Free Corpies (Super Powereds Spinoff Book 1) by Drew Hayes Page A

I just hung around for this one,” Gale replied. “I appreciate you being prompt.”
    “Course. We all have our schedules to keep.”
    The waitress came by, and Owen ordered a local beer. Once she left, he turned the conversation toward the most important subject, so far as he was concerned. “Everything go okay with Alexandria?”
    “No issues. She made it to the facility without so much as a flare-up. I think it helped that she was a little star-struck.” Gale was keeping a neutral face while she examined Owen with attentive eyes. “I’m surprised you care so much about one Powered girl.”
    “First job back. Haven’t had time to get jaded again. . . yet.” Owen’s beer arrived and he took a long draw from it. Dark, yeasty, and potent; he’d have to find out the name of the brewery so he could try more of their wares.
    “About that. I was wondering what made you decide to leave retirement. And why you picked Brewster, Illinois, to reappear in, of all places. We’re a decent-sized city, but we’re no New York or Los Angeles.”
    “I left retirement because I wanted to start doing some good again,” Owen said. “As for why I came here. . . my agent had set up shop locally, and this is where I got a job.”
    “You’re on a team?”
    “I’m. . .” The urge to lie, or at least tell half-truths, was almost overpowering. But Zone’s words were still ringing in Owen’s ears. He thought he was better than them, and what right did he have? Those kids didn’t have his power or training, yet they were still doing the best they could to help people. Meanwhile, he’d taken all his abilities and holed up in Colorado. Like a coward.
    “I’m working as a Hero Liaison for a team of Privately Employed Emergency Response Supers. I’m also going to do a little Hero work when time permits, but they’re my main job.”
    Gale stared at him then let out a short, sharp, laugh. “You expect me to believe that Titan, the Titan, finally came out of hiding just to lead a bunch of corpies? I’m not an idiot.”
    “No, you’re the leader of Elemental Fury, one of the most well-known teams in Brewster. It’s been in existence for over two decades and you’re the fourth leader they’ve had, presiding for the last three years. Your team is efficient, skilled, and great at minimizing collateral damage, which is probably part of why you’re so liked by the citizens. It also means you’re on top, which makes you a target for criminals and Heroes more concerned with image than the job. You think I’m the latter.” Owen had done more than just paperwork in his time before the meeting; he’d also pulled up some background information on Gale. Knowledge was usually more useful than muscle, in his experience.
    “Titan was quite a media juggernaut in his day. I find it hard to believe you plan on lying low. Seems like you might want to be the new big dog in town, and the only way someone with your rep could do that would be to make us look bad.”
    “I’m not here for the media, and I’m sure as shit not a gunner who is going to sabotage your PR. Those guys don’t last as long as I did before I quit, and you know that.”
    “I’m not sure what I know when it comes to you,” Gale said. “Nearly every piece of information I have on you is from hearsay and propaganda. The one thing I do know is that you’re powerful and experienced, which makes you dangerous.”
    “Only if I come with ill intentions, which I don’t.”
    “Why should I believe that? You come here and feed me a story about baby-sitting corpies, giving me nothing to go on. I’m not trying to be a bitch, Titan, but this is my city. I was born here, I grew up here, and I lay my life on the line every day to keep it safe. Glory-seekers are a real danger; they take stupid risks that get people killed. For someone on your scale of power, that could be a whole lot of people.”
    “Gale, you can either trust me or not. What you can’t do is stop me.”