Wes wondered how long they had watched the paper to grab him. That took some


    patience. He supposed that they had known he had escaped and survived to finish the


    job. And they knew he was a reporter. Linking him to either paper would have been


    easy to anyone who knew who to call.


    The fact they had taken Marsden the same way had not escaped his mind. He


    wondered about that. He pulled on his clothes off the road and looked around for a


    place he could hide until he could sneak away.


    He didn’t like the fact that they waited for him. He thought they had known he was


    going to be at the paper. If they had, someone had told them he was going to be there.


    Could Clancy have sold him out?


    He thought about it as he marched across the countryside. Had Clancy sold him out?


    Had he sold out Marsden?


    There was a way to test the theory. It was simple and direct. If he was right, he didn’t


    know what he would do about it. He wasn’t much of a vigilante. Dropping people off


    a building seemed too much like work.


    He wondered if Clancy had put any extra money in his bank. That should be easy to


    check with his skills.


    Everything was starting to be computerized. Banks were investing millions to switch


    their old record books to networks that could be reviewed instantly. He doubted they


    could keep someone like him out.


    All he needed was where Clancy banked, and what his file number was. Then he


    could just ask at the bank for the account statement. He doubted he could steal the


    passbook from Clancy since he didn’t know where the editor kept it.


    But he did know that Clancy kept his checkbook at the paper in his desk. All he had


    to do was get inside and get a check from it. The rest would follow from that simple


    move.


    He paused as he contemplated what he was thinking. He had made a bad move


    breaking into Delveccio’s place and stealing his ledgers for the evidence he needed.


    Now he was thinking about doing the same thing to one of his managers on the


    suspicion that the guy had tried to get him killed because he was a mole.


    He had no proof that Clancy had done anything. He might be letting paranoia run


    away with him.


    Did his new condition lend itself to being paranoid? He might be cracking up.


    And what did he do if Clancy was crooked?


    First he had to know for himself. He could look at the bank records. He could call


    Clancy and tell him he was free to move, and wait to see what happened. He could


    tell Clancy that he was at his place, and wait to see if goons showed up.


    He liked that. It was simple. And if they showed up, he knew Clancy was involved.


    He didn’t know what he would do if he did confirm things. He wasn’t particularly


    violent, so he didn’t want to beat the editor while he was calm and thinking. That


    might change if he got angry enough.


    The first thing was proving his suspicions. He might be wrong. It might still be bad


    luck that goons showed up the same time as he was arriving to deliver his story. They


    might have been watching the building.


    Wes looked around. A piece of civilization was ahead. If they had a phone, he would


    be able to call Clancy and tell him he was okay. He could fly to his place and wait for


    the goons to show up to pick him up.


    He had to figure out where he was before he made any calls. He didn’t want to give


    the goons any clue where he had gone when they found the trunk was empty.


    He had to fly home and set up before they showed up. He could watch them looking


    for him while he thought of his next move. He doubted he could call the police on


    anyone. It was a thought.


    Wes found a road sign that told him he was ten miles out of the city. He nodded. Now


    all he needed to do was make the phone call and see what happened. He also had to


    consider that the phones at the paper were bugged. He didn’t know what to do about


    that, but it could clear Clancy if he could find them in the phones, or buried anywhere


    else in the office.


    Once he called, he would know in a few hours if someone was handing Delveccio


    information from the paper.


    He didn’t know if Clancy was involved, but barring someone else knowing about him


    getting to the paper and a hidden mike, it was the only explanation for what had


    happened. He could test that too.


    He just needed Clancy to pretend to call from a phone not at the paper.


    How hard could that be?


    Would Clancy figure out he was being tested with this scheme? That was the spot he


    didn’t know. It all depended on how stupid they thought he was.


    They would think he was really stupid if he fell for the same scheme again.


    So he had three real options. Delveccio had someone other than Clancy in the


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.newsroom giving him information. Or, Clancy had sold him out with a phone call. Or,


    they had watched the building until he had shown up and took him to do the things


    they wanted to get the stolen records back.


    He doubted he would look the same after they were done with him.


    He believed he would have wound up at sea like Marsden with more injuries from the


    beating he would have taken.


    He decided to call Clancy from home to make his call more authentic. If anyone


    traced the call, they would see the call came from his apartment.


    He flew home in his flat form. He let himself in with a spare key he had hidden in a


    gap behind the outside light. He looked around at the row of tiny cabins pushed


    together. He didn’t see anyone watching the place and he was happy about that.


    Time to go to work, Wes. Once you know one thing, you can ask about others.


    Stealing the ledgers without telling anyone had been a good idea if there was


    someone on the paper telling Delveccio who was investigating him.


    He hoped he was wrong. He didn’t want Clancy to be calling the mob on him. He


    wanted to hand in his story and move on to the next. And he had no idea what he was


    going to do if Delveccio’s mob showed up at his place.


    He would have to have words with Clancy if that happened. He doubted he could


    commit violence on the man. It had been a long time since he had tried to hurt


    someone intentionally.


