thin box, selected one of the special cloths inside, and meticulously wiped off all sides of the box holding the serum before picking it up to clean the bottom. He pulled out another cloth and did it all again, then wrapped it in a large black piece of cloth before tucking it away in a pocket of his blazer.

  Opening another drawer, he activated the protection field and then started the timer on the fire. All of that completed, he crawled under the desk, opened the secret hatch, and swung onto the ladder that had been rigged in the elevator shaft.

  By the time he reached the bottom, he was shaking so hard he could barely hold on to the rungs.

  Swinging off the ladder, he retrieved the dufflebag Dixie had left there and quickly changed into jeans, long-sleeved T, and hoodie. He ran his fingers over his hair, recently shaved down to make it easier to pull on wigs and masks, then tugged a toboggan over his head.

  He piled the suit in a corner of the shaft, soaked it in gasoline, and set it on fire, retaining only the silver pocket watch. Slinging the duffle bag over his shoulder, he abandoned the shaft and headed into what had once been a kitchen.

  From there, he ducked into the old walk in fridge and took another secret hatch that led into the sewers. Pulled a flashlight out, firmly told his beating heart not to explode, and followed the directions Dixie had given him.

  He nearly started crying when he climbed the designated ladder and saw the familiar Lexus waiting for him.

  "There you are," Dixie said with a smile, tipping up his hat and pushing away from the Lexus, striding up to Karl and hugging him tightly. "Well done, insurance man. You're something else again."

  Karl gave a shaky laugh as he pulled away, wiped his eyes with the heels of his hands. "I never want to do that again, but I have this feeling I will."

  "Probably," Dixie said and ruffled a huge hand over his head, skewing the toboggan. "Come on, time's a wasting. We'll get your pretty boy fixed up, then it's long past time we all got the hell out of here."

  They slid into the car, and Dixie hit the gas, driving as quickly as he could manage without drawing attention.

  It still seemed to take a hundred hours to get back to the base.

  Matt was still dead asleep in bed, hooked up to various beeping machines that Dixie had explained, but Karl still barely understood. When Dixie held his hand out, Karl gave him the wrapped box and then went to sit on the edge of the bed away from the machines. He held fast to Matt's hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed the back of it. "I hope this works."

  Dixie placed a drop of the serum on a bit of glass, slotted it into place inside some weird black, boxy machine, and closed the door. "It will. You want something to drink?"

  "No, but thanks."

  Grabbing a soda, Dixie returned to them just as the machine chimed. It flashed several things on Dixie's souped-up laptop, making Dixie snigger. "Oh, yeah, they tried to load all kinds of goodies into this thing. But I just stripped most of them, and what I can't destroy, the modifications Matt's made to himself will. So let's get our boy fixed on up, huh?" He pulled out a syringe and filled it, then rolled over to them, plastic wheels grinding against the old concrete.

  Karl had expected more somehow—for the serum to glow, be colorful, something. But it was as innocuous and harmless-looking as every other drug on the planet.

  Picking up Matt's arm, where he'd already marked where the injection would go, Dixie pushed the needle in.

  Several minutes later, Matt stopped fritzing in and out. A few minutes after that, he became completely visible. And just as Karl was about to scream to break the tension, he opened his eyes and smiled. "Hey, handsome."

  Letting out a cracked, broken noise, Karl hugged him close.

  "I'm sorry," Matt whispered. "I never meant for… all this. You were supposed to stay safe."

  Karl sniffled, drew back, and kissed him hard, fisting his hands in that hair he'd touched a thousand times but never seen. "I don't care about safe. What good has safe done me? If I had played it safe, I would have left you to die that night we met. If I had played it safe, I'd be in jail right now and you'd be dead again. Everybody trusts the heroes because that's easier and safer. I've had it with safe." He touched his fingertips to Matt's cheek. "I'd rather be here with you, whatever the cost."

  "I love you," Matt said softly. "I'm sorry you got dragged into our world, but I'm not totally sorry you're here."

  Dixie snorted, making them both startled. "He's right good at it, too. Don't ever want him to have cause to call me enemy, that's for sure. Come on, ya'll gonna have to do your sweet reunion thing later—we gotta go." He swiveled toward them and displayed his laptop, where a handsome blonde newscaster was giving an emergency report, her tone professional and level, but there was no mistaking the surprise and fear in her eyes.

  "Repeating for those just tuning in: The G.O.D. tonight has released info on a new super villain after he brutally attacked and badly injured The Magnificent Sunrise. The G.O.D. has reason to believe this new villain is in league with the notorious Turncoat and could be connected to the brutal hero killer known as Scones. He has been hiding in plain sight all these years as well-known insurance salesman Karl Akerman."

  Karl's picture flashed on the screen, the nice professional one he used for his website. A sort of numb disbelief ran through him. Knowing something like this could happen was one thing, but seeing it… On some level, he'd still believed he was just an insurance salesman. Boring, ordinary, always stood up
on dates. Hobbies included reading, collecting old watches, and being harassed by cats. Super villains were epic, had exciting backstories of intrigue and danger—like Matt and Dixie. Ordinary guys like Karl didn't become super villains.

  But there he was, a high-profile criminal in high definition. "His powers are still not fully known, but he is extremely dangerous. If you see him, get to a safe location and call the authorities. He joins Scones, Turncoat, and Fortune on the list of zero class most wanted. G.O.D. has given him the designation Countdown."

  Matt's mouth dropped open. "What the fuck happened while I was lying here like a butterfly with a hangover?"

  Dixie shot him a look. "Boy, ain't a minute that passes you ain't acting like you're still a drunk butterfly. And stop stealing my damn lines. As to what happened…" He glanced at Karl, then back at Matt. "Your boyfriend put a noose around Sunrise's neck. Forced him to give us the serum, gave him reason to live in fear the rest of his damned life. Using Scones as a threat worked just like you said it would. Maybe too well."

  "They were always going to do something," Karl said. "I've pissed off some powerful people, and right now Sunrise is helpless. Powerful people don't do helpless well. You both might be better off getting as far away from me as you can."

  "Fuck that," Matt said. "Let's pack up and get the hell out of here. We'll pick up your cats and find somewhere to lay low for a bit." He leaned in and kissed Karl hard. "I've missed you."

  Karl leaned into him, so that their foreheads pressed together, trembling faintly as it all rushed over him again. "I missed you, too." He stole a last kiss before finally drawing back and standing up. "Let's get moving then. The clock is ticking."

  Matt grinned, slow and hot and wicked. "Yes, Countdown."

  "Don't start," Karl said, face heating. "What sort of dumb name is that?"