SECRET IDENTITY (6 page)

But his family had known. They had mourned, even though they
knew the husband and father had died protecting their world while in the cold
depths of space. Lisa, especially, had been inconsolable. Although she was
human and had no special powers like her husband, she had aided him by working
incognito like Luke and Lee were currently doing. Acting as Infinity’s go-between,
secretary, and agent, fielding calls and special requests, and monitoring the
computers when he was away. Yet, after Logan’s death, she had never been the
same vibrant woman her sons knew she could be. Lorne was positive that when
their mother had died four years later, it had been because of a broken heart,
although Luke never revealed anything different from the coroner’s remark that
it had been a brain aneurysm.

He entered the kitchen to find Lee drinking straight from
the milk carton.

“Busted, dirtbag. You ready to go?”

Lee nodded slowly so he wouldn’t spill a drop, but continued
gulping. Rolling his eyes, Lorne walked into the garage. Lee followed behind
him and beat him to the passenger side. Sighing, Lorne opened the door to the
backseat as Luke hurried into the garage and over to the driver’s side. Lorne
spotted the tiny, almost invisible, flesh-colored hearing aid in his brother’s
right ear. In truth, the aid was a transmitter connecting him to the computers
in the basement. If any sort of emergency came about, requiring the help of Mr.
Mental, Espionage, or The Defender, he would be able to notify Lee and Lorne
immediately.

He closed the car door. “I think I’ll walk next door and get
Brenda.”

“Okay. I’ll pull up in the driveway,” Luke told him, hitting
the garage door opener.

Ducking under the rising door, Lorne hurried over to her
place, leaping onto the front porch to ring the doorbell. It reminded him of
the countless times he had rung that bell, then asked Mr. or Mrs. McKay if
Brenda could come out and play. He glanced down at his dark, navy blue suit.
We’ve
come a long way since those days.

The door opened with little wait. Brenda stepped out, and
Lorne couldn’t help but admire the simple black dress and shoes she was
wearing. Her chestnut hair was pulled back into a soft bun at the nape of her
neck, and other than her gold watch, she wore no jewelry. Not even earrings. He
also noticed she had very little makeup on. Still, she was incredibly
beautiful.

Lorne knew she had gotten where she was because of her
skills and talent. But her buoyant looks definitely helped, as well. Charisma
and brains made a deadly but lovely combination.

Silently, she took his offered hand, and they descended the
same porch steps they had sat on the previous day. He helped her into the backseat
of their sedan, where Luke and Lee greeted her with kisses to the cheek.

Michael McKay’s services were held at Bistrough Funeral
Home, the same funeral home which had held Logan Palmer’s closed casket
funeral, and later on, Lisa Palmer’s. Walking through the front double doors
gave him the same feeling of bleakness as it had all those years ago. Glancing
over at Luke, he could see the place was affecting his brother the same way.
Lee had already gone inside the chapel.

“Stay with me?” Brenda’s cold hand clutched his again. He
gave her a squeeze for reassurance before leading her into the chapel, down the
aisle, and over to the front pew where the immediate family would sit. There
were at least two hundred people already present, and more were filing in.

Painful memories came back to him, even though several years
had already passed. Lorne could clearly remember the day his mother, eyes
swollen from weeping, called her family together to break the terrible news.

“Boys, your daddy is dead.”

Luke, the quiet one, with his stormy, dark gray eyes,
simply stared at her. It was Lee who pitched the first fit of denial. Lorne
closed his eyes and bottled up the rising despair. Their mother continued.

“He was helping bring that disabled shuttle in, when they
were hit by a small meteorite storm. It was a freak accident. He…your father
died instantly. He didn’t suffer.”

“Where’s Dad now?” Luke asked, finally breaking his
silence.

“They brought his body into the cargo bay, and brought it
back with them.”

“They?”

“The astronauts, darling.”

She reached out to run her fingers through Luke’s mass of
black hair. She did the same to each of them, trying to comb out some of the
wildness in their manes. All of the Palmer males had pitch-black hair. And all
the males had one shade or another of gray eyes. Only their mother, with her
light brown hair and green eyes, stood out.

