by Matthew Fish
“I won’t be able to conduct with my right arm,” Maddie added. “I can do just fine with my left, but…I do share some of Emily’s concern.”
“I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t out of necessity,” William said as he sat down on a nearby old, dusty chair and tapped his foot as he looked nervously down to the floor. “We’ve been following up on those leads, Emily. It turns out that one of them panned out, but things went to hell pretty quickly afterwards.”
“The Zampa leads…” Mark said aloud as folded his arms.
“I said nothing,” Caesar added as he made a motion as though he was zipping up his lips with an invisible zipper.
“Sorry,” William said as he nodded and looked to Mark with a saddened face. “I thought that with my new Conductor—we could handle things for a while and bring you on board when you were ready. It was not that I wished to keep the truth from you; it was simply for your own protection. In truth, we never stopped following the Tany Zampa lead.”
“Doesn’t matter…” Mark said quietly. “What happened?”
“We had him, by all rights—we should have had him, at the least,” William said as he shook his head and collapsed back into the chair kicking a little swirl of dust. “We had taken out about twenty of his paid thugs, and then two of his girls appeared.”
“Eva and Lola,” Emily said as she shook her head and let out a short sigh. “Things got difficult after that I’d imagine.”
“There was another presence there as well,” William continued as he nodded. “It threw me off—felt odd, and yes…old. It put placing birth years upon the sisters difficult—and after that everything went to hell. There was a lot of fire, a lot of bullets in the air—we had an air Elemental with us and she managed to get me out. They did, however, take our Conductor.”
“Take and not killed?” Maddie asked as she brought up her thumb and placed it beneath her chin. “That seems out of the ordinary. The Conductor, was he or she private sector?”
“It was Alexander Littcott,” William said as though the name had great meaning.
“Grand Conductor Alexander Littcott…?” Maddie said as she was taken aback by the statement. “Why would he be out in the field?”
“The council had deemed it necessary,” William said as he placed a hand against his forehead. “With the reported presence of this old one pulling the strings, they felt someone skilled with dealing with the older skills would be able to sort out this situation.”
“Of course the Grand Conductors will not stand for one of their own to be held,” Maddie said as she looked to William nervously.
“Zampa has been in contact,” William said as he let out another exhausted sigh. “They want Mark in exchange for Alexander Littcott. They gave us until midnight tonight to turn Mark over or they said they would torture…and eventually kill the Grand Conductor.”
“That is simply out of the question,” Caesar said as he placed his hands upon Mark’s shoulders. “And what plan does the Perpetual Council have to combat this insult…and what of the Grand Conductors?”
“The Grand Conductors have pulled their support in the manner and have agreed with the council to have me hand Mark over,” William said flatly as he looked to Mark with but had trouble maintaining eye contact with the boy.
“The fuck,” Emily said as she pulled a lighter from her pocket and tossed it into William’s lap. “You’re not taking him.”
“Now wait,” William said as he protested. “I do not agree. They believe that this move will bring peace—that this old one will just take Mark for whatever reason and that things will quiet down again. I however, don’t. I will leave the department, on my own accord, rather than hand Mark over to these maniacs.”
“So what do we do then?” Maddie said as she folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. “To think, we cannot even find help with our own society…the Grand Conductors are supposed to stand for honor and justice—not to cave in to the demands of criminals.”
“I have my own disappointments with my peoples’ council as well,” William added. “You can’t just give them what they want and expect that they will not want more.”
“Or maybe,” Mark said as he grew tired of feeling like his life was constantly at the mercy of others, “Maybe this time, they get what they want.”
“Just what are you saying, boy?” Caesar asked as he released Mark and backed away. “You want to be taken?”
“William,” Mark said as he nodded. “If you don’t hand me over, you’ll lose your job and the council will put you on their list of people that need to be taken care of, am I right?”
“That’s a choice I’m willing to make,” William said as he held his hands out and shook his head.
