Melanie’s face scrunched up in distaste. “That guy? I thought he did white-collar shit? The occasional protection racket.”

“Homie is his top lieutenant,” Handshake went on to explain. “The Try Hards are basically a kind of cover. They’re also an arm of Cement’s . . . organization. I don’t like using the term, though; it’s too strong. Cement has three or four knee breakers who work for him, but most of his income comes from nonphysical crimes. Blackmail, extortion, a bit of information selling. The kind of thing that the average Hero can’t punch.”

The woman sitting across from Emily shifted and glared harder, but she didn’t say anything to that.

“That’s, um, the man responsible for your . . .” Emily gestured at Handshake.

“That’s probably it, yeah,” he said. “I was snooping into his group. One of Homie’s little pets got a power last week, and Cement seems to have moved a few things to hide someone, possibly another new Mask. He might have clued in that I was snooping on him. Or he just decided to take a bigger slice of the information-selling pie. Or maybe Homie’s too big for his britches. I don’t know.”

“It doesn’t matter, does it,” Melanie said.

“No, not really. Homie has a drive with information on it that I think both of you would rather not get out into the public. And now you know.”

“What . . . what are you doing about it?” Emily asked.

He shrugged his good shoulder. “Well, for one, I’m telling you two. You’re the only Masks in the immediate area who are impacted the most.”

“Dammit,” Melanie growled. After hearing Teddy’s growling, it didn’t sound as scary as Emily would have thought. “Before anything else, give me the lowdown on their powers.”

“Homie’s powers are the stranger of the two. They’re kind of hard to describe and can be rather esoteric. Also, he’s been a Mask for over a year now, and even if he’s Level One, he’s been cultivating his power for a while.”

“I know how it works,” Melanie said.

He pointed to Emily and Teddy. “They don’t.”

The woman crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat. “Fair. Go on.”

“So, Homie’s power allows him to . . . permeate a room. The more time he spends in an area, the more he gets to know it. The location of items, where people and things are in relation to each other, and so on. It sounds weak, but then most powers that sound weak have a kick to them. His big advantage is that he learns how to use things in a room he’s in. Spend time in a class and he’ll learn from the books within. Spend time in a garage and he’ll know how to . . . I don’t know, change your oil? I don’t think the effects are permanent.”