Lady Superior Read Free Page A

putting on her so-called costume, anyway. There had been a pileup on I-94, and she had happened to be close enough to help. The media was all over the place. Footage from a dozen different angles were on the news for days. In hindsight, tearing cars to pieces to get trapped people out of them wasn’t the most inconspicuous way to help. By the time she got home, dashing through the city to lose anyone trying to follow her, Jane was already there waiting. I’m Jane, she’d said. I know who you are, but that’s okay. Don’t worry. I help people like you.
    Jane knew everything, too. Not just Kristen’s name and where she lived, but her height and weight, the schools she had attended, and the name of the hospital where she’d been born. Jane even knew at what time—not just what day—she’d been born. Kristen had never been more creeped out in her life, but Jane had repeatedly stated she only wanted to help. If Jane’s business was blackmail, she was a master of the craft.
    Jane pushed her sunglasses onto her head. “Here’s the thing. There are some questions I can answer. There are some I can’t. We won’t know which is which until you ask them, and as far as I’m concerned, you haven’t been asking nearly enough questions given the situation. For example, I told you I’d pick you up today. I asked you where you’d like me to do that. You told me where, and you didn’t ask why.”
    “Does it matter? I figure the first time I tell you I’m not doing something, you’ll go running your mouth.”
    “I already told you it isn’t like that.”
    “Then why did your boss put me on TV again?”
    “Because you aren’t the only one like you. You want to use what you have to help, but not everyone like you does. My boss decided it would be a good idea if everyone knew about you—or who they think you are—before they know about the bad ones. And we’ve busted our asses to make sure the bad ones are dealt with before anyone knows about them. We won’t be able to do that forever.”
    Kristen jerked her head toward Jane. “Wait, there are other people like me?”
    “As far as I know, there isn’t anyone just like you. None I’ve met, anyway. But there are others who are… special, yes. A lot of them. Statistically insignificant when you consider the entire human population, but if you put them all in one place, you could fill every seat in the Bradley Center.”
    “I have no idea how many people fit in the Bradley Center.”
    “About nineteen thousand.”
    “Oh.”
    “And as far as we can tell, there are more people like you born every year. The number was stable until 1975. That’s when it started to outpace global population growth. Why? We have no idea. If something that happened in 1975 put fuel in that particular fire, we haven’t been able to make a connection. But what’s happening could go public at any time. That’s why it’s important we make sure people know there are people like you who are good people—especially now that superheroes are mainstream. Fiction reflects, and shapes, reality. It’s more possible now than ever before for people to accept people like you as a real thing. Now, are you going to ask me where we’re going before we get there or what?”
    Kristen slouched in her seat. Even when she ripped doors off overturned cars, she had a hard time convincing herself it wasn’t something everyone could do. She couldn’t convince herself it wasn’t one hell of a dream. It was pretty bad when she was just a young girl with a secret. It was a lot worse knowing she was being set up as some sort of mascot. “Fine. Where are we going?”
    “Ice cream.”
    Kristen peered out the window and boggled. All of that drama for ice cream? Sure enough, Jane took a turn at the sign labeled 76th Street and pulled into the driveway beneath the Kopp’s Frozen Custard sign. The digital marquee flashed as they approached: FLAVOR OF THE DAY: BIENENSTICH KUCHEN
    She squinted. “What’s a