“Then we all become targets,” Mark said as he continued despite William’s protests. “Emily will become a target, Maddie will become a target, and even Caesar—we can’t hide forever.”
“We can hold out here for years,” Caesar said as he placed his hands upon his hips and raised his voice in an insulted tone. “That is, boy, if they could even track us down. My location is quite secure.”
“And if it isn’t?” Mark said as he turned to Caesar and shot him a confident look. “Just what if it’s not—would you like to see this place burn as Maddie and I die? What will you and Emily do then? Stay on the run for the rest of your life…that doesn’t sound much like living.”
“I will not lose you,” Emily whispered as she balled her fists at her side. “If we have to run, then that’s just…it is what it is.”
“I’m counting on that,” Mark said as he turned to Emily and smiled. “You’re fast—you tracked me down easily. You can tail us and lead the rest to wherever I’m taken.”
“It’s too risky,” Emily said softly as she began to get upset. “I’m not that good—going forward isn’t the same as projecting. It’s like mimicking wind gusts so that you’re not spotted. It’ll take a lot of energy and if they take you too far I’ll be useless by the time I get there.”
“All you’ll need to do is give a GPS signal to the others,” Mark said as he walked over to Emily and placed his hands into hers. “I trust you. You can do this.”
“It’s not a terrible plan,” Maddie said as she continued to look deeply troubled. “It’s not a great plan, but…as far as plans go…”
“Why though?” William asked. “I do not care about my job—or being hunted. I’m sure we could manage.”
“Because it’s about time we knew who we were dealing with,” Mark said as he shrugged. “I’m not a…brave person. I’ve always just thought I was rather…ordinary. Still, yeah…It’s time we stopped running and hiding. At the least, we successfully get a name from Zampa. In the best case scenario, well…we stop this old one from killing any more Conductors and find out what his beef is with me.”
“I might know of a skilled Perpetual that is quite handy with firearms,” Caesar said as he let out a sigh. “If you are going to go through with this beyond foolish plan then I would prefer the odds to be a little less against your favor.”
“Having a second wind Elemental would be good,” Maddie said as she nodded. “William, would your contact still be onboard?”
“Yes,” William said as he pulled out his cell phone and sent out a text. “I’d trust her on this.”
“Have you all lost your shitty brains?” Emily spoke loudly as she looked at Mark and punched him forcibly on the arm—almost sending him to the floor. “I have half a mind to…to just project with Mark out of here and go live off in the desert or something. Fuck…all of you.”
“My father…” Mark whispered as he attempted to steady himself.
“I’m sorry,” Emily said as she threw her arms around Mark and began to cry.
“This man, he killed my father—I need to know who he is,” Mark added as he placed his arms around Emily.
“He will just kill you too,” Emily sobbed. For the first time, she did not care about showing her feelings around others.
“No he won’t,” Mark said as he pressed his lips against Emily’s wet cheek. “I have the best bodyguard any coin tosser could possibly ask for.”
“My dear girl,” Caesar said as he placed a hand upon Emily’s back. “I do not agree that this is the best course of action for us to take. However, I must admire the idea to face ones enemies head on. Mark’s plan does make a great deal of sense. Once this Grand Conductor is released, you would have a total of three conductors.”
“Three conductors, two Elementals, a Spotter and another Perpetual who can keep our enemies at bay,” Maddie said as she nodded. “That’s not bad odds.”
“Will you be joining us, Caesar?” William asked.
“I’m not one with a stomach for so much…violence and action,” Caesar said as he looked rather ashamed. “To be completely truthful I’ve become rather bound to this area and fret more than I would like to admit at the thought of leaving. I shall hold down the home and be ready for your triumphant return.”
“You’ve done more than enough,” William added as he got up and patted Caesar on the back.
“You might get your old job back after a crazy stunt like this,” Caesar said as he attempted to look on the bright side. “We shall have our great Captain back again.”
“The devil can take it,” William said as he shook his head and looked to Mark. “My loyalties now lie elsewhere.”
