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  Now, John was making sure that he was both handling security as well as proper decorum when answering the front door. Pete whined that answering the door was ‘menial and beneath him.’ Eric had to hide his smile. Pete was making this too easy for John.

  Pete did open the door after confirming who was there. John had placed a special camera to watch the front door from inside the house. He used this camera to check on Pete’s effectiveness at all times of the day and night. In the beginning, Pete would just open the door. Each time Pete was lazy, John would show up within one to two minutes and make him do fifty, then a hundred pushups. Pete knew that the next time he screwed up he was going to be pushing one-fifty.

  When Pete opened the door, his eyes were wide open and he had a very scared look on his face. Pete looked at the guys for a second, not realizing who was in front of him. He obviously had a situation that he didn’t know what to do with.

  John snapped him out of it, “What’s going on, Pete?”

  Pete stepped outside which made John take a quick step back and he closed the door. “John, you can’t go in there!”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Hell if I know!” Pete looked back at the closed door. “She got a phone call and then she suddenly screamed and dropped to her knees. Ecaterina tried to get close but she was completely in vamp mode. Her eyes are damn near glowing John! Even Ecaterina is worried and all Bethany Anne can do is cry right now.”

  John was concerned. He had known Bethany Anne for a few weeks, but in all of that time she had never had an emotional response like she was showing right now. Oh crap, what if she got violently angry? “Who was on the phone, Pete?”

  “John, I have no idea. Fred somebody. She seemed happy to get the call at first.”

  John was trying to think through this quickly. Eric piped up, “Frank?”

  Pete looked at him, “Yeah! That’s it, Frank.”

  “Shit.” John opened the door and walked in. His boss needed him. He walked into the entryway that had three openings. One in each direction and some stairs going up. He heard the cries of a heart bleeding out. The crying came from the back kitchen.

  As he came around the corner, Ecaterina looked up at him. She displayed worry, anguish and a touch of fear. She had no idea what to do for her friend right now.

  Bethany Anne was on the floor, the remains of her phone still in her hand. She had crushed it in her anguish as she just rocked on her knees, her head touching the floor and coming back up.

  Well, his job description never said he would die an old man in his bed. He went up to Bethany Anne, knelt by her and put his arm across her. At his size, he was just about a huge human blanket for her.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Miami, FL - USA

  Bethany Anne felt the presence of someone coming towards her. She was struggling to reign in her emotions. She was stretching everything she had to not start releasing her anger, her frustration and her loss. If that happened she didn’t know the extent of the damage she would cause. When she had been angry back with TOM on the spaceship, she had literally punched holes through metal. That was before the upgrades to her bones and other abilities.

  God no! The person was kneeling beside her and she stiffened in alarm as John put his arm across her back. Her pain suddenly lessoned and she could feel the tension melt from her shoulders to John’s arm in the embrace.

  The pain at finding out that Martin was killed was overwhelming her. Inside TOM had gone catatonic as he had never experienced these emotions through his connections to her. He was dealing with his own struggles to not be overwhelmed with the crushing feelings.

  She slowly released her hands. She had drawn blood from her fingernails stabbing her palms. Slowly, ever so slowly, she broke down into steady, heavy sobs while tears flowed down her face.

  John held her for at least ten minutes on the floor. She was able to sense that Ecaterina, Eric, Pete, Darryl and Scott were in the next room. Dan was with Bobcat checking out a plane.

  “I’ve got you, Bethany Anne.” She could hear John say the same thing over and over in so low a voice, no one else could hear him, not even Pete. He had been saying it for so long his throat had to be getting dry.

  She took heavy, calming breaths. Sat up a little and actually leaned into John’s embrace. It was the sort of human comfort a person needed. Whether they were human or not.

  “Thank you, John.” Her voice was full of anguish and loss. For the first time in John’s experience, Bethany Anne sounded fragile.

  Someone was going to get fucked up. Then, he decided, they were going to die. His team didn’t really have any rules of engagement except battle through to the other side and whoever was left alive, won.

