Pacific Station Vigilante (Book 2): The Negative Man [Stormfall] by Jeremy Croston Read Free Book Online

Shawn Jordan that works here?”
    The girl taking my order pointed back to the kitchen area.  “Yeah, he’s back there right now.”
    I put my credit card back in my wallet.  “If you could tell him someone’s here to see him, that’d be fantastic.”
    She shrugged her shoulders and made my milkshake.  “I’ll tell him, but he’s rude as hell.  You’ve been warned.”
    I thanked her for the info and took my drink.  Something about this guy told me as soon as he heard someone was looking for him, he’d run out the back.  Little did he know that’d be playing right into my hand.  So as I went around the building, sipping on the vanilla goodness in a cup, I saw the man who stole my watch quickly exit the back door.
    There was a power line running above us, giving me an easy supply of electricity to use.  Tapping into the buzzing juice above me, I arced a fence around the sneaky little thief.  He yelped as he almost ran into it and would’ve been fried before I even had the chance to reintroduce myself.
    His eyes were bloodshot and terrified as I approached.  As soon as my face came into view, recognition hit him.  “You!  You’re a damn powered too!”
    “Not just any powered person Hammerspace, ‘the’ powered person of Pacific Station.”
    It was a thrill to see everything come together from his point of view.  He dropped to his knees, looking like he was ready to beg for his life.  “Please, I had no idea you were him .”
    He couldn’t even bring himself to say my real name.  “Come on, it won’t kill you to say The Negative Man.  The name’s not jinxed or anything sinister.”
    “You kill people like me, every day!”
    It was true that I wasn’t a big fan of disorder.  Lack of control was a surefire sign a civilization was no better than the animals in which we came from.  “You mistake what I do.  Don’t think of it as killing; I purge the city of the bad elements.  If you can understand that concept, I think I have uses for you.”
    Whether it was fear or some semblance of understanding, he told me what I needed to hear.  “I totally get it Mr. Negative Man sir.  I know I can be useful to you and your cause.”
    I snapped my fingers and the electricity disappeared, freeing him.  “Good.  As luck would have it, I already have a task for you.”
    He seemed suspicious about that, until he realized again who he was dealing with.  “Of course boss man, whatever you need.”  I enjoyed his can do attitude, even if it was just for show.  “Let me guess, you need something burgled…?”
    “Oh no, there’s nothing you can steal that’d be of use to me, at least not yet.”  I pulled the paper out with the SVIS names and pictures.  “No, what I need is just some recon work.  Find out as much as you can about these four people and report back to me in a few days.  That should be pretty simple.”
    He took the paper and looked it over.  “Anything in particular about these four that strikes your interest?”
    “Yes and no, but nothing you need to concern yourself with.  But if you find something interesting,” I pulled a stack of hundreds out of my back pocket, “and don’t get caught, you’ll find yourself a few dollars richer.”
    Greed, the ultimate motivator.  “You got it.  Where should I meet you when you’re ready for my findings?”
    “Don’t worry my new friend, I’ll find you.”
    ****
    As I was walking back into Wonder-Tech Tower, Becky and her friend were on their way out.  “Did you guys enjoy the visit?”
    “Yeah, the stuff you’re coming up with is amazing.”  With kids it’s hard to tell if they’re blowing smoke up your ass or being serious.  “Those games look almost as good as the next gen console ones.”
    “I’m glad I continue to amaze you Miss Walker.”  I waved once more at them as they wandered off into the street.  Part of me was curious as to if she’d become a super like her dad.  I hadn’t seen anything that