We departed soon after. William and I took his black SUV while Emily and Maddie followed behind in her Mustang. My heart was racing the entire drive back to Chicago. I had convinced myself that I was doing the right thing—that I was doing something brave. However, there was this tiny voice of doubt that kept repeating over and over that I was going to get myself killed—that I would never see Emily again. We hit a bit of traffic just as the Chicago skyline was visible on the horizon. Heavy deep grey storm clouds lingered in the air as the occasional arc of thunder streaked down to the earth. We hit a bit of traffic near Millennium Park as we detoured from the main road and parked. As I stepped out that day, I had nearly forgotten how busy life was in Chicago—my ears were assaulted by various different noises, the sound of so many people, cars, and just the overwhelming sense of the business of it all. It was a stark contrast to the quiet sounds of the wind against the trees back in the secluded mansion near Utica. I missed the chirps of the birds and the beautiful quiet that only nature can produce. I had not been gone that long, but as we approached the mirrored bean-shaped Cloud Gate sculpture, it felt as though it had been forever.
“Hey look,” Emily said as she pointed up to the strange mirror surface of the sculpture. “See, we do have reflections. Why did they come up with that stupid myth anyway?”
“They used it witch hunt style attempts to weed us out from regular people…in order to kill us,” William said as he looked up at his own reflection before moving on. “This was a good bit of misinformation on our part...”
“Fair enough,” Emily said as she followed the group to a small secluded bench where a man and woman were sitting.
“Mark, Maddie, Emily,” William said as he gestured to the two people on the bench. “The man with the rather large duffle bag is Caesar’s contact.”
“David Weiss,” The older looking man with extremely short white hair and a clean cut face said. He had very narrow green eyes and a rough face. He looked like one of those guys you’d expect to show up in an action movie. A half-burned cigarette hung from his mouth. He was dressed in a tight fitting black shirt and wore camouflaged pants. “How is that old queen anyway?”
“As eccentric as ever,” William said as he nodded. “The nice lady to his left is my colleague and longtime friend…she also happens to be a talented wind Elemental.”
“Couldn’t have picked more obvious place,” the woman said as she looked nervously around her surroundings. She was wearing a seafoam blue top and a pair of dark jeans. She wore a myriad of gold bracelets. Her face was very slender and well defined. She had blue eyes and auburn hair and freckles dotted her cheeks. She turned her attention back to the group and smiled once. “Call me Kate.”
“It’s the obvious places that are the best to do unobvious things,” William said as he extended a hand to the girl and placed his lips against the back of her palm. It appeared as though they had some kind of history.
“Well, let’s get this job done,” David said as he got to his feet and gave the group a sharp look. “Bunch of fuckin kids—that’s the group you’ve assembled for this shit-show of a mission?”
“Two Conductors and an Elemental,” William said as he shot the man a stern look. “If you don’t want to do this, no one’s forcing you.”
“I owe Caesar a favor or two,” David said as he spat on the ground and headed off towards the vehicles. “He said you needed a gunman, you’ve got the fuckin best money can afford.”
“He seems nice,” Mark said sarcastically.
“He’ll do,” William said as he nodded. “We’re meeting Zampa’s men outside a corner bakery just up ahead. Emily will hide in the back seat. She will slip out and tail the car once you’ve been handed over. We will stay back a bit until she contacts us with your exact location.”
“I could do the following,” Kate said as she gave Emily an odd look.
“You might be our exit strategy,” William said as he shook his head. “Emily will do fine.”
Back in the SUV I sat in the passenger seat and stared blankly at the window. Emily reached up from the back seat and squeezed my hand tightly. I wanted to look back. I wanted to tell her that everything was going to be fine—but I honestly did not know that. I took in a heavy breath and held it in. I attempted to steel myself for whatever I was about to face that day.
“I’ve been here before,” Mark said as they approached the café near the McCormick Bridgehouse and the Chicago Riverwalk. “My dad used to take me for walks down the river through here…never thought I’d be back under this kind of circumstance.”
