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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:47:57 GMT
by onlydavb (November 22 2014)
The Man-Catcher Chapter 1 Captain Joe Alloy of the Las Vegas Police Department was sitting at his desk being going through this week’s missing person’s files. After he gathered them together he called the desk sergeant on the phone. “Sam” (Short for Samantha), “get O’Reilly in here; I’ve just put together this week’s files and I want him to take over to the Pharaoh’s Pyramid” Three minute later officer Thomas O’Reilly entered Captain Alloy’s office. O’Reilly was on desk duty due to his being injured permanently stopping a robbery attempt at a major casino. The officer had a lost his left leg because of a shotgun blast the perpetrator was using. Alloy knew O’Reilly, who was a still a young man of 32 distained desk duty but refused to take disability retirement. So Captain Alloy made O’Reilly his messenger knowing that the younger man relished getting out from behind a desk a back on the streets; if only to deliver and retrieve package. “Pretty thick file this week Captain,” said O’Reilly. Alloy nodded in agreement “Yeah it might take Man-Catcher a whole hour to go through them.” “I wouldn’t bet on it” said O’Reilly as he left. O’Reilly left police headquarters and went directly to the Pharaoh’s Pyramid. The Pyramid was one of Vegas’s oldest and one of its most famous casino/hotels. The Private Investigator Greg Mankatchovitch office was on the entire ninth floor. Mankatchovitch, nick-named Man Catcher by the locals had found the missing granddaughter of the Pyramid’s principle own in January and Jerry Manelli gave him the hotel’s ninth floor. Mankatchovitch only used a few suites two for his office and three for his and his son’s living space. The rest of the space were for out of town clients of the Man-Catcher who needed a place to stay; or else people he had found and had wanted to go back to their loved ones. The Man-Catcher started his business only a few months after the alien invasion in 1987. The department checked him out once he started bring in on the run criminal, including some super power types like Multi-Face and Tempus, foes of Superman, Supergirl and Wonder Woman. Then he offered to help the police with missing person cases for a nominal fee of two hundred bucks a week. Captain Alloy tried on a case by case basis in the beginning but now he sent his files to Man-Catcher once a week. O’Reilly went directly to the third floor and straight to the outer office. Mankatchovitch’s receptionist Mrs. Ramirez, a thin pleasant middle-aged woman of oriental woman, smiled at him when he entered. “Hello Tom she said before buzzing Man-Catcher in his office. O’Reilly heard Man-Catcher tell her to let him in. O’Reilly opened the door and entered the large opulent office of Greg Mankatchovitch. The Man-Catcher was sitting behind an overlarge desk by the big bay window. His brow was furrowed as he was going over a spread sheet. He put it down and smiled a O’Reilly “My quarterly taxes are due and my accountant sent me these to look over. The figures are giving me a headache. There’s fresh coffee in the kitchen’ he said as he stretched out his hand for the files O’Reilly was holding. “Thanks said O’Reilly said as he watched the man-Catcher do his thing. It was some kind of superpower. Man-Catcher opened each file and looked at the missing persons’ s attached photograph and had a general idea where the person was within a five minutes. Within the hour he had them in separate piles and called over O’Reilly. “These seven are in town, I wrote down their new addresses. These thirteen are also in town but they’re on the streets. “I wrote down which section of town so Alloy can pass it on to the social workers. This twenty eight are still in the state. I wrote down the town they’re in. This fifteen are out of state, again I wrote down where.” Man-Catcher then frowned as he said “Those three are dead and buried in the desert eighteen miles out of town. I don’t know the particulars Tom; I just know where they are. I’ll go back with to headquarters with you so I can take the homicide detectives and crime lab boys there.” He then wet his lips before adding “and these six young girls are in Mexico, just like the six that disappeared two weeks ago.” “O’Reilly didn’t know how the Man-Catcher knew where these missing people were he jus knew that the Man-Catcher was right. He always was. |
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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:48:23 GMT
Chapter 2
Dr. Mario Marrow was sweating profusely as he investigated the body drop that Greg Mankatchovitch had brought them to, it was hard work and the fact that the drop was in the middle of the desert made it harder. Mankatchovitch was an enigma to the forensics scientist. Hos he was able to take him exactly where missing dead people were was a mystery to him. Scientifically it made no sense, but then again neither did the existence of the Martian Manhunter, who he knew from when was an intern in Colorado. The private eye bought the police here and now waited for them to do their work. Dr Marrow knew Mankatchovitch would be unable to tell them anything about how these men died or even how they were dumped out here. He could only bring them to the graves. Mario was waiting too but only until the coroner was finished, then his team would go to work. Mankatchovitch would no doubt hitch a ride in one of the ambulances that were waiting.
