Hero Engine Read Online Free PDF

other with him on my right side. I set my feet and hold my arm out so that my elbow is at neck level. “Okay, go for it.”
    Sus chuckles and, in a blink, the runner flashes back in to motion. His throat collides with my arm and the runner gets planted flat on his ass. Man, that felt damn good. I could get used to super powers. The runner lays on his back and blinks up at me.
    To Vince I say, “Book ‘im, Dano.”
     
     
     

Chapter 6
    THE RUNNER SITS at a steel table, handcuffed to the top of it. This whole interrogation thing almost feels normal. I want to turn to the two-way glass and wink at my partner before I start the questioning. Instead of Josh Garret, my usual backup at home, I’m flanked by Ann and Vince.
    “What’s your name?” I like to start things easy.
    Runner glares up at me like I’m shining a light in his eyes. Maybe he’s waiting for me to start pulling off fingernails. I wonder if I can do that. This isn’t the police. I’m working for a secret organization. Surely there can’t be many rules for this kind of thing.
    “Leroy DeLaCruz,” Runner says.
    “Okay, Leroy, why the interest in our meeting back there?” Keep it simple and friendly at first. Keep the interrogation subject on my side.
    “Go fuck yourself,” Leroy says with enough vile to melt my badge.
    That shit about keeping it friendly flies right out the window after a phrase that includes ‘go’ and ‘fuck’ and ‘yourself.’ I turn to Vince. “Can I uh, you know, uh…” I slap my elbow in the palm of my hand.
    Vince gives me a nod.
    I put my left hand behind Leroy’s head and slam my right elbow into his eye. The impact thuds. Ann winces. Vince chews his gum. Secret agencies are nice. I should have joined up a long time ago.
    “Ah, fuck.” DeLaCruz leans forward to hold his cuffed hands up to his eye.
    “I believe I asked you a question, Leroy. Just in case you forgot, I’ll give you another chance. Why were you watching us?”
    He looks at me, one eye clenched shut, tears streaming. “Go. Fuck. Yourself.”
    I sigh. Time to try another approach. “Okay, how about this one? Are you friends with Gravitess?”
    “Fuck yourself until you die.”
    At least he’s changing it up a little. How I hate broken records. I slam him mouth-first against the desk. He comes up spitting blood and teeth. Ann and Vince watch in silence.
    “What about AHA? The AssHole Allegiance or something like that. You work for those guys?”
    “G’fyah’yesself.” Leroy splatters blood across my shirt as he speaks his mangled-up insult.
    “Looks like he’s not ready to talk,” I say to Vince. “Let’s give him a while to think about what he’s done. I’ll give him another shot in a day or ten. See how talkative he is then.” I walk out of the room and Vince and Ann follow.
    “Is he going to be all right in there while we’re gone?”
    Vince nods. “Yeah, he’s not going anywhere.”
    “Have you got some new clothes I can wear?” I pull my bloody shirt out from my chest to look down at it.
    “I’ll have something put on the plane for you.”
    “The plane? Are we not riding with Miles? Seems like that would be much faster.”
    “That’s not an option this time.” Vince looks over at Ann. She diverts her gaze. “But you will find our plane an acceptable form of transportation.”
    Vince picks up his phone. “Yes, I need a change of clothes loaded up on the plane…” He looks down at himself and then over at me. “Yeah, he’s about my size give or take a couple inches in height and a couple pounds around the middle. Yes, something out of my wardrobe will be perfect.”
    Vince hangs up, smiles back at me, and leads us to an elevator. We take the car up for what feels like an eternity. How many more floors can this place have?
    The elevator bings when we get to the top. Doors slide open to reveal a landing pad with a plane like I’ve never seen before. Pouring rain obscures our view and lightning flashes in the