Heroes Lost and Found Read Free

went after fighting with you guys in Toronto, but she somehow ended up as the Controller’s prisoner.” Outrager paused. A sheen of sweat covered his forehead. “And he executed her by setting off the explosive implanted at the back of her neck.”
    Hunter leaned forward, rubbing his hands together. “I thought the only way to activate the plugs was through our…” he grimaced, “…through a Guardian’s wristband.” He glanced at his own.
    “But we took all the wristbands offline.” The words sounded lame in my mouth. “We blew it up, the farm near Buffalo.” I looked at Hunter. “You took us there. You said it was the main database for all the plugs.”
    “It was, as far as I know.” Hunter nodded. “But the Agency probably had other options around. Those bastards planned for almost anything.”
    “Except for us.” Steve thumped his chest, puffing up with pride.
    “Except for us,” I repeated.
    Hunter smiled at me, adding in a mischievous wink. “I don’t think anyone could ever plan for you, Jo. You’re a freaking force of nature.”
    I blew him a kiss.
    Outrager looked at Hunter, the start of a scowl on the Agency rep’s face. “You understand there are some resources you didn’t know about. That you can’t know about.”
    I gritted my teeth. I suspected Outrager was pissed at Hunter for switching sides, but this wasn’t the time or place for it.
    I stood up and walked towards the monitor, hands on hips. “We saved the fucking world once already and took down a rogue super two weeks ago. So shut the hell up and listen to me.”
    The shocked look on Outrager’s face said it all. It morphed into a sneer as he crossed his arms and waited.
    “Go ahead, Surf.” He dragged out my stage name like a child sucking taffy off his fingers.
    Out of the corner of my eye I saw Hunter wince. My postcoital bliss was definitely gone.
    “Where did Dykovski get all these toys?” I asked. “He was able to capture Linda and activate her plug. He supplied Lamarr with a jet pack. He wasn’t able to do all that with good wishes and chocolate kisses. What did he find or get?”
    Outrager shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his gaze darting around the room.
    Hunter looked at me then at Outrager and back to me, his right eyebrow lifting just a fraction of an inch. Considering Outrager had had no compunction about sending us to our probable death a few weeks earlier, this had to be something big to cause him such discomfort.
    “He accessed a series of Agency caches,” Outrager said, sounding like he was confessing a mortal sin.
    “Caches? Agency caches?” Hunter stood up. “What are those? And why wasn’t I briefed about this?”
    “Because your super wasn’t an Alpha. There was no need for you to know. The same with the rest of you. Including Surf, of course.” The dismissive tone sent my blood pressure soaring.
    Outrager continued on, his tone now a low drone as if he were reading a press release. “The Agency installed caches across the country in case an Alpha needed resupplying without having access to a fully supplied base. Usually used for multi-city battles where we couldn’t have the super disappear for hours at a time.” He sounded like he was describing a day spa. “Nothing too large, just a few rooms to repair and reload for those supers using ammo-based weapons. Some accessories were on hand for emergencies, of course.”
    I felt the rumblings of a headache behind my left eye. “What sort of stuff, perchance, would be there for ‘emergencies’? And do you have a record of those he plundered?”
    Outrager opened his mouth and closed it. A second later he repeated the motion, this time managing to speak. “He took some very…specialized equipment. Meant, you realize, for use only in extreme emergencies. Extreme.”
    “What did he take?” I snapped.
    The Agency liaison looked down at a clipboard. “He procured three jet packs, as you know, a tracking/activation device and a