Truth Behind the Mask

by Lesley Davis

Rogue merely smiled at him. “We’d just circumvent them again like usual.” She tapped at one partially hidden face. “Who is this guy?”

  Cauley leaned closer to look. “We have no idea. The trouble is, we know that Phoenix had more accomplices. He had to because he had some with him the night he killed the Osbornes, yet there were others setting fire to the restaurant.”

  “So why is this new guy going after the gang?” Rogue rubbed at her chin as she looked at the photograph. “Unless…”

  “What?”

  “Unless the ones being targeted are proof of the rumor that Phoenix was targeted in custody by his own men.”

  Cauley grinned. “That would make perfect sense! So now we need to identify these men so we can stop them from being next on the list.”

  “If these are the ones we are looking for. As you pointed out, not all the gang is here. And so far, we have had two deaths of very high-ranking people in the city. From gang roots to big trees with mighty roots. Miller and Quaid had huge business connections in Chastilian. They made good.”

  “But they started from badness.”

  “And the rottenness finally caught up with them.”

  *

  Pagan leaned against a wall close to Rogue and Sergeant Cauley. She could hear every word they were saying and desperately wanted to look at the photograph Rogue held. She started a little when Melina’s voice sounded in her ear over the comlink.

  “Pagan, I need you to come back home.”

  Pagan was instantly alert. “What’s wrong?”

  “We have a break-in in progress. It’s Erith, and she’s in the lighthouse.”

  “Repeat, Sighted?”

  “You heard me. Get back here immediately. I’ll fill Rogue in after. I think you might want to deal with this alone.”

  Pagan set off at a run.

  “Is the lighthouse secure?” she asked as she took a shortcut through an adjacent alleyway and cut across the main road.

  “I had everything secure anyway, but the minute the alarms triggered, I performed the double lockdown. She can’t get any farther in the lighthouse. Although it appears she hasn’t gotten any farther than to switch a computer on. She seems to be waiting for something else, because I know our computers don’t take that long to load.”

  “Give me five minutes and I’ll be there.”

  “I don’t think this is a social call, Pagan.”

  “I don’t think it is either, but I need to know why she’s there and what she intends to do. And I need to do it before Rogue finds out, because she’ll kill her and then very likely me too!”

  “Rogue’s still discussing theories with the sergeant. They’ll be at it for ages yet.”

  “I’m near the lighthouse. I’ll go through the back entrance.” Pagan could feel the dread clawing at her guts as she got nearer. “Thanks, Melina.”

  “For what?”

  “For calling me alone.”

  “She’s your friend.”

  “Some friend that breaks into your home.” Pagan disappeared behind the buildings that were adjacent to the lighthouse and entered the Security building. Once inside, she paused to take a breath and calm her racing heart. The base of the lighthouse had two entrances, the front door that housed the small office and a second entrance that doubled as a fire escape and led into the main building itself. Pagan opened that one carefully and stepped inside. She was hidden by the shelves of files and equipment that were housed at the rear of the room. Pagan hesitated a moment, knowing who she was going to find in the office. She steeled herself and moved a little closer to get a better view. It was Erith. Disappointment wrenched the air from her lungs, and she sagged against the doorjamb. She watched as Erith sat before the computer screen, seemingly mesmerized by the animated screensaver of a lighthouse. She wasn’t even watching it, she was just still. Pagan couldn’t help but wonder what Erith was thinking. She decided to find out and pushed herself away from the door.

  “Do you have anything particular in mind, or are you just browsing?”

  Erith let out a piercing scream that she hastily stifled behind her hands. She shot back from the desk on her chair and stared toward the door as if trying desperately to see who stood there. “What the fu— Who the hell are you?” Erith demanded. “What the hell are you doing in here?”

  “Shouldn’t I be asking that question?” Pagan asked.

  “I…erm, I…” Erith slowly reached out to pick up her flashlight from the desk.

  “You have no need for a weapon against me, Ms. Baylor. I can assure you of that.”

