Alpha Male (17 page)

"I don't…What's damage control?" Al asked.

"Just keep things from getting crazy," Eddy said. "Don't let any weapons get pulled on us, OK?"

"OK," Al said.

"Oh, and don't say anything. I'll do the talking," Eddy said, handing Al the mask. "Go ahead and put this on before they get—"

The headlights of a lowered sedan cast their light on the narrow alley. Eddy pulled Al down behind the dumpster, peering around for a better look. Al put on the mask, twisting it to fit his face.

The car doors closed and four men made their way into the back of the bar, the last looked around, scanning the area before going in.

"Ok, it’s show time," Eddy said. “How's that mask?"

"It's a little tight, but I'll be OK," Al said.

"Good, let’s go."

Eddy got up and brushed off the suit he was wearing. It was tailor made from silk and fit him like a glove. He looked down at the ensemble and smiled. Al was standing behind him in the costume Ivy had made. It was a little loose in places, but his slim, muscular physique filled most of it out. Eddy turned to face Al. "You and me, we're decked out to the nines. Don't ask what it means, because I don't fully know. It just means we're looking good."

"OK," Al said.

"Let’s do this," Eddy said walking towards the door. "Remember, don't say anything, and don't let anything happen to us."

They walked through the door, quiet, and ready. Eddy’s fingers shook a little as they came into the back room where the men were standing. Four black men, and three white all stood around a preparation table in the kitchen, looking into a couple briefcases. Money was in one, brown wrapped up packages were in the other.

"Hello, gentlemen," Eddy said, with a big, nervous grin.

"Who the fuck are you?" one of the black men asked as he went for his gun. He stopped cold when Al walked into the room. His bewilderment transformed into disbelief, and then a hesitant smile exposed his white teeth. "What is this?"

"This is my boss, Omega Man," Eddy said. "He's got one request, and one request only."

"Omega Man, huh?" His grin was wide and toothy. "Just like the cartoon!"

"Holy shit, I totally see it!" one of the white men said.

Another looked at him and said, "I don't get it."

"Omega man, from that Alpha Male cartoon—" he started, but was thrust to the floor by an unseen force. The other men went down a second later. It only took them a minute before they were scrambling to get up. Al was holding out his hand, stepping closer to them. Each man drew a gun and Al yanked them away before they could fire. The metal weapons clattered across the hard floor as he stood over them, chest heaving with anger.

"My boss wants your suppliers, now," Eddy said, putting his hand on Al’s extended shoulder.

The first black man to speak to them opened his mouth again. "I'll give you the information, OK?"

"Rob, you seriously gonna give up like that?" one of the other black men asked.

"Cutty, shut yo mouth," Rob said, and looked back up to Eddy. His hands trembled as he avoided looking at Al. "There’s a pen and paper on the table. Hand it to me."

Eddy looked around until he saw the notepad. He grabbed it and turned back to Rob, who was now staring and his friend.

"Don't be a pussy, Rob," the man said.

"You're a fucking idiot, aren't you?" Rob asked. "You seriously don't know who this is, do you? He's that goddamned supervillain they are always going about."

"That's right," Eddy said with a crooked grin.

The fact hit the man hard. He laid his head down upon the hard surface and shut his mouth. Eddy handed Rob the paper and watched as he wrote the name and number down, and handed it back to Eddy.

"Say, you want a job?" Eddy asked Rob.

"Doing what?" Rob asked.

"We can figure something out," Eddy said, as he grabbed the two briefcases and turned to leave. Al stood there a moment longer, his gaze lingering on the men. A moment passed before he turned and followed. Eddy stopped turned back to them. "You three might want to come along since these two aren't going to be very happy about losing the money, and the dope."

"You're goddamned right we aren't," one of the white guys said. "You niggers are dead."

"That's racist," Eddy said, with a disgusted look. "I should let them kill you."

The man's eyes went wide as Rob and his crew got up. Rob walked up and pretended to kick at him. The man flinched hard and Rob just laughed. "Who's the nigger now?"

As they stepped back out in the alley, Eddy turned around and looked at Al, and said, “There’s something I’ve got to take care of. You can go on back and meet with the other guys.”

