Part 65 (1/2)
Johnson said it had to do with the j.a.panese man and continued his pursuit to Resnik's holding cell only to find it deserted. The chief ordered Mia and Bryce to head toward one of the nearest exits while Felton and Murdock sped off in separate directions to rally backup. Johnson tried to radio for help as well, but discovered his device was nonresponsive.
11:40 PM.
London, England Jason stood in front of the mirror in his bathroom, fully clad in his complete costume. It's fantastic. Absolutely astounding. Audrey, I can hardly believe you created this. The outfit consisted of black milliskin fabric that clung tightly to his body from his claves to his neck. The fabric was texturized with millions of small circles which were only marred by the seam work. Audrey made matching gauntlets and boots, as well as a large, lightweight cape. Audrey decorated the costume with two deep crimson bands around each of his biceps. To complete the ensemble, she fitted a flexible plastic mold of a sunburst to the center of his chest, as a sort of emblem for him to wear. The sunburst was hollow in the center and had two rays of light longer than the rest at two opposite ends at a diagonal.
He admired himself once more before he walked out of the bathroom and, with a smile, presented his wife her completed work. Audrey not only beamed but jumped off their bed to meet her husband. ”Jason, you look amazing! Does it fit well? Did the belt help at all? It's not too constricting, is it?”
”It's fine Audrey,” he a.s.sured her. ”I feel as if this were my second skin,” he joked.
”Good, perfect.” She smiled and told him again how wonderful he looked. ”And what about the cape? Do you like it?”
”Yes, why do you ask?”
”I wasn't sure you would is all.”
I may as well have one if I'm going to prance about as a costumed crusader. It's all a load of b.o.l.l.o.c.ks, but as the saying goes, all or nothing, right? He told her he loved it. ”It really looks stunning dear. It's positively spectacular.”
”I'm thrilled that you find it perfect my love,” she wrapped her arms around his neck and quickly kissed him. ”Do you know when you'll take this out for a test run?”
Jason shrugged and said, ”I could go out tonight, if you are quite alright with that.”
”Of course, of course,” she told him. ”I made this for a reason.”
Jason thanked her once more and told her he would try to only stay out for a short while. ”I'm not even sure of what I'm going to do while I'm out there. I guess I just need to patrol until I find something amiss.”
Just as he finished his sentence, he heard a familiar voice from afar whispering, ”Jason? Jason it's Suzy, can you hear me? I need you to come find me at my school; there's been another kidnapping.”
”Jason, what is it?”
He told his wife to be quiet for a moment while he concentrated on Suzy's words. ”The girl's name is Lily Meyers,” Suzy continued, ”And-and I know her Jason. She's in my theater course, she's actually in the play I'm in Jason and I-I don't know what the h.e.l.l's going on. I need your help. He can't be too far off by now. She's been missing for about an hour and” she broke off into sobs and begged him to come find her.
Now? I don't know who this guy is. I don't know who I'm searching for. How the h.e.l.l am I supposed to help her? I can't. I can't. I'm not ready for this. I am not ready. I'm going to fail. She's going to die. Jason felt his whole body pulse along with the beat of his own heart for a moment before he saw the worry in Audrey's eyes. Breathe d.a.m.n it! Just breathe and get out there. You are going to fail if you don't try you fool. Now go!
”I'm sorry Audrey,” he started, ”But there's been another kidnapping and I'm needed.”
She watched her husband head toward the window and just as he opened it wide and readied for his departure she raced over to him and threw her arms around him. ”Please, please be careful Jason.”
”Of course.”
”And,” she paused while she tightened her grasp on him, ”I love you.”
”I love you too.”
Suzy stood outside her apartment and smoked cigarette after cigarette. Her hands trembled violently and she paced stiffly with scattered cigarette b.u.t.ts at her feet. She kept her eyes on the sky and expected to see her brother-in-law descend and meet her. The night was cold, as winter approached, and she felt the biting cold amid the heat of her smokes. She wanted to scream and dart back to the imagined safety of her bedroom and forget about all of the maddening events she encircled herself with. As she found her final cigarette in the crumpled carton, Jason, rather, Ilion descended from the darkened sky to meet her.
His feet touched down to the ground and he swiftly walked with her out of plain sight. ”Suzy, I don't know where to begin,” he started. ”You said you know this girl, what does she look like?” This is all I can go off of. Maybe if I see her or can visualize her I can find her in a crowd, or in a car or something.