Several hours later the Coroner brought Mankatchovitch to the morgue. He thanked them for the ride and asked to use the phone so he could call a cab to bring him home. He was dialing when Officer O’Reilly walked into the coroner’s office and asked the Private detective to come back to the police headquarters with him.
“Sure, what’s up?” he asked O’Reilly.
“I don’t know. Captain Alloy wants to see you ASAP and you should know police captains don’t tell police officers why they do anything” replied O’Reilly.
“Yeah I was in the army, same thing with officers and enlisted.” said Mankatchovitch.
They passed the short ride to police headquarters talking about UNLV’s chance in the upcoming NCAA Basketball Tournament. O’Reilly let Mankatchovitch out at the front entrance. He went to the front desk and received a visitor’s pass before heading over to Alloy’s office.
There were two other men in the office with Alloy when Mankatchovitch opened the door. One was Undersheriff Jeremy Mansfield an overweight balding man whose remain hair was snow white. He didn’t like Mankatchovitch or idea of using the private investigator as a consultant. He also had been on the force a long, long time from back in the days when Vegas was a city ostensibly controlled by the mob. Mankatchovitch was certain Mansfield was dirty cop who covered his tracks really well.
So did the white haired federal agent who was also in the room. He was an old friend of Greg Mankatchovitch. The man stood up and gave Greg a big smile and a warm handshake. “Good to see you Greg.”
“You too King; what brings you to Vegas?” replied Greg.
“Those missing girls you say are in Mexico. I called the FBI just after you left here” Captain Alloy said.
King Faraday said “I’ve heard about your work here in Vegas so I arranged with the FBI to bring me in if they had any missing persons or kidnapping cases in Vegas.”
“Wait a minute!” exclaimed Undersheriff Mansfield. “If you’re not a FBI agent you got no business in this!”
Faraday gave the Undersheriff a hard stare, the kind where weaker men have to look away from. “I work for the US Government and I have full jurisdiction both in and out of country Mansfield. Since these girls are now out of the country it is no longer any of your business. I’m here as a courtesy to your department. I could have just as easily gone directly to Greg’s office.”
The undersheriff quietly looked away and sat down.
“Captain Alloy’s briefed me on the situation Greg. “I’d like to take you across the border so we can find these girls” said Faraday.
“Be glad to King, but I have to call home first and let my boy’s nanny know I’ll be out of town tonight. Jim can I use your phone.”
Alloy said “Sure and handed Mankatchovitch his phone. “Hello. Naomi something’s come up. I’ll be out of town for one maybe two days. Have Daisy cancel my appointments but make sure she reschedules my appointment with the accountant for Monday. I absolutely need to see Bertha before Tuesday… Yes, I still have to go out of town Tuesday morning. Give my love to Joey…Yes I know he’ll be angry at me for not being home when he gets out of school but it can’t be helped. I’ll make it up to him this weekend.” Greg hung up the phone saying to the others “It’s a bitch being a single parent.
Mansfield gave the private detective a snide smile as he said “your wife must been a real winner if the judge gave you custody Man-Catcher.”
Mankatchovitch clenched his fist at Mansfield’s comment before saying “My wife is dead.”