Lorne glanced up to see more tears rolling down his
mother’s cheeks. It was impossible to think that his father was never coming back.
His dad was Infinity! His dad was a hero, and impervious to practically
everything!

“The space center is having your father’s body sent over
to the funeral home. We’ll be able to go over there tomorrow to see it. I’ve
been…” Her voice cracked, and she had to give herself several moments before
she could resume. “I’ve made arrangements to have Logan buried on Saturday.”

Lee squalled, too young to take on the trappings of seriousness
needed at this time. Lorne glanced over at his older brother, who was staring
back at him. They would need to be the pillars of strength for their mother to
lean on these next few days.

“One other thing,” Lisa Palmer said after she’d paused to
wipe her eyes and blow her nose with a tissue. “You know how we have to keep
everything we do a secret, right? You remember your father and I talking to you
about having a secret identity, right? If anyone asks you about Logan, tell
them he died while away at work. You don’t need to go into any details. You don’t
need to lie. I don’t think anyone will ask you that question now, but later on,
when you get older, they might. Just tell them he died while he was at work.
That’s all you need to say, okay? Have you got that? Luke?”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Lorne?”

“Yes, Momma.”

“Lee?” She pulled the baby into her lap and let him wail
in her arms. She bowed her head and wept with him.

Seeing that it was finally safe to leave, Lorne and Luke
left the kitchen where she had gathered them. Luke went down into the basement
where he always went to escape, and Lorne went out into the backyard. That’s
where Brenda found him, hunched over in the treehouse, too overwhelmed by grief
to know when she’d climbed up to join him.

Lorne turned to look at the woman seated next to him. She
was trying hard not to break down in front of the others. Casting his eyes over
to where Luke sat on the other side of her, he saw his brother slowly shake his
head.

They were still holding hands. Giving hers a squeeze, he let
it go and pulled her next to him until they were hip-to-hip, thigh-to-thigh.
Brenda rested her head in the crook of his neck, and cried. He draped his arm
around her shoulders and held her against him as the pastor continued with his
eulogy.

At one point he vaguely sensed Lee leaving. He assumed it
was a restroom call until Luke’s ethereal voice buzzed in his head.

Small emergency. Local police need Espionage’s testimony
on a case. He should be back before we head for the cemetery.

Lorne gave him a thumbs-up behind Brenda’s back. Her tears
were lessening, just as the service was winding down. As people filed past the
casket for one final farewell, many came over to offer their condolences. No
one questioned why the Palmers were there. Most everyone knew the foursome had
been inseparable growing up.

He needn’t have worried about Brenda, or anyone, noticing
Lee’s absence. Lorne helped her into the limo reserved for the family while
Luke followed with their vehicle.

The drive to the cemetery took less than twenty minutes,
even with the slow motorcade and police escort. The graveside service took
thirty minutes. Lee was back with them before the pastor gave his final prayer
and dismissed them.

They were walking back to the car when Brenda paused. “Hey.
You guys have any plans?”

“Plans?” Lorne echoed.

“Yeah. I mean, are you hungry? What time is it, anyway?
People have been stopping by the house with casseroles and stuff all day
yesterday and this morning. I’ve got enough food to feed an army.” She blew her
nose again, then balled the tissue up in her hand. “Come on, guys. It’s just us
now, and you’re all the f-family I have left.” The last few words nearly broke
her, but she managed to pull herself together. “I can’t stand the idea of being
alone right now, okay? I mean, even if you’re not hungry, let’s go back to my
house, okay? If just for a can of soda?”

None of them were hungry, but the invitation made perfect
sense.

It was quiet on the drive back. Lorne couldn’t help but
notice that Brenda kept herself pressed tightly against him the entire way. As
much as he loved the feel of her—the warmth of her body, and the weight of her
head on his shoulder—he wished circumstances were different.

But it was a start.

Chapter 7

Revelation

Hey, Lorne.