Al didn’t say a word, he just walked on, disappearing into the shadows. Eddy met Rob and his men at the door way. They were startled by his presence, but they didn’t move.

“Look, we want to do business with you, OK?” Eddy said. “I want you to take these briefcases as a gift. I know we stole them from you, but now I’m giving them back, OK? All I ask is that you cut us in from now on, and when you roll around town, you wear our signature. In return, I’ll help with the competition. Sound good?”

“What kind of cut?” Rob asked.

“It doesn’t matter, because you won’t say no,” Eddy said. “Trust me, you will be making a lot more after you say yes.”

“Yeah, we’ll do it,” Rob said. “But we need some heat.”

“Heat? Oh, you mean guns,” Eddy said. “I can get you guns.”

*****

“We called you because we thought it might be relevant to your case,” the officer said, pointing down at the markings on the ground. It was a large, grey Omega symbol next to a few spent shell casings.

“What exactly happened?” Reedy asked, kneeling down.

“These guys here,” the officer said, pointing at the bodies. “We’re in the Skulls gang that just popped up a few weeks ago. No one’s talking, but I used to work beat in Detroit and I’d say this was a territory issue.”

“Ah, you’re probably right.” Vaughn said, looking down at the three boys with bullet holes in them. “You know, when I was a kid, you rebelled against the government, or God, not against fucking superheroes.”

“What do you expect," Reedy said. "A man shows up that can fly and stop bullets with his face. To these kids, he probably seems a lot like God."

"Nah, you're getting too philosophical now," Vaughn said. "They hate him for the same reason they hate us. Authority. Hands down, end of story."

"So what do you guys think?" the officer asked.

"You did a good job calling us," Vaughn said. "Was he here?"

"Not that we know of, but people are scared. All these gangs cropping up are disappearing just as fast. Apparently, your boy doesn't like to share. Oh, and we found a discarded gun with no prints. The serial number is a match for one that was stolen from that pawn shop a few days ago. Wasn’t he involved in that as well?”

"Yeah, he’s a slippery asshole," Reedy replied. "We just can't get a bead on him."

"Yeah, he's definitely playing it safe," Vaughn said. "It's only a matter of time before he sticks his head out again."

"Where's Alpha Male in all of this?" the officer asked.

"I guess he's doing his usual thing," Reedy said.

*****

Alpha Male stood atop the Wade Tower holding a manila envelope in his hands. He fingered the small plastic device through the envelope before opening it. Pulling it out, he examined it. The thing was just a bit bigger than a key fob. He caressed the big red button for a moment, feeling its contours with the tip of his finger. A moment passed and he dropped it back in the packet. As it disappeared, something else came into view. He pulled out three large photographs. Shock hit him as he looked at the black and whites of his meeting with The Magpie. They slid right back in place when his phone went off. He pulled it from his belt and looked at it. It was an unfamiliar number, but he hit 'answer' anyways.

"Look, don't take it personally," said The Magpie on the other end. "I just need some extra money before I leave town for good. This used to be such a safe city to steal in."

"So this is why you’ve kept me waiting for so long. How much?" Alpha said, scanning around for any signs of the man. The tower was so high up, he couldn't get a good look at any of the nearby rooftops.

"Ten million," said The Magpie.

"I don't have—"

"Don't," The Magpie said. "I know exactly what you have, and that's why I'm asking for it. Even with the Wright Initiative, you make so much money off these pathetic people. Selling shoes, and shows, and other doodads. It should be criminal. And before you say anything, you should know that I’ve also got evidence that you had me wipe the prints off a crime scene, so if I was you, I’d pay. Can’t have that beautiful police chief finding out about this, can we?"

"What's my guarantee?"

"You have my word," said The Magpie.

"It's going to take—"

"I know. Let’s say the end of next week."

The phone line went dead. Alpha looked at the screen and threw it to the ground. It hit with the force of a small bomb, cracking the roof, and shattering into pieces. He let out a bellowing howl and took flight.

*****

Rose sat on her couch watching the evening news. In one hand, she held the remote, and in the other, she held a stout glass of whiskey. The ice in the glass clinked every time she took a drink. Her husband sat at the other end of the couch, his face buried in a book. He looked up after she gulped down her drink and got up to get another.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

“No,” she said, walking into the kitchen.

