Even Heroes Fall

26. Ghoul

I tore off my expensive new suit jacket, now ruined, and tossed it on the floor fuming. 

'Don't you have your super-suit underneath?' Violet's dumb-ass question echoed in my head. Why on earth would I wear my super-suit under an actual suit? And I already told her the old one was ruined!

When I got back to my basement I discovered my parcel had been delivered to Mr Khan and he left it helpfully for me by the basement door. At least someone had my back. I opened the parcel feeling wary, especially after the last disaster. But I had to admit the new suit was an improvement. 

Gone was the stupid white and black spandex. Now I had plain trousers and short-sleeved jacket, with a bolt of white across the side which I had to admit was a neat bit of design. The jacket was still hooded and the mask was white, but a guy has to be recognised somehow, right? Anyway it didn't help me much because I had ran out of leads on Castlemain and the one thing I knew he wanted was in Violet's possession.

The thought of her reading the data on there made me sick. Now I understood why Barker had been so calm when he met me. If he knew what was on the flash drive, then he knew exactly what I was. And Meridian was at the heart of everything.

I paced my small basement considering my options. Castlemain must have realised by now we had the drive which meant it was only a matter of time before he targeted us. I had no idea if he knew Justice's secret identity but it was safe to assume he probably did, given his attempted abduction of Miranda Devereux, which put Violet and her family at risk. 

My phone rang, dragging me out of my thoughts, and when I checked caller-ID it was Violet. I answered hurriedly.

'Are you OK?'

'Yes, fine!' She sounded breathless. 'Mum's been put into protective custody and it took everything I had to convince them not to send me too.'

'Might've been better for you,' I muttered, thinking about my concerns. Violet was handy in a fight, but the thought of having to worry about her whilst I faced off Castlemain was a concern. That thought jolted through me like a lightning bolt. I was worried about her. I'd never cared that much about anyone before. It was strange and I promptly shoved the thoughts to the back of my mind.

'No, listen, Max, it's Marshall.'

'What about him?' I asked suspiciously. 

'He's missing.'

I allowed her words to sink in, staring at the peeling paint on the wall of my basement. Missing? How was that possible when I saw him only a few hours previously? Still, breathless as though she was running somewhere, Violet explained to me briefly about Cutter questioning her over Reed's location, he had vanished in the chaos at the funeral, and no one had heard from him since.

I had to admit I was far less concerned with the location of the mayor as he did not exactly make it onto my list of top ten people I cared about. I was more interested to know if Violet had remembered to take the flash drive from the chapel office, or if Reed somehow had ended up with it. 

'Does he have the drive?' I blurted out, interrupting her mid-sentence.

'The drive?' She sounded taken aback. 'Is that really all you care about?'

'Honestly, yes.'

Silence. I could tell she was angry. Let her be angry, I thought, she can forgive me later when Castlemain is out of the picture. 

'No,' she replied tersely, 'he does not.' 

I assumed this meant she still had it. 'Good. Keep it safe whilst I figure out-'

'I know what I am doing, Max!' she shouted down the phone, her anger exploding into my ear. I winced and dragged the phone from my ear at her raised voice. But then I heard the dial tone and I knew she had hung up on me. 

'Fine!' I shouted at the empty room, angry myself that she was not taking this seriously enough. Then I realised a text had come through whilst we had been on the phone.

We need to talk, meet me at Barking Power station at four pm, C

It was from Celia. I could not even remember the last time she had text me, probably back when we were together. I really did not have time for her but I knew Violet would want to know she was OK, so I rang Violet to let her know but I was cut off. Very pissed off then. Instead I forwarded the message to Violet with the message: got this from Celia, thought you would want to kno she is ok.