Read Super for Free Online

because what she’s telling me now doesn’t quite jibe with what she said last week. I step gently back into the living room, holding the coffees delicately to prevent any of the scalding liquid from sloshing out, and for a moment, I consider throwing both cups in their faces and making a break for it.
    But, I don’t, because if they have connections with my three handlers, and are able to sway their opinions, then it would most likely be the end of my career. No more offing dudes and ladies in multi-colored tights for me.
    “Coffee for you, ma’am. And Deke, this ought to put some hair on your chest. You look like you could use a few more.” Deke lifts one corner of his mouth in the slightest grin. Maybe he’s warming up to me. As they both take hesitant sips, testing the temperature, I back up to my cushy chair and ease down. “I’m curious about something.”
    Lisa lifts her eyebrows at me in response.
    “You said last week that you were so off the books that even the President doesn’t know about DPS. How’d you pull rank on the NSA, the CIA, and the FBI without clueing them in?”
    Lisa sets her coffee mug down—on a coaster, thank God—and says, “Give us a little credit, Leo. We weren’t born yesterday.”
    “You maybe. Deke here looks like he might’ve fought a stegosaurus for scraps.”
    That comment results in a hearty chuckle from Deke. Not that I’m warming up to him , but obviously the man appreciates a witty sense of humor.
    Lisa continues, “Your three contacts think we’re with the Secret Service, and they don’t need to know any different. Is that understood?” The hopeful look on her face suggests that I should nod to let her know I got the hint.
    I do just that, but then I add, “Secret Service? What kind of pitch did you run with? Those sunglass-wearing mutes have nothing to do with double agents, do they?”
    “Deke had the idea that we would approach it as if we had intelligence indicating President Palmer’s life had been threatened by an extremist group of superheroes, and who better to help protect the C.I.C. than the guy responsible for taking out those exact same people?”
    Deke curses when he spills coffee on his stark white shirt. I’ve heard him use two words now, and the second shouldn’t be repeated in polite company.
    “Rags are in the kitchen, Deke. Second drawer down below the coffee. Ignore the .45 if it’s still in there.”
    He nods and toddles into the other room, swiping at his tie.
    I say to Lisa, “Let me get this straight. You told three of the most powerful law enforcement agencies in the US that a super hero was planning an assassination attempt? Look, I may just be an ant on the bottom of the food chain, but that sounds like the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard. No offense to Deke, because hey, seems like it worked, but why in the world didn’t you go with a super villain instead? I heard the Black Viper was working on something big. Starbeast is back. FireShot, King Killer, Dr. Craze? Any of those guys would be perfect culprits, but now, you’ve probably got entire task forces out there chasing down a threat that doesn’t exist. And if distraction is your plan, so be it, but damn if that’s not reckless endangerment when you’re causing valuable resources to be allocated to chasing ghosts.”
    Lisa nods throughout my speech. When I finish, she looks underneath the coffee table at my feet and then glances around the floor like she’s searching for something.
    “What’re you doing?”
    “Trying to see where you keep the soapbox.”
    “Very funny.”
    “Here’s the thing, Leo… You’re right. We could’ve done that. We could’ve given them a spiel about how the craziest masterminds in history were cooking up a credible threat against the president, but there’s no way in hell that Eric, Joe, and Conner would’ve handed you over for that. They would’ve laughed in our faces. They would’ve told us to suck it up and find someone that