  “Just give me a target, BA, I promise you their death.”

  Bethany Anne had to smile a little at that. Wasn’t she known for being the blood-thirsty one, both literally and figuratively? Her influence was apparently bleeding over to John.

  “They might not be Forsaken.”

  “And your point?”

  Her eyes almost back to human again, she pulled back and John dropped his arm. She looked into his eyes; there was no second doubts there, just determination and finality.

  “Aeternitatem, John?” She looked deep into his eyes, into his soul.

  John looked down into Bethany Anne’s eyes. Tracks of tears, some laced with small amounts of blood going down her face. John’s lips pressed together, “Aeternitatem.”

  —

  No longer ‘Agent’, Dan Bosse was working with Bobcat to close on a modified Gulfstream G550. It had the best engines that you could get in the civilian market and it was the only one in their area of the States they could look at.

  Their chief Engineer, Billy “William” Stevenson was going through the bird while Bobcat kept the owner and pilot talking about their experiences with the plane. The owner was a businessman whose tech companies had suffered with the growth of SAAS competition and he needed to unload it in the worst way. However; he was trying to get top dollar and Bobcat and Dan were arguing for a 15% reduction knowing he needed out from under it.

  His phone rang. He looked down at it, John Grimes. He picked up the phone and hit receive. “What’s up John? Bethany Anne making you guys run another five miles?” Dan’s face lost his smile as he listened to John on the other side. His anger started to boil, his plans coming together in his mind. “Got it. I’ll finish here and be back within two hours on the outside. Make plans to leave within five if necessary. Yeah, full battle rattle and MIB to start. Let me close this deal and I’ll get back there to confirm. Is Ecaterina there? Yeah, let me speak with her.”

  “Hey Kat. I’m sorry to hear of Bethany Anne’s loss. Yes, I know who he was; I’ll explain when I get there. I need a favor, can you call Nathan and let him know I need his skills? No, not his business skills, his computer skills. Please text me if he can talk in about half an hour? Thanks, bye.” He hung up.

  Gathering his paperwork he walked over to William and asked him in a tight, soft voice. “William, can this bird lift this afternoon? Bethany Anne needs to be in Washington D.C., I would prefer we use our own plane.”

  William looked over at Dan, and the serious expression on his face. He thought about it a minute. The plane was really in great shape. While he might have wanted a few more hours for a more thorough inspection, he felt ok with recommending it to go out right then. “If the boss needs it to fly, I’ll be on the wings flapping myself.”

  Dan looked at him, “I’ll hold you to that, even if I duct tape you with a wrench and a screwdriver to the engine as we take off.” Dan turned around and started walking to the three men.

  William took that as permission and pulled out a power tool from his belt, no time like the present to fix one or two items. He reached up to a cover and started pulling the screws out.

  Dan came up to the three men talking. Timothy Peters took a look behind Dan, “What the hell is he doing with my plane?”


  Dan looked at him, “My plane if you sell it to me right now for your asking price. No questions and we have to close within an hour.”

  Timothy looked at Dan’s face and decided that trying to dicker with him wasn’t a good choice. He held out his hand, “Deal.”

  Dan left Bobcat to close everything and provided the account numbers to move the money. It wasn’t like he kept millions on him. Getting in the company SUV, he broke a few speed limits getting back over the bridge to Key Biscayne.

  He got on the phone and hit the code to call Nathan Lowell.

  Savannah, GA - USA

  Nathan Lowell was having a late breakfast when his phone started playing “I’ve only got eyes for you, babe.” He smiled. If anyone could interrupt his meal, it was Ecaterina. Setting his fork aside, he put the phone to his left ear and grabbed his pad and a pen.

  He wasn’t sure if this was Ecaterina calling her boyfriend or Ecaterina calling for her boss.

  “Hi baby, what’s up?

  “Nathan, we have a problem.”

