Capt. Quinn: A Love Story

By Brad Bumgarner and Dan Morrow

Has Capt. Quinn turned to a life of crime? Will Beth still love him as the evidence mounts?

Evan MacKenzie is an award winning artist who works for Phenomenon, the leader in the comic book industry. Capt. Quinn is Evan’s comic book creation. He and Quinn have worked together for several years and most of Evan’s success can be traced to this partnership. Evan has his hands full with Max Milligan, Phenomenon’s new hotshot artist who’s looking to take Capt. Quinn from Evan.

Capt. Quinn is faced with battling his nemesis, Awesome Johnny, a ruthless and cunning super villain. Add to this Beth Johnson’s awakening feelings for Quinn. Beth is Mayor Johnson’s daughter Quinn saved from a kidnapping plot many years earlier.

Capt. Quinn is realizing he may, or may not, be responsible for several crimes in the city. On top of all this is the fact he argues with Evan quite a bit.

This is the debut novel by Dan Morrow and Brad Bumgarner.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brad Bumgarner
• Release date: Aug 12, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310618253

Brad Bumgarner

Brad Bumgarner is a freelance fiction writer of novels and short stories. Brad is co-owner of Scriveer Publishing Company and a member of the Columbus Creative Cooperative. He has enjoyed writing and creating stories since an early age. He lives in central Ohio with his wife Teresa, his best friend from high school.

Book preview

Prologue

It is a dark and stormy night. A lone shadowy figure stands silhouetted atop the hillside. A flash of lightning reveals the outline to be Savage Raider. The rain flows down his face and long overcoat as he stares down at the city below. In his right hand he holds the detonator. With just one press of the button, all of Capital City’s municipal district will be reduced to ashes and rubble.

Am I interrupting anything? asks Capt. Quinn, standing a mere fifteen feet behind Savage Raider.

I didn’t think you’d show, Savage replies through clinched teeth, turning to face Capt. Quinn.

Are you kidding? I wouldn’t dream of missing this.

What are we waiting for? You win, you get my detonator. I win, and Capital City will have some serious remodeling to do.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Quinn lunges at Savage, burying his shoulder into his abdomen. The detonator flies from his hand and lands harmlessly on the ground. Undaunted, Savage absorbs the blow as the two men hit the ground, water spraying in all directions. Savage allows the momentum to roll him backward, summersaulting over Quinn and landing on his feet.

I thought you’d do better than that. I’m disappointed.

Don’t be, I’m just getting warmed up.

The two men face off before one another, inches separating them. They trade punch after earth-shattering punch, neither man showing any signs of backing down.

Hit me, Quinn, hit me! screams Savage through the pounding rain.

You want me to hit you? All right, take this! Quinn plants a right upper-cut square to Savage’s jaw, picking him off his feet and sending him down hard to the ground.

Savage, momentarily stunned, shakes the cobwebs from his head as he stands up and brushes himself off. Not bad. That’s more like it.

Savage rolls his head around his shoulders, cracking the joints in his neck. He steps forward as he levels his eyes on Quinn. Slowly he raises both his fists just below his armpits. They explode forward into Quinn’s chest, knocking him off his feet to the bottom of the hill.

Now it’s Capt. Quinn who shakes the cobwebs from his head and stands up. I should have seen that coming, he thinks to himself. Nice technique.

Thank you. I’ll show you how to do it, if you’d like, Savage replies walking confidently down the hill toward Quinn.

Capt. Quinn reaches over his shoulder and grabs his cape. As he brings it forward to his side, it raps itself tightly into a whip, dangling from his right hand. He snaps it forward, lashing Savage across the chest. Quinn yanks it back and snaps it out again. This time, Savage deflects it with his forearm and grabs ahold, wrapping it around his wrist. Just as he’s about to pull Quinn toward him, the cape unwraps itself, Quinn pulls it back over his head and onto his shoulders.

Pretty fancy cape you’ve got there, Savage says, Where can I get me one of those?

In your dreams. In your dreams.

Savage continues pressing forward to Quinn. Quinn doesn’t back down and the two are, once again, inches apart. With lightning speed, Savage grabs at Quinn’s throat, only to find air and rain as Quinn dodges to his left. Quinn delivers a devastating right elbow shiver to Savage’s nose, breaking it. Savage’s head snaps back and blood begins to flow from his nostrils.

