Page 37 of Secret Spark

Zee pointed up. “They’re on the roof.”

Joan and Mark waved. “Greta had better hurry up,” she muttered through her teeth.

“Give me a boost,” Zee told Lunk.

Lunk cupped his huge hands under one of Zee’s feet. Mark shot down a blast of ice, covering the blacktop. Lunk wobbled like a newborn colt but managed to fling Zee into the air. He then slipped and fell on his ass.

Zee tumbled awkwardly onto the roof. “You wanna take this one?” Mark asked, gesturing to them.

“It’s all you, Mr. Second Cubano with the Errant Wrapper,” Joan said.

Mark cracked his knuckles. “I’ve gotta work off that second Cubano, anyway.”

Zee raced over. Mark sprayed ice around both of them so Zee couldn’t get a solid footing. Joan left them to their sliding and fighting and moved to the duct hole. The faint beam of Greta’s headlamp bounced around the metal.

“I’ll have to piggyback you out of here,” Joan said. “Race and Lunk showed up.”

A string of angry curses echoed upward.

“I don’t think it was an alarm. Probably just us being up here, or that little fire I created.”

“It better not be an alarm. I called my guy from a sweet cherry-red convertible. Even took a few selfies.”

“I’ll vouch for you making good on the terms of your bet.”

“Damn right you will,” Greta stated.

“Joanie?” Mark called. “A little help?”

“In a second,” Joan said. Zee and Mark were across the roof inside a flurry of ice shavings.

She blocked Greta creeping out of the hole as best as she could. Greta unhooked from the line and said, “Let’s go.”

“Hang back for a sec. I don’t want anyone to see you.”

Lunk stood with New Sidekick at the rear entrance. “They have to be misdirecting you,” New Sidekick said. “There’s something going on inside.”

“Stand back. I’ll put a stop to it.” Lunk dug his fingers into each side of the steel door and wrenched it free. The top of the door recoiled and clonked him on the head. He went down like a felled tree.

“Daaaamn,” Greta cackled. Joan simply shook her head.

A shrill alarm began to wail, instantly sobering Greta. “Son of a bitch,” she ground out.

“Mr. Lunk?” New Sidekick bent down, gently slapping the prone Super’s cheeks. “Mr. Lunk? Can you hear me?”

He’d be fine. Hard to tell if Lunk was concussed since he lived in a perpetual state of confusion.

New Sidekick prodded Lunk some more.

“He’s better than the robotic sidekicks were in Destine,” Joan noted.

Greta winced. “Ooh, yeah. That was a whole mess.”

“Joanie!” Mark shrieked.

Whoops. Zee had swirled Mark into an ice shell with their super speediness.

“Light it up,” she yelled, running over to him.

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