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Chapter 30 - Rat Hunt
🕑 Added 2025-08-21 20:02:15 +0000 UTCCentral City
The Monarch Hotel
Luke Harris had some interesting fetishes he would rather keep hidden, just like he kept his mistress a secret from his wife.
Mark Mardon had discovered that secret and used it to extort the local businessman.
And Luke Harris wasn’t the only one.
Over a dozen different names faced the same treatment from Mark, who was intelligent enough to not demand exorbitant amounts to avoid putting his targets in a desperate situation and risk detection.
The police reports had suspected those names, and they tried to obtain confessions, but risking their secrets wasn’t worth getting rid of Mark, so they had kept quiet, especially after he was put in prison by Flash and Superman.
It took them a week to track Luke, and they discovered he was meeting his mistress at the Monarch Hotel for a session of passion.
Far be it from Miles to judge.
“My dove, I am here.” Luke opened the door, practically singing in happiness. Dressed in a business suit on a Sunday when it should have been his day off, Luke must have lied about having a business meeting to leave home.
Too bad for him. Miles was here to rain on his parade, at least for a short while.
“Come in, Luke, though ‘your dove’ is otherwise indisposed.” Miles would have found the romance almost sweet if it wasn’t for the fact it was an extramarital affair.
“What the?!” Luke backtracked, closing the door to leave, before Claire pushed him from the back, sending him stumbling through the door.
“Sit down, Luke. I am afraid you will have to take the bed, because I only brought one chair. I didn't really want to sit down anywhere else. Who knows what bodily fluids this room was coated in during your countless visits? I mean, did you know even in five-star hotels, pillows and blankets are rarely cleaned? Don’t even get me started on the duvets and mattresses. So unhygienic.” Miles rambled off while his unwilling hosts had no choice but to listen.
Luke spoke once Miles was done. “What do you want?”
Business it is.
Miles pulled out a photo, showing it to Luke. “Mark Mardon extorted you after he discovered your mistress. I need to know how you delivered him the cash, because using the banking system would have been out of the question.” Any bank transaction, and all of Mark’s victims would be out in the open, and if the secrets were out, no more payday for the villain.
“You were extorted? Is that why you are so stingy?” Luke’s mistress, Anna, rose from where she was sitting with fury. Miles raised an eyebrow, and Claire approached the seething woman, silencing her with a fist covered in flames and forcing her to sit down.
“How do you manage to have a relationship with a woman who has such a shrill voice? I can’t imagine. Now, what were you saying, Luke?” Either Luke’s wife was worse than his mistress, or his actual taste in women ran wildly different.
Luke shook his head, clamping down in fear. “Look, if I tell you anything and Mark talks, then I am done for.”
If his secret got out, his life would be over. His boss was a very family-oriented man, and as soon as it got out Luke was having an affair, he would be fired. Not to mention, his wife would take everything in a divorce, leaving Luke penniless.
“Good point. Let me just call your wife and see if she thinks the same.” Miles pulled out his phone, speaking Luke’s wife’s number out loud as he dialed up the number.
Luke was perspiring now, scared out of his mind that his carefully kept secret would be revealed now.
“Okay, okay, I’ll talk, please don’t.” Luke begged, and Miles was just going to end the call when Meredith decided to pick up.
“Hello?”
“Hello madam, I am calling you regarding your car’s extended warranty.” There was an annoyed “ugh” on the other end before the call ended.
“Go on.” Miles rolled his hand for Luke to continue.
Luke gulped, seeing no choice but to speak now that his affair was one phone call away from being out in the open. “He has a drop point; I make monthly deposits there. If anything happens, Mark calls me from a different number every time, and I make sure to delete it afterwards.”
“When is the next deposit?” Hopefully, not that far off; otherwise, he would have to find other leads to follow the Weather Wizard.
“Tonight.”
Miles smiled, taking out a pen and his small notebook. “How fortunate for us. Give me the address and time. You will deposit the cash tonight as if nothing happened and forget this conversation. If you are lucky, Mark won't be a problem for you anymore.”
—
“We should call his wife and let her know.” Claire suggested while buckling her seat belt.
Miles turned on the ignition, amused by how much Claire was displeased at the situation. “Feeling solidarity with your fellow women, Claire?”
Betrayed by her own family and then by the institute, his bodyguard despised how easily Luke had broken his vows.
Claire frowned. “You always value loyalty. Why should an asshole like him get away with an affair?”
“Because his wife is having a secret affair too, and I am too busy to bother with the lives of people like Luke and Meredith.”
Claire slapped her forehead. “Like husband, like wife.”
Miles nodded. “Exactly. Now let's focus on finding Mark. Up for lunch?” It was barely noon, and they still had time before Luke would make his drop.
“As long as you’re paying.”
—
Red Lightning Grill
Sitting in a restaurant themed after Flash, Miles and Claire ordered their dinner, enjoying the cool air inside.
Thank god for people like Willis Carrier.
Ordering steak and several side dishes, the two waited for their food while making small talk.
Cue the DCU effect striking again.
