Truth Behind the Mask

by Lesley Davis

  “None of us come out before dark,” Pagan said. “Chastilian is supposed to hear rumors but never exactly know what really happens once night falls. That’s the way it’s always been, daylight holds the night terrors at bay.”

  “Something is going on,” Melina said, and clattered away at her keyboard. “I need you and Rogue out there. The other Sentinels are already being deployed in this area. It looks like something is going to go down here tonight.” She pointed to a specific screen.

  Pagan leaned closer to the monitor to see. “The Ammassari Dealership. They’re going after the car lot?”

  Rogue finished fastening up her jacket. “It certainly looks like he’s their next target. The extra camera I deployed at the lot has been showing us the goings-on at his place. The alarms must be going off, so Ammassari has to be aware of what is happening there. We’re going to lend our weight there too.”

  Pagan hastily got changed and gathered up her equipment. She looked to Melina for her final orders.

  “Your city awaits, Sentinels,” she said. “Be careful and come home safe to me. To me and Erith.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  The city lights sparkled in the darkness of the night. The stars competed to shine even brighter than their electricity-driven counterparts. The silent heavens above offered no competition for the blaring alarms that signified the disturbance Pagan could clearly see before her. Here there were no towers to look down from; Pagan and Rogue had taken to a motorcycle and ridden to the car lot. They parked in an adjacent unused yard. Pagan slipped from the back of the motorcycle and drew out her night vision binoculars to survey the scene.

  “What are they doing?” Rogue asked as they watched a team of Phoenix’s men congregated in a huddle at the perimeter of the Ammassari lot. The alarms were ringing out at a deafening rate. The front gates were buckled and torn, hanging from their frames in a tangled mass. “It looks like we missed the explosives blowing the gates off.”

  “Guess Baylor doesn’t have to be here to have his handiwork put to good use,” Pagan said, angry at his involvement and what it meant for Erith. “I can see about twenty men in the lot. Some have very bulky cylinders strapped to their backs.” Pagan focused in more closely. “Okay, those aren’t fashionable backpacks. Mel, please confirm I’m seeing multiple flamethrowers.” She listened to Melina’s acknowledgment. “Then I am seeing some major firepower in the lot, with great emphasis on the word fire. Mel. Please call in the fire crews. This is not going to end well if they have these things to play with.”

  “They’re wearing the bandanas again,” Rogue said. “Wonder if that’s to protect their identities?”

  Pagan watched as one man readied his flamethrower. “Or it could be to protect them from the smell of the fuel that seems to be leaking out everywhere from that nozzle. He’s all but standing in a pool of it.” She watched as some men ran inside the lot and through the cars on the tiered display area. She thought they were spilling something over the vehicles, but Rogue directed her attention elsewhere.

  “We have company.”

  Pagan was heartened to see Casper and Earl heading in their direction. The two men crowded in close at Pagan and Rogue’s vantage point.

  Earl nodded his head back from where they’d come from. “We have Sentinels amassing. They are circling the perimeter of this lot.”

  Casper signed swiftly for Pagan’s eyes.

  “Circling the circlers, eh? Just stay far away from the flame-throwers. We don’t want any crispy critters in Sentinel garb tonight.”

  Two cars drove past the hidden Sentinels, up to the gates of the lot, and were allowed to pass through.

  “Aren’t those the same cars that we saw at the casino?” Earl asked as he pulled out his own binoculars to check.

  “That leaves one car still unaccounted for,” Rogue said. “Ammassari’s car.”

  Earl got a faraway look that Pagan recognized all too well as someone listening to their Sighted’s reports over the comlink. “Speaking of which, Ammassari isn’t at his place of residence.”

  “Do you think he knew this was going down and got himself and his family out of the city?”

  Earl listened again before answering Rogue. “Seems his family left days ago, flew overseas to visit relatives. Only Tito was left to clear up business. He’s not at home. One of the Sentinels has just gone to check out his property. They said that no one was there but the front door was wide open and the alarm was not going off. They searched the whole house. It’s deserted.”

  Rogue’s brow furrowed. “That can only mean he switched the alarms off himself. He alone had the code to do that. He’s got surveillance cameras and everything at his home. He’d have to see what was happening here. Which doesn’t explain why he fled and left his house unprotected.” She shrugged. “As long as he’s out of the way, then it’s just Phoenix’s men we have to contend with.”

  “Everyone is in position.” Melina’s voice came over Pagan’s comlink. “Engage when ready.”

  Pagan put away her binoculars. She caught the rush of flame being ignited, and the flame handlers all prepared their nozzles. The streams of fire were aimed at the front row of prestige cars, igniting the gasoline that had been sprayed over them, and the vehicles exploded into flames. For a long moment, Pagan was sent spinning back to the night her parents were killed. It was all so terrifyingly familiar. She blinked hard to dispel her thoughts. The feelings from that night so long ago froze her in place. She was jostled by Earl nudging past her, and the spell was mercifully broken.