“Sorry” said Alloy as he tried to ease the sudden sharp tension in the room.
King Faraday put his hand on Greg’s shoulder and said “Joan was a good woman Greg. Let’s get out of here.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:48:36 GMT
Chapter 3
Greg Mankatchovitch and King Faraday took a US military jet for the quick hour flight to port city of La Paz Mexico where the missing girls were being held. The two were quiet until shortly after takeoff; when no one else was within earshot. “Greg, what’s the story? The last I heard you were discharged with full medical disability. You were a quadriplegic” asked King.
Greg was quiet for a moment before audibly exhaling. “Well King you know what a disaster that last mission was. Five of us went into that alien spacecraft during the Alien Invasion and only two of us came out alive. Jonesy carried me out even with third degree burns all over his left side...”
“And Jonesy died three days later” sad King quietly as he saw the pain on his friend’s face.
“I was given the best treatment the government could give; I should have died like the rest but instead I was a quadriplegic. Which is in its own way worse than death” said Greg. “Anyway I was discharged into the care of my parents. You know who my step father was.”
“Yes, Yosef Mankatchovitch, a Russian scientist who defect to the US back in the early sixties. Left his wife and kids behind. The Soviets used it as propaganda against his defection. It was a real public mess, but the bottom line was he was a genius and it was a coup for us” said King.
“You ought to know, you’re the man who brought him over the Berlin Wall” said Greg with a sad smile.
“What you do you know about my mother? Greg asked.
“Not much, just which she was in show business until she married Yosef” replied King.
“Yeah, she did all kinds of acts, backup singer for all sorts of bands, pop, rhythm and Blues country. She was a dancer as well and very early in her career she was the assistant to a stage magician who had real magical powers” said Greg.
“Greg, you’re not serious” said a scoffing King.
“I am, she told me once that supposed magic using woman in the Justice League costume looked just like the magician she worked for wore. She said their names were similar too.”
“That doesn’t prove anything” said King who was a little less skeptical now.
“I know” said Greg. “I don’t remember a lot about what happened from the time on that alien ship until I woke up with the ability to walk again. But I do remember being at my parents’ house with my son Joey. They were raising him because my kid sister Rosie is still in college back east.
I also know that she took Joey into Vegas when she had her spring break last year because my parents told her they were going to be too busy to look after him and me. Rosie told me that later, when she got back.” Greg didn’t add the fact that was at his parents’ funeral and that it was the last time he ever talked to his sister.
“But what I do remember King is being brought into my step- father’s laboratory and my mother saying that they were going to make it so I could walk again through a combination of science and magic.”
After that my step father gave me some drugs and I fell unconscious. When I awoke there the place was on fire. My parents’ bodies were lying beside my gurney on the floor. I thought I was a dead man too but I found that I could move my arms. I sat up and then stood. That was I inhaled some of the smoke and started to cough. I picked up my parents’ bodies and brought them out even as their house was falling down around me.”
King had an increasingly incredulous look as Greg recounted his tale. “That’s quite a tale Greg. But you couldn’t move for months, your muscles must have atrophied. There’s no way you should have been able to get yourself out of the fire, let alone your parent’s corpses.”
“I know, I also shouldn’t be able to know where people are just by thinking about them either, but I was in even better shape physically than before I entered that alien ship.”
Just then one of the airmen came in and told his VIP passengers that they were going into final descent.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:48:55 GMT
Chapter 4
The Mexican police were waiting for them when they landed. After brief introductions they immediately went to the port. Greg led them directly to the container. Suddenly a rush of automatic gunfire sprayed at them. They all ducked out of the way. Greg was unarmed but he told everyone exactly where the two gunmen. The Mexican police King Faraday were then able to coordinate a plan of action that took out the pair of criminals. King told the unarmed civilian Greg Mankatchovitch to run back to the car when they started implementing the counter-attack.
