LIGHT AND SHADOW
CHAPTER I. WHAT EVIL LURKS
(Disclaimer: Cranston, Lane, Scott, and their respective supporting casts are sadly, not my property. I'm creatively molesting them for my own sinister purposes.)
NEW YORK CITY
"Come on, ya bum!"
Big Mickey Flynn shook his head angrily as he ran ahead of his partner, Joey Doyle. In the alley behind them was the bloody body of the patrolman who'd tried to slow them down. The patrolman had caught them coming out the back door of Tony's Liquor with a few bags they hadn't gone in with. Several gunshots later, here they were.
"Mickey, wait up!"
Mickey ducked around a corner to catch his breath, and was momentarily joined by his partner.
"Why'd ya have to do that, Mickey?"
"What was I supposed to do, Joe? Kindly ask him to let us go? Just forget it, Joe. It's done, now."
"Mickey Flynn."
Mickey and Joey spun around, looking for the source of the voice.
"Who's there?!"
"Mickey Flynn."
"Show yerself!"
"You're nothing but a thug, Mickey. Nothing but a small time piece of trash. Did you think you'd get away with it?"
"What do you want?"
"You're going to jail, Mickey. For a very long time." The voice laughed maniacally, and lightning cracked across the sky, momentarily illuminating the alley, and Mickey's heart stopped I his chest as he saw, spread across the wall in front of him, a billowing shape.
"The Shadow!" Joey shouted, as he began to run. He hadn't gotten far when an invisible arm slapped hard across his face, sending him sprawling to the ground.
"What did you think was going to happen, Mickey? Did you think that you'd walk away clean?"
A powerful pair of arms lifted the large man off his feet, and Mickey shivered at the voice and the feel of the breath on his face.
"Did you think I wouldn't know?"
Mickey was hurled across the alley and hit the brick wall with a dull thud.
"No more! I'll turn myself in!"
"Before I let you turn yourself in, Mickey, you're going to tell me why all of these small timers are working so hard lately. And if you don't." Mickey felt himself being lifted off the ground again.
"We heard that someone was offering work, but there was a buy in, I dunno no more than that, I swear!"
"You'd better not be lying to me, Mickey. If you are, I'll know. And I'll be back."
Mickey dropped to the ground and grabbed up Joey as he ran off, fleeing the almost crazed laughter that echoed through the alley.
******
"What'd you learn, Lamont?"
"Not enough, Margo."
Lamont Cranston, the Shadow, tossed his overcoat across the back of the sofa and dropped into one of the easy chairs, the frustration that he felt highly evident on his face.
"Some big job is going down, big enough that anyone who wants to work it has to buy a stake in it, but I knew that much before I went out tonight."
"What about that policeman?"
"Yes. The officer. please see to it that his family is taken care of. Offer his son a job as a clerk at my downtown office. After school, that is."
"That's a wonderful thing to do, Lamont."
"Not so wonderful as getting there soon enough to stop those two before they shot him."
You can't be everywhere, Lamont."
"But I should be. Things like this happen too often. I fear that something is happening that will be beyond my ability to handle."
"What do you mean?"
"Something tells me that there is more to this recent crime wave than restlessness in the criminal element. Something is driving this, and I must discover what."
CHAPTER I. WHAT EVIL LURKS
(Disclaimer: Cranston, Lane, Scott, and their respective supporting casts are sadly, not my property. I'm creatively molesting them for my own sinister purposes.)
NEW YORK CITY
"Come on, ya bum!"
Big Mickey Flynn shook his head angrily as he ran ahead of his partner, Joey Doyle. In the alley behind them was the bloody body of the patrolman who'd tried to slow them down. The patrolman had caught them coming out the back door of Tony's Liquor with a few bags they hadn't gone in with. Several gunshots later, here they were.
"Mickey, wait up!"
Mickey ducked around a corner to catch his breath, and was momentarily joined by his partner.
"Why'd ya have to do that, Mickey?"
"What was I supposed to do, Joe? Kindly ask him to let us go? Just forget it, Joe. It's done, now."
"Mickey Flynn."
Mickey and Joey spun around, looking for the source of the voice.
"Who's there?!"
"Mickey Flynn."
"Show yerself!"
"You're nothing but a thug, Mickey. Nothing but a small time piece of trash. Did you think you'd get away with it?"
"What do you want?"
"You're going to jail, Mickey. For a very long time." The voice laughed maniacally, and lightning cracked across the sky, momentarily illuminating the alley, and Mickey's heart stopped I his chest as he saw, spread across the wall in front of him, a billowing shape.
"The Shadow!" Joey shouted, as he began to run. He hadn't gotten far when an invisible arm slapped hard across his face, sending him sprawling to the ground.
"What did you think was going to happen, Mickey? Did you think that you'd walk away clean?"
A powerful pair of arms lifted the large man off his feet, and Mickey shivered at the voice and the feel of the breath on his face.
"Did you think I wouldn't know?"
Mickey was hurled across the alley and hit the brick wall with a dull thud.
"No more! I'll turn myself in!"
"Before I let you turn yourself in, Mickey, you're going to tell me why all of these small timers are working so hard lately. And if you don't." Mickey felt himself being lifted off the ground again.
"We heard that someone was offering work, but there was a buy in, I dunno no more than that, I swear!"
"You'd better not be lying to me, Mickey. If you are, I'll know. And I'll be back."
Mickey dropped to the ground and grabbed up Joey as he ran off, fleeing the almost crazed laughter that echoed through the alley.
******
"What'd you learn, Lamont?"
"Not enough, Margo."
Lamont Cranston, the Shadow, tossed his overcoat across the back of the sofa and dropped into one of the easy chairs, the frustration that he felt highly evident on his face.
"Some big job is going down, big enough that anyone who wants to work it has to buy a stake in it, but I knew that much before I went out tonight."
"What about that policeman?"
"Yes. The officer. please see to it that his family is taken care of. Offer his son a job as a clerk at my downtown office. After school, that is."
"That's a wonderful thing to do, Lamont."
"Not so wonderful as getting there soon enough to stop those two before they shot him."
You can't be everywhere, Lamont."
"But I should be. Things like this happen too often. I fear that something is happening that will be beyond my ability to handle."
"What do you mean?"
"Something tells me that there is more to this recent crime wave than restlessness in the criminal element. Something is driving this, and I must discover what."