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The shoppers had mostly vanished, but there were plenty of people wandering the Miracle Mile. Once I’d crossed over the Chicago River, the crowds got more and more intense. At Madison Street, between Michigan Avenue and Wabash, the side street was jammed with people watching a show on a truck bed. Two men garbed as superheroes leaped and cavorted, giving a good pretense of having a serious duel with a third man holding a futuristic-looking weapon. Probably an altered water gun, since realistic-looking weapons were a no-no at fan events. The crowd cheered whenever one of them rolled or pulled off a fancy maneuver.
Down the block, another truck featured a live band, and girl singers dancing in unison in sequined costumes. The rocking music blared from the giant amps next to them. The crowd swayed and waved their arms above their heads to the music.
Street party. All anyone needed to do to create chaos was throw a tear gas bomb. A few firecrackers wouldn’t be enough to annoy this noisy crowd. In fact, I was sure I heard some firecrackers being set off east of here, in Grant Park. No matter how illegal they were, someone always got hold of them. I still had the cherry bomb in my evening bag.
The crowd was having a blast. Comic book characters in full regalia roamed, both actors hired for the occasion or mere fans whose talent and enthusiasm had pushed them to do the hard work of making accurate costumes. Plus, there were many, many cosplayers here tonight. Whatever cosplay event had taken place at the convention center, a stream of them were now on the streets, coming from that direction.
Each of the truck beds had huge lights as well as amps, so the visibility level on the street was excellent. Chicago’s finest were also out in force, on foot. Some of Roland’s security staff mingled with the throngs, using Segways. Chi-town had taken to the machines and multiple companies offered Segway tours. I’d done one when I first moved here, and ended up with many aches and pains, but it was fun.
I stifled a yawn. It had been a long day. I hadn’t been required to use my superpowered jewel tonight, which was fine with me. I could go back to the hotel, lock myself in the second bedroom, and crash.
Then again, as I heard angry yells from nearby, maybe not. No, the cops were on it. I wasn’t needed. They would restore order.
The screech of a car and sudden screams sent me running toward the center of the trouble. A man in a mask was behind the wheel of a car, trying to run people down. They screamed as they tried to evade him. He did it deliberately, no question. I kicked off my heels and jumped up on a bench to get a better view of what was going down. The police couldn’t very well pull their guns and shoot him in this crowd. In fact, the cops were hampered by the stampede of people trying to avoid the car. They ran in a wave that pushed the cops back. I grabbed my jewel and pointed at the car.
Yeow, the jewel got hot fast. I didn’t have my superheroine gloves on tonight. The car stopped. The man inside banged the steering wheel and wrenched it, but the jewel kept the car motionless. He gave up, and threw open the door. Then he leapt out and took off into the crowd.
By the time the police got to the car, the man was gone. I saw one cop run after him, but the crazy guy could easily remove his mask and shirt and be unrecognizable in a few seconds.
I couldn’t hold the jewel anymore. As I dropped it, the car began to move again. A quick-witted policewoman jumped into the vehicle and jammed on the brakes.
Crisis over. Now it was my turn to melt into the crowd and disappear. The police were looking in the direction the perpetrator had fled, not at me, I hoped. I jumped off the bench and put my shoes back on. My hotel was only half a block away. Once inside, I walked in at a sedate pace to the elevator bank.
The suite was quiet and dark. I tiptoed into the second bedroom, and locked the door.
“Thought you’d hide in here,” Eric’s voice came out of the darkness.