Page 95 of Fanning the Flames

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Whatever Joan thought about Gus before had totally gone out the window. The old bird was still a hero.

Otis was flying over to Destine to get her bodysuit from the National Museum of Superheroes. It had to still fit—she’d only aged a little since retiring. The other Supers were preparing to go out and insinuate they had some big news to share very soon.

Since Spark, Ice and Breeze were not trusted sources, they were planning on splitting up and going to a few dive bars to spread gossip the old-fashioned way. Gus didn’t want to sit around, so she was tagging along with Perry. Ward was staying behind to monitor any activity from the control room (once he escorted the guests out, of course).

“Come along, twins.” Gus walked out of the conference room. “You too, Perry.”

Mark hopped up. He glanced at Gus’s notes, ever the Nosy Nelly. “Those are pretty.”

It turned out Gus wasn’t taking notes—she’d been doodling flowers. Irises, lilies, things with long, sweeping petals.

“These look like that painting in your bedroom, Per. The one of the field of flowers.”

“They do,” Joan said. Wait—the painting he said he’d acquired from some up-and-coming artist, signedAA. “Augusta Abernathy. Why didn’t I pick up on that? Gus did that painting.”

“She did.” Perry pushed his chair in.

“You love that piece,” she couldn’t help saying. Perry never wanted art that wasn’t a masterpiece and/or worth a lot of money. She’d never quite understood why he’d fancied that one.

“Is that a real place?” Mark had also picked up on the deeper meaning.

“It’s near where she lives.” Per headed for the door. “Let’s go. She’s not waiting for us.”

“I bet it’s outside her house,” Joan muttered to her brother.

“Totally.”

Ward couldn’t resist checking out the drawings. “I’ll bet it’s a happy place for both of them. Somewhere with good memories.”

They used the back stairs to get to the inconspicuous rear entry. Mark gave Ward a smile. “Go take a nap, man. We’ve got this.”

“I wish,” Ward mumbled, then quickly added, “I need to monitor all the activity feeds. Best of luck out there.”

He did the slow fade-out, half watching them, half tapping on his tablet. Joan said, “When this is over, let’s send him on a nice, long, tropical vacation.”

Gus pulled a pair of black-rimmed glasses from her inside jacket pocket. “Time to go incognito.”

Hmm. She was from a time when Supers and Villains only wore a simple eye mask. “Won’t you be recognized?” Joan asked.

“This has always worked,” Gus said, settling the glasses in place.

Mark screwed his face up. “You just put on a pair of glasses andnobodyrecognizes you? That actually works?”

“An unassuming woman gets overlooked all the time. Especially one of a certain age.”

Swinging his gaze to Perry, Mark said, “Is that why you wear glasses, Per?”

“It’s something I started doing when I became Breeze,” Perry said.

The twins cackled at the simple solution to anonymity.

“I do need them. They’re prescription lenses.”

“So ridiculous,” Mark muttered.

They stepped into the bright midday sun. Joan and Mark slid their sunglasses on.

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