Greg Cox - 52 by The Novel

Author:The Novel [Novel, The]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2011-12-16T12:55:12+00:00

WEEK 28

GOTHAM CITY

For the first time in months, ever since the police gave up trying to summon the Dark Knight, the Bat-Signal shone in the night sky above the city The glowing symbol didn’t look quite the same as the one Gothamites had once grown accustomed to, though. The spotlight had a slightly more yellowish tint, while the bat-winged silhouette at the center of the luminous orb looked crude around the edges, like an amateur’s copy of the original symbol. Renee thought it was obvious that it wasn’t the real thing. Hey, I did my best, she thought.

“This is not going to work, Charlie.” She squatted on top of her partner’s beaten-up old Vanagon while pointing their handmade Bat-Signal up at the sky. The makeshift emblem was glued to the lens of a modified halogen flashlight.

“It’ll work, Renee.” The Question leaned against the side of the van, reading the Gotham Gazette. The front page headline read, “G.C.P.D. UNPREPARED FOR SUDDEN WAVE OF GANG VIOLENCE.” His lack of a face did not seem to impede his reading. “That lamp emits over eleven million candela of light/’ He casually flipped the page. “You’re just nervous because you haven’t seen her in months.”

It was a week before Thanksgiving, and Gotham was much colder than it had been when she and Vic had left the city three and a half months ago. The van was parked on the fringe of Robinson Park, not far from where they had met with Kate way back in July. The park’s lush green foliage was all gone now, replaced by skeletal trees whose bare branches extended out over the curb. A winter coat and gloves only partly shielded Renee from the cold November wind. She shivered atop the van, momentarily pining for the dry heat of the Middle East. Her breath misted before her lips.

“I’m nervous because we’re throwing a Bat-Signal around in Gotham City.” She would have killed for a cigarette, but had gone cold turkey since finding out about Vic. The nicotine craving wasn’t helping her mood any. “A guaranteed way to bring half the G.C.P.D. and all the costumed freaks running.”

He flipped through his newspaper. “You got another way to reach her?”

A racking cough shook his body. Renee flinched at the ugly sound, which bluntly reminded her that he was dying. The heavy sweater he was wearing under his trench coat helped to disguise how much weight he had lost, but the frequent coughs gave him away. He shouldn’t even be here, she thought guiltily. He should be with his friends in Nanda Parbat, not zvith me, trying to save someone he doesn’t know from something we’re not sure will happen.

“None of the other ways worked, and you know it.” She muttered under her breath. “Bet the damn butler never even told her I called.”

“Moan, moan, moan,” Vic mocked her.

Renee scowled at the sky. “Oh, bite me.”

“He can’t,” a husky voice intruded. “He doesn’t have a mouth.”

. Without warning, Batwoman dropped from an overhanging tree branch onto the roof of the van.

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