Chasing Lady Midnight: A Superhero Cozy Mystery: The Lady Midnight Series, #1

CHASING LADY MIDNIGHT

A SUPERHERO COZY MYSTERY

BY C.L. RAGSDALE

Copyright 2013 by C. L. Ragsdale

Cover Design by Mary Campagna Findley

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places, and incidents are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, either living or dead, is completely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 -Tell Me If You’ve Heard This One, Four Supers Go Into A Warehouse...

Chapter 2 - Flashback! Just So You Know How I Got Here

Chapter 3 - Being On Defense Running For Your Life, It’s The Same Thing

Chapter 4 - Me and Everyone’s Shadow

Chapter 5 - Some People You Don’t Want Mad At You, Superpowers Or Not

Chapter 6 - My Fearless Leader The Russian Accelerator

Chapter 7 - Magenta The Mentalist

Chapter 8 - Paranoia It’s Not Always A Bad Thing

Chapter 9 - Look, I Warned You This Was A Long Story

Chapter 10 - The Mystery Of The Missing Supervillains

Chapter 11 - The Mother Of Two Superheroes, She Just Doesn't Know It

Chapter 12 - How Do Superheroes Like Their Pizza? Anyway They Want

Chapter 13 - Enter The Sergeant

Chapter 14 - I’m Already In Trouble, What’s A Little More Going To Hurt?

Chapter 15 - And That’s How I Got Stuck With Lady Midnight

Chapter 16 - Looking For The Court Jester

Chapter 17 - The Telepathy Assumption The Answer To Everything, If You Find It

Chapter 18 - Well I Couldn’t Find It

Chapter 19 - Why I Didn’t Get Invited To My Sister’s Wedding

Chapter 20 - Flashback Over, Back To The Present

Chapter 21 - Did You Know I'm The One Superhero Our Mayor Does Not Like?

Chapter 22 - I Am New, Improved, And Caffeinated

Chapter 23 - So That’s The Telepathy Assumption!

Chapter 24 - And You Think You Had Teacher Problems?

Chapter 25 - The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Enemy. I'm Not Turning My Back!

Chapter 26 - There Goes The Neighborhood  And It’s Really Gone

Epilogue  - What Has God Gotten Me Into? And It’s Not Like I Can Say No!

About The Author

Chapter 1

Tell Me If You’ve Heard This One,

Four Supers Go Into A Warehouse...

You know, I really don’t need this right now.

I’ve been lured into a trap and I’m going to have to fight against three members of the leadership of The Mighty Superhero Security Squad. The meanest, most powerful superheroes on the planet. All at once.

Even worse, I haven’t had my coffee yet.

First there’s Captain Cornflake...I mean Courageous (curse Crystal for starting that) who can fly and has superstrength. True, he’s got an ego problem, but according to his sidekick, Sergeant Strong (who’s supposed to be marrying my sister, but not if I can help it), he can be a team player when it’s important. Apparently I’m important. Lucky me.

Then there’s Wildcat Woman with her long, curly brown hair flying as she leaps into attack position on a pallet of crates to one side of me. It’s a good show, seeing as she is six feet tall, in top physical condition, and gorgeous. She’s also trained in every martial art imaginable, has unbreakable talons for fingernails, and a temper that makes ‘wildcat’ something of an understatement.

In spite of what has to be one of the corniest superhero names ever, this is not a woman to be messed with. Unfortunately that is exactly what I am going to have to do while keeping all of my body parts intact.

Finally, there’s The Crimson Destroyer. The name is partially due to the color of his costume. As for the destroyer part, he’s a physics manipulator, specifically kinetic absorption. What’s that? I’ll skip the superlingo, and give it to you as straight as I can. Explaining how superpowers work in plain English can be a challenge.

He’s strong to begin with, and the more you pound on him the stronger and more invulnerable he becomes. And if you don’t hit him, his teammates will. Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt him. At least, he won’t admit to it, and as to whether he holds a grudge for the method needed to increase his power, I don’t know. But I have the sinking feeling I’m about to find out.

Don’t misunderstand, I may not sound like it, but I am taking this seriously. You see, these are the people who wrested control of The Squad away from real superheroes who knew what they were doing, not an amateur like me trying to play catch up.

I must admit to being impressed. As traps go, this is a pretty good one. They’ve got me in a warehouse and have rigged the lighting from hard light to soft light which is diffusing the shadows, and when your superpower is controlling shadows, that’s a bit of a problem. Not that the shadows are gone, but being diffused I can’t really use them because I can barely see them. Also the warehouse has a high ceiling which allows a flyer to maneuver. Now my three opponents have spread out in front of me so I am trapped between them and the wall behind me. I guess I should be scared, and I am, but fortunately I’m also a little cranky.

I did mention that I haven’t had my coffee yet, right?