  Blood drained from Nathan’s face, what had he done? “What is it baby?”

  “Someone has killed a friend of Bethany Anne, she is, how you say, all broken?” Despite himself, he relaxed a little. Ecaterina wasn’t upset with something he had done. His connection with Ecaterina was the connection that the rest of his reality worked around. If that line was solid, then he could focus on the rest of the world.

  He didn’t correct her, “Who was killed?”

  “A guy called Martin, a boss from her last place of employment. He was someone special. Dan has asked if you could take a call in a little less than half and hour?”

  “Certainly baby. Whatever is needed, I’ll do.”

  “Thank you Nathan. This is personal. She came for me, she came for you. Now, now I feel I will help. These men, whether they are Forsaken, human or Wechselbalg, they must be found Nathan. Dan is on his way back soon and the team is getting suited up. Everyone here is pissed, I am pissed.”

  Nathan could understand. Bethany Anne had a way of making things happen in people’s lives. Both good and bad things. Usually good for her friends and bad for those not so friendly. She had grown from a boss to their leader. He could only imagine what her team back at the houses was getting ready to do. He knew what Dan was probably going to call him about, but Ecaterina just confirmed it for him.

  “Dan says he needs you for your skills, your computer skills.” She sounded a little confused. He had worked with her back in Romania to do some simple Google work. She didn’t realize that he was a world class hacker as well. Dan did. Whether it was because Bethany Anne told him, Frank told him or his name was somewhere on a list that he hoped didn’t exist didn’t matter. What mattered was his friend was hurting and she needed him.

  While he would have helped Bethany Anne just because Ecaterina asked him, this was personal. Someone had hurt his sister from another mother. “I got your message. Any idea where they are headed?”

  “John says that he will go fuck someone up in a white house if has to. Does that make any sense?”

  “Yeah, yeah it does. Hopefully that was just a comment about his sense of devotion and not a strategic target. Either way, they are heading to Washington D.C. I’ll meet you guys there after I stop in New Jersey real fast.”

  Ecaterina was a little annoyed. What could Nathan need so bad in New Jersey? He just about could feel the irritation over the phone.

  “Ecaterina, I’ve got to stop and pick up stuff from a storage room. Like when Ivan got me items?”

  That caught Ecaterina off guard. The first time that Ivan had picked up camping gear for Nathan was back in Romania when he hired her to take him up that fateful mountain.

  She wasn’t sure where Bethany Anne had sent the weapons and traps that couldn’t go commercial when Nathan brought her to America. She had honestly felt a little adrift without a mountain and her weapons. She had mentioned it to Nathan a couple of nights ago on the phone. Ecaterina was a nature loving girl herself, and while it was nice to be on the water, she much preferred land.

  Nathan had asked Bethany Anne about it and she slapped her forehead. She had forgotten the boxes and wasn’t sure how to get them down to Miami.

  Bethany Anne didn’t want a normal shipping company to get involved. He had told her he would fly through and crate them up special to get them shipped. It could be a surprise for Ecaterina. He was supposed to do this when he got done in Savannah.

  He had one more meeting the next day, but he was already busy texting his partner that it was ok to move ahead on the project. While it was a $50k project, the money seemed unimportant to him right then.

  He had responsibility for two hackers which had been captured on the last operation. As far as he could tell, they were actually really good. They did check out, so he put them on one of his teams and shipped them to Dallas, Tx. His Technology Security Company operations guy would look over their shoulder until he felt they could really be trusted. He also gave them new identification as he didn’t want the Forsaken to find them. They were almost too effusive in their thanks. Seems there was more than just some blackmail going on.

  His breakfast bill came to just over twenty dollars so he dropped two twenties and walked out of the restaurant, caught a cab and went to the airport. He got Dan’s call while in the taxi and told him he would get started on his end right away. Dan told him that he’d catch up in D.C. and then hung up.