  Erith’s eyes widened. “How do you know my name?”

  “You’re known to us.”

  “Us? There are more of you here?”

  “No, just me and a thousand eyes. Did you really think you could just walk into a highly respected security office and not set off alarms?”

  Erith sighed. “I thought it was strange that I wasn’t greeted by the wailing of a million sirens. I thought I’d gotten lucky and that the owners were so sure that they were safe they hadn’t alarmed their own place.”

  “No one is truly safe, Ms. Baylor. And the owners of this business are not stupid.”

  “Who are you?”

  “Call me the Night Watchman, Ms. Baylor. You have no business being here.” Pagan leaned back against the wall, staying in the shadow. “Care to tell me why you are?”

  Erith tilted the flashlight up and caught Pagan in its beam. “How many night watchmen wear masks?” she asked, running the light down Pagan’s body. “Who are you?”

  “I’m someone who watches the city while it slumbers. And you are not sleeping.” Pagan took a step closer. “What’s on that computer that’s so important that you cannot rest?”

  Erith looked back at the screen. “I’m trying to tell myself that what I’m supposed to be doing is necessary.” She gestured to the screen with a wave of her hand. “But I’m failing miserably. I never even got as far as trying to find the password to let me in. I just don’t want to do it anymore.” She leaned back in the chair and stared at Pagan. “Do you ever feel you are being pulled in two directions at once? One way is the good and proper path and the other…” Erith once again toyed with the torch that lit up her face and unwittingly revealed the exhaustion etched on her fine features. “The other is the one you have to tread if you don’t want to trigger the consequences.”

  “What consequences will you face?”

  “The same ones I’ve dealt with all of my life. If I don’t do what is required of me, someone gets hurt.”

  “Is that someone you?”

  “If it were just me, I could handle it. I’m stronger than I look.”

  “I have no doubt of that,” Pagan murmured. “So make a stand. Don’t do what is expected of you. Let everyone face their own fate.”

  “People could die.”

  “And you’d be to blame?”

  “I’m always to blame.” Erith took a business card from her jacket pocket. “I’ve let them down again, but even worse, I’ve let her down. She gave me this card, trusted me with it and with her. And I used it to get this address and broke right into her business. She has shown me nothing but kindness, and this is how I repay her.” Erith put the card away. “What kind of friend am I?”

  “But you didn’t do what you came for.”

  “No, I didn’t, and I will pay for that dearly. I’ve already had to sell my soul and risk my job. I stayed late one night and left the place unlocked so that someone could come in and take something. Turned out to be my boss’s car.”

  “Take it away for what?”

  Erith shrugged. “I wasn’t privy to that piece of information. Just warned I needed to do it or else. So I did as I was told, like a good daughter should.” Erith clamped her mouth shut as if realizing what she had just admitted.

  “What does he need from here?”

  Erith switched the computer screen off abruptly, plunging them into near darkness. Only the light shining from the moon
outside lit the small office. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It matters to me, and it obviously mattered to you, otherwise you wouldn’t be in here trying to steal whatever it was that was so necessary.”

  “This company did the security system at the car dealership I work for. They also did his private home. I was sent to get the security codes for both, to copy the layouts and find out how to disable them.”

  “Any idea why?”

  “My father doesn’t fill me in on the details. He just uses threats and then follows through on them.”

  “Why didn’t you at least try to access the computer? The screensaver is nice and all, but you needed more information than that could give.”

  “Honestly? I’m frightened what this knowledge could be used for. Mr. Ammassari has been nothing but kind to me. And I’ve seen the news. There are nasty, despicable things happening in Chastilian, and I’m terrified my father is mixed up in it somehow. I won’t trade my life for Tito’s. Whatever my father is caught up in, they’re going to have to do it without my help anymore. I won’t be a part of the violence.”

  “Do you think your father is a part of the Phoenix’s gang?”