Okay, this is not the end of the world. So I’m outnumbered, and currently out-powered. So what? In spite of all of that, I am the first-born daughter of Lightning Lass and Quazar, the greatest supercouple ever! Even more important, I am a child of God, and no one can stand against HIM! Provided saving me from The Squad is in His plan.

God, please let that be in your plan.

In any case, it’s time to get this show on the road. So, I put my defensive strategy into play and try to look bored.

Now, I know that sounds dumb, and it may very well be, but the worst thing I can do right now is to let these bullies think I’m scared of them. I am, of course, but that is beside the point. Of course, my acting may all be for naught, because they say Wildcat Woman can smell fear. In a way I hope that’s true, because I must stink to high heaven.

I hope it burns her sensitive little nose.

Sorry, like I said, I’m cranky right now. I don’t like coming up with battle plans on the fly at any time, but especially when I miss my coffee.

Black. Sugar and cream are for sissies.

Besides looking bored, I am trying to come up with my next move. Let’s see, Courageous is in the air, Wildcat Woman is squatting and ready to pounce, and The Crimson Destroyer is in front of me doing his Crimson Destroyer thing...whatever that is. My back is literally against the wall. So when they come at me, which they will, can I make my shield work when my shadow is diffused?

I have no idea.

You know what? Sometimes being a twenty-oner is not very helpful.

It’s then that The Crimson Destroyer makes his first move, which is to start talking.

I think his plan is to convince me to give up. Either that or he loves the sound of his own voice. Maybe Corn...I mean Courageous (man I need coffee bad) is not the only one with an elevated sense of self-esteem.

Finally, we meet. Your pictures do not do you justice, my dear.

Oh great, he’s trying to wow me with his suaveness. It is way too early for this.

For her part, Wildcat Woman gives her husband a dark look. According to my mother, she hates it when he tries charm other women. Superhero, villain, or just plain female, it doesn’t matter. She’s ready to rip all of their throats out to keep her man.

Just so you know, my mother meant that literally.

Quit flirting and let’s just take her, his wife growled. Without the shadows she’s nothing.

That is rude. Accurate, but rude nonetheless.

Of course, Courageous just has to get in his two cents.

Yeah, what are you going to do? Talk her into submission?

Whoa, maybe I’m not the only one who is caffeine deprived just now.

The Destroyer, like all of The Squad leadership, does not take defiance well in any form. Even from another leader. He looks at his ‘team’ member and snarls, Just shut up and do your job, pretty boy.

Pretty boy? That’s the best insult you’ve got? The Destroyer needs to work on the art of the witty comeback.

You know, it’s times like this that I have to wonder how these yahoos ever managed to take over the superworld. Don’t get me wrong, individually they are scary as all get out, but whenever they try to be a team they can’t seem to hold it together for any length of time.

In fact, in the only other confrontation I’ve had with Squad members they ended up fighting with each other and forgetting all about me.

Just like now, and it’s getting on my nerves...wait. Forget about my nerves, this is insulting.

I mean come on! Am I so not a threat that they feel totally free to ignore me? Who did they come to fight anyway?

Get over yourselves, quit wasting my time, and attack me already, so I can kick your collective superbutts!

My rather irrational moment of internal righteous indignation is interrupted as I notice that Wildcat Woman is looking at me instead of the arguing uber-males. Stranger yet, those yellow eyes of hers, which are big anyway, seem to have doubled in size. She looks...scared?

Okay, what did I do and how can I keep doing it?

Uh...guys...

That’s odd. Her voice doesn’t have that usual snarling that she affects to scare her opponents. And did she actually stammer just a little there? Wildcat Woman never stammers. I don’t think anyone has ever seen her afraid. Until now that is.

The men, who are too busy playing ‘who’s the baddest alpha male on the planet?’ ignore her. Fortunately for me, as it gives me the time I need to figure out what has their teammate so spooked all of a sudden.

Look, I don’t take orders from you! Courageous was shouting.

Apparently The Sergeant was wrong about that team player thing.

The Destroyer barked back, On this mission you do, you stupid...

Guys! Wildcat Woman nearly screeches, never taking her eyes off me. You need to look over here now!

The two look at her in surprise and then at me. Correction not at me, but the wall behind me.

However, by this point I don’t even have to look to know what has them all so uptight. You see, my extra sense has kicked in and I can view them from different perspectives at the same time. This means my shadow has climbed up the wall behind me in spite of the soft lights, and from the looks on their faces it must look really mean.

It can do that. I’ve seen it, and it is really disconcerting.

Lay a trap for me when I haven’t had my coffee will you? Take that!

The Squad should attack me now, but they are all frozen in place. This is one of their major weaknesses that I can’t figure out, besides arguing with each other during a fight, I mean. They seem incapable of making quick adjustments when things do not go according