The Bulletproof Badge by Ian Thomas Healy

Author:Ian Thomas Healy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: police, urban, superheroes, supervillain, harry blaine
Publisher: Local Hero Press, LLC

* * *

“You look like the cat that swallowed the canary,” said Grimes the next morning. “Geezer get laid last night?”

“Quiet, rookie. Respect your elders.”

“If you were any elder, I’d be stealing your social security check and hiding your false teeth.” Grimes looked out the cruiser’s window at the nondescript office building as I parked. “What’re we doing here?”

“Following up on a hunch. Watch and learn.”

The receptionist stiffened when we walked into the lobby. “Can I help you?” she asked. Most people get nervous when uniformed officers approach them. Some guys love the power it conveys. You can see it in their swagger. Not me, though. I’d much rather people would see me before they see the badge, but habits are habits.

I’d called Dannan back late the night before and she’d given me a name. “May we speak to Dr. Wyler please?”

The receptionist stabbed at a button on her phone. “Dr. Wyler? There are some co—some police officers here to see you.”

A few minutes later a bespectacled young man with fine features and an earring came from the back offices. He wore a white lab coat over a T-shirt emblazoned with the logo of some band I faintly remembered hearing about a couple years ago. “I’m Dr. Carson Wyler. What can I do for you guys?”

“Harry Blaine, and this is Fred Grimes. Bombshell of the Young Guns gave us your name.” Bombshell was Dannan’s superhero name, bestowed upon her by the Chronicle when they first reported upon the Blonde Bombshell of the Bay Area.

“Of course.” He stared me up and down and although he tried to hide it, I knew he’d seen the family resemblance between Dannan and me.

“We’ve encountered what I believe to be a new parahuman here in the Bay Area and, er, Bombshell said you had a gizmo that could do a rapid MK test.” The Musashi-Kitaro test identified the genetic markers common to all parahumans.

Grimes raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. I was rather enjoying keeping him in the dark. It made me feel just a bit superior, something that happened far too infrequently these days.

“Oh, are you the officers who’ve discovered the new teke? I was hoping to get a chance to meet her.” Wyler’s face lit up at the notion.

“I think we might be able to arrange that. Would you mind packing up your little black bag and taking a trip with us?”

“I’d be thrilled. Give me fifteen minutes to collect my gear and clear my schedule.” Wyler ran back into the rear of the building.

Grimes turned to me. “You’re onto something. Care to share?”

“I’m running on a hunch here,” I said. “I did a little background research into Mr. Gernsbeck. Did you know he’s a published writer?”

“Nope.”

“He writes speculative fiction. Aliens and magic and stuff like that.”

“I see.”

“His last book was about magical lizard people.”

“Magical lizard people,” said Grimes. “Sounds fascinating.”

“It sounds a lot like Tigi,” I said.

His eyes widened. “Oh, so you think she’s obsessing over his book and that’s why she keeps coming back to him?”

“Something like that.

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