  Erith looked confused. “Phoenix?” She shook her head. “I haven’t heard of anyone connected to my dad with that name.”

  “What’s your father’s trade?”

  “He used to work in demolition,” Erith said. “As for what he’s doing now, he keeps it very quiet. But he’s out a lot, so the apartment knows a little peace. I’m thankful for small mercies.” She took a shaky breath. “Are you going to turn me in now?”

  “Let me just walk you home. You have no more business here tonight.” Pagan escorted Erith out of the office.

  “You’re not going to arrest me?”

  “I’m not a police officer. Besides, you couldn’t have gotten any information from that computer anyway. It’s got more encryptions than the pyramids have hieroglyphics.”

  “Do the Ronchettis employ you to watch over their business?”

  “I was in the neighborhood. It’s my duty to seek out those who are where they don’t belong.”

  “I don’t think I belong anywhere. And I really don’t want to go back home, but it seems I have nowhere else to go.”

  “Don’t you have any friends here in Chastilian?”

  “I have one friend,” Erith said finally.

  “Do you want to go to them?”

  “No, just take me home. She doesn’t deserve the baggage I bring along with me.”

  “She might think otherwise.”

  “Not tonight. Just let me go home.” Erith started down the pavement and halted suddenly. “What are you going to do about my father? Are you going to inform him his daughter gave him away to the Sentinels?”

  “No. He can remain ignorant in his bliss for now. But I need you to be careful around him, for your own sake.”

  “I have my bicycle here. I don’t need an escort all the way back home, as scintillating as your company has been this evening.” Erith seemed reluctant to go. Her gaze ran over Pagan’s uniform. “Are you really a Sentinel?”

  Pagan folded her arms. “What do you think?”

  “I think the tales we are told as kids are nothing compared to the reality of seeing one in the flesh. Do you really live to protect the city?”

  “As best we can.”

  “You know that there’s something really evil brewing here, don’t you? Here in Chastilian? My father seems to be involved, and he keeps trying to drag me in too. Can you stop him without him being hurt?”

  “We can try. Go home now, Erith. You’re safe tonight.”

  Erith let out a breathy laugh. “Sure I am, on the streets. It’s behind closed doors where Sentinels don’t step that the real danger lies.” With that said, she mounted her bicycle and pedaled away from the lighthouse.

  Pagan watched her go with a sinking feeling in her chest. “You can lock everything back up now,” she said for Melina’s ears.

  “Rogue’s nearly finished. You might as well come back in for the night.”

  Pagan watched Erith as she disappeared from her view. “She’s in more trouble than I realized.”

  “We’ll check closer into her family, see what the connection is she was talking of. I don’t think she’s any more involved except for what her father keeps pulling her into. But she needs to be warned. She’s mixing with the wrong people and could get dragged deeper into their violence.”

  Pagan stared into the distance, not seeing anything but the red rage that was rapidly filling her sight. “Then her guardian angel needs to get her ass in gear, because they’re starting to let their charge stand too close to the Phoenix’s flames.”

  Pagan began to run in the opposite direction. She channeled all her fury, her disbelief, and her helplessness at Erith’s predicament into pounding her feet on the pavement. Her mind was whirling with accusations and anger at Erith’s stupidity for getting involved in something that could only end badly. Pagan followed the Sentinel way of life, but she also understood not everyone saw the world as she did. It was like a knife edge ripping into her flesh to realize that she had fallen in love with someone who apparently had started to follow the darker path in life. Pagan skidded to a halt so abruptly that she caught her shoulder on the edge of a building and spun herself around. For a long moment she stood doubled over, gasping for air, feeling the dull pain starting up in her still-damaged flesh. The night air burned her lungs as she sucked it in, and she tried to steady her frantic heartbeat.

  Fallen in love. Pagan lowered her head and closed her eyes against the truth. She gingerly straightened and pushed away from the wall. She looked up at the stars that had been her constant companions for so many years while she was out on patrol.

  I’ve fallen for a bad girl. I finally make a connection with someone, and she’s working for the other side! She shook her head at the stars. Is this part of my destiny? To fight against evil, to avenge my parents’ deaths, and to stupidly fall for the one redhead who happens to be unwittingly helping my archnemesis, Phoenix?

  “Pagan, are you all right?” Melina’s voice came softly over the comlink.

  Pagan stood up straighter and gave the stars one last curious look. “I’m fine, Sighted. Just marveling at the universe and its crazy plan for us all.”

  “Come home, stargazer.”

  Pagan jogged back toward the lighthouse whose beam called her home. But all the way there, she looked back over her shoulder at the indiscernible tugging that drew her heart in another direction.

  *

  “Sighted, you’ve been awfully quiet in my ear this hour.” Rogue spoke softly over the comlink. She was watching the police car finally drive away and was surprised to notice that Pagan was no longer in position.

  “I called Pagan back to the lighthouse. We caught a Red Fox raiding the chicken coop.”

  “Say again?”

  “We had a visitor in the lighthouse office.”

  Rogue began to head home. “And you let them in why?” She knew all too well that the lighthouse was fitted with enough security to scare away anyone daring to even lay a finger on the doorknob after hours.

  “I was intrigued as to why she was daring to break and enter a place that has to be alarmed.”

  “This Red Fox of yours, do I know her?”

  “It’s Erith Baylor.”

  “I’ll kill her!” Rogue fumed, her anger putting an extra speed to her step.

  “Which is why I called Pagan away to deal with her. It would appear our fair Fox isn’t pulling the strings but having hers pulled instead.”

  “A certain father figure in the background, perhaps?”

  “I’ll put out a more intense search on him. I don’t think he’s just a bully to his family. I think something bigger might be involved where he is concerned. And I found something out tonight. Seems Baylor knows his way around explosives. He’s a demolitions expert.”

  “He’s a worthy member to
have on your team if you want mayhem and destruction to be your signature.” Rogue clutched the files tightly in her hands. “I have information too. I have a picture of Phoenix’s gang taken in your father’s restaurant, and you won’t believe whose face I recognize. None other than our friendly neighborhood car dealer, Tito Ammassari.”

  “No wonder he wanted security,” Melina said.

  “I think he’s preparing for a visit from a new friend with an old name.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The next morning, Pagan called the Ammassari Dealership and was told that Erith had called in sick. Pagan hung up.

  “Who you calling?”

  “Erith never came to work today.”

  “She was out late last night trying to hack into our computers. Maybe she was too tired to go in today,” Rogue replied, her irritation more than apparent.

  Pagan tried to ignore Rogue’s simmering anger. “She’s been out much later than that and still come into work. I’m just worried something happened when she got home.”

  “You need to keep your mind fixed on those sales slips and off the sneak thief.”

  “Rogue!” Pagan was incensed by Rogue’s remark.

  “What are you going to do? Drive over there only to turn up on her doorstep and question why she isn’t at work? You’re going to look pretty damn foolish if she’s off with a stomach bug or something equally contagious. Keep your mind on the job at hand, Pagan. We have a business to run.”

  “I’m just worried about her. It took a great amount of nerve for her not to attempt access to what she’d been sent to retrieve last night.”

  “If she is in danger we’ll race in, batons blazing, okay? I don’t want to see her hurt any more than you do.” Rogue paused a moment, then qualified, “Even if I am mad as hell at her at the moment.”

  “Thank you, Rogue.”

  Pagan had learned all too painfully that a Sentinel needed to keep her identity hidden. Falling for a woman who might ultimately betray her because of her own loyalty to family only added to Pagan’s dilemma. Erith was linked, however unwittingly, with the Phoenix, which could carry dire consequences where the Sentinels were concerned. Pagan let out a deep sigh, torn between her loyalty to her family and the love she felt for Erith. As a Sentinel she was sworn to protect, but how could she protect someone who might ultimately bring all her secrets to light?