Savage takes his aggression up a notch, throws a wild round-house right to the side of Quinn’s head only to connect with the rain. Quinn leans back to avoid the telegraphed swing. Quinn counters with a mean left jab to Savage’s jaw. Savage careens wildly off balance and regains it a couple of steps later, but the damage is done. Quinn goes on the offensive and follows the jab with a right fist to the same spot on Savage’s jaw. Savage crumples over and falls to the ground on all fours, his face just inches above a large puddle of water.

Breathing heavy, Savage picks himself up, lunges at Quinn, burying his head into his chest. The two fall to the ground hard, engulfed in a plume of water, knocking the air out of Quinn’s lungs.

Savage stands over Quinn, reaches down and grabs him by the neckline of his costume. He pulls Quinn up so the two are nose to nose, rain and blood dripping from his face onto Quinn.

Big mistake, Savage, Quinn says, I don’t like my costumes getting stretched out of shape.

What’cha gonna do about it?

Quinn grabs Savage’s head with both hands and head butts him, not once, not twice, but three times in rapid succession. Savage lets go and stumbles back, both hands holding his forehead. Quinn jumps up and in one motion grabs his cape, leaps over Savage as his cape coils itself into a rope and lands behind Savage. Quinn slings the rope over Savage’s head and pulls it back around his throat. Savage desperately clutches at it but to no avail. Everything turns black as he passes out.

Capt. Quinn releases his hold and throws the cape back onto his shoulders, it unfurls as it goes. Quinn picks up Savage and the detonator and flies off to police headquarters. Savage Raider won’t be causing anybody any problems for a long time.

On his way home from headquarters, Capt. Quinn looks up and says, How was that?

1

The day begins just like any other. It’s 6:28 a.m. Two minutes before the alarm clock is to go off. Evan always wakes up just before the alarm. He turns it off and lays there waiting for 6:30. Why don't I just get out of bed? I'm just so freaking tired, though, he thinks to himself. I know it's almost 6:30. Why don't I just get up? Only now it’s a race, a struggle, a struggle to stay awake until 6:30. Evan’s eyelids are heavy. His eyes slowly close and then spring open. I’m awake. I’m awake. That familiar refrain can be heard every morning. Finally 6:30 rolls around. It only took what seemed like an hour for those two minutes to finally tick off.

Once he’s out of bed the day begins with a trip to the bathroom. After visiting the toilet Evan heads to the sink and looks at himself in the mirror. He’s middle-aged, average height and weight. He has graying hair and well groomed, graying beard and mustache. He's fairly average in every way, in fact, just the way he likes it. He has a bit of a bulge around the waist but nothing spectacular. He refers to it as his grain alcohol storage system. He has a pale complexion, as if he sees little sun.

He brushes his teeth, shaves and takes a shower. Afterwards, he gets dressed and heads to the front door to get the newspaper. In the kitchen, he fixes a bowl of cereal and sits down at the table to eat breakfast and read the paper. He’s not even sure why he reads it. His dad always read the paper so he figures it’s what he’s supposed to do in the morning. He refuses to watch the evening news because it’s nothing but bad news. Reading the paper isn’t much better, but at least if he doesn’t like the article he’s reading he can skip to the next one. It doesn’t take long to get through the paper.

After finishing breakfast and the newspaper, Evan packs lunch and heads out the door. He hops in his car and heads to work. It’s a nondescript sedan almost as old as he is that has as much rust on it as it has paint. He doesn’t care, it only has to get him to and from work. It’s a short commute and doesn’t take him long. Other drivers dart from one lane to another, trying to get where they are going as fast as possible. Evan, however, picks a lane and stays there. He always laughs when he pulls up next to a darter, as he calls them, at the next traffic light. Sometimes he even points at them and laughs. Darting in and out of traffic did you a lot of good didn’t it? he thinks with a certain smug self-satisfaction.

