The Masked Family

Chapter 6

Chapter 6Indianapolis, Indiana, 2006Cary's cell phone rang when he was sitting in traffic on Interstate 70 in the middle of Indianapolis, Indiana. The flashing lights of emergency vehicles strobed up ahead, where two crashed cars smoked in the heavy rain.

"Tucson," whispered Glo, only she said it like Two-Shawn. "That's where we are. Where we were, I mean."

Cary's heart hammered in his chest. He wished he were on the other side of the wreck, free and clear, charging to the rescue...though he wouldn't have been much farther ahead, not really.

"What do you mean?" Agitated as he was, Cary forced himself to speak softly. "Where are you now?"

"I don't know." Glo sounded calmer than the last time she'd called, but her voice still shook. "In the car. Mommy and Daddy are in a bar."

With his thumb, Cary rubbed the blue Starbeam Ring on his pinky finger. More than anything, he wished the ring would activate his powers right now and send him racing to Glo's side in a fraction of a heartbeat.

"I'm glad you and Late are all right." Cary thought about ramming his way through the traffic jam and wreckage, anything to get moving again. "So you say you're in a car?"

"Uh-huh. Driving away from Two-Shawn."

Cary kept rubbing the Starbeam Ring. "Do you know where you are? Do you see any signs?"

There were shifting and rustling sounds from the other end of the call. "Eighty-Six," said Glo. "And a 'W'."

"West," said Cary. "Anything else?"

Suddenly, another, younger voice piped up on the line. "I wanna come home. Please take us home." It was six-year-old Late, unselfconsciously making no effort at all to keep his voice down.

Cary's eyes burned as tears welled up in them. "What's the Nuclear Family's motto?" he said.

"'No one can stop the Nukelar Family'?" said Late.

"The other one." Cary sniffed and wiped his eyes.

"'The Nukelar Family takes care of its own'?"

"There ya go." Cary stared at his Starbeam Ring as he said it. "And you're part of the Nuclear Family, right?"

"Yeah," said Late.

"So I'm going to take care of you," said Cary. "And you're going to take care of your sister till I get there. Got it?"

"I'll use my powers," said Late.

Cary smiled. "You do that." Glo and Late were the new generation of the Nuclear Family, picking up where Cary and his brother and sisters had left off. Cary had even made them costumes and given them rings that were similar to the original Family's Starbeam Rings.

The cool thing was, the kids were naturals at the super-hero game. In fact, they'd been playing super-heroes long before Cary had come into their lives. By the time he'd come along, they'd already invented their own code names. Glorianna had become "Glo," and Nate had become "Late."

Cary had bonded fast with these kids who were so much like the Nuclear Family of his childhood. They also had a lot in common with Cary in his adulthood.

For one thing, like Cary, they claimed to have actual super powers.

And Cary believed them.

"Cary?" Glo broke in on the call again, the tone of her voice urgent. "I have to tell you something. I think I know where we're going."

Glo said something else, but her voice was drowned out by a blast from the siren of the ambulance up ahead.

"What was that, Glo?" Cary pressed the cell phone's earpiece more tightly against his ear.

"Here they come!" Late said in the background. "Mommy and Daddy are coming!"

Cary's heart pounded so fast, he thought his chest would explode. If Crystal took Glo's phone, or the battery died, this could be the last time he'd hear from Glo over her cell.

It might also be the last time he ever heard her voice, period. "Quick, Glo! Tell me where!"

Glo whispered one word and hung up.

Cary let out a deep breath and leaned back against the seat of his cab. His trip had just gotten longer.

How am I going to do this?

He'd been on the road for more than five hours. He still had a day of solid driving ahead to get to Tucson. Twenty-four hours at least.

Now, he had to go further still. He might have to go a very long way indeed, because Glo hadn't narrowed it down much for him.

After all, Mexico was a big place. It would be an easy place for the new Nuclear Family to disappear forever.

Cary closed his eyes and clutched the Starbeam Ring tightly in his hand.

Please give me my powers so I can save those kids.

Please please please give me my powers.

He opened his eyes when a horn beeped behind him. He felt no different and knew right away that his powers had not returned.

But when he looked ahead of him, he saw that the wreck had been cleared, and traffic was moving again.