Page 40 of Fanning the Flames

“We want nothing to do with you traitors,” Derek said.

Playing it cool, Mark gave them a lazy smile. “Is this because of that thing with Trick a few months back? That was part of a much bigger plan.”

“We got him out of the way so we could rule Vector City,” Joan said.

“With the help of your Superheroes.” Ricki shivered. “I’ve never heard anything more disturbing.”

“It’s not what it looked like.”

“You heard we aligned with the Supers and turned in all our stuff.” Mark gestured at his Ice getup. “Obviously, we did not.”

Joan flexed her fingers. “We convinced them to work with us. Then we used them to snuff out our competition. They think we retired, but we?—”

“Nobody liked Trick,” Derek said. “But you still don’t turn one of us in.”

“And youdon’twork with Supers,” Ricki reinforced.

“The press made it sound like we helped them.” Joan chuckled. “If anything, they helpedusgain a stronghold.”

Mark held out a hand. “We want to extend you the courtesy that yes, okay, we didn’t give to Trick, Hide and Volt. Vector City is still ours. It never stopped being ours. We’re very much still in the game.”

“No, you’re not,” Ricki scoffed.

“The Supers think we’re done, but we just shifted how we’re doing business.”

“Didn’t you open a restaurant or something?” Derek said.

“A food truck.” Mark grinned. “It’s the perfect cover. We’re mobile, can go anywhere, can make deals that look like meals.”

Ricki planted her hands on her hips. “What are you selling? It’s not like you can stuff a painting through one of those windows.”

“Information,” Joan said.

“To who?” said Derek. “You’re blacklisted.”

“People always want information.”

“We’re selling secrets,” Mark said. “Corporations will pay good money to get the skinny on their competition. And even more to stop them from getting leaked. Y’all know we love sticking it to big corporations.”

Joan gave him a look likeY’all? Really?“We park our truck near Allegria Tower. It’s so much easier than running around in spandex.”

“And, y’know, if they don’t pay…” Mark formed a long icicle, then shattered it against the ground.

This was a decent cover story. Maybe it would seal the deal.

Derek shook his head. “Nah. I heard you went totally legit.”

“From who?” Mark said.

“Everyone.”

“That’s a reliable source.”

Ricki slunk next to Joan, strong jasmine perfume wafting on the breeze. Her golden eyes shone bright against the deep purple of her facemask. “Everyone knows you’re tight with the Supers now.”

“They sometimes come by the food truck to check on us,” Joan said. The best lies had a nugget of truth in them. “Like Mark said, it’s the perfect cover. We appear to be legit.”

Whoops, she’d used Mark’s real name in public instead of Ice. Maybe they wouldn’t notice that slip-up.

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