Luke didn’t break into his thoughts very often. Just when
there was something that needed his immediate attention. He concentrated and
sent back a reply.

What?

Come down here, would you?

Getting up from his bed where he had been trying to nap,
Lorne sidled into the kitchen, walked into the pantry, then hit the secret
switch which opened the narrow door. The stairs were automatically lit on his
way down. Luke was sitting in front of a bank of viewscreens, his back to the
stairs. It wouldn’t matter if he turned around or not. Mr. Mental knew where
everyone was at all times.

“What’s up?”

The man crooked a finger at him, gesturing for Lorne to join
him. “I got a call from the Fullerton Police Department. They need The Defender
to reappear and help them investigate that explosion at the chemical plant.”

“All right. Any idea why?”

“They believe it wasn’t an accident, but they’re requesting
your help to find proof. Or rather, they asked Mr. Mental if I knew of you. I
told them of course I did, and I would be happy to pass along their message.”

Lorne noticed that one monitor in particular held Luke’s
interest. Stepping closer, he watched the scene unfold. “Is that video of the
fire?”

“What little there is, thanks to the media.”

“So, what are we looking for?”

“A pattern. A suspect. Visual evidence.” Luke swiveled
around in his chair and looked up at his younger sibling. “I can’t prove this
yet, but I’m quite certain the explosion was premeditated.”

Lorne blinked. “Okay. Sabotage is not impossible.”

“Because Brenda was there.”

Surprised, Lorne stared at the dead serious look on Luke’s
face. “Got any more bombshells you want to drop?”

“And she was sent here to draw us out.”

Lorne backed up until his butt hit the table behind him.
Stunned, he sat down on it as he tried to grasp what Luke was telling him. A
twinge marking the beginnings of a headache stabbed him between the eyes, and
he pressed a thumb to the spot, closing his eyes as he gathered his wits back
around him.

“W-w-wait. Are you telling me someone already knew about The
Defender before he made himself known to the public?”

“No. I’m implying someone suspects Fullerton may harbor a
superhero, and they’re determined to see if their theory floats.”

“But…
how
? I mean, I did all my training in the remotest
parts of the world. You yourself, you’ve never appeared in person, or even
shown your real face when you project. And Lee wears a uniform and mask like I
do, but he can also slip in and out like the proverbial fog on cat’s feet.”

At the mention of their younger brother, a shadow crawled
across the wall beside them. At first indistinct, it quickly coalesced into the
shape of a man. A second later, Lee stepped into the room as easily as if he
had walked through a door. The fact that he was wearing his costume and mask
proved he had been out on a call. “All right. I’m here like you asked, bro. Are
my ears burning for a reason?”

“Yeah. We may have a problem,” Lorne told him.

Like The Defender, Lee wore all black when he became
Espionage, except that his costume of choice was a simple long-sleeved, black
dress shirt, black gloves, and black pants with black dress shoes. A length of
black material tied behind his head shielded the upper half of his face. No
flashy fashion, as he liked to refer to it. His super persona was not meant to
be public, hence the simplicity. Lee slid the mask up to his hairline as he waited
for more detail.

“It appears that we may not have been as careful as we
thought we were,” Luke continued. “At some point, we must have given ourselves
away.”

“How?” Lorne challenged him. “We never leave the house
publicly unless we’re Palmers. You never reveal yourself, and we know how
elusive Lee can be. And I always have my shields up when I leave as Defender.
So tell me, how could we have given ourselves away?”

Luke shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m trying to find out. In
the meantime, it appears that one thing is very evident. Whoever is trying to
out us is using Brenda as bait because they know she’s close to us.”

He squinted at Lorne.

“Every time you go out on a mission now, you’re going to
have to be super cautious.”

“What makes you think we might have inadvertently revealed
ourselves?” Lee asked. “Where does Brenda fit in?”

Turning back to the monitors, Luke punched a few buttons on
the console in front of him. “It may not be all of us who are under suspicion.
I think whoever is behind this believes that
one
of us is a superhero,
and they’re wanting to prove it by setting up a few traps.”