The Belial Children

by R. D. Brady

  “Second door on the right,” she said.

  Jake nodded and again took the lead. The door was open.

  Or, more accurately, demolished. Inside, Henry wrestled with the Fallen they’d seen on the street.

  The Fallen threw his head back, catching Henry under the chin. Henry looked dazed, just for a moment, but that small distraction was all the Fallen needed to wrench himself from Henry’s grasp. But then he caught sight of Laney, and his eyes went wide.

  Laney opened her mouth to command the Fallen to stop, but he was already on his feet, sprinting away from her. Before she could make a sound, he flung himself through the window.

  “Shit.” Jake ran to the edge of the window and looked down. Laney peered out with him. The Fallen lay in a heap on the sidewalk, not moving. It was a miracle he hadn’t hit anyone.

  “I need to get down there,” Laney said.

  Henry grabbed her without a word and sprinted from the room. Laney held on as Henry vaulted down the steps. She closed her eyes, willing the egg sandwich she had enjoyed at breakfast to not return.

  When they reached the sidewalk, Henry placed Laney on the ground, keeping a grip on her to steady her. The Fallen was just getting to his feet.

  “Stop!” Laney ordered, feeling the power from the ring flow through her.

  The man went still, although from the grimace on his face, Laney knew he didn’t want to.

  Laney walked toward him, conscious of the onlookers. She pulled her badge from her pocket. “We’ll take it from here, folks.”

  “Walk over to me,” she ordered the Fallen.

  He took two steps—and then a boom rang out though the street. It sounded like a jet, but somewhere low in the city. Henry pushed Laney to the ground, covering her with his body. Pedestrians scattered with screams.

  Laney looked over at the Fallen. He lay on his side, his eyes locked on hers—a giant hole where his heart should be.

  CHAPTER 19

  Sacramento, California

  Energized, Nathaniel strode down the hallway. He’d just taped his latest sermon and that always gave him a high. Not that he would know exactly what a high was. After all, he would never disrespect his body with such toxins.

  He smiled at his wife, Beatrice, as he approached his office.

  She nodded toward the closed office door. “Tyrell is waiting for you.”

  Nathaniel rubbed his hands together. “Good, good. Hold my calls, please.”

  “Of course,” she replied.

  Nathaniel paused, wanting to share a bit of his good mood. But Beatrice had already returned to her paperwork.

  When his marriage to Beatrice had been arranged, Nathaniel had thought he’d won the lottery. Tall, slim, with dark blonde hair and blue eyes, Beatrice was everything that he had hoped for.

  Her warm looks had hid a cool demeanor, but that was all right. She performed her wifely duties when requested—if not with passion, at least without complaint. Most important, though, they were joined by their faith—their shared belief that the next age was coming. That humanity was going down the wrong road. And that it was their duty to save it.

  Or at least some of it, he thought.

  He watched Beatrice as she finished her note and pulled a file from the stack on her left. She didn’t glance at him. She never did. It would be nice if she looked at me every once in a while, he thought.

  Shaking his head at his own foolishness, Nathaniel turned toward his office. He steeled himself, then opened the door.

  Tyrell stood by the window, the afternoon sun glinting off his shaved head. His hands were clasped behind his back, his posture perfect.

  Nathaniel straightened his own back, sucking in his stomach just a little. “Tyrell,” he said.

  Tyrell turned around and bowed his head. “Reverend.”

  Nathaniel nodded toward the chairs in front of his desk. “Please, take a seat.”

  With a nod, Tyrell crossed the room to sit, just as the Reverend took his own seat behind the desk.

  Nathaniel took stock of his right-hand man, his lieutenant. The man was tough. He’d been through five tours overseas and had been honorably discharged. And he maintained a rigorous physical standard—one Nathaniel admired but never tried to emulate.

  Nathaniel had never been even been very good at sports. He’d always wanted to be, though; there was something so manly about being muscular and athletic. But his natural pear shape made that impossible—or at least, that’s what he told himself. So when he’d started his ministry, he aimed it at the people he admired most: the soldiers. And they came running.