Greg nodded in agreement and left the scene. He was on the way back to the cars when the sniper on the nearby rooftop of a multileveled parking garage had his prey, the American bounty hunter in his sights. The rifleman fired the once he had the target head in his crosshairs. He knew that man was dead and immediately fled the scene.
To Greg the bullet felt like someone flicked their finger between the eyes. “Ouch” he exclaimed. He knew what had happened and where the gunman was. He quickly glanced around, saw the smashed bullet, He picked it up as he started running to the garage.
He frowned when he realized that the gunman was too far away for him to catch on foot. “Damn he swore. Greg concentrated on who ever fired the bullet in his hand. He saw the man clearly and knew he was quickly walking down the stairs of the parking garage.
Greg looked around to see if anyone could see him. He was very pleased to see no one was in eyeshot. He then put out his right arm and concentrated. A metal cylindrical rod in the length and curvature of human spine of a man of his height appeared in his outstretched hand. He flicked the wrist and the rod straightened. He took the rod in both hands and flew to the roof of the parking garage.
Greg had no idea where the gunman was the second his caused the rod to appear. He quickly went to the roof and landed. Holding the rod in his left hand he again flicked his wrist and the rod once again resembled a human spine before dis appearing in a flash of light. Instantly Greg knew the gunman was two floors below him. Greg was on the fifth floor.
Greg was smiling now as he once again brought the rod out to quickly fly to the ground. The rod disappeared once he landed and he entered the garage. The gunman was getting into his car. Greg raced to where the man was. The sniper was turning on the ignition, oblivious to Greg’s presence until a fist smashed through the driver’s window.
Greg dragged the man out of his car through the newly created broken window before throwing him five feet into the air with eight feet of distance. The would-be killer broke his arm on impact. Greg reached in and took out the man’s gun case before walking over to the moaning man. Greg smiled when he saw the man’s face. He was wanted in the United States and Mexico and had substantial rewards for information leading to his arrest in both counties.
The man man’s eyes went wide when he saw Greg. “You’re a dead man I shot you right between the eyes.”
Speaking in Spanish Greg said “no actually you missed” before he asked the groaning man who hired him.
The hit man said “I’ll tell you nothing” before spitting in Greg’s face.
“Have it your way said Greg as he grabbed the man’s broken arm and started dragging him back to the police. He hadn’t walked three steps when the man told him that it was an open hit put out by the Falcone Mob in Las Vegas. Greg then punched the gunman, knocking him unconscious. He let go of the arm and grabbed the man’s belt, picked him up and brought the sniper and his rifle case to the Mexican police.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:49:48 GMT
Chapter 5
The Mexican authorities were very glad to have the hit man Manuel Ortiz in their possession. Greg filed the proper forms to get the money. He also gave the senior officer a thousand dollars to expedite his payment of the Mexican reward of ten thousand dollars. He knew King would make certain he received the American reward of an additional twenty-five thousand dollars.
On the flight back King brought up the real reason he wanted to see Greg. “I want you to reenlist and come to work for us again.” He said.
Greg laughed at the suggestion saying “I’m afraid the government doesn’t pay enough.”
King was angry “What do you mean by that? The Las Vegas Police department only gives you a hundred dollars a week and you solve all their missing persons’ cases.”
“No, I tell them where the missing people are. Besides it’s free publicity and my business. Bail bondsmen from all over the southwest have me on their speed dial. I make a good deal of money King, more than I ever could by working for you” said the bounty hunter.
“When did you get so mercenary?” asked an angry King Faraday.
“When I heard about the pitiful amount the government was paying the widows of my men” said Greg.
King Faraday sat back a moment as he remembered the phone conversation Greg had with his nanny. King remembered the names mentioned. Naomi, Daisy, and Bertha were Naomi Flanders, Daisy Ramirez, and Bertha Bonds, the widows of the men on Greg’s team.
“I take it then that the real reason you have the entire third floor of the Pharaoh’s Pyramid is so the families of your team have a decent place to stay” said King.
