“You ever thought about what you’re gonna do next?”
“I’m not used to thinking past where the next meal’s gonna come from. This is all new. What you gonna do?”
“I’m starting at Xavier in the fall.”
“That sounds exciting. I’d like that, but I got no money for college.”
“You can apply for scholarships. Might be too late for this year, but you never know. And there are the grants. With your situation, you might qualify.”
“You can help me with that?”
“It’s all online if you know where to look. You got a computer at the apartment, right?”
“Yeah, Walter bought a laptop. I used it for studying, and for tracking him when he’s flying around.”
“You can track him?”
“His phone. He keeps it on him. I track him when he’s out and I can call him if I see something he might want to take care of.”
“Oh, so you’re like his sidekick.”
“Never thought of it that way, but…yeah, I guess so.”
“That’s really cool. The first real superhero ever and you’re his sidekick.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Almost as cool as hanging out with you. Why you doing this, anyway? Because I know Walter?”
“It might have started that way. I don’t know. I mean…meeting Walter…but…”
“Come on, spit it out.”
“You’re a likable guy.”
“But…a girl like you…you could hang out with any dude, especially dudes without my history.”
“That’s my choice. We’re here. Let’s get in here and see what you got.”
“Hi Kendra,” the girl at the desk said.
“Hi, got a guest today.”
Franklin gave his name to the desk clerk, and she took his photo.
“Do you have an ID, Franklin?”
“Uh…don’t have it on me.”
“Well, that’s okay. We can get that the next time you’re in.”
“Here’s the gym right down here, and the locker rooms are over here to the left. I’ll meet you in there after we change clothes.
Franklin walked onto the basketball court and saw a ball flying toward his head. He caught it, dribbled it a couple times, and put up a shot from twenty feet that clanged off the back of the rim.
“I’m just rusty.”
“Put up a few more of those and we can build a house,” Kendra said.
“Huh?”
“A few more bricks like that, it will be a big house.”
“You’re funny girl, let’s see what you got,” Franklin said, zipping a bounce pass her way.
She caught it, dribbled in, and laid the ball in off the backboard.
“Come on girl, anyone can make a layup. Whatcha got from downtown?”
“You first.”
Franklin stepped behind the three point line and launched an air ball. Kendra would have rebounded it if she wasn’t doubled over laughing.
“You just wait ‘til I get warmed up. I’m just rusty, is all. Let’s see yours.”
Kendra shot one from behind the line, barely grazing the rim.
“Bock, bock, bock, bock.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Your big chicken wings, that’s what.”
“Chicken wings?”
Franklin could barely contain his mirth. “Big elbows flapping out like a chicken when you shoot. I thought you played.”
“Just one year, spent most of the time on the bench.”
“I spent the last two years on the playgrounds, not on the bench. You gotta keep your elbows in, like this.”
He came next to her and gave her the ball, placing it in her hands.
“Put your left hand on the side here, your right hand like this, and it’s just a flick of the wrist.”
He stood in front of her and raised the ball up higher, then put his hands on her arms and pushed her elbows in.
“There, that looks better. Now try a shot.”
“Just how my coach tried to get me to hold it.”
“Maybe your coach was right. Now try it.”
She took another shot, this time from no more than fifteen feet, and drained it, nothing but net.
“There you go girl. How did that feel?”
“Better than anything you got.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Franklin stepped back behind the three point line and this time got nothing but the bottom of the net.
“Impressive,” Kendra said.
“You can do it too, just like I showed you.”
She did exactly that, and made a three pointer on her second attempt, before jumping in the air and letting out a whoop.
“You sure you didn’t play, Franklin?”
“Well, one year in ninth grade.”
“I thought so.”
“You up for a game of horse?”
“If you’re up to getting your butt kicked.”
“We’ll see about that.”
13
The man pulled his car into the airplane viewing lot near CVG. There were two other cars in the lot, their occupants sitting on the benches watching the planes take off and land. He reached into the back seat, unobserved by anyone else there, and removed an item from a long bag in the back seat. It was slightly shorter than a rifle, just a long thin tube with a trigger and a small LED display. The man held it on his lap and checked the parking lot one more time. Just the two cars and the people, four adults and three children, watching the runways with rapt attention. Two smaller planes took off, and he ignored them, but a 737 got his attention and he aimed the tube out the window of the car. He flipped a switch on the LED display and aimed the tube at the plane taxiing down the runway, keeping the plane’s image in the display. A couple seconds later the reticle around the plane turned green, and he heard a solid tone. He depressed the trigger and there was a barely audible whoosh as the projectile exited the barrel and picked up speed, attaching to the plane a few seconds later. He repeated the same action two more times, then laid the device in the back seat and exited the lot. Five minutes later he was on the interstate heading back toward the city.
Trent Salazar watched his computer screen as the blips appeared one by one until he had three on the screen, moving in different directions. Cat Mixon watched over his shoulder, pleased by what she was seeing.
“Do you have complete control over each plane?”
“Haven’t tried
