Certified Superhero (Misfits #2)

11: we're burning down a building?

Once again the four of us were gathered on the couch that was becoming our de facto superhero headquarters. Who needs a cool secret lair when you have a too small hotel couch? Diana was in the middle of us with her laptop resting on her legs. After she typed in the last of her code (or however you hack a police database) and pressed enter to execute the command, a black window popped up. In a second it was filled with every case file Nova City Police had ever created. 

“Is there a way to only look at the Old Stone district files?” I asked, leaning into the screen.

She pushed my face away from the laptop. “There is if you move your head out of the way.” 

A few more keystrokes and the screen rearranged so we were looking at every crime that got reported in the past two weeks in Stones. 

Her eyes scanned the data faster than I could. “It looks like they’ve seen an uptick in violent crime reports. Muggings, assault, violent robbery. Not a lot of the suspects have been apprehended.”

“What about the missing kids?”

Again she typed something and more information pulled up. “It’s like what we saw in the game store.” A whole page of photos came up on the screen. Where the game store had showcased a dozen, there were at least thirty staring back at me from the screen. “A couple of these are cold cases that happened decades ago, but there have been twenty reported in the last month. The numbers are rising.”

Miguel and Elliot had been patiently waiting on the edges of the couch for an explanation. Eventually Elliot couldn’t wait any longer. “What do kidnappings and muggings have to do with each other?”

Diana went back to the violent crime charges. “We aren’t sure yet.”

But I only half heard her. My attention was caught by a mugshot that she scrolled past while searching for something. “Go back.”

“What?”

“Scroll up.” She obliged. “That’s him. That’s Mr. Relentless.”

At first I couldn't be sure. Mr. R had been looking pretty rough when I met him. His hair was unbrushed and he was dirty enough to have been living on the streets for a while. Not to mention the reflective eyes. This mugshot had him neatly groomed if not a little mean looking with a permanent scowl. 

“Miles Harringer,” Miguel read. “Thirty-nine, resident of Old Stones district. He was picked up for aggravated assault three weeks ago but got away from responding officers shortly after.”

“Do you know this guy?” Elliot asked.

At the same time, Diana asked, “Are you sure it’s him?”

“I’m certain.” I glanced to my left and right at Elliot and Miguel. “You two have missed a lot. A few weeks ago I ran into this guy, Harringer, after a patrol in Stones. I like to call him Mr. Relentless, Mr. R for short.”

Ten minutes later, I was standing in front of the couch like I was giving a school presentation on the Mr. R situation. “Basically, Miguel, remember when I first saw you use your gift and thought you were a werewolf? Well, I’m pretty sure this dude is actually a werewolf.”

Diana sat up straighter. “This is the first time I’m hearing about the werewolf theory. Do you want to explain yourself or should I tell Rory you need another week of bed rest?”

“Think about it! He had matted hair and glowing eyes. Definitely supernatural. Plus he suddenly got arrested for a violent crime even though his only record was for minor drug charges? I think he either got attacked by a pack of werewolves that prowl the streets of Nova City at night or there’s a new drug being pushed that turns people into werewolves.”