“Guilty as charged King; Bertha’s two boys are in junior high school. Daisy’s girl is in kindergarten and Naomi’s brood runs the gambit. It just a temporary situation until I can find someplace to settle each family Funny thing is every time I find a place I think would be ideal for them they find something wrong with the place.”
“So what are you doing Greg, playing home provider for these families?” asked King.
“Yes, I owe it to them and their husbands. They took care of me and Joey when Joan died.”
King merely nodded, he knew survivors guilt when he saw it. There was no way King could get Greg back in to work for the service to his country. Considering his losses King reflected that his friend had given enough. “We could still use your services Greg.”
Greg reflected on King’s comment or a few minutes before answering. “This is what I’ll do King. I’ll tell you where people are provided there’s no reward for their capture or they haven’t skipped bail for a modest retainer of ten thousand dollars a week.”
“That’s ridiculous, we wouldn’t need your services every week” countered King.
“How about a thousand a week for retainer purposes as well as for anytime the Defense Department wants my help with MIA’s” bargained Greg.
King smiled and said “that’s more reasonable.”
“But if the fellow is alive and there’s no reward of bounty on him the price is ten grand a pop” said Greg.
Grudgingly King said he would have to check with Washington. King then changed the subject by asking how Greg first learned about his powers.
Greg sat back and said it was at my parents’ gravesite. “I wondered if Yosef’s biological children would want to know if the father was dead. Suddenly I knew exactly where they were as well as Yosef’s ex-wife. She was dead but his boys were both in Moscow. I sent them a letter later that week.”
King nodded and they stayed silent for a time before King asked did you use that power of yours to find out where your own biological father was.
“Yeah, he was country and western singer who made it big after I was born. Ma once told me I was named after him. I thought about going to see him but he’s dead too.”
“Why didn’t you demand your share of the inheritance if you’re so damn greedy these days?” asked King.
Greg gave King a long hard stare before saying “I thought about it. But ma always said that my biological father was a good man and that she never told him because he would have wanted to do the honorable thing and marry her but she didn’t love him. Instead she married Yosef for love not need. She wouldn’t have wanted me to tarnish his family’s memory of him. Though now know she named me Greg after him though just like I named Joey after Yosef Mankatchovitch.”
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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:50:01 GMT
Chapter 6
Greg Returned to Las Vegas late that night. He said goodbye to King Faraday and took a cab back to the Pharaoh’s Pyramid. He went directly to his suite and checked on his sleeping six year old son Joey, who was sleeping soundly. He smiled and didn’t disturb the boy. He knew Naomi was in the adjoining suite and would take care of any of his needs.
Instead Greg went to his own bedroom and changed his clothes. He donned a pair of black cargo boots with a matching black turtleneck sweater. He then reached in to his closet and took out a pair of black combat boots. They were rubber soled, water proof, insulated, and were steel toed, but a thin piece of rubber kept the steel from contact with his skin. He then entered his closet and unlocked an old army foot locker. From there he grabbed an old black WW II army cartridge belt that contained various small pieces of burglary and espionage equipment. Then he put on a full face ski black ski mask which had an unusual feature one. The eye slits had one way mirrors stitched in them. They were reinforced glass but Greg knew he would be in trouble if either one of them broke in a fight, but their ability to his identity was well worth the risk. Lastly he took out pair on army issued infra-red goggles with a strap that went around the head. He put them on his forehead as he didn’t need them now but would later.
He then quietly went to one of the unoccupied suites on the third floor, went to the small refrigerator, and took out some cheap drugged raw steaks. He shut the small refrigerator’s door before going over to the sliding glass doors by the balcony. He opened the sliding glass doors and then closed the curtains. He then stepped back in the room and brought his metal rod out from inside his body in a flash of light. After it was once again a straight metal rod he flew out into the Nevada sky high above the lights of Las Vegas.
