The Backup Who Cried Wolf Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek of the latest installment of The Backup Superhero Series, The Backup Who Cried Wolf. I hope you enjoy a look at the first chapter!

The Backup Who Cried Wolf

Chapter 1: Another Crime, Another Day

Two gunshots rang out from behind the blue door of an 18-wheeler propped open into the street, as a tall man stood behind it using it to shield himself from the line of police lining the street 30 yards down.

The older police officer roughly grabbed the receiver from the dash. “Suspect is estimated to be guarding 20 hostages in the back of the rig. I need more information on when the backup will arrive on the south side. We can’t do anything without risking the hostage from here.”

“Hello,” I greeted, jogging up to the officer. “How can I help?”

The officer sighed when the responder radioed back that help was ten minutes away, and slammed the receiver back into its holder. “Finally, a little bit of help.”

Loud thunks sunk into the squad car in front of us, causing all of us to duck down behind the metal hunk of protection. Several officers surrounding us used their squad car doors as shields as well, one officer diving into the passenger seat next to him.

“One gunman behind the door. An estimated twenty hostages in the rig,” the officer explained.

“Human trafficking?” I asked.

“As of right now, that is unclear,” he said as his phone rang. “Excuse me.”

Assessing my surroundings, I wasn’t able to see any other accomplices.

Something to my right slammed against metal, grabbing my attention. A younger man in a hoodie and baseball cap crouched against a newspaper dispenser. His phone in his hands, filming the scene that was unfolding before us.

That could work.

“Hey,” I called out to him.

His eyes swiveled in my direction, his phone remaining facing forward. “What? I’m not doing anything wrong!”

Waving my hand dismissively, I sighed. “I want your hoodie and your hat.”

“Dude…you can’t mug me. There’s police everywhere!” he said, his panic level rising with each word.

“I’m not mugging you, you idiot! I’m a superhero…hence the spandex suit,” I said, gesturing to my black outfit. “I want your hoodie and your hat to use as a disguise. I’ll give it back to you when I’m done. I need to help those people, kind of my job.”

As what I said slowly sunk in, he lowered his phone and started taking them off.

After snatching them from his grasp, I ran back over to the lead officer I’d previously talked to.

“I’m trying to figure out a plan. We just need a distraction so that someone can circle around the back of him,” the officer muttered.

“One step ahead of you,” I said, holding up the hat and hoodie. “Wearing this will help me scoot around the side without catching his eye. Why don’t you try to talk to him over the loudspeaker?”

With a nod, he gestured for two officers to come over to him while I tugged on my disguise.

“My name is Officer Reed, and I am the lead officer on site today. I just want to talk,” the loudspeaker from the cop car sounded off loudly overhead.

That’s my cue.

Backing up toward the police’s border around the scene, I skirted the edge, trying to blend in with the audience.

“We just want to make sure that everyone makes it home alright today,” Officer Reed continued.

Several shots sounded off, followed by screams from the crowd. I took this as my window and darted between four cars until I was diagonal from the rear of the truck.

“I’m not going down for this! I’m not the only one involved! He has ten more to take my place!” the man yelled. “Don’t even think of comin’ over here.”

“You say you aren’t the only one involved. Maybe we can work something out,” Officer Reed continued.

Now out of sight, I discarded the hoodie and baseball hat on the hood of a nearby car and crouched. Taking a deep breath, I slowly inched towards the back of the truck, keeping my eyes on the man’s feet through the underside of the truck.

When I was nearly ten feet away, the back left door of the truck cracked open, revealing a young girl’s terrified face. Stopping, I raised my hand and mouthed for her to stop.

Nodding, she froze in place, her face as pale as a sheet of paper.

Despite the sounds of the city, there was no telling how long I had before he heard me back here or came back with his own agenda.

Now five feet away from the back doors, I moved around a small grey vehicle and heard the loud crunch of broken glass beneath my feet. Momentarily freezing, my eyes were on the man’s nervously pacing feet beneath the truck. His feet kicked discarded bullets and a now-empty pistol.

It’s now or never, Dwighter.

Out of time, I ran full blast around the corner of the truck and towards the man wielding the rifle. As he raised the rifle to his eye to aim his next shot I launched myself forward, my arms grabbing the middle of his waist, the momentum taking us toward the ground in a tangled heap.

His elbow slammed my head into the hard pavement on the way down. Seeing stars, I shook my head and tried to right myself before the butt of his rifle hit me hard in the middle of my chest.

“Oh, I see now! You were spewin’ lies over there so I would be an easy takedown! Not today!” the man yelled, his crazed eyes scanning the crowd.

Again, he swung his barrel around, ready to make his next shot.

I swung my leg towards him, causing him to stumble over his own feet into the side of the truck, a deep scream erupting from him as he landed on the pavement next to me.

Hopping up onto my feet, I spun around to see the end of his barrel staring me straight in the eye.

“Not fast enough,” the man muttered.

An audible click sounded as he pulled the trigger, but nothing happened.

“What in the hell!?” he yelled, yanking the rifle back and checking the chamber.

Two officers sprinted past me on either side, seizing the weapon and flipping him on his stomach to cuff him.

“You jammed the rifle since you decided to use it as a baseball bat. Serves you right,” I called after him.

A line of nearly twenty people silently walked across the wide city street, dirty and smudged.

“Thanks, Dwighter. Without you here today, there’s no telling what would have happened. One of our officers would have been spotted instantly,” Officer Reed explained. “We thought that our two other regular superheroes would arrive. Usually, Durham and Tickell work this side of the city.”

“Hm, well, I guess it’s a good thing I was over here today. Did any of those people say why they were being transported in the back of an 18-wheeler?” I asked.

“Not yet, but once they feel safe again, I’m sure we’ll get to the root of the problem,” The officer said. “All we know so far is a report came in from Mack and Son’s trucking that one of their drivers hadn’t shown up for a shift. Upon trying to contact him, he answered saying he was quitting and taking the big rig. The business called to report the vehicle stolen. He was seen passing over the freeway bridge four blocks back. Once he saw the lights of the squad car, he started swerving through traffic and someone tumbled onto the road from the back of the truck.”

Just like so many other times in this city, there was always a bigger story behind something like this. The question was, how messy was it going to be before we came out on the other side?

To be continued when it releases Friday, April 29th.

I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek and I hope you'll consider adding this to your bookshelf.