Catwoman #37

Issue Details

Synopsis

SOONER OR LATER YOU WILL DESCEND At the Calabrese family's townhouse in Gotham City, Antonia Calabrese opens the front door to find her brother Nick lying beaten and bloodied in the rain on the door step. Attached to him is a note that reads "Might want to seal your leak."   Selina Kyle, meanwhile, head of the family, wishes she wasn't. Running a crime family and a night club is a bit overwhelming for her. Her club is The Egyptian, and she has come, tonight, to meet with Aiden Mason of Ascolat Industries, whose construction contract with the city stole her business. She is sure he managed it in collaboration with one of the other families, and ants to know which. In meeting with him, she can see that whatever his plan is, he has already done it. He didn't try to shake her down for information at all, which means he already had all he needed to know. She will just have to deal with the aftermath.   Returning home, Selina bursts in, demanding to see Nick. Ward meets her outside the door to the study, where she ordered he be kept without visitors, and warns that a betrayal like Nick's can't be forgiven. It will reflect badly on her if she lets it slide. Selina was happy enough to have a snitch in the family, favoring systems of checks and balances, but outing Nick was a test on Aiden Mason's part, and she couldn't show weakness now. Upon her entering the study, Antonia begs Selina to show mercy, promising that the betrayal is just part of Nick's character - it's not because of Selina's leadership.   Selina asks for privacy, and once alone, Nick explains that he did talk to the cops, but the one who beat him up - Black Mask - didn't get a thing out of him. Selina notes that the fact that Black Mask didn't care that Nick knew who he was is worrying.   Elsewhere, the head of the Hasigawa Family meets with Black Mask and learns of the leak within her organization, admitting that he had been uncertain about joining her ventures - which now leaves him open to work with Black Mask. After the meeting, Eiko confronts her father, warning that Black Mask is a madman. Her father reminds that he can't go in business with the Calabreses when they had a mole in Nick. He assigns her to find out just how long Nick had been leaking information.   Selina, meanwhile, is dealing with the frustration of having all of the other families reacting with suspicion and worry at the news of the leak. Forcefully, she reminds that they all answer to her. The mole was found out and will be dealt with. Incredulously, the heads ask how. She ignores them and has Ward fetch Antonia to discuss the matter. She explains that there won't be a family vote on the matter, but she has left the issue to Antonia to deal with Nick however she can. Obediently, Antonia promises to be home after dark, having done what was asked of her. In the meantime, Selina asks Ward to gather the family representatives into a the meeting room for the time being. He assures her that she has handled it well enough, but Selina isn't so sure.   At the meeting, she explains to everyone that Nick will be silenced for his actions. He had given information to the GCPD about the gun operation they'd planned, which means the timetable for the operation will be moved. Because he was discovered before he could give the cops more, their case will dry up. In the meantime, she warns the other families to check their own houses for leaks, before turning her attention to Eiko, who she assumes has come to finalize the details of the arrangement.   Eiko is angry to learn that Selina has no intention of saving her cousin from death, but Selina explains that she can't do that, even though she wanted a leak. What she can do, though, is make sure that Black Mask pays for outing Nick as a mole.   That night, Antonia takes Nick out to the beach house they used to go to nearly seventeen years back. The last time he'd been there, Nick had almost drowned, and that's why he never went back in all that time. Antonia had been the one who saved him, when he'd got tangled in water-weeds trying to find a bracelet their mother had lost in the lake. Sighing, Nick reminds that it's getting late, and urges Antonia to do what she came to do, so she doesn't have to drive home alone at night. Tearfully, she responds that she'll be fine, helping to his feet, and reaching for the gun tucked into the back of her waistband. As instructed, she shoots him dead.   Antonia returns to the townhouse and slams her bloodied sweater onto Selina's desk, rejecting her condolences. Burying her face in her hands, Selina reminds herself that she has to do terrible things to stop the people who are worse than her. Still, she wishes someone would make her face some justice for the ill she's doing, looking across the skyline to see Eiko's Catwoman, whom she had been sparring with. She calls to Ward, who sees the bruising on her back thanks to her backless top, and wonders what happened to her. She ignores him and orders him to bring the car around. He insists on coming with her.   Mason expresses surprise that Selina actually went through with having Nick killed, thinking she might have tried to save him. Black Mask responds that Mason seems overly concerned with Selina Kyle. Mason assures him it's because she's the competition - and it's the same reason that Black Mask is courting the Hasigawa family right now. Grimly, Black Mask comments that he won't be doing that for long, and they toast to it.   Selina appears at the police precinct where Det. Alvarez is surprised to see her. He is more surprised when she embraces him and whispers that Nick won't be seeing him again, and plants a kiss on his lips. She thinks to herself that she would like him to try to prosecute her when that kiss was on the record. Turning to Detective Keyes, she snidely wishes them good luck with the investigation, and leaves. Outside, Ward warns her that they have to leave, but Selina insists on taking a walk, to experience what it's like to disappear, even for a little while. Nearby, a man delivers news of Selina's activities to his employer and suggests that the time has come to act.