Frozen Innocence

Chapter 4

The next day, Aurora woke up in a PVU holding cell. Checking her watch, she saw that it was 10:32 AM.

"Hey, she's awake!" Ellie exclaimed.

Aurora yawned and sat up. "Is the memory guy here yet?"

Ellie rubbed her arm. "Ben...died in his hotel room last night. Brain aneurysm."

"Oh." Aurora covered her mouth. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. They can happen at any time."

"Yeah, I remember learning about that in Anatomy."

"Hey, Sarge!" Max called out from her desk. "I got a hit on Memory Man!"

Ellie walked over with Aurora right behind her. Lea stepped out of the interview room, Bruce emerged from his office, and they joined the others in looking over Max's shoulder.

Max's laptop showed an image from a street camera of a tall white man in a dark green hoodie and brown cargo pants. His hood was up, but it was clear he was bald, and he had a long scar below his right eye.

"He shaved the mustache, but that's him." Lea said. "The scar is kind of a dead giveaway."

Max switched to a different camera showing a two level house in a suburban neighborhood. "He's been living in this house with at least three other people."

Bruce looked at him. "At least?"

"Well, footage shows up to eight people coming and going, but from what I can tell only four of them actually live there."

Jacob scratched his head. "Why would they move into a house with a camera across the street?"

"Most of the cameras in that neighborhood have needed to be replaced for over a year." Max explained. "They probably assumed that this one was dead too."

"Sabrina, Max, get going." Bruce said. "Ellie, call Boston PD and have them round up any powered officers they can spare."

Lea raised her hand. "I want to go with. Depending on how many powered cops they have, you might need me."

"Same here." Jacob said.

Bruce looked back and forth between them. "Fair point. I'll have to deputize you."

"What about my dad and me?" Aurora asked.

Bruce shrugged. "So far you've only been attacked out on the streets, but we'll have some extra officers moved here. If they do attack here, you'll be well within your rights to defend yourselves."

It took just under four hours for Lea, Jacob, Sabrina, and Max to reach a rendezvous point - an empty parking lot a block away from the house. They were met by two armored vehicles, four police cars, and a total of 20 local cops. Two officers - a tall man with blue eyes and short brown hair and a shorter woman with green eyes and long blond hair tied in a ponytail. He carried a shotgun, and she had an assault rifle.

"Detective Avila?" The man asked.

Sabrina nodded. "That's me. This is Detective Parnell." She gestured to Max. "You the powered officers?"

"That's us. Matt Barnes." He shook her hand. "They call me Cannon Fodder."

Lea raised an eyebrow. "Fast healing?"

"Yeah, very." The woman replied. "Andrea O'Reilly. They call me Sonar, but only because Radar was taken." She looked at Jacob, then back at Lea. "Who're you two?"

"They're with us." Sabrina said. "Any idea what we're looking at?"

"There's six people inside, and they've all got powers."