Her Superhero Lover

The joke caused Maria to snort in amusement, and she nodded. “Okay. Well, first question I guess is for you, Horseman. Why’re you doing this?”

“It’s pretty simple really, Maria. I grew up in this area, and I’ve watched as San Diego and Los Angeles have struggled for years with crime. Now, our brave police officers out there are trying their best, but they are limited in who they can go after, and what they can do. The real bad guys out there, they’ve been operating with relative impunity for too long, their only real threat coming from within their own ranks. I have these abilities, and I couldn’t sit back and let the situation continue.”

Maria nodded. “What about your critics who have said that your actions have led to criminals escalating their actions as well?”

Renee tilted her head. “What do you mean, Maria?”

“Assistant District Attorney Kyle in her most recent press conference accused you of forcing the criminals in San Diego to bring more and more dangerous weapons onto the streets in order to protect themselves from you.”

It was a question Maria had told them in a secret e-mail she would ask them, in order to appear to be objective, so Grady was prepared. “I’d challenge ADA Kyle to take a look at the crime stats, Maria. In the past year, drug crimes are down sixty percent. Gang violence is down thirty percent, and the trend continues among other areas. In fact, wasn’t it Action Five itself that had the report a few days ago that for the first time since the Eisenhower years, there wasn’t a single murder in Southern California south of Los Angeles for an entire day?”

“Are you taking credit for this?” Maria asked, smiling. She was setting them up for their big moment, and she knew it. But what a moment it was going to be. Pulitzer, here I come.

Grady shook his head. “I can’t take credit, Maria. Dark Justice and The Horsemen are just two people, regardless of our abilities. I can’t be over all of Southern California at once in a single day. The best I can say is that I’ve tried my best to stand up, to be someone that tells the world that you don’t have to be afraid any more. We’ve let the criminals and the degenerates among us have free rein for too long, ruling through fear and intimidation.”

“No longer,” Renee took over, her voice intense. “Because now people see you don’t have to be afraid any longer. That armed robbery was stopped because the customer clocked the stickup man with a can of Coke in the back of the head. The community that kicked out the gang by not allowing them to intimidate them any longer, those are the heroes. I’m just a woman in a costume.”

“We do admit that there are some more dramatic criminals coming on the scene,” Grady continued. “But for every one of them, ten other criminals are dropping out of the life, and trying to walk the right path. The challenge now for us as a community is to give these people an opportunity, a chance to actually successfully walk that path. That’s social justice, and something I can do nothing about. That’s for the small business owners, and the corporate offices who need to do what they can.”

Maria nodded. “On that note, I’ve had quite a few corporations and community groups approach Action Five about trying to enlist your aid as spokespeople for various causes. Yet, until today you’ve never spoken to anyone. Why the silent act?”

“I didn’t speak because I’m a person who believes that actions are more important than words. The world is filled with millions who talk, millions who preach. There are armies of so-called slacktevists whose idea of getting involved is doing a Facebook post or starting an online petition. While that works sometimes, a lot of the time nothing changes until real, concrete action is taken. The drug dealer on the corner isn’t going to stop because of your Facebook post, and doesn’t care about your Twitter account. So instead of talking, I’m taking action. No offense to you Maria, I’m having fun, but don’t expect this sort of interview to be a normal thing.”

“Okay. Well, let’s turn to Dark Justice. Could you tell us, how did you and The Horseman meet?”

“Let’s just say we have similar tastes in the arts,” Renee said. “When we discovered we shared a similar outlook on things and we both have the ability to do things regular people can’t, teaming up seemed rather natural.”

“And is there any truth to the rumor that you and The Horseman are more than just crime fighting partners?”

Renee laughed and looked over at Grady, who shrugged his shoulders. “Maria, you know that’s not a fair question,” Renee replied. “First of all, if I said no, you wouldn’t believe me anyway. If I say yes, you’ve probably got another fifteen questions all lined up for me. Let me put it this way. I trust The Horseman with my life. We support each other, and there is a level of trust and knowledge between us that a lot of married couples never achieve. Now, regardless of anything else, that makes us more than just crime fighting partners. It makes us family.”

Maria let the answer stand, and looked down at her notes. “So, any plans on expanding your operations or your team? San Diego’s kind of small compared to New York, Los Angeles or even overseas.”

Grady grinned. “We happen to like San Diego, Maria. However, that doesn’t mean we won’t get involved if we need to in other places. Who knows? If there are others out there like me and Justice who happen to think like us, maybe we can set up a network. Some Fallen Angel franchises or something like that.”

Maria chuckled. “Well, we’d like to turn the interview over to a few callers, like you agreed. First we have Shawn from University Heights. Shawn?”

“Yeah, this is for Dark Justice,” a nervous voice that sounded like it belonged to a teenage boy came over the line. “Uh, I was wondering, do you have a boyfriend? I mean, you’re ultra-hot!”

The line cut off, and Renee laughed. “Thanks, Shawn. But sorry, I have a wonderful man in my life.”

“On that note,” Maria said, “not to put too fine a point on it, but you and The Horseman happen to be of different races. Has there ever been any problems there?”

“None at all,” Renee replied, while Grady nodded in agreement. “When we’re training, or patrolling, or fighting, I see my partner. His skin color isn’t important to me, and the same goes for him.”