  Tyrell looked over at the reverend, uncertainty creeping onto his face. “Um, Reverend… is something wrong?”

  “No,” Nathaniel said, realizing he had gotten lost in his thoughts. “No, not at all. In fact, you’ve done very well.”

  Tyrell relaxed, sitting back in his seat. “Thank you, sir. That means a lot.”

  And Nathaniel knew it did. Tyrell might look like a tough, indestructible man, but the reality was, he craved acceptance and approval. He was a large puppy.

  “Not at all. I am pleased. God is pleased. But now I have another mission for you.”

  Tyrell nodded, back in his comfort zone. “Who is the target?”

  Nathaniel smiled. “Another child. But this one is different. Special. And he will have security surrounding him.”

  The soldier frowned. “In all the other cases, we’ve been sure to grab them without being seen. Those were your orders.”

  “This case is different,” Nathaniel repeated. He slid a folder over his desk to Tyrell. “For this child, that won’t be possible. The gloves are off. Get him through any means necessary.” Nathaniel felt a little thrill at the words. Why, he could be in a movie right now.

  He smiled as Tyrell leafed through the folder. Tyrell was an important weapon in his arsenal. An arsenal he assembled under his Shepherd’s guidance—an arsenal that allowed Nathaniel to hold life and death in his hands.

  Tyrell glanced up at him. “I’ll need to take more men.”

  The reverend waved his hand. “Take what you need.”

  Tyrell stood. “Yes, sir. I’ll begin preparations immediately.”

  “Good. You’re dismissed.”

  Tyrell nodded, turned on his heel, and left.

  Nathaniel smiled as his lieutenant closed the door behind him. He laced his fingers behind his head and twirled his chair to look out the window.

  Yes. Tyrell was a weapon. One Nathaniel intended to wield ruthlessly.

  CHAPTER 20

  Chicago, Illinois

  Laney watched the body get loaded into the ambulance. The white sheet was stained red as it disappeared behind the ambulance doors.

  She shuddered. Jake said it had to be at least a fifty-caliber bullet to have done that much damage. There was literally a hole through the man’s chest. You could actually see through the body, the hole was that big.

  Whoever had shot him had wanted to make sure he wouldn’t heal. But who the hell was that?

  Laney looked up again at the buildings that surrounded them. They hadn’t seen a hint of the shooter. Jake said he could have been as far away as almost three thousand feet, which meant the shot could have come from over a dozen buildings.

  Laney had caught sight of Northgram being ushered into his car by security just after the shooting, but she didn’t think he was involved. It was too straightforward a kill.

  She blew out a breath. Like Samyaza. But was this related to the missing kids, the Council, or Laney, Jake and Henry? Or was it all of the above?

  A burly police officer walked over to Laney, his words coated in hostility. “We’ve got the body loaded. It’ll be at the airport in about ten minutes. Anything else the Chicago PD can do for the federal government?”

  Laney plastered a smile on her face. “No, thank you, officer. You’ve been most helpful.”

  He grunted and strode back toward his car without a word.

  Laney s
ighed. Oh, I’m just making friends everywhere.

  The police had at first been suspicious of Laney’s and Henry’s badges. Not that she could blame them. She herself had only learned about the existence of SIA a few months ago. Clark had deputized Laney, Henry, Jake, Maddox, and Jen just after the Amar incident—Just in case, as Clark had explained.

  This was the first time Laney had had to use the badge, and even so, it took a call to Clark and a call from Clark to the chief of police to get them to cooperate. What’s the point of having a badge for an agency no one’s heard of?

  The body was now being taken to the airfield where SIA would pick it up, but the high-handedness was not going over well with the police, who had been relegated to crowd control after a shooting in the middle of downtown Chicago. Laney couldn’t remember the last time she had been on the receiving end of so many nasty looks.

  She turned to Henry. “I’m going to head upstairs. See what Jake’s found.”

