In the meantime, here's a tidbit to tide you over...
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Present Day
Sunday morning dawned bright and beautiful. However, Susan Kennedy was glad she wore jeans and a sweatshirt emblazoned with her law school alma mater. The light hadn’t burned off all of the desert’s chill fog when she exited the Lechuza Building, a little reminder that it was still technically winter.
She strolled down Sixth Street, her goal to pick up breakfast at Celia’s store. Traffic was almost non-existent this early on the weekend. Two doors from the bodega, she paused in front of what would become the first of Rey, Reuben, and Emilio’s restaurant empire.
“Eggsactly” had been stenciled on the largest window to the right of the door. The guys had already cut a deal with Celia for the recipes of her tamales and breakfast burritos. In addition to that revenue, Susan had found a factory to produce and package Celia’s spice mix. The breakfast place would be the third new business in the Canyon Block.
The downfall of Canyon Industries after the last scion of the Canyon family was accused of murdering his wife and son twenty-one years ago had left the northeast section of the city destitute. If Rey Garcia was going to save the Canyon Block and the people who lived in it as an investor and as the superhero Black Falcon, Susan would do her damnedest to make sure he had the tools to make both happen.
She grinned as she peered through the glass. Her next door neighbor Miguel Esperanza and his construction crew had done a fine job on the interior. Miguel respected the Art Deco designs of the surviving Canyon Block buildings. He worked with the architecture instead of making the storefront something it wasn’t meant to be.
“Susan?”
She slowly pivoted. The tall, dark-haired man behind her wore khakis and a polo beneath a navy windbreaker. Dark glasses shielded his eyes from the rising sun. None of which disguised the fact he was her law partner Harri Winters’ ex-husband, FBI Special Agent Edward Lewis.
“Doesn’t Sarah have an electric shock collar on you that goes off if you come to the Canyon Block, Eddie?”
A whisper of a smile floated across his face. “I’m still one hundred yards away from Harri. Besides, I heard through the grapevine she and Tim tied the knot over New Year’s weekend.”
“Is your current wife okay now that your ex-wife is hitched?”
Eddie chuckled. “Not one bit.” He sobered. “Unfortunately, I’m here on business. My boss wants your opinion on something.”
Susan folded her arms. “And why isn’t Special Agent in Charge Consuelo contacting Harri?”
“Because she needs someone who can keep their cool, and we both know Harri’s not the most level-headed attorney at Winters and Franklin.”
“And because Aisha’s in Paris.”
Eddie shrugged.
Crap. Susan expected something to hit the fan once the Garcia-Franklins left for Europe, but a summons by the head of the Canyon Pointe FBI on a Sunday morning was not going to be good. She eyed Eddie. “Can I get some breakfast first?”
“Depends. How strong’s your stomach?”
Nope, definitely not good.
“Shouldn’t you be calling in the NSB and a super?”
He gestured further down the street. She looked to her left.
Past the traffic light, another federal agent stood by a parked blue SUV. The woman was dressed similarly to Eddie, but she wore the black windbreaker of the National Superhero Bureau. The firm’s client Qiang Reilly AKA Sparx stood next to the agent. However, Qiang wore civilian clothing. Both woman were watching Susan with frowns on their faces.
Crap. This was really, really bad if the FBI and the NSB were working together on this one.
“Let me grab a tea at Celia’s for the ride if you want a coherent legal opinion.”
##
Three hours later, Susan watered some sage brush with her tea. When she was sure she had nothing left her stomach, she wiped her mouth on the back of her sweatshirt sleeve.
“Want some water to wash out the taste?” Qiang held out a bottle for her.
“Thanks.” Susan unscrewed the cap, took a swig, and swished the liquid around her mouth before she spit out the water in the direction of her vomit.
“First body?” the superhero asked sympathetically.
“How’d you guess?” Susan said bitterly.
The NSB’s special agent in charge for Canyon Pointe Wilbur Nesmith approached them. Susan had never seen the sixty-something man in less than a full suit, and he didn’t disappoint, even though they were in the middle of the Polvo de Oro Desert.
“You okay, Ms. Kennedy?”
“Just peachy.” She took a small sip of water to ease the ache in her stomach. “I am questioning your intelligence. You don’t need me or Ms. Reilly out here. You need a good forensics team and a lab.” She waved toward the techs who were taking samples of everything. “For all you know, this was a hiker or a motorist who got lost.”
The FBI’s special agent in charge Sylvia Consuelo joined them. “I would have preferred the Ghost Owl, but they’re out of pocket at the moment. You two are the next best thing we’ve got.”
“This is the one Sunday a month I have to run personal errands,” Qiang growled. “I’m the last person to suggest Harri be involved, but there’s obviously a reason you don’t want her here. I suggest you spill before I start electrocuting people.”
“Oh, my god,” Susan whispered. “You think that’s Byron Trubble, don’t you?”
The look Nesmith and Consuelo exchanged said she was right.
“So he was stupid and died out here.” Qiang threw up her hands. “You found him. You saved the taxpayers a buttload of money by not having to send him back to prison. Case closed. It’s Miller time.”
“Not exactly.” Nesmith scratched his chin.
“It looks like two bullet wounds to the back of the head,” Consuelo said.
“How do you know for sure?” Susan demanded. “With that much decomposition—”
“I used work in the Las Vegas office.” The FBI agent smirked. “I’ve seen more than my share of shallow graves in a desert.”
Susan glanced at the techs before she returned her attention back to the federal agents. “I still don’t understand what you want from us.”
“Has Harri ever mentioned her grandmother’s involvement with Eagle Forever?” Nesmith asked.
“No,” Qiang blurted.
“Mrs. Winters donated to his charities, but you have access to her tax returns.” Susan scowled at Nesmith and Consuelo. “Where are you going with this?”
“Considering Carol Inunza is doing time for attempted murder, that leaves two suspects who would want Trubble dead,” Consuelo said.
“Then I suggest you start with the supervillain who abducted him,” Susan shot back.
Qiang lowered her voice even though no one was near them. “You don’t think Trubble authorized the hit on Eagle Forever, and Seismic Shift was acting on someone else’s orders.”
Again, the two agents exchanged looks that admitted everything.
“So why not ask Harri about her grandmother directly?” Susan asked.
“One, we don’t want her going on one of her half-cocked crusades,” Consuelo grumbled. “Do you have any idea how many reports have crossed my desks that mention her name?”
“Two, we want to give someone at the Lechuza Building forewarning.” Nesmith’s gray hair fluttered in the chill breeze coming down off the mountains. “Lyle Baxter-Murray, aka Judge Pablo Inunza, wasn’t the only suspected super child who disappeared fifty years ago. We know Trubble was hunting them. And we also know an unknown party was hunting those kids, too. We think Eagle Forever was helping those families hide their kids, including his own daughter and grandson.”
“What does this have to do with Mrs. Winters?” Susan asked.
Nesmith blew out a gusty breath. “We’re concerned our third party may go after your law partner on the mistaken belief she knows something. We have reason to believe her grandmother was funding Eagle Forever’s underground railroad for supers.”
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