Suzy fished a worn and folded picture out of the pocket she stored the trash of her crushed carton of smokes and gave it to him. ”I circled her in that photo,” she said before she took a long drag. ”She was on her way to our rehearsal when she vanished. One of the girls tried to call her and someone else found her phone discarded in a few shrubs midway between her dormitory and the theater.”
”Do you know where exactly Suzy?”
She nodded and quietly led him near the edge of a long and narrow road. Jason and Suzy hid as there were police about the area. No doubt investigating the disappearance too. Jason examined the area as best he could given the parameters but ultimately drew nothing.
”She was abducted around here, right?” Jason began.
”From what I know.”
”Then where on earth would he have taken her?” Jason peered through the night and recalled that particular road. There's nothing here though. It's relatively open too so anyone nearby or anyone in a car would have been able to see the kidnapping. What happened? How did he manage to take her? Jason stopped and rubbed his eyes for a brief moment. You idiot. Listen to what they're saying.
Jason focused in on the few police officers and listened to their conversation. ”Nothing beyond that cell phone really,” one of them began. ”There are obvious signs of struggle, but there's no trail.” The officer indicated to the other where the resistance took place before he added, ”The attacker seems to have dragged his victim into the street, but that's where the trail ends. We thought the trail would pick up across the road or down the road a ways, but there's nothing.”
”Well what do you think happened?” the other asked.
The first officer shrugged and suggested they flew off. ”It sounds nuts but with all of the super heroes out there now, it doesn't seem too farfetched anymore.”
”But don't you think someone would have seen two people flying around? Especially with one of them possibly resisting?”
”I said it was a guess, not the honest truth. It's more likely that they got into a car and drove off.”
Jason returned to Suzy and relayed what he heard from the officers. ”Do you think that's a possibility? Could this murderer have some kind of ability?”
Suzy told him it was possible. ”It would explain the insanity behind the disappearances and how he could discard a corpse so easily, but what if there's more to his powers Jason?”
More? Stop stop stop Jason. You're getting ahead of yourself. There's no guarantee this killer even has an ability. This could be simpler than we think. And what if it is? Maybe al of the super heroes are throwing things off. Skewing matters. Facts...Criminals will be able to leave deceptive evidence to suggest that someone super powered could be behind the mess, when in reality it could be a ruse. d.a.m.n it. Why did this have to happen? Too many factors, too many loose ends. How am I supposed to stop him? How am I supposed to save her? He's throwing me off, toying with me. d.a.m.n it where the h.e.l.l could he be?
Jason scanned their surroundings once more before he asked Suzy, ”What do you know about this area?”
”What do you mean?”
”What if the vanis.h.i.+ng act is a trick,” Jason purposed. ”What are some other possibilities other than super powers? Is there anywhere he could hide? Somewhere he could stay hidden and out of sight while he tortures and kills his victim? Or at least until the police are out of the area and he could make an easier escape?”
Be delicate Jason. He saw her countenance wane before she answered, ”I'm not sure. There are plenty of buildings all around but all of them are inhabited, and I doubt he could move her too far.” Suzy's brow furrowed as she added, ”There's the sewers though.”
”The sewers? What about them?”
She told Jason about the labyrinthine of corridors and tunnels beneath the heart of London and briefly mentioned their past uses for organized crime and theft. ”It's possible he could take someone down there, though I don't know if he would likely use the sewers for much more than travel.”
”Why is that?”
”They echo,” she told him. ”If any of the girls woke and screamed out, there's a chance someone could overhear it and investigate.”
”Alright. How far do these tunnels span?”
Suzy said she didn't know. ”It could be from here to Greenwich for all I know, or farther.”
Jason looked around for any manhole covers the a.s.sailant might have utilized before he spied one a little ways down the road. Could it be that simple? Crawling about the sewers with his prey? Is it worth investigating? Is this misleading too? But it is something, progress. But how am I going to get down there? I can't race past and remove and close the manhole without causing some ma.s.sive damage to the street or drawing attention to myself. What if I lose my grip on the cover and send it hurdling into the sky and down into London? I could easily kill someone. But what do I do?
”Alright Suzy,” he began. ”I need you to go and ask those officers a few questions.”