  “Okay.” He gestured to the street. “I’ll keep an eye out for the SIA agents Clark’s sending.”

  Laney nodded and headed inside. She pressed the button for the elevator, her thighs still protesting her earlier unexpected leg workout as she stepped inside. When the doors slid open on the tenth floor, she badged the two officers by the demolished door. They nodded at her with less hostility than the guys downstairs.

  Must be new to the force, she thought.

  She climbed over the door Henry had taken off its hinges an hour earlier. Jake stood over by the desk, looking at some papers on a clipboard. After making sure that Henry and Laney were all right, he had headed back up here—said he wanted to go through the room and see what he could find about their John Doe.

  “Hey there,” Laney said as she stepped through the doorway.

  Jake looked up. “Hey yourself.”

  She walked over and hugged him.

  “You okay?” Jake asked.

  “Well, if looks could kill, some of those officers would have done me in.”

  “They just don’t like people stepping on their turf.”

  “Yeah I get that, but—” She sighed. “Can’t we just tell everyone we’re doing this for their benefit and have them say thank you? Would that be too much to ask?”

  “Yup. It would.”

  “Gee, don’t soften it.”

  Jake chuckled, stepping away from her, and pointed to the computer. “So—would you like to know what I found?”

  “All right. Tell me what you’ve got.”

  “First, I don’t think they were here for us.”

  “Really?” Surprise flashed through her. Every time Fallen appeared, she assumed it had to do with her. Ego, ego.

  “No.” Jake picked up a plastic dome with wires attached at the apex. “This is a parabolic mike.”

  Laney glanced out the broken window. “Can it reach across the street?”

  Jake nodded. “They enhanced it.”

  “So they were listening to us meet with Northgram.”

  “Maybe. I think this was more likely for street surveillance. I’m willing to bet they have bugs stashed somewhere in Northgram’s office. But we weren’t the original surveillance targets. They’ve been here for a while.” He gestured toward a garbage can in the corner; it was overflowing with takeout containers and coffee cups.

  Laney narrowed her eyes. “How long?”

  “Hard to tell, but weeks at least. I found a receipt in the trash—Chinese food from two months ago.”

  “So they were watching Northgram. But who is they?”

  “I think if we figure that out, we’ll know who killed him,” Henry said as he stepped in, two men in dark suits following. Henry introduced Laney and Jake to the two SIA agents. Then he pulled Jake and Laney into the hall while the agents documented the scene.

  “You’re saying the person who hired this guy is the same person who killed him? Why?” Laney asked.

  “To keep him from revealing what he’s found,” Henry said.

  “That’s cold,” Laney replied.

  Jake shrugged. “Cold, but probably accurate. If this guy had any intelligence, he would have sprinted down the street when we caught sight of him—gotten lost in the crowd. Instead he ran back here.”

  Henry nodded. “When I came in, he was entering something into the computer. I think it was a kill command to wipe it. I tackled him before he was able to initiate it.” He glanced at Jake. “You didn’t touch the computer, did you?”

  “No. I stayed with the paper.”

  “And the trash.” Laney winked, and Jake smiled.

  “Find anything useful?” Henry asked.

  “Other than that he was here for two months? Afraid not. There’s no indication of who he was hired by.”

  Laney glanced back into the room, but in her mind she could still see the Fallen on the street below, the hole gaping in his chest. “Yeah. And somebody made sure he wouldn’t tell us either.”

  CHAPTER 21

  Venice, Italy

  Gerard Thompson disconnected the call, resting the phone against his lips. Just what was the ring bearer up to?

  He stood in the central archway of the Rialto Bridge, leaning against the railing. The bridge spanned the Great Canal, providing a view of the shops that lined both sides of the waterway.

  Below him he watched as a water taxi pulled up to a hotel, offloading a man and woman. The man got out first, then helped the woman. She smiled up at him, then gave him a kiss when she stood next to him.