  The best Nathan could do right away was a one-stop flight through Chicago, so he paid top dollar and jumped on. The hotel could ship his stuff to Bethany Anne’s house. He figured he could catch up to it there. Besides, he needed another change of clothes where Ecaterina was staying anyway. If the clothes didn’t make it to the house, then he didn’t need the clothes that badly.

  Washington D.C. - USA

  Frank had been working on any information he could figure out regarding Martin when he got a phone call coming in from Dan Bosse.

  “Frank here.”

  “Hey, it’s Dan. I got the news about Martin.”

  “Yes, how is Bethany Anne taking it?”

  “You don’t know? I thought you told her.”

  Frank sighed. “I did, but the call just suddenly dropped. I wasn’t sure why and believe it or not, I was hoping someone over there would be able to handle any fallout. Do you know what is going on?”

  “Yes, just a bit. I can tell you that my team is getting suited up. Whoever did this just became our focus, Frank. Whether they thought they could strike at Bethany Anne on purpose or this was random, the end result is going to be pretty one sided, if you know what I mean.”

  “I’ve only got a little more info, but the preliminary coroner’s report shows a smaller amount of blood than what they believe should have been in the body and that takes into account his ripped out throat.”

  “Almost like they took a sip or two and then tried to destroy the proof?”

  “That’s my working hypothesis, yes.”

  Dan was quiet for a moment, thinking. “So, we probably have enemy action who aren’t ready to have their involvement confirmed. I’m going to need support for our team while in D.C., Frank. I don’t want anyone to get their dick in a twist, but I can guarantee that my men aren’t going to take any shit from anyone. I would usually suggest caution and tact, but I doubt that is going to work too well this time.” Dan could hear the heavy sigh of those expected to accomplish the impossible come from Frank.

  “Yeah, I know that. It has been a quiet few weeks, hasn’t it Dan?”

  Dan could almost hear a smile in his voice. “Frank, you live for this shit and you know it.”

  Frank thought about that for a moment. “You know what Dan? I keep on living for this shit. Someone attacked a U.S. Government official in his own parking lot. I can’t let that happen, can I? I’ve got some calls to make. Let me know your arrival details as soon as you can and I’ll try to square away a few things on this side.”

 
; “I expect to be there tonight at the latest. I hope to be wheels up in less than seven hours. I’ll get you our flight number in a few.”

  They said their goodbyes and then Dan hung-up.

  While Dan would have been a little bothered if the attack had been non-Forsaken, he had made an agreement on a tarmac to Bethany Anne to fuck-up the Forsaken and anyone who needed an ass kicking. Attacking Bethany Anne through a cut-out was attacking Bethany Anne to him.

  As far as Dan was concerned, someone was going to become seriously hurt. If they died in the process, he wasn’t too concerned.

  New Jersey, USA

  Nathan Lowell arrived at a small, climate controlled storage facility outside an airport in New Jersey. He drove his rented van to block the video camera pointed his way. He plugged in the security codes Bethany Anne gave him when they talked a couple of days before into the alarm on the door. The door opened and he turned on the light.

  There were three boxes in the room. Each one had all kinds of packing tape around the outside. You wouldn’t be amiss if you thought the person wrapping the box guilty of having too much tape and too little sense. He figured that Bethany Anne wanted it obvious if the boxes had been tampered with.

  He had talked with Dan one more time and got the news that the company now had their own plane. Nathan picked up each of the boxes, each had to weigh at least 300 lbs, not that Bethany Anne would notice. He moved the boxes into the van. With each one, the vehicle settling a little heavier on the back wheels. Definitely not heavy duty springs on this van.

  Closing the doors he set the door lock and started driving to D.C. He would get to the airport a couple of hours after their plane landed, provided they left Miami when Dan was expecting.

  He turned on the local rock radio and he could hear the starting short riffs of “Back in Black.” Yeah, he thought, whoever planned this attack on Bethany Anne had just fucked up. They had better hope that her team got hold of them first. They might get a quick death. God knows what was going to happen if Bethany Anne got to them first.