Chapter Five
February 21st, 11:50 PM
Margot pulled her car into the farthest corner of the new station's parking lot and put it in park.
"Well, here we are," she said. "Any idea how you're gonna get in, smart girl?"
Erin stared at her through the holes of her Blue Lynx mask. She knew that Margot wasn't a fan of this plan. She had said it was too risky-- that they had tried stunts like this before, and they had never gone well. And, truly, Erin's memories of her last direct encounter with the media-- in the back of a news fan, shooting that horrible PSA, so many months ago-- were not the finest recollections of the Blue Lynx's crimefighting career.
"But this is different," Erin had told Margot. "If I don't do this, Julia Wright will never stop hounding us." The long sabbatical of the Blue Lynx and the long recuperation period of Erin Steele was a coincidence too good to be just that. It was crucial that the Blue Lynx get Julia on her side: that she made an ally out of an enemy, before that enemy got any closer to a certain dearly guarded secret.
That snarky "smart girl" comment showed that Margot hadn't exactly warmed to Erin's bright idea. Oh well. It wouldn't be the first time the two young women would have philosophical differences about the Blue Lynx's work. Probably wouldn't be the last, either.
"I think I'll knock on the door," Erin said, with a smile.
"Oh yeah?" Margot said. "And they're just going to let you in, like the big bad cat?"
Erin laughed. "Julia said it would be just her in there tonight. She'll figure it out."
Margot shook her head. "God, Erin, I don't know. Doesn't this feel like a trap, to you?"
Erin nodded. "Of course it does. But it's just Julia, Margot. You don't think I can handle a dumb reporter?"
"I think you can," Margot replied. "But you know as well as I do that she's, umm, resourceful."
"Well, it's been months since I had a good adventure. I'll take whatever I can get, tonight."
Margot kneaded her forehead with her fingers. "Okay. Just be careful."
"I will," Erin said, stepping out of the car. "Bye!"
Erin shut the door and skipped across the parking lot. The February air was cool and crisp, and it felt good to once again be out, doing the superheroine stuff that really mattered. The Blue Lynx had been gone for too long. Every day that Erin dragged through without fighting crime had felt like a week. Julia Wright was the perfect little challenge to get back in the game.
Now she just had to get into the building.
Erin tried the back doors. She pulled on the handles, but they were locked. She looked through the glass panes of the doors at the empty lobby. She banged her fist on the glass. "Hello?" she said. "Anyone home?"
"Blue Lynx," a small, fuzzed-out voice said. "Good evening."
Erin turned to see a small speaker on the wall next to the door. Underneath the speaker was a 10-digit number pad.
"Julia?" Erin said, stepping to the device.
"I'm glad you made it," the voice said. "I've been waiting for you, looking out the window. I saw you pull up earlier."
Erin's heart almost stopped. Had she been watching them the whole time? That meant she knew what Margot's car looked like!
"I didn't know you had a driver, Blue Lynx," the voice continued.
Oh crap, oh crap. What could Erin say?
The small voice laughed. "But I guess a bigshot superheroine like you deserves to ride in style, right?"
Erin gulped. "It's an Uber," she lied. "I don't have a car."
"Really? Well, if you insist, Blue Lynx. Though it's pretty weird for a Uber driver to just stay parked after dropping off a customer."
Erin instinctively turned around. As Julia suggested, Margot's car was still sitting there, alone in the dark. Erin was pleased to note that she couldn't see Margot herself-- and if she couldn't, then she doubt Julia could. But the image of the unmoving car poked more than a few holes in Erin's story.
"Yeah, well, she said she was done for the night," Erin said. "She's got work to do, on her phone, and..."
Harsh laughter buzzed through the small speaker. "You're not a very good liar, Blue Lynx. But that's okay. Why don't you come up so we can chat?"
Erin sighed. Did she dodge a bullet? For now?
"Okay," she said. "How do I get in?"
"Simple," the voice said. "Just plug the passcode in, walk through the lobby to the elevators, and ride the elevator to floor 8. You'll see my see my office lit up once you get to the floor."
"And... What's the passcode?"
"88229928."
Erin typed in the code and heard a small, pleasing beep. She turned the handle of the door, and it opened.
"Thanks," Erin called into the speaker. "I'll see you soon."
"See ya, Blue Lynx."
Erin walked into the lobby, letting the door shut behind her. The room was spacious and well-lit, but completely empty of people. Looking at the unoccupied desks, it hit Erin that this plan was a big risk for Julia, too: she had already given the Blue Lynx the password to the door, and had allowed her to waltz into the building like she was just another reporter and not, well, a notorious masked vigilante. Erin saw security cameras in the corners of the room. Were they keeping track of all this? They didn't appear to be moving, or lit up. Had Julia turned them off to keep her little date a secret? It seemed to Erin that if the cameras did catch anything, then the blame was squarely on the reporter who had invited a superheroine for a late-night chat.