  Pocketing his cell, Gerard turned away from the canal, barely registering the flock of tourists who wandered by him, chatting anxiously in Spanish about making their dinner reservation, as he made his way through them. He blended in with a group of businessmen, his well-coiffed blond hair and sharp cheekbones drawing more than one admiring glance from women and men alike.

  Gerard ignored them all. He kept his eyes scanning ahead, an old habit. But his mind was an ocean away. Laney McPhearson, Henry Chandler, and Jake Rogan had met with Northgram about missing children. He frowned. Missing potentials. What was going on?

  He’d heard no rumblings about moving on the children. And as one of Samyaza’s top lieutenants, he would be in a position to know.

  Gerard stopped. He realized he had walked all the way to the Doges Palace at St. Mark’s Square—the seat of Venice’s power for a thousand years. But all power came to an end eventually. Even the thousand-year run of the doges.

  But our rule never ends, Gerard thought fiercely. We are always the top of the food chain.

  But now someone was trying to chop away at that food chain—interfering with the power structure by taking out potential allies down the road. Of course, it didn’t currently affect him, and it seemed to be causing problems for the other triad.

  He should call Elisabeta, though. But just the thought of coming to her with little to no information was too frightening a possibility. He’d seen her rake people over the coals for less.

  Resolved, Gerard pulled out his cell phone. He had some work to do.

  CHAPTER 22

  Baltimore, Maryland

  Danny stared out the window. Henry had returned last night from his trip to Chicago, but Danny had made a point of not talking to him any more than necessary. Today, he’d given him the same treatment.

  And he’d actually felt good about it. It made him feel like he had a little control in their relationship. But right now it was making the drive to the Chandler School from the estate feel like it was taking at least twice the amount of time it normally took.

  “Um, so do Lou and Rolly know you’re coming?” Henry asked.

  “Yes,” Danny said, not looking at him. Silence descended on the car again. Up ahead, Danny saw the school and felt relief. This car ride couldn’t be over soon enough.

  Henry sighed as they passed through the gates of the school. “Listen, I know tomorrow is bookstore day. But I have a conference call in the morning that might go long. How about if we go to the bookstore in
the afternoon instead? Grab an early dinner?”

  Danny looked over and shook his head. “No. I already made plans to go with Maddox and Max.”

  “I’ll talk to Maddox, see if they mind going later.”

  “No. I already made plans. We’ll go without you.”

  A look of hurt flashed across Henry’s face. Ever since Danny had first arrived at the Chandler Group, he and Henry had gone every single Tuesday to the bookstore. Together.

  Danny felt a momentary stab of guilt but shooed it away. Henry had to realize he wasn’t a kid anymore.

  Henry pulled into his parking spot behind the school. “Okay. I’ll tell security.”

  Danny whirled back. “We don’t—”

  “That is not negotiable, Danny, and you know it. I know you’re not a kid. But you’re also not ready to face every threat out there. If you leave the grounds, you bring security.”

  “Fine,” Danny said through clenched teeth as he opened the door. Grabbing the file from between the seats, he stepped out of the car. “Come, Moxy,” he ordered.

  “Danny, I—”

  Danny slammed the door on Henry’s words and stomped into the school. He didn’t look back, didn’t wait to see if Henry got out of the car. A part of him boiled at the way he was being treated, and another part of him couldn’t figure out why he was acting this way. He made a conscious effort to shove the fight with Henry from his mind. Right now, there was something more important he needed to focus on.

  As he and Moxy walked down the hall, their footsteps echoed around them. A couple of kids walked past and gave Danny a smile. It was a struggle to smile back. The file felt heavy in his hand.

  Up ahead was the door that led to the courtyard where Cleo’s cage sat. Through the glass in the door, Danny saw Lou and Rolly. Laney had introduced both new kids to the giant cat before she left, and they seemed fascinated by her.

  Now Lou was sitting on the bench outside Cleo’s cage, and Rolly was leaning against the cage, feeding something to Cleo. Danny thought it was probably bacon, because that seemed to be Cleo’s snack of choice.