6:30 a.m. comes earlier each day. Mary Braun wishes the alarm would stop ringing with no help from her. She groggily reaches over and hits the snooze button one more time. One more day to drag herself from her warm bed and find the motivation to impart knowledge to a group of second graders. That is, after she makes sure her own three children are ready for school. Why she and her ex-husband decided to have three isn’t something she often wondered about, but she’s made it work as best she can. She juggles the demands of being a teacher and making sure she attends as many school plays and PTA meetings for her own kids as she can. She sits up slowly, stretches out her arms, yawns and pulls the covers off her legs. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she finds the comfort of her warm slippers. She makes sure they’re snug to her toes and stands. Walking toward the bedroom door, she nearly trips over her black Lab, King. She rights herself enough to step over him as he looks up at her with that ‘what are you doing’ stare and she heads out the door.

Thankfully, she doesn’t have to worry about getting her children up for school today. They’re at their dad’s house this week. Even the thought of him now still brings a dull ache of anger to her stomach. She thought they would love each other forever. But what he had done to her was far too painful to forgive. She reminds herself she made the right choice in divorcing him.

She makes her way to the kitchen and turns on the coffee maker. She grabs the remote to the small television on the counter and turns it on to see the morning news. Mary turns to the refrigerator to get the milk, pours it into a bowl with cereal, takes a spoon from the drawer and takes a bite, watching a news story about the latest shooting. She prays that won’t ever happen at her school.

After breakfast, it’s to the bathroom for a shower. After drying off, she gets dressed, puts on her makeup and brushes her teeth. She checks the mirror one last time to ensure her makeup is just right, then heads out the door to work.

Evan arrives at the office and takes a seat at his desk. It’s a large art desk, tilted at a steep angle making it easier for him to work. An articulated lamp with two long legs sits attached at the top of the desk, a magnifying glass built into the dome. Stacks of plain white paper, push pins and paper clips sit in little cups. Markers and bottles of ink in various colors litter the other side of the desk. In a jar sit quills and nibs of various sizes, a small dish of water and a drip cloth used for cleaning the nibs. Tacked to the wall next to the desk are pages of reference drawings, spilling over onto the cabinet next to the wall. An iPod and half-empty cup sit on the filing cabinet, a small refrigerator sits nearby. Almost every surface near the desk is covered in sheets of paper with notes scribbled on them. The trash can at Evan’s feet is overflowing with crumpled papers, potato chip bags, candy wrappers and soda cans. Evan sighs, does the cleaning lady really hate me that much? I know I told her I'd try harder to keep my area cleaner, but does she have to do this to prove a point? She once told Evan she’d rather clean the bathrooms than his office.

Evan quickly gathers up the trash that has fallen out of the trash can, stuffs it back in, compressing it down as best he can. He opens the refrigerator, tosses in his lunch, grabs a can of Coke and pops the top. He takes a long swig and leans back in his chair, reveling in the slow, cold burn as it travels down his throat. It’s 7:30 a.m. and he can’t think of a better way to start work. He looks over at the picture hung on his wall of a girl about nineteen years of age. She has shoulder length light brown hair and big beautiful hazel eyes. She’s wearing a pair of men’s cowboy boots, a black windbreaker jacket and a Greek Captain’s hat, her hands in the coat pockets. A beautiful smile graces her lovely face. Her name is Mary. The boots, jacket and hat she wears are Evan’s. He smiles at the thought of his high school days.

Evan was madly in love with Mary from the day they first met. She was his best friend and they could talk about absolutely anything. Anything except how much in love with her he was. They never dated, but went to Senior Prom together as friends. It was still the happiest day of his life.

They spent a lot of time together, hanging out with friends, going to football games, to the movies, talking on the phone and sitting together at lunch, but always as friends. There were a few other people they would sit with. They would talk about their futures, their hopes and dreams, what jobs they would have and where they would live when they graduated. But Evan never could quite figure out what he wanted to be when he grew up. All he knew was he wanted to be with Mary. She wanted to get married, have a family and be a mom. Evan—he never really did grow up.

He thought about her all the time, looking for excuses to call her and say Hi. She was everything he wanted in a girl—she was smart, pretty, funny and seemed to like him. He would dream about her, imagine a future together, their children and where they would live. He wanted a big house, with a large back yard for the kids to play in. He’d have a good job—he didn’t know what that job would be, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was their lives together would be wonderful.

Evan’s problem was he thought so much of Mary, she was so special to him that he had placed her on a pedestal so high that she was out of his reach. She was much too special to want to be with him. After all, she could be with any guy in high school, why would she want to be with him? At least that’s what he thought. So he never told her how he felt, and when he did think of telling her, it was too late.

A few years after graduating high school, Mary got married, but not to Evan. He was devastated. He was happy for Mary, of course, but just wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere. Everywhere he looked, all his friends were either getting married or in relationships and there he was—alone. He wasn’t even a blip on anybody’s radar.

Without Mary, Evan had no focus. He couldn’t figure out what he wanted. He was looking for something but he didn’t know what or that he was even looking for something. He felt empty inside and wanted to fill that emptiness. He was lost so he started traveling around the country. He headed out west to go skiing. He stayed out there for a couple years, took a few art classes but never really focused well. He’d settle down, from time to time, but never for long—a couple years here, a couple years there. It was the same with relationships. They never lasted long. Once the newness wore off, the woman just wasn’t Mary and he’d move on. He didn’t even realize that was what he was doing.

Eventually Evan ended up back home. It took nearly twenty years to put Mary behind him. He was finally ready to move on with his life. He even called her up one day just to say hi. It was great talking to her again. It was nice to be able to talk to her and think about her again without all the pain he’d felt for years. He was finally able to settle down and get on with life. Looking back now, he realized just how magical high school was. Mr. Hudson shatters the moment as he walks into the office.

It’s 7:30 a.m. Mary is sitting at her desk anticipating the madness of the coming day. She teaches 2nd grade at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. She loves her kids and she enjoys the madness. She is shaping their lives, filling their heads with the knowledge they will need to get through life. She knows she has one of the noblest jobs a person can have and is grateful to be doing it. But as much as she loves it, there are times when it gets to be too much, even for her.

She knows if she doesn’t get control of the class early it will be a very long day. The kids have so much energy, especially at the beginning of the day, and even with their little lungs and small mouths they can make a lot of noise. Mary uses the carrot and stick approach. If the children come in, take their seats and listen quietly to her lesson she will let them play five minutes longer than the other classes at recess. She always emphases the five minutes so that it sounds like a long time. They are still young enough to have no real concept of time. If the children don’t sit down and quietly listen they start their day with a nap. No one is allowed to say anything or get up from their desks. She can’t think of anything worse for a child full of energy than to have to sit quietly with their heads on their desks first thing in the morning.

Mary is a beautiful woman who looks ten years younger than her age. She is about 5’ 4" tall. She has shoulder length light brown hair, with a touch of red in it. It is straight with only a slight wave. She has eyes that are full of life and a smile that lights up even the darkest rooms. She has a slender build and can still fit into some of the clothes she wore in high school.

At 8:00 a.m. the children come bounding in, loud and full of energy. They run to their seats amid giggles, laughs and shrieks. As they take their seats, Mary stands up, clears her throat and says, Good morning class, in a loud but firm and friendly voice.

Good morning, Ms. Braun, the children all say in loud, enthusiastic unison. Braun is Mary’s married name. She kept it after the end of a miserable marriage. It was more work to change it back to her maiden name than it was worth. The only good things that came out of that marriage were her three children.

Does anybody remember the spelling words for this week? Mary asks the class.

It’s a typically busy morning at C. Palmer Advertising. Ashley Morgan is navigating her way through the aisles of the main floor of the agency. She has coffee in one hand and an over abundance of paperwork in the other. As she walks, her dark-rimmed glasses slip down her nose. As she reaches to push them back in place, her paperwork falls to the floor. Typical, she thinks, sighs deeply and stoops down to pick them up. Also typical is the lack of anyone stopping to help, with everyone working to get this year’s spring campaign up and running. It’s the busy season and no one can afford to be idle in their work or their daily habits.

Her papers gathered back in hand, Ashley walks on to her office. It’s days like this she allows herself to wonder why she chose advertising as her profession. She certainly doesn’t have the personality for it. It’s a business that demands a cut throat attitude and Ashley’s never let that killer instinct