  Casper drew her attention. Pagan smiled at him distractedly.

  “Nothing like watching a car go up in flames to make you wish you’d stayed in tonight.” His eyes lowered and he patted her arm in understanding. He flexed his arm at her and pointed to her own sizable bulk. Pagan got his meaning loud and clear.

  “Yes, I’m a big girl now.” She scanned the area and saw the Sentinels closing in. “And it’s time to fight fire with fire.”

  *

  Pagan had long since learned that there were certain times when strategies and tactics had no place in a Sentinel’s plan of action. Especially when facing off against men armed with evil intent and flamethrowers. The acrid smell of fuel choked the air, and Pagan gagged on the odor.

  “Take them out,” Rogue said, gesturing for them to split up and tackle a man each. Other Sentinels arrived, strengthening the numbers.

  Casper signed swiftly. Pagan nodded and shared his jubilation. “Yes, the gang’s all here. It’s a shame it’s not under better circumstances.” She ducked a fist that was aimed at her head as she ran past one of Phoenix’s men. “Like one with less fighting and maybe a barbeque the only thing with a flame.” She detached her escrima sticks and rounded on the man who had tried to hit her. She struck at him, raining crippling blows to his hands, and heard the satisfying sound of bones breaking. As he screamed in pain and cradled his hands to his chest, Pagan cold-cocked him with her elbow and laid him out. She ran toward the flame- thrower standing in the center of the car lot.

  The cars were all alight on their podiums, the sleek lines of the chassis and every chrome wheel trim warped and ruined in the intense heat. The flamethrowers spewed out their rain of fire, and it ate away at everything in sight.

  Pagan brought her escrima stick down with force on the wrist of the flame handler. He yelled in pain, the nozzle dipping dangerously from his grasp. The flame continued to pour from the tip, igniting the spilled fuel at his feet. He went up in flames instantly. Pagan froze as she watched the fire lick up his body like a living thing. It raced up his clothes and burned into his flesh. Pagan could hear Melina screaming in her ear, but she couldn’t see anything past the man burning before her eyes. Just like her daddy had.

  Pagan could feel the heat touch her skin and came to her senses enough to jump back out of the fire at her feet. Casper came running past her and pushed the man to the ground away from the fire spreading there. Casper tugged the fuel cylinde
rs off the man’s back, then began to roll him over in the dirt to put the flames out. Casper left the man on the ground; his pitiful wails rent the air.

  “I froze. I saw the flames on him and I just froze.”

  Casper shook her.

  “I’m okay, I think. Why does everything have to involve fire?”

  The Ammassari Dealership was ruined. Flames engulfed every car that had been on display, and fire ripped through the walls of the office building. An explosion suddenly tore apart the roof, and the inside of the dealership exploded with fireworks.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Rogue exclaimed over her comlink.

  Pagan looked up as the night sky glittered with every sort of firework imaginable. The air was filled with whistles and explosions as rockets flew high and dropped their multicolored sparkles down over the city.

  “I am sick and tired of this Phoenix’s theatrics,” Rogue grumbled as she rejoined Pagan.

  The flame throwers had been disabled and the Sentinels were fighting at much closer quarters. Pagan spotted the crane of a fire truck rising above the fencing. “The fire crews are here.”

  Rogue saw them too and gestured to a few Sentinels. “Protect the rigs. Make sure none of these idiots get close to the firemen.”

  A fireman readied his hose to spray down on the fire that engulfed the car lot. Pagan saw another fire truck arrive, followed closely by a police car. “We’re too late. Why can’t we ever stop a disaster before it’s already set too far in motion?”

  “No doubt the Phoenix has had this planned out to the nth degree, Sentinel. All we can do sometimes is damage control.” Rogue looked around the car lot. “I think a certain Red Fox might have to look elsewhere for employment after tonight.”

  Pagan’s shoulders slumped. “I hadn’t even thought of that.” She heard something odd behind her and turned to see a car ramming its way through the car lot, nearly striking them. It smashed into what was left of the main office building, crumpling its front end. The sound was sickening. Pagan turned and saw a tall, slender man standing just outside the car lot. He sketched her a salute then turned and ran.

  “Son of a bitch!” Rogue pushed past Pagan and ran after him.

