ARCHANGEL

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “They are no longer talking about anything of importance,” Abaddon said.

  “I assume they are fearful someone near them may know their language. Perhaps after we finish we should go somewhere the Sisters can change their appearance. We can split up then and allow our companions to keep close up observation.”

  “That’s a great idea, Raph. I bet Cat and I could wander right up next to them while they’re waiting for their friends. We’ll be able to understand them if we’re within hearing distance for us lowly humans, right?”

  “Just as before. I doubt they will recognize either of you in civilian clothes. I would suggest casual wear rather than anything flashy. We don’t need for them to get too interested.”

  “Why not?” Abaddon asked “We can be instantly at their side if we even sense trouble.”

  “Yeah, Raph, we could even flirt with them a little.”

  Raphael glanced at the men over his shoulder and shook his head negatively. “I don’t think so, Ange. They are so filled with hate and rage I doubt you would be able to bait them with any kind of distraction.”

  “Wanna’ bet?”

  “Don’t challenge her, Raph,” Catherine urged as Abaddon chuckled at Angelina’s bravado. “The Lord only knows what she would do to prove you wrong. It is a good plan though. How did you like the Hot Turkey sandwich, guys?”

  “Very tasty,” Raphael replied.

  “The coffee is good here too,” Abaddon added.

  “We should pay the bill soon and allow you and Sister Angelina to get ready, Cat.” Raphael signaled for the waiter. “I’m sure watching for these men to depart from here will be easier if we are already in position.”

  * * *

  After paying the bill, Raphael led the way out of the restaurant. The man at the table they had been watching glanced up sullenly at the two Sisters, who made sure they looked away. Abaddon, in the rear of the group, returned the man’s stare directly. The malevolence only slightly below the surface streamed from Abaddon’s glare almost as if it were a palpable entity. The man turned his face from Abaddon’s deadly look with a sudden icy fear which left his hands trembling on the table in front of him as the group exited the restaurant.

  “What is wrong, Nasib?” One of the men opposite the target of Abaddon’s attention asked worriedly. He and his companion next to him looked hurriedly around the restaurant.

  Nasib shook his head, clasping his hands tightly together. “The devil passed by our table and cast his eye upon me. We are doomed.”

  His companions laughed abruptly at Nasib’s discomfiture.

  “Do not be a child,” the man who had asked him what was wrong chided Nasib. “Eat your meal. We must leave soon.”

  “You and Jarir did not see the devil’s eyes, Habib,” Nasib insisted, looking toward the restaurant exit fearfully as if expecting a return visit from Abaddon.

  “Concentrate on what we must do and forget this foolishness,” Jarir ordered in a hushed voice as he leaned toward Nasib. He glanced at his watch. “We still have ten minutes before we must meet Amir and Rana. Compose yourself.”

  “Come, Nasib, be at ease,” Habib urged quietly. “This devil you saw is gone now. Allah be praised. We will soon complete our mission.”

  Nasib nodded his head in agreement reluctantly but shuddered remembering the glimpse into hell he had received from Abaddon.

  Outside the women’s restroom, Abaddon and Raphael waited for the two nuns to emerge with changed appearances. Raphael watched Abaddon with amusement.

  “I felt what you did, brother, even without looking.”

  Abaddon shrugged indifferently. “I was not trying to hide anything, Raph. We were again invisible. That toady at the table thought he could use his eyes to strike our companions with his arrogant disdain. I merely gazed upon him.”

  “Some gaze. I think you killed his hatred as if it were a lighted match in a typhoon.”

  “The demons I understand. They have no choice in their makeup. Evil birthed them and they can aspire to nothing other than darkness. These humans… they…”

  Abaddon shook his head finally without finishing the sentence.

  “It is bewildering when the Lord’s human creations use their freedom of choice to choose darkness,” Raphael finished for him. “It is rather amusing when two Archangels evoke only indifference or inquiries as to our expertise at basketball.”

  “I do not believe the gentleman I stared at entertains either of those options anymore.” Abaddon grinned at Raphael with satisfaction.

  “Indeed not.”

  “The way we do things must seem silly to our companions.” Abaddon continued looking out over the crowded airport walkways.

  “I don’t think so. They have what billions of others on earth don’t have: proof of God. Sister Angelina may crave the more direct way our power could enable, but she endures just as you do.”

  “We are much alike, her and I.”

  “Better than the Abyss for your only companion, huh brother?”

  “Yes, and remember, Raph, we must protect her at all costs or it will be very bad… very bad.”

  “I know that, Abaddon.” Raphael put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “We will never jeopardize her or Sister Mary Catherine needlessly. They will insist on an active roll in our doings though, just as now. Every moment we are with them our bond strengthens. I can sense their thoughts, even when they are out of sight.”

  “Yes, they are arguing again.”

  “They are very young,” Raphael said. “It is their way.”

  “They take immense pleasure in their verbal sparring. They seem to get much more inventive with each passing day together.”

  “It would not be wise for an outsider to threaten one of them in the other’s hearing though,” Raphael pointed out. “They are Sisters in more than their shared vocation.”

  “I am looking forward to our mission here in Las Vegas. I will observe this vice which corrupted your soul.”

  “It is not to be trifled with, brother. It matters not what one has or gains by winning or losing. The addictive nature of chance captures all consciousness until only the game remains and the next throw of the dice.”

  “I will not trifle with it, Raph,” Abaddon replied. “You need not place so much power in this gambling thing. I will bind you up if I see you slipping away.”

  “I am happy you didn’t see how Hornblower treated me when the Lord sent him to tear me away,” Raphael said with a faraway look. “I had no notion of what I was anymore, other than how I could gather my next wager. He didn’t even want to touch me because I was such a pathetic wretch by that time. He tried repeating my name and showing himself in all the glory we can exhibit when needed. Gabe could not break through to me at all. Finally in desperation he simply hugged me to him as if I were an infant. When I came to my senses he drew me away to where Michael waited.”

  “Our brothers did not abuse you of this thing, did they?”

  “No, but I saw in their eyes a change in their perception of me. That was worse than any condemnation.”

  “What of our Lord?”

  “He simply put his arms around me when Michael and Gabe took me to him. It was humbling to such a degree I thought I would never get over it,” Raphael admitted.

  “I would have just tortured you with it for a couple of centuries if it had been me,” Abaddon offered with a straight face.

  Raphael glanced up at him quickly, only to see Abaddon waiting for his reaction with amused anticipation. Raphael nodded good-naturedly.

  “I spent a lot of time with you after my sojourn into sin. Seeing how simply you handled your banishment helped me through my own petty self-indulgent times.”

  “Your companionship was always most welcome, my brother,” Abaddon replied. “I… ah… here come our companions now.”

  Angelina walked ahead of Catherine, looking forward to seeing Abaddon’s expression when he saw her outfit. She had chosen to wear a shoulder-less burgundy dre
ss of silk like fiber which ended well above her knees. It clung to her as a second skin. Her tan stockings and black high-heel shoes completed a picture so enchanting Abaddon simply stared in bewildered silence. Raphael noticed the number of men slowing in the airport to watch Angelina stride by as they ignored the impatient rebukes from their female companions. Angelina’s dark hair bobbing seductively around her face with each step, coupled with her look of total confidence, evoked looks of admiration from both sexes.

  In sharp contrast to Angelina’s sultry look, Catherine projected simple elegance. She wore a dark blue dress with soft shoulders and low cut in the front. Although the hem fell to just above Catherine’s knees, the dress had an uncharacteristic slit at the left side of the material. The sheer hose and black high heels Catherine had chosen blended with her outfit perfectly. Her blonde hair, clasped tightly back at the neck, accented her angular face as it swayed with her walk.

  “I doubt we need worry about our companions’ ability to mask their identities,” Raphael observed.

  “What do you think guys?” Angelina enjoyed the effect she was having on Abaddon.

  “Perfect,” Raphael answered. “Best get into position, ladies.”

  “Raph, if they speak to us in Arabic will our answers be in the same language?” Catherine asked.

  “Yes. Good point, Cat. If they speak to you at all in any language other than English, shrug your shoulders as if you don’t understand.”

  “How flirtatious should we be?” Angelina asked.

  “Just enough to make them comfortable with your presence near them but not so much they begin groping you. I would caution you both to stay focused on appearing as impatient travelers trying to move on from the airport as quickly as possible.”

  “They are leaving the restaurant.” Abaddon pulled Raphael away from the Sisters.

  “Baggage claim is this way, Ange,” Catherine indicated with a gesture. “They probably won’t try and meet up with their friends at the arrival gate.”

  Catherine and Angelina walked together slowly toward the restaurant, hoping the men would merge into the crowd of travelers in the same direction the women were going. The men, after pausing to look around the terminal as they stood outside the restaurant, then walked over to a bank of video screens with each arriving and departing flight listed. As Catherine predicted, the men walked toward the baggage claim area, having determined which baggage carrousel the flight they were meeting would use.

  “What will we do when we get to baggage claim, Ange?”

  “We’ll just stand around looking harried and impatient like everyone else.” Angelina made sure they followed the three men at a safe distance. “I think we better stand at a baggage carrousel opposite the one they’re at or their friends might indicate to them we’re out of place. Any idea what we should do when they all get ready to leave the airport?”

  “Nope,” Catherine admitted. “I figured you’d try to proposition them like a cheap hooker and they’d invite us along.”

  “Or maybe you could throw up on one of them, Spewy. That’ll slow ‘em down. It worked with the demon on Fisherman’s Wharf.”