Greg hovered over the mansion of Alberto Falcone, the current head of the Falcone Family in Las Vegas. The Falcone’s were fairly recent transplanted mobsters, having left Gotham City within two years of the Batman’s first appearance. They quickly and quietly muscled in a few of the smaller legitimate casinos in Las Vegas and now were trying to become minority owners of some major ones. It was never proven but Greg and the police believed that the Falcone’s were behind the kidnapping of the Principal owner of the Pharaoh’s Pyramid, Jerry Manelli’s daughter.
Now they put a hit on Greg; so Greg decided to retaliate in a way that no one would suspect it was him. Silently he lowered himself to ten feet over the grounds of the estate. He reached into the belt pocket that held a dog whistle. He lifted the ski mask enough so his lips were bare. He blew into the whistle. He could hear the angry barking dogs as they came running to his call.
He pulled the ski mask back down, put the dog whistle back into place, and took out the drugged steaks. He dropped them on the ground even as he floated back into the night.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:50:15 GMT
Chapter 7
The dogs came to the spot were Greg had left the meat and wolfed it down greedily. Twenty minutes later they were fast asleep. Greg chose this place on the grounds because it was a blind spot in the Falcone’s Mansion’s camera security system and no one would know the dogs were unconscious. The trouble was Falcone had also had two legged security that also roamed the property. One of them saw the four dogs lying on the ground moments after they fell asleep. Greg cursed silently as he saw the man investigate the scene through his infrared goggles. Fortunately the man had not yet used his radio to call the house or the guard shack at the mansion’s main entrance.
Greg swiftly flew down to the ground. He land silently as the sentry was trying to wake the dogs. “Psst” Greg called and the kneeling man caught full in the face with his metal rod. There was soft crunching sound when Greg hit the man. The guard was laid low but his face was smoking where the rod had struck his face. Greg looked at the rod in surprise. He had never hit anyone with it before and was shocked to see the smoke.
He checked the sentry and was relieved when he felt the pulse, but shocked when he saw the ugly scar the rod had left on the man’s face. He briefly thought about abandoning his mission tonight as he rose with the rod in his left hand. The rod disappeared in a flash. Greg headed for the house.
He glanced at his watch, knowing the routine schedule the bored guards had fallen into. He raced quickly to one of the windows. He came into camera range but was not concerned about it because he knew that like his ability to know exactly where people where; he was completely invisible to mechanical sensory devises unless he wished otherwise when the metal rod was inside him. Machines could sense his presence when he used the rod.
He went to the patio. He took out a glass cutter from one of his belt’s pockets. With it he cut open a hole in the glass near the doors’ lock. Deftly, he unlocked the doors, opened them and went inside. He was a quiet as the best ninja in medieval Japan. He took out a small camera when he entered Alberto Falcone’s office. He closed the door behind him as he went through Falcone’s desk, taking quick photos of every paper. He then looked for a wall safe. It took too many minutes, ten, before he found it.
One of the guards opened the door and saw papers strewn all over the office even as another one spotted the dogs and the fallen guard in the yard. In the house Greg slammed the door in the guard’s face as he walked in the office, causing the man to fall backward. Quickly Greg jumped on top of him before flicking out his finger in the man’s face, knocking him unconscious. He carried the man back into the office and shut the door.
Hurriedly Greg went back in to the office even as the lights in the mansion and grounds were lighting up. There was no longer any need for stealth. Greg went directly to the safe and ripped open its door. Quickly he photographed every piece of paper in the safe.
“Time to leave” he said to himself. He opened a crack and could see two big beefy men accompanying Alberto Falcone, who was a thin middle-aged man with short cropped grey hair. A boy of ten and a teenage girl were with them. They were all in their pajamas and bathrobes.
“You two take the kids down to the basement and keep them safe” barked Alberto.
“What about you Al” asked one of the men.
“I’ll wait for the others in the lobby” Falcone responded.
Greg frowned as he watched them leave. The lobby was where the main stairs were and he wanted to get to the roof. “I guess we have to do this the hard way” he whispered as he put the camera back in its pouch. He slowly counted to one hundred to be certain that the Falcone children were in the basement before heading the lobby.
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