Lafferty, Mur by Playing for Keeps [html] Read Free Book Online Page B

to help him run this diner. She's perfectly happy, and it's nice having someone who knows your usual order."
    "You should see her when we want to order something different, though," Keepsie said.
    Wanda returned with Keepsie's coffee, along with a sugar bowl. Keepsie managed a weak grin that slipped from her face the minute Wanda turned her back.
    Peter leaned across the table. "Are you all right?"
    Keepsie poured too much sugar into her coffee and regretted it with her first gulp, wincing as she burned her tongue. She put down the coffee cup and slid her hands across her face. "I'm just not ready for this. I didn't sleep well and I have no idea what to do about this whole thing."
     
    Peter nodded. "Yes, I'm at a loss myself for what to do. We are skirting the edge of illegal vigilantism here. We are also skirting the edge of refusing to cooperate with an officer." He drummed his fingers on the table.
    Keepsie stared at the table, avoiding their eyes. "You guys aren't in it, you know. This is me, my power. No offense, but none of you could be keeping this thing from them."
    Michelle leaned over the table and poked Keepsie’s arm. "We're not going to leave you sandwiched between the heroes and bad guys. No way."
    That was it. That was what she had feared. Her power alone was working to stymie those who wanted the device, and she was terrified her friends would call it her problem alone and abandon her. The relief that flooded her was palpable, and she smiled.
    Keepsie realized that Ian was prattling on. Only the occasional "dude" and "what the fuck" had entered her consciousness.
    " -I mean, I know all I can do is give the damned heroes a face full of shit, but you, Keepsie, you're stronger than they know, and you can hold them back until…" Ian's face became almost angelic with the dawning comprehension. "No, I've got it, by God, we're going to take the device to the SCU Stadium and sell tickets to an old fashioned smackdown! Doodad, Clever Jack, whoever else they're working with, and all the heroes! Winner gets the device! We'll make a fortune in ticket sales, the device is out of your hair, and maybe some of them will be so nice as to kill each other off during the fight!"
    He looked so pleased with himself that Keepsie laughed. Michelle giggled, and Peter looked as if he would consider it for a moment. He shook his head.
    "There's no way we could make that legal," he said.
    "Dude, lighten up, I just thought our girl here could use a laugh," Ian said.
    "Thanks, Ian," Keepsie said. Wanda had arrived with their food and Keepsie didn't want her to overhear their conversation.
    "So," Michelle said, spreading paper on the table in between the plates, syrup and butter. "I came to some conclusions regarding the villains. I think the Academy made them the same time they made the heroes, and I think they made them to grab political power. Throw some villains out there, then throw some heroes after them, deny all knowledge of the villains and make buddy-buddy with the mayor."
    She paused to take a bite of pancake while Keepsie looked over the documents in front of her. Most of them were from conspiracy sites, but they did seem to match what Clever Jack had been starting to tell them the previous evening.
     
    "Since 2012, the laws have equated heroes to law enforcement officers, making them part of the Seventh City Government, eligible for salaries out of our taxes," Michelle said, handing Keepsie a folder of old newspaper articles.
    "Every mayor Seventh City has had since 2010 has been endorsed by the Academy. They’re a political powerhouse."
    She lowered her voice and they leaned in to hear her. "This is truly a hero-run town, even more so than we'd thought."
    "You don't know the half of it," said a voice over Keepsie's and Michelle's shoulders.
    The man who had been reading his paper when Keepsie had arrived was leaning over the back of the booth, grinning at them.
    "Hello, Clever Jack," Keepsie said.

Chapter 6
     
    There was