Erin found the elevator, pushed the button, and waited. She thought about Julia looking out her window, watching Margot's car pull up. Had she seen Margot's face? Her license plate? Was Julia calling other reporters? Was she calling the cops? There were many things that Julia could do right now to severely wreck Erin's night. Erin just hoped that Julia was as committed to conversation as she was.
The elevator landed with a ding. The doors slid open, and Erin walked in. She pressed the "8" button and watched the doors close. Once again, she was alone, waiting, and thinking. And she didn't want to think. When she got to thinking too much, her work as the Blue Lynx suffered. It was important to clear her head, and to not ruminate on cars, or license plates, or the cops, or the possibility of Margot getting out of her car for some reason, or if Julia had happened to catch a view of her without her mask, or...
"Stop," Erin told herself. "Get it together."
She had to admit that she was flustered. Julia had clearly won the preliminary bout, tonight. But the main event was still to come.
Another ding, and the doors opened up onto a newsroom, completely dark but for a dim light in the far corner. Erin looked to that corner and saw a shadowy figure waving its arms.
"Blue Lynx!" a voice said, in a sort of loud whisper. "Over here!"
Erin took a deep breath and started walking. She weaved through a maze of vacant desks and rolling chairs, moving carefully but confidently in the dark. As she came closer to the light in the far corner, the shadowy figure took on a feminine form. Erin saw a brown jacket, skirt, dark curly hair, and eventually, the face of Julia Wright.
"Good evening," Julia said, standing behind her desk, opening her arms to encompass Erin and the office in a sort of strange embrace.
"Good evening," Erin replied, sternly.
Julia pushed her chair from behind the desk and sat down. She pointed at another chair in front of the desk and nodded at Erin. "Take a seat, Blue Lynx. Please, take a seat."
Erin nodded, moving to the chair and elegantly dropping into its seat. She crossed her legs and clasped her gloved hands together, sitting them on her knee. She watched as Julia reached back to her desk, fumbled around, and eventually brought back a clipboard and a pen.
"I want to take notes," Julia said, with a smile.
"Naturally," Erin replied.
"Oh, and let's do something about this light," Julia said, setting her clipboard on the ground, and stepping to the lamp propped up on her desk. "It's just so horribly dark in here."
Erin blinked. "I think it's fine."
"I want to get a good, good look at you," Julia said, turning the dial on the lamp. With each click, the bulb grew brighter, until its light forced Erin to squint her eyes.
"That's enough," Erin said.
"Nonsense," Julia said, still clicking the dial, making the desk area brighter still. "A pretty girl like you demands to be well-lit."
"I said that's enough!" Erin cried, moving her hand to shield her eyes.
Julia laughed. "Okay, alright," she said, stepping back into her chair. She picked up her clipboard and set it in her lap. "The important thing is I can see you, now. Perfectly."
Erin frowned. Perfectly? What the hell did that mean?
She looked down at her body. Her skin was practically white against the light, her bosom almost glistening, her costume an even more brilliant blue than usual. Long shadows stretched backward from her legs and the legs of the chair. She felt... Exposed. Which was just how Julia wanted it, Erin imagined.
"Anyway," Julia said. "I'm so glad you could make it. Just so glad."
Erin nodded. "Yes, Julia. We need to talk. I don't think you understand what I'm about."
Julia scribbled something on her clipboard. "Oh? And what are you about, Blue Lynx? Truth, justice, the American way, etcetera?"
Erin shifted in her seat. The interview had just started, and Julia was already irritating the hell out of her.
"Our city is plagued by crime. Drug lords, dealers, goons," Erin said. "The cops have tried to stop it but they need help. That's what I'm here for."
Julia dashed off a note and looked up at Erin. "So what makes you think a little girl in a shiny outfit can do better than our city's police force?"
"Little girl?" Erin said. She could feel her face turning red, could almost hear her teeth grinding. And she couldn't help herself. "Really, Julia?"
"Well, look at you," Julia said, pointing at her with the pen. "You're pretty young, right? I'd estimate, say, early twenties? Yes?"
Erin stared at her. She was being so... Invasive. Trying to keep the Blue Lynx off balance. Erin loved a good fight, and her urge was to swing back. She had to remind herself that tonight's goal was to make a new ally. "Get Julia to join you," Erin thought. "Get the dumb bitch to..."
Stop. Focus.
"My age is irrelevant," Erin said. "The city's drug problem is huge. It goes beyond me or you. We all need to do whatever we can to solve it."
"Alright," Julia said, frantically writing on her clipboard. "I think I understand. But do you really think playing cat dress-up is going to help?"
Erin stomped her foot on the floor. "You're just trying to piss me off, aren't you?" she sneered. The combination of nerves, anger, and the intense light had made her begin to sweat.
Julia giggled. "I'm just asking simple questions, that's all."
"Like, do you know who's responsible for the drugs coming into the city? Do you, really, Miss Reporter?"
Julia looked at her with a sinister smirk. "Enlighten me."
"It's Brent Hammerson," Erin said. "The Speaker of the House. It all flows back to him. I personally have had several encounters with him. At drug houses, in abandoned factories. He's the kingpin. And we have to take him down."
Julia hadn't lifted her pen during Erin's revelation.
"That's a pretty serious allegation, Blue Lynx," Julia said.
"Serious, and one hundred percent true," Erin said.
Julia nodded in silence. Her face had become an unreadable blank.
What was she thinking? Was this news to her? Erin licked her lips. Maybe this was how she'd proceed. Keep attacking Hammerson. Win Julia over by putting down her biggest enemy.
"The first time I learned about it, I was as shocked as you," Erin said. "But, seriously, follow him around for a day. Go with him into the dark corners of the city, you'll see. There's no one more responsible for our community's suffering than him."
Julia closed her eyes. She put her pen down and brought her hands to her forehead.
"So?" Erin said. "What do you think? Julia?"
"I think," Julia said, running her fingers through her hair. "I think politics are pretty boring, actually."
Erin almost fell out of her chair. "What?"
Julia picked up her pen. "Did we really come here to talk about that? About Brent Hammerson? No. We came here to talk about you."
Erin glared at her. "Don't you understand?" she cried. "I am fighting him. You can't tell the story of the Blue Lynx without talking about Hammerson!"
Julia yawned. "Anyway, let's get back on topic. So, yeah, I guess you're a young girl in your early twenties. Pretty, and yet, marginalized. A freak, in a way. Maybe you've got some kind of psychological issue? An eating disorder? I don't know how else you'd get that physique, honestly."
Erin stood up from her chair and placed her hands on her hips. There was no hope, here. This mission would never succeed, not in a million years.
"We're finished," Erin said. "Goodnight, Julia."
"No!" Julia shouted, standing up and placing her clipboard on her seat. "We're not finished! You haven't told me who you really are!"
"That wasn't part of the deal," Erin said. "None of this was."
"What is your secret identity, Blue Lynx?" Julia cried, her eyes widening. "I have to know!"
Erin shook her head and turned around. Julia was a lost cause, and it was time to leave. But just as she began to walk away, she felt something slam into a lower back. An intense pain suddenly shot through her body. Her arms and legs felt like they were on fire; she arched her back, threw her head back, and screamed. Her body was convulsing as if electrocuted, and she cried out, again and again, as more and more waves of pain flowed over her. When the source of the shock was finally removed, she collapsed to the floor, nearly unconscious.
She summoned the strength to lift her head and look up. Julia was standing there, grinning, with a small device in her hand.
"You're not the only one with a special taser, Blue Lynx," she cackled.
Erin tried to get up, tried to crawl away, but every muscle in her body ached. "You... bitch..." she muttered. She placed her hands on the ground and pulled herself to her knees. Julia bent down, placed her hands on Erin's shoulders, and pushed her back to the floor.
"You shouldn't have turned your back on me," Julia said. She toed at Erin's sprawled, still shaking body with her high-heeled shoe. Erin moaned. She was too weak to turn herself over, too drained to do anything except stare up at the ceiling. Julia had got her, good. And now she was helpless.
"Let's continue with the interview, shall we?" Julia said, dropping to her knees, placing on hand on Erin's stomach, and the other on the crown of her head. She brushed back black locks from Erin's face. "Where were we? Ah yes. Your secret identity."
Julia's hand dropped down to Erin's mask.
"No..." Erin groaned. "Julia... Don't..."
She had to find a way to stall her, somehow. She could feel her strength returning, slowly but steadily. But she'd need at least a minute. And Julia didn't look like she wanted to wait.
"This is the moment I've longed for... For months," Julia said. "I have you here. Completely at my mercy. And now... It's time to learn your greatest secret."
"But..." Erin said. But what? What could she possibly say? Julia looked at her with expectation.
"Please... I..."
"Oh, stop whining," Julia said, slipping her hand down to Erin's temple. She slid her thumb beneath the mask and hooked her forefinger over, forming a loop around the blue fabric.
Erin's chest heaved with dread. She needed more time!
"Don't, Julia..." she whispered. "If you unmask me, I'll... tell everyone... your secret."
Julia laughed. "My secret? I have nothing to hide, Blue Lynx. I don't go around pretending to be someone I'm not, unlike you."
"You're... you're on Hammerson's side," Erin said, her voice strained. "You're helping him... distribute drugs..."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Julia said.
"That's why... you're so against me," Erin continued. "You're working for the enemy..."
Julia laughed. "I would if I could, Blue Lynx. If it meant taking your cocky ass down, I'd work for the devil himself."
Erin sighed and closed her eyes. There was simply no helping this woman.
"Enough stalling," Julia said. "It's time for this charade to end!"
And Erin winced as Julia pinched down on the blue fabric of the mask, pulled it up, and decisively tugged it off of the Blue Lynx's face.
On to Chapter Six
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