  Catherine giggled and soon both nuns were laughing as they neared the baggage claim area where people streamed in all directions around them. After determining which baggage carrousel the men were headed to, Angelina led Catherine over to another active carrousel across the aisle. The two nuns took up positions as if they too were waiting for luggage. Soon, a distinctly Middle Eastern couple walked up to the carrousel where the three men waited. The couple positioned themselves across the carrousel.

  The woman was wearing a full-length veiled dark purple outfit, covering her from head to toe. She was slightly taller than either Angelina or Catherine and larger of frame. Her companion, nearly a head taller than his companion, wore a three-piece, dark brown business suit and appeared to be carrying about thirty pounds too much weight, mostly around the stomach. His immaculately cut black hair was combed straight back and his dark beard trimmed neatly close to his face.

  Chapter 23

  Intervention

  As the bags began plopping up from the loading dock and onto the carrousel, the man stole looks at the three men opposite the couple nervously. Fifteen minutes later the man wheeled two bags toward the exit after plucking them from the carrousel and strapping the bags together. The woman fell in behind him a few steps back. Seconds after the couple started for the exit the three men opposite them at the carrousel followed. Angelina and Catherine hurried in pursuit.

  Outside the airport building the Middle Eastern couple talked with a shuttle driver who loaded their bags in the back of a large transportation van with Las Vegas Transport printed on the side. The three men joined the couple talking animatedly with the couple as well as the shuttle driver. Angelina grabbed Catherine’s wrist, pulling her toward the shuttle.

  “C’mon girl, follow my lead until the boys get here,” Angelina urged.

  “Excuse me, my sister and I need a ride to the Venetian,” Angelina called out. She walked in between the group next to the shuttle.

  “Sorry, this is private transport,” the driver in accented English stated, sweating profusely from the heat, his lips trying to form into a smile. “Try the window over there for another ride.”

  “C’mon, Abdul,” Angelina said, baiting the driver purposely, “we just need you to drop us off. These folks won’t mind the company, right guys?”

  “Go away, woman!” Nasib leaned in close to Angela’s face, his mouth tensed to the point his order strained through his teeth like an epithet.

  “Whew!” Angelina exclaimed comically, leaning away and waving her hand in front of her face. “Point that mouth of yours in another direction. Your breath just peeled my makeup off.”

  The man named Jarir grabbed Angelina’s arm.

  “Take your whore friend and find your own way from here!”

  Catherine reached for Jarir’s arm, thinking to pull him away from Angelina. Before her hand could touch him, Jarir’s feet were two inches from the ground. Abaddon held him by the neck as Raphael blocked off the others, quickly regaining their human illusions from the Archangel forms needed for instant transport. Abaddon threw the gasping Jarir into the shuttle’s open doorway. Jarir went headfirst into the metal frame of the driver’s seat.

  “Good timing, boys.” Angelina watched the other five retreat from the gigantic Archangels. “The rest of you get in the van and keep your mouths shut.”

  “You cannot do…” the driver began to protest, only to be launched into the entrance of the shuttle. He hit into the driver’s seat with his shoulder and collapsed onto the unconscious Jarir, grabbing his shoulder in misery.

  “Do as she says,” Raphael urged, “or my brother will simply load you all up in the same way he did your two friends.”

  Amir and Rana were the first to hurry inside the shuttle, pulling the driver up with them. They helped him into the back of the shuttle. Nasib, shaking in fear at the sight of Abaddon again, gripped Habib’s arm, yanking his companion toward the shuttle door. Inside, they picked up Jarir and dragged him into seats in front of the others at the rear of the shuttle. Angelina immediately jumped into the driver’s seat and started the engine while Catherine, Raphael, and finally Abaddon boarded the vehicle. Angelina drove away from the curb. Catherine and Raphael sat behind her with Abaddon opposite them watching the group in the back impassively.

  “Where to, Raph?” Angelina asked.

  “Why not drive until we find a more secluded spot. We’ll have a little talk with our friends in the back.”

  “On our way,” Angelina agreed.

  “Raph, I know these guys wouldn’t get away with anything in the airport but I think we better search the woman,” Catherine said. “She’s been gripping her middle since she was standing out by the shuttle. I don’t think it’s because she’s having stomach pains.”

  “I think you’re right, Cat.” Raphael noticed the woman named Rana s
uddenly sat up straight, placing her hands on the seat back in front of her.

  Catherine stood up and walked toward the back, pointing at the woman named Rana. Her companion, Amir, stood up to block Catherine’s path. Abaddon shook his head, gesturing for Amir to sit back down.

  “Sit down or I will put you down,” Abaddon warned. “You will only get one warning. If you touch Sister Mary Catherine I will rip the arm you do it with off.”

  Nasib pulled Amir down hurriedly. “Do as he says. He is a devil.”

  Catherine waved for Rana to get out of her seat and come forward. After a fearful glance around at her companions, Rana left her seat. She walked hesitantly toward the front of the shuttle with Catherine falling in behind. Rana started to sit down in the seat behind Raphael but Catherine stopped her.