“At some point, we’re going to need to discuss all this,” he said, looking over his shoulder.

“What's there to talk about?” she asked, returning with a new drink. “The city is seeing its highest spike in crime in years, and I’m the head of the police force.”

“Yeah, but you also presided over the city when it was at its lowest crime level ever. You can’t beat yourself up over something you don’t have control over,” he said.

“That’s what you don’t get!” she yelled. “I do have control. This shit shouldn’t be happening in my city! Not when I’m in command.” She put her head down and supported herself on the edge of the couch. “I…uh, I don’t want to talk about it.”

He started to say something, but she flashed him a glance that said, don't.

"I'm going to my office, I'll be up later," said Rose as she walked off. She sat down at her desk and stared at it. She didn't move until the sound of her husband going up the stairs shook away her thoughts. She clicked the mouse and watched as the screen of her computer came on. After a few moments of browsing the news sites, she turned it off and reached down for her purse. She dug around inside, looking for the small device, but it wasn't there. Panic hit, and she dumped the whole thing out. She rummaged through the pile, scattering everything around, but still couldn't find it.

"Oh fuck," she said, jumping up and grabbing her coat. She was out the door before her husband could call out her name.

Chapter Twenty-One.

Vaughn greeted Reedy with a large yawn while wiping the sleep from his eyes. Reedy took one look around the office and saw that everyone else was as tired as Vaughn.

"What'd I miss?" Reedy asked.

"Oh, shit man," Vaughn said. "The captain came in around midnight and had us tear the place apart looking for something. Some kind of box with a button on it. We didn't find it."

"What were you doing here at midnight?" Reedy asked.

"Oh, boy," Vaughn said, with a big creeping smile. "The internet at my house is complete shit, so I come here sometimes to—"

"Don't say look at porn," Reedy said.

Vaughn chuckled and said, "No, it works well enough for that. I think I've got us a serious lead."

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh, yeah," Vaughn replied, and walked over to his desk. "I searched most of the night and finally found our guy. Yeah, it took a lot of work, but I found out that he changed his name before going off to school in Russia, of all places."

"He's from Russia originally, right?" Reedy asked, looking down at the paperwork Vaughn had printed out.

"Yep," said Vaughn. "Going back to school there makes sense, but not the name change."

"I guess," Reedy said, giving it some thought. "Or maybe we are looking too far into all this."

"His new name, get this, it's Jacob Jones," Vaughn said. "Just like a comic book villain."

"Sounds more like a superhero's name to me," Reedy said, smiling.

Vaughn sneered and said, "Bite me."

"So, what now?" Reedy asked.

"I'm going to get back to it, and you can help."

*****

Alpha Male sat the large pallet of bricks down on the top scaffolding and nodded to the bricklayer before heading back to the ground. At the bottom, an attractive brunette held her microphone, waiting for his return.

"So, is all this a part of the Wright Initiative?" she asked.

"Well, yes and no," Alpha replied, with a smile as he landed. He scratched the back of his head. "The Wright Initiative takes the money from the various products and television programs I endorse and pays for these projects from that. I just volunteer my time when I can."

"That's very noble of you," she said, smiling.

"Ah, well, thank you," he said. "I try."

"Can you explain a little more about The Wright Initiative?" she asked.

"Oh yes, of course," he said. "When I was first starting out, there was this…criminal. He was driving like crazy, weaving in and out of traffic, swerving off the road. He was apparently trying to get away from the cops after he’d robbed a bank. I flew down beside the car and signaled for him to pull over. I wanted to stop him for reckless, and possibly drunk driving, but then he pulled a pistol on me and fired. The bullet hit me square in the face. It was the first time I’d been hit in the face. It startled me, and before I knew it, I had flown into oncoming traffic. I pulled up before I hit the car coming at me…"

Alpha paused and swallowed hard. "But…I um…I slammed into a news helicopter and it crashed into a nearby building. The Wrights were the first ones they pulled from the wreckage. The helicopter had completely demolished the building. The only ones who survived were the kids. They…were at a nearby church for bible study."