“Everyone on the floor, now!” An idiot kicked the door open, firing his shotgun at the ceiling as two more goons entered. The screaming civilians threw themselves to the ground, though neither Miles nor Claire followed along.
The lead goon pointed his smoking gun at them, and Claire got ready to teach him a lesson. “Didn’t you hear me, dumbass? Get on the ground, now.”
“The only dumbass,” Miles quoted the word with his fingers, “here, is you. It will take Flash mere seconds to get here after the silent alarm, on a bad day, and here you are, trying to rob a restaurant themed after the fastest man alive, in his own turf. You are either desperate or didn’t plan this robbery at all."
“You fucking…” The angry robber spat out before he and his buddies were on the floor as a red blur knocked them down and tied them up.
Flash must have put all the competent ones behind bars if these amateurs were the ones left.
“Come on, guys, really? Robbing a restaurant this beautiful? That should be a whole other felony.” Flash dusted his hands, mocking the groaning criminals. He turned to Miles, about to ask what he was doing in Central City, but his colleague shook his head, and soon the superhero was swarmed by fans.
—
Having left the restaurant, they waited in an alley for Flash.
Miles would rather leave the city before Flash even knew they were here, but alas.
In the signature red blur, the fastest man alive was leaning on a wall with a cocky grin. “So, what brings you two to Central City? You know it's common courtesy between heroes to let one another know when you are visiting his city.”
Miles shrugged. “It’s just a business trip; I thought I would spare you the details.”
“Still, it would have been nice of you to say hi.”
“I figured we would meet, especially with my penchant for finding myself in the middle of a robbery.” First the bank, now the restaurant, but Miles knew it wouldn’t be the last one.
“Fair enough. I have to go; crime doesn't rest after all, but it was nice seeing you.” Flash patted him on the arm and winked at Claire, who didn’t even blink.
“You too.”
Flash blitzed away with the farewell, and Miles sighed.
At least he didn’t catch Miles in action like Superman almost had.
—
Waiting outside the Central City Park, Miles watched Luke discreetly secure the cast under an old bench and leave.
Even at night, there were several civilians in the park, each busy with something else, and from the distance it was difficult to see which one was Mark Mardon.
Minutes passed by as they waited for the Weather Wizard to show himself, and voilà, a figure dressed in a black jacket, black pants, and a hat who tried not to draw attention but did the opposite by dressing like that on a summer night sat on the bench.
Acting as if he was tying his laces, Mark took the money from under the bench and quickly left the scene, getting on a bike and pedaling away.
—
Trailing a biker was much harder than trailing a car, so Miles and Claire had to be careful to not overtake Mark.
Eventually he led them to a sealed-off, decrepit house, an excellent place to hide within this poor urban area.
Parking the car on the end of the street, they observed Mark as he checked the area before opening a window and quickly getting in.
“How are we doing this?” Getting through the window could be risky if Mark had set up any rudimentary alarm systems or traps, so an alternative entry point would be preferable.
Flushing him out would result in detection, leaving stealth as the only option.
—
Miles gently pried the window open and used a stick to check for any trap wires. After moving the stick around for a bit, he was satisfied enough to climb inside, still using the stick to check for anything.
Claire followed, hands ready in the event she had to neutralize their target. Painstakingly slow, the duo combed the house, coming up empty-handed.
There were wrappers everywhere, from fast food to snacks, as well as takeout boxes, but no sign of Mark.
Which left only one place they could check out.
The basement.
Slowly opening the creaking door to not alert their quarry, a small light source could be seen down the stairs.
Vigilant, they walked into the basement and eventually were close enough to hear Mark’s mumblings.
“Can’t believe I have to live here like a rat. Damn Superman, and damn Flash to hell.”
Miles nodded, and Claire kicked the door open, alerting Mark, who dove for his gun near the bed.
He was too slow, however, as Miles froze him on the spot with his cryo-pistol, leaving the criminal with his hand reaching out to the gun.
Claire quickly went and took the pistol, ignoring Mark’s chattering teeth.
“Melt him out of the ice; he can’t talk like that.” Nodding, Claire handed the pistol to Miles before coating her hands in flames and slowly melting the ice covering Mark.
Miles checked the basement but couldn’t see the computer anywhere. “Where is the computer, Mark?”
“What computer? Who the fuck even are you?” Mark screamed, looking like a cornered animal.
Though, seeing as the villain called himself a rat, it was an apt description.
Miles rolled his eyes. Villains and their pride. “Your brother’s computer, the one containing his notes on the weather control device.”
“Fuck you, I don’t have the computer.” Mark denied the accusation, and had he not been the person he was, Miles would have believed it.
“Someone broke into his home and stole the computer and nothing else. You’re the most likely culprit; speak up now.” Miles pointed the gun at the villain, who chose to spit at his shoes.
Blinking at the audacity, Miles put his cryo weapon away, and took the revolver from Claire. "Here I was afraid you would make this easy on yourself.
Comments
GameMage
Here I am again, great chapter, waiting to read more of your great work. Thanks for writing.
