“Basically,” Alpha Prime continued, “this shop was just a front – a cover for Mouse’s superhero activities before he joined the League.”
“You’re kidding,” muttered Electra.
“Not at all,” my father said.
“So,” I droned, “you’re saying Mouse was a humble shop repairman by day, and a bold vigilante by night.”
“Something along those lines, but that’s a story for another day,” my father stated, then looked at Solar Surge. “Anything?”
“Not that I could see,” Surge answered. “Doesn’t look like anyone’s been here.”
Alpha Prime nodded, then turned in my direction.
“Jim, you want to give the shop a once-over?” he inquired. “See if anything catches your eye?”
Rather than reply directly, I shifted into super speed and zipped through the store. It turned out to be more sizeable than I had imagined, with a workspace in the back, an expansive basement, and living quarters above the shop.
Dashing back to the showroom, I returned to normal speed and declared, “I’m going to second Surge’s report. There’s nothing to suggest that Mouse was here.”
“That’s disappointing,” my father confessed. “All right, we’ll post a guard or something to keep an eye on the place in case he shows up. For now, though, let’s move on.”
Chapter 29
“Moving on” essentially meant spending the remainder of the day going to various places that Mouse – either presently or at some point in the past – used as a base of operations, safe house, or something in-between. This included a modest house in the suburbs, a stylish condo near downtown, and a large warehouse with a secret underground lab.
Our pattern was typically the same at each location: I would dash around at super speed, seeing if anything struck me as being indicative of where we might be able to find Mouse. (Needless to say, I never saw a single clue that could help in the search for my mentor.) During transit between locations, we normally made at least one stop for me to get food.
Going from place to place in the SUV was both a blessing and a curse. It was, naturally, far slower than teleportation or super speed. However, it gave me time not only with Alpha Prime, but also with Electra. Of course, having my father along was kind of like having a chaperone, but it was the most time I’d had with her since we broke up, so I was happy with the trade-off. That said, it wasn’t quite enough to pin down my mounting frustration as each site visit failed to help in our quest to find Mouse.
Ultimately, the end of the day saw us at a local marina, poking around a spacious liveaboard that apparently belonged to my mentor. I had heard him mention his boat a couple of times, but hadn’t given it much thought beyond that. It wasn’t quite the yacht that I’d been on the day before, but it was still rather nice.
I went through what was now my usual routine of checking out the place at super speed. Unsurprisingly, the boat offered no more assistance in locating Mouse than any of the other places we’d been.
“Well,” Alpha Prime began after I reported back, “at this point I can’t say it’s surprising. However, we still have other places we can check out.”
“Hold up,” I said, trying not to sound as crabby as I felt. “Can we just take a break for a second?”
My father gave me a thoughtful look. “Something on your mind, son?”
“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “All this running around that we’re doing is a colossal waste of time. If Mouse has gone rogue as you suggest or on the run, he’s not going to go to any of the places you guys know about. He’s simply too smart for that.”
“But remember – he’s been exposed to something,” Electra reminded me. “It’s got him unbalanced, so there’s no telling what he’ll do.”
“Even unbalanced, Mouse isn’t dumb enough to visit any place other people know about,” I countered. “Not if he knows we’re looking for him.”
“So what are you saying?” Alpha Prime inquired. “That this has just been some kind of snipe hunt?”
“Snipe hunt, head fake – call it what you want,” I remarked. “I just know that instead of scouring all of his stomping grounds that you’re familiar with, we should have been looking for all of his hangouts that you know nothing about.”
“Well, what do you suggest?” my father asked.
“I don’t know,” I confessed. “I just know that conventional thinking isn’t going to cut it with Mouse. If he’s really gone off the reservation, we’re going to have to think outside the box just to get a handle on where he is. I mean, he’s not going to leave his calling card lying around.”
“Hold that thought,” Alpha Prime said. At the same time, he tapped the communicator in his ear and, speaking to whoever was on the other end, tersely stated, “Go.”
Electra and I waited silently as my father listened to the incoming message.
“Mm-hmm,” he muttered. “Okay…yeah…got it. We’ll be there shortly.”
Sensing his message had something to do with our current mission, I barely waited for him to turn the communicator off before blurting out, “What did they say?”
“Mouse just left his calling card,” Alpha Prime answered.
Frowning, Electra asked, “What do you mean?”
“He just attacked HQ,” my father explained.
Chapter 30
Per my father’s instructions, I teleported the three of us to Alpha League HQ immediately. We popped up in the Combat Arena – a scopious chamber used for training exercises and practicing threat scenarios.
Off to one side, I noticed a couple of League members, including Luna, looking somewhat the worse for wear. Not far from them, I noticed that the floor of the chamber was blackened and scorched, like some kind