“That’s them,” William said as he nodded. In the parking lot a white long limo-style Cadillac was idling. A group of sketchy looking men were seated. They all turned their attention to the black SUV as it parked a few spaces away. “Are we ready?”
“I’m ready,” Emily whispered.
“I’ll hand you over,” William said as he reached for the door. “Emily…just, don’t lose him.”
“I won’t.”
“Do nothing until we reach you,” William said as he looked to Mark as he became visibly upset. “Emily will have your Standard and that vest and jacket of yours…you have the one coin you do need…just in case.”
“I do,” Mark said as he fingered the 1933 quarter hidden on the inseam of his long sleeve black shirt.
“Last resort…”
“Got it,” Mark said as he reached for the door. “Emily…I…”
“Shut it, Pokey,” Emily muttered from the backseat. “I’m still pissed at you—this is your plan after all. If you have something to tell me, then tell it to me when we are alive and happy back at Caesar’s place. Until then, I need to concentrate.”
Mark nodded as he apprehensively stepped out of the vehicle. He walked side by side with William as they approached the Cadillac. Once they were close enough a man stepped out. He had messy, short curly brown hair and wore a gold colored suit with a black tie.
“Mr. Dickson,” the man said as he held out a hand that William refused to accept.
“Mr. Zampa,” William said with a short nod. “I would not think that you would be here yourself. Figured you’d send some of your grunts to do this…”
“The council insisted,” Tany Zampa said as he shrugged as he looked nervously around. “I realize how difficult this must be for you, of course. You used to be in charge of things…and now—you’re nothing more than a…what’s the word—oh right, a fucking babysitter.”
“One could say worse about you and this old one that tugging on your strings but I’ll be the civil one here…where
’s the Grand Conductor,” William asked as he gently pushed Mark towards Tany Zampa. “This is supposed to be an exchange.”
“Oh,” Tany Zampa said as he flashed a little half grin. “Didn’t they tell you? You’ll get your precious Grand Conducteur when I have our little piquer back and safe with the…as you say it, the old one.”
“How do I know you will keep your word?”
“You don’t, asshole,” Zampa said as he shoved Mark’s head into the back of the Cadillac and climbed in shortly afterwards. He held the door open for a moment and gave a false pouty face to William. “Remember, little birdy, if you follow us we will kill him. After all, our old one only wants to talk to the little prick. But he would not fault me if something should happen and a bullet ends up between his dirty little ears.”
William backed away as the door slammed shut. He sat in the car for a moment and watched as it disappeared down the road. “Emily…now...”
“Here goes,” Emily said projected herself out the car and landed just in sight of it. She used the curves of the buildings to hide her activity. So was wearing green and grey track suit so that every time she stopped to catch her breath, it jus appeared that she was jogging. She had a small work out bag strapped to her back and a black cap to hide her bright pink hair. She took a deep breath in and managed to project herself over the entire length of the DuSable Bridge. She let out a series of heavy, labored breaths a she shook her head and watched the vehicle pass off in the distance. “Fucking, hell…”
“I do have to admit,” Zampa said as he dug into a jar of shelled peanuts that rested in a cup holder on a table in front of him. “You’ve some balls for being a dainty little prick. I expected that you’d piss your pants running away.”
Mark shrugged as he looked to the familiar face seated to Zampa’s left side. It was Eva. Mark remembered from the brief moment that he spotted her before she set the dock house on fire. She was wearing the same revealing black leather outfit and had her long brown hair pulled back behind her head. Her hazel eyes had heavy red eyeliner upon them. She looked at Mark and flashed a little smug smile. To Zampa’s right was a girl who look around the same age as Eva. She had bleached white hair and wore large black sunglasses. She had a leopard print dress on that was a bit too short and long black boots. Mark spotted a gun in one of her boots and a knife in the other. As his eyes wandered up he caught a glimpse of her red panties and a little holster with another pistol that rested along her inner thigh. Mark assumed that this must be Lola.