Fen and Mara - Open Novella Contest 2019 Short List

Chapter 11

A bright pink vinyl record is spinning on Fen's record player. It's the new record of Hellcats, bought this afternoon when he was at the record store with Harry. Fen lounges on his bed, listening to the music and scrolling through Mara's texts. She sent him a picture of her homework that afternoon, with the text 'Tomorrow I'm all yours'. Maybe he should follow her example. Or maybe not.

Theresa Holt puts her head around his door. "Fen, are you coming down? I made coffee. Your father just got home too."

"Yo. Be there in a sec."

When he gets to the kitchen a little while later, his parents and brother are already sitting at the kitchen table. From his mother's face he can see something is off. Vic is also not sitting comfortably, he's probably been waiting for their parents to drop the bomb since he sat down.
Fen plops down and takes the last mug off coffee. 'Best dad' it says in bold black letters. He takes a sip from the dark liquid and looks up to his father.
"Well? Let's hear it. What is wrong?"

Henry Holt goes straight for it. "You know I've been investigating your kidnapping this whole week."
Fen nods. His father had to move heaven and earth to be allowed to work on his son's case.
"I've been looking into personal connections. My gut tells me this was a calculated attack, meant for me and my family. So I dug up my old cases to look for clues."

"And you've found something, or else we wouldn't be sitting here."

The police detective confirms this with a nod. "I've got an idea. Or more of a hunch, though I think I'm on the right track with this."

His mother taps her nails against her coffee cup, a nervous tell. Whatever it is, Fen is not going to like what his dad has to tell him, otherwise his mother wouldn't be so anxious. He glances at his brother and Vic shrugs: he doesn't know what it is either.

"I think you've been kidnapped by a super villain. One whose identity I have yet to confirm, though I'm fairly certain I know who it is."
His father puts his hands on the table, palms up, as if he is apologizing.
"I don't have a connection with this super villain. I've never arrested him or even fought him. Not as a police officer nor as Lion Heart. But there is a connection between Lion Heart and the man behind the villain's alter ego. It's been years, though it could be a strong motif."

"Dude! Stop the bullshit," Fen exclaims impatiently. He can't put up with his father's evasive manners now. "Just tell me who it is!"

"Fenn, honey, please let your father explain this in his own manner. It's important you know everything, before..." Theresa Holt swallows her next words.

"Before what? Before y'all are making me go crazy?!" Fen pushes his chair back and gets up to lean on the table with his hands, staring his father down.

Vic puts a hand on his arm. "Sit down, bro. Let dad explain. You can always go and throw a chair across the room later."

Reluctantly Fen lowers himself back on his chair, keeping a sharp eye on his father. The police detective leans forwards, his hands wringing together.
"Fen... almost fourteen years ago I responded to an alarm. A bank robbery. There were four robbers. I took down two of them, but the other two got away. They had a hostage... a boy of eight years old. He went down to the bank with his grandma, his piggy bank was still on the scene."
Holt takes a deep breath. "I saved the boy, but the robbers got away in a stolen car. They ignored every red light and crashed into another car at the big intersection near City Hall. One robber was killed immediately, the other was severely injured. The woman who was driving the other car didn't survive either."

"Did one of the robbers kidnap me?" Fen asks, yet his dad shakes his head.

"No, I think Mastermind was behind it."