The stranger used the neck of the guitar to reel Royce in and punch him in the face.
Royce went down like a felled redwood, and Burt bounded into the closet. He joyfully licked Riley’s face and then immediately began to sneeze.
“You must be Riley,” the man said, tossing the guitar aside.
He entered the closet and nudged Burt off her. “Let her breathe, buddy.”
Burt sneezed again.
“Pepper spray,” Riley rasped.
The stranger nodded. He picked her up, carried her over Royce’s prone form and out of the closet, then set her gently on the edge of the bed.
She blinked through the burning tears.
The man was wearing a Batman costume with the mask shoved up on top of his head. Medium height with anI work out seven days a weekbuild. He had a shaved head and tattoos everywhere.
“Thank you—”
The rest of the words died on her lips when he whipped out a switchblade.
She yelped and threw her arms up to block him.
“Relax,” he said, gently pulling her arms toward him. He ran the tip of the knife through the tape binding her wrists, then moved to her ankles. “Now we’re even,” he said with a nod.
“Even?” Riley repeated.
“You saved me significant jail time for a parole violation,” he said with a crooked grin.
“I did?”
“I just got out of prison yesterday. Time off for good behavior,” he said with a wink, returning to the closet. “And after I kissed my grandma hello and sat down with the whole family for a chicken-pot-pie dinner, there was one thing I needed to do.”
Riley coughed. “What was that?”
He grabbed Royce by the ankles and dragged him into the back of the closet, threw the remains of the guitar on top of him, and then shut the door.
“I needed to take care of a problem. But you beat me to it. You did it with more finesse too.”
“I think you’re going to have to be more specific,” Riley suggested. Burt hopped up onto the bed next to her and leaned into her.
Batman spied Sesame’s fridge and opened it. He grabbed one of the fancy waters and opened it before handing it to her. Eagerly she accepted it and drank greedily. “I was there. I watched you and your friends sneak inside. I watched the flames blow out the second-story windows. And I watched you drag that stupid motherfucker out of his own house and turn him over to the cops.”
Riley squeezed her eyes shut. “Lance.”
“Splash some of the water on your face. You’ll feel better,” Batman instructed.
She did as she was told and immediately felt less burn-y.
Batman helped himself to a water. “That waste of DNA has been torturing my cousin for months, and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. I knew that as soon as I got out, I’d be going right back in. But I’d be solving that problem permanently for little Kory.”
A shiver went up her spine at the word “permanently.”
“See, no one messes with my family. You understand?”
“I do.” Riley nodded and leaned into Burt.
“Good. Because now that family has extended to you. Think of me as a guardian angel. You ever need anything, you come find me.”