    Maybe he should think about turning the ledgers over to the police, or the Feds. He


    doubted the locals would do anything, but maybe he could get someone to look at the


    operation and draw some of the heat off himself.


    He reached for his phone. He needed to make this call before he chickened out. Then


    he could make his next move to try to get out from under with his skin intact.


    If Delveccio’s men showed up, it showed that he couldn’t trust the paper to help him


    out of his problem. He would have to think of some way to get the mobster off his


    back that didn’t involve being filled with holes and set on fire.


    He called the newspaper and asked the switchboard to connect him with Clancy’s


    desk. The night editor instantly answered the phone.


    “I had some problems coming in with my story,” said Wes. He moved to keep an eye


    out one window while he talked. “I am at my place getting some clothes together. I


    am going to have to take off for a while until the heat goes down. I’ll let you know


    when I get back in town.”


    “What do I tell the boss?,” said Clancy. “We were counting on that story.”


    “I’m going to leave it and the ledgers in the bedroom closet of my house,” said Wes.


    He went to the closet and took the clothes out of it and bundled them in a bag to take


    back to the hotel. “I’ll leave the door unlocked for you.”


    He placed the bag next to the door. No one was outside yet. The longer he waited, the


    more likely he would run into Delveccio’s stooges. He needed to get somewhere he


    could watch the door without being seen.


    “I have to go, Clancy,” said Wes. “I will call when I am back in town.”


    He took his bag and flew over to the roof of another set of row houses across the


    street. He laid down to keep his outline out of sight as much as possible. He wanted


    them to go in without figuring that he was waiting on them to show up.


    Wes watched his watch as he waited. He planned to give the goons a couple of hours


    before he headed back to his borrowed room at the hotel. Either Clancy, or someone


    close to him, told Delveccio where he was, or they didn’t. He wasn’t going to wait


    around all night to see which it was.


    He really hoped Clancy showed up to get the story in person. Then he could watch


    what happened without any problem. The most likeliest thing to happen if he did


    show up, was he left with the box of shoes. The rest would be making sure he went


    back to the paper and opened the box.


    That was the only way to make sure Clancy hadn’t tried to get him killed.


    Tracking the leak if he could clear Clancy would be a small problem, but it could be


    doable with the right bait.


    He couldn’t string any inside man along for long before he became suspicious that


    someone was suspicious of him. Then he would bail and let know Delveccio know


    he was blown.


    Two cars rolled up outside of his house. He recognized some of the men who got out


    and started for the front and back doors of his place. It looked like Clancy had turned


    him in.


    He should have known he couldn’t trust the night editor. What did he do now?


    How many other papers did Delveccio have his fingers into? What happened if he


    approached someone else with what he had?


    He needed to think about going full on vigilante. He couldn’t let Delveccio hunt him


    across the city. He had to turn things around. He couldn’t run forever.


    He had to get to his room and stow his baggage. He needed to make sure that his


    registration was still legitimate as far as that goes. He had to fix things if it wasn’t.


    Then he had to get something to eat and think of how to get out from under.


    He had not ever thought things would go this way. He had thought reporting was the


    way that he could change the world for the better. He had never thought that he would


    have to put on a mask to protect himself.


    He needed to think about how he wanted to go ahead to deal with Delveccio.


    He definitely wasn’t going to be able to do anything through the system.


    He decided that going down there and busting those guys up for breaking into his


    place would get him nothing. He might have a small twinge of satisfaction but he


    would still have the same problem. He was on the run from a criminal chief who


    wanted him dead and he  had no way of fixing that except by doing something like


    drowning him in the ocean.


    He wasn’t ready to do that yet.


    He needed clothes he could wear when he was flat. He needed another permanent


    place to stay. Eventually someone would get wise to the hotel dodge. When that


    happened, he was out of a base of operations. And he needed a way to get Delveccio


    to confess to his crimes so the mob boss would be off his back.


    He had no idea on how to do that. He needed ideas and he had no one to talk to about


    this. He needed to look into what other masked men did if he wanted to be one


    himself.


    He couldn’t use the newspaper morgue. Clancy would call the mob on him as soon


    as he showed his face. He decided that he could use the library to do what he needed


    to do.


    Old papers were kept for a bit, and there was a microfiche


    reader with older prints than that. He could read up on other masked men and see


    what kind of methods he could use to help himself out.


    He would have talked to Mister Robot, but the adventurer had been killed with his


    team of allies years ago. No one knew what had happened to Animal Boy, or if he


    was still around.


    The Mark had vanished from the spotlight. Wes had no way to call him, or anyone


    based out of the East Coast.


    The closest active hero to him was the Rockets. There had been talk that the second


    one was moving east to join a team, but no one knew for sure.


    He made a note to look for a way to call either one. Maybe they could give him


    pointers, or point him in the direction of someone who could help him.


    That would be better than flailing around waiting to be caught out in the public


    and shot dead before he could use the tattoo to heal his wounds with the


    transformation.


    Wes transformed and flew off into the night. He still had things to do.