  Pagan focused her attention on the car. She edged closer to it, afraid of what she might find, knowing Phoenix’s penchant for explosives. She was horrified to see Tito Ammassari, still alive, bound and gagged in the front seat and tied to the steering wheel. Pagan rushed to help him. Ammassari’s face was battered and bloody, his eyes dazed and bloodshot. Pagan tugged at the car door. It had been crushed in the crash, and she had to use all her strength to wrench it open. It creaked and buckled as she managed to pull it free of the frame. Pagan pulled out the gag wedged in Tito’s mouth. He gasped for air.

  “It’s Phoenix. It’s his bastard kid come back to haunt us all.”

  *

  Rogue ran out of the car lot after Phoenix.

  “He’s going to end up out on the main road after a sharp left turn,” Melina said over the comlink.

  “I’m gaining on him.” Rogue cut the corner sharply and skidded to a halt. Her head whipped around, searching. “Where the hell did he go?” She jogged forward, searching the surrounding street. The main road was lined by street lamps. Their glow did nothing to reveal another pedestrian.

  Rogue spun in circles, looking everywhere in each direction. She even looked up as if expecting to see him climbing the walls of the surrounding buildings.

  “Sighted, any ideas where he’s just vanished to?” She was furious as she realized just how close she’d come to catching him only to have him vaporize into thin air.

  “There’s no sign, Rogue. Wherever he went, he did so fast.”

  Rogue took one last look around, then headed back toward the car lot. She kicked a metal trash can at the side of the road, and the noise rattled through the silence.

  “Damn him. Damn him and his father to hell and back!”

  *

  Pagan tried to loosen the thick rope that tied Ammassari to the steering wheel. “You have to tell me the names of the last two men in the photo the police showed you, Tito. I need to know so we can help them.”

  Ammassari shook his head and seemed to drift off a little. “They’re okay. I haven’t heard from them in days, so I think they have left the city far behind them.”

  Pagan looked up at his battered face and wondered what other injuries he had. He seemed delirious. “The Phoenix is smarter than that, and you know it. What are their names? Who were the last members of the older Phoenix’s gang?”

  Ammassari stared at her, then his focus shifted as if he were seeing another night, so long ago. “We went out that night, looking for trouble. We were young, felt the city owed us. But we never expected Xander to expect us to kill. We’d thieve for him. We’d beat anyone up, but murder was nothing we wanted a part in. That night, we thought we were going to put the scare on a business owner who was making Xander’s life a misery. We never expected there to be kids with them when we got them out of the car. Or a woman. But Xander wanted them to see he meant business, so we went along with him. None of us were comfortable with hitting the woman, so Xander came and showed us himself how he dealt with folk.” He closed his eyes as if to block out the memory. “He snapped her neck. I heard it so loud in my ears. She was screaming and then she just…stopped. Then he kicked the man in the head until he stopped moving. I didn’t even know who the Osbornes were. We were just following orders.” Ammassari looked at Pagan. “We all ran off after. Me and the guys went and hid out at a house we knew. Xander went and played cards all night as if nothing had happened. It was just another night for him, getting business sorted and marking his territory.”

  Pagan managed to free the rope and released his hands from the wheel. “Did you have him killed?”

  Ammassari managed a small smile that broke open the dried blood on his face and caused it to trickle freely down his cheek. “That we did. We wanted nothing to do with him. The killing of the Osbornes was only going to be the start of his reign of terror. So we put out a contract on him, and some guy in the lockup got paid very handsomely for putting us all out of our misery.” Ammassari turned his head slightly, revealing a nasty cut on his other cheek. “Then we all went legit. The jeweler, the gambler, the car man, the banker, and the football fan. We all turned ourselves around and made ourselves over.”

  “The football fan?” Pagan searched for anything else attaching him to the car. He seemed unable to move.

  “Vance Deaver, owns the football stadium.” Ammassari coughed and blood began to dribble from his mouth.

  “And the banker? Do you mean the August Dawn bank?”

  “Jackson Menard, married into the biggest banking family in Chastilian.” Ammassari’s breathing began to waver. He gasped and panted, and more blood oozed from his lips. He looked at Pagan for a moment and grasped her arm weakly. “Will you tell that Osborne girl, the older one, I’m sorry? I never had the guts to tell her myself. I wanted to, but just couldn’t bring myself to face her. You see, I was the one holding on to her and the little one. I was so frightened that Xander would harm them too. Tell her I got the bastard for her. We got him good.” He sank down in the seat. “You need to stop his son. The Sentinels got Phoenix put away and we got him stopped. You need to capture his son now. Wipe him from the face of the earth and scatter the ashes so that no Phoenix can ever rise again.” His eyes rolled back and he groaned in pain.

  Pagan got up quickly and smashed the back window of the car with her elbow so she could see what was holding him in place. A tire iron had been shoved through the seat and had pierced Ammassari’s spine, securing him in the driver’s seat for his final ride in his own stolen vehicle. She heard a crackling and saw the flames from the building climbