Private Heroes – The Devils Breath Part 11

[i]I would like to apologise to the readers for the delay. I didn’t write through Christmas and new year. Shortly after a fault on my computer, erased all the progress I had made. I had to write the chapter from scratch. The story is close to conclusion and I think you can expect 2 or 3 more chapters. I hope you guys are enjoying this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I have a few ideas for other stories that I look forward to writing. On that note enjoy! Author’s note[/i].

Daniel’s POV Morning after the night before….

My mind is spinning. I have lots to prepare for. I may need some help from Katy. If I really wanna pull this off, she’s the best person to go to. I wake up early at 7:00, it’s still dark but the sun is creeping over the clouds. Thr sky is a beautiful purple that morphs into orange as the sun rises. I look behind me at my beautiful girlfriend lying in bed, her beautiful red hair flared over the pillow. I’m dressed in my white top, jeans, and leather jacket as I lean down and kiss her forehead. Before I leave her to sleep, I leave her a note that reads:

To my beautiful princess,
Sorry you had to wake up without me but I’ve got important things to plan. Don’t worry it’s nothing bad, just make sure you dress in your most beautiful dress by 5:30 since we have dinner reservations for 6.
Love you lots, Daniel x

I grab a slice of toast and climb into my rental car. No one’s awake yet as I creep out of the house. On my way to the office I smile as I think of what I have planned for the evening. Yeah Katy’s definitely the go to girl. I stop at a set of traffic lights and look both ways. I stop as I look right and remember that it’s the low end of town that im looking at. I remember when Rick took me down there and showed me all those people who need help. The light turns green and without even thinking, I turn the wheel to the right and turn the car down the street.

I park down the road and lock the car up as I start to walk towards June. The elderly homeless woman who was screwed by her own son. She’s walking around with her shopping cart full of bin bags. She notices me and looks fearful. As I approach her, she steps behind her shopping cart. “Hi.” I say and she just looks at me. I put my hand in my pocket and she steps back. I raise my hand to tell her it’s ok. I pull out 20 dollars and hand it to her but she doesn’t take it. Maybe through fear. I drop I in her trolley and walk away. I look back and see her take the 20 and smile a little.

Walking further down the street I see Tiffany the hooker. She sees me approach and looks me up and down. She gives me a seductive smile and says “Hey stud! I’m not about to break any laws am I?” I chuckle at her joke and tell her no. “I just wanted to tell you something important.” She looks at me oddly and says “Ok?” “Your son still loves you.” I tell her and she looks at me slightly angry. “What?” She asks in an irritated tone. “Whatever you have to do to look after him, I promise he still loves you.” I say again and I see a tear in her eye. “Who are you?” She asks and I smile at her and walk away. Looking back I see her watching me and I swear I see a small smile creep across her face. I get back in the car and head to the office.

I like to think I’ve done some good today and that thought stays in my head as I drive. I arrive in no time at all and I say hi to Tyrone and David who are stood outside the building smoking. As I get on the elevator Michelle walks in. “Hey Michelle.” I say and she smiles. “Hello Daniel.” “How are you?” I ask. “I’m great, I love it here. What are you doing here?” She asks and I chuckle. “I came to talk to Katy I need her help with something.” I say keeping it simple. “Oh yeah? What’s that?” She asks interested. I smile and whisper in her ear. When I stand back and look at her, I notice her face has gone bright red. “Well… Umm… Good luck with that.” She tells me uncertain what to say which makes me laugh. The elevator doors open and its my stop. “laters.” I call out and walk down to Katy’s office.

I walk into Katy’s office and I really wish I’d knocked. I walk into see Katy on her knees in front of some guy, sucking his cock. “Oh Geez! Katy!” I say as I just turn and walk put shutting the door behind me. A couple of minutes later the guy walks out avoiding eye contact with me as he walks down the hall. I knock this time and I hear an irritated Katy tell me to come in. “Have you heard of knocking?” She says sat behind her desk as I walk in. I shut the door behind me and turn and say “Have you heard of locking?” I sit in the chair opposite her as she says “This better be important, I need my daily load!” In a frustrated tone. “Daily load!? Katy! It’s a man’s cum! It ain’t a cup of instant coffee.” I say and she shakes her head. “What do you want Daniel?” “I need your help with something.” I say and start to go through my plan. As I tell her some of my ideas she starts to brighten up and offers some advice. She tells me the best location and even offers to get the place set up for me which I accept gratefully. She tells me to give her a few hours and that she’ll text me when everything’s set.

It’s noon when I get out of Katy’s office and decide to go for some lunch before I head home. You better be ready for this Holly.

Rick’s POV back at the house….

I wake up and go downstairs for some coffee. It isn’t long before I’m joined by Jodi and my aunt Jade. That sounds so weird. They both say good morning as Jodi pours coffee for herself and Jade. I swear Jodi’s got abit more life to her this morning. I guess it’s having Jade here. “Are Daniel and Holly up yet?” Jade asks. “Nah, I guess they’re staying in bed today.” I say which raises Jade’s eye. “I hope not, me and Holly are supposed to be having some girl time today.” Jade says and that’s when we hear someone coming downstairs. “Hold that thought.” I say and Holly peaks round the corner to the kitchen. “Hey sleepyhead.” Jodi says smiling. “Where’s Daniel?” Jade asks and Holly walks in carrying a note. She has a big smile on her face and her eyes are sparkling. She hands Jade a note which she reads and smiles.

“That son of mine is such a charmer.” Jade says as she hands the note to Jodi. I read it over her shoulder and she laughs while I shake my head smiling. “Jade I was hoping while we’re in town today, you could help me pick out something nice to wear.” Holly says and Jade’s eyes light up. “It’d be my privilege.” She says and they make plans to leave in an hour. Jade and Holly leave and Jodi says she’s going to meet some friends for lunch, so it’s just me in the house since Jake and Ashley are out doing they’re own thing. I decide now would be a good time to do some digging. I hate having to investigate my own cousin but I must to protect him. He won’t tell me the truth which means he doesn’t trust me enough. So if he finds out he can’t really pull the trust card on me.

I don’t know what I’m looking for but I figure i could start by trying to figure out what brought him here. I know it wasn’t just a pleasant visit or he would have at least called first. I get on my laptop looking into the history of the town he grew up in. Daniel told me once how bad it was but seeing pictures and reading stories hits me hard. I’m looking through newspaper articles and it goes on endlessly about murders, rapes and assaults. My cousin really is a tough guy to survive all this.

I keep reading until I see something that catches my eye. “Crossblade Vigilante!” Click on the link and it talks about an unknown man stopping crimes throughout the city. The detective in charge, Ellie Bishop, was assigned to stopping Crossblade but was unsuccessful. After a riot in the streets, the cops seized control of the guns and drugs in the city. After that Crossblade disappeared. The last known sighting was about a month ago. That’s just before Daniel came here to Woodchip. I hack into the police files, it ain’t that hard security is seriously underrated these days. The description of Crossblade is consistent with the suit that Tyrone described to me. It’s all starting to make sense. That’s why Daniel came here, to avoid the cops.

I sit there not sure what to do with this information. The protective side of me is telling me to scold him for being so reckless. A, that would push him away. And we’ve just got the family back together. B, I can’t deny, the progress he made is astounding. I sit there for a moment thinking of what to do about this. I know Daniel won’t be deterred from this but if I just let him carry on then it’s gonna get him killed or jailed. Then again! He wanted to work for Private Heroes, maybe he wanted Crossblade to go straight. My only option is to talk to Daniel and try to work this out. But first I need to find that suit. I need proof of what I found before I confront him.

I search through his closet, draws and bags. There’s nothing,until I find a small bag under his bed with a padlock on it. I pick the lock and open the bag. Inside is a black skintight suit there’s two swords in a crossblade formation on the chest. Under the suit I find a mask and There’s no doubt anymore. Daniel is Crossblade.

Daniel’s POV….

So it’s been a pretty good day so far. I haven’t heard from Katy yet but it’s only been an hour. I’ve got nothing to do so I decide to go home. When I get in, I see the house is empty except for rick who’s sat on the couch watching tv. “Hey.” I say sitting down next to him. “Hey” he says kinda bluntly. “Where you been?” He says and I tell him I’ve been preparing for my date tonight. “You ok?” I ask him sensing there’s something on his mind. “I’m fine. I just got alot on my mind.” He says bluntly again. “The job?” I ask and he shrugs. “Among other things yeah.” He says and his vague answers are starting to annoy me. “Like what?” I ask trying to have some sort of conversation with my cousin. “Not important. I’ll figure it out.” He says and I decide to give up.

It’s kinda awkward when I’m trying to conversate and he’s just being blunt or in some cases ignoring me completely. I’m guessing it’s something about me and figure that he’ll tell me when he’s ready. We sit and watch tv for an hour when the girls come back. Holly’s wearing tight jeans and a tight t shirt with roses in a pattern. Mom’s wearing a black knee length skirt and a red blouse with a white vest top underneath. Holly and mom are carrying alot of bags. It amazes me how Holly’s been out shopping almost everyday this week and she always finds something else to buy. Holly and mom walk in laughing and joking until Holly sees me and immediately hides the bag behind her back. “Don’t peek.” She says smiling as she runs upstairs to hide what she’s bought. Mom hugs me and kisses my cheek which I rub off. She slaps my arm playfully and tells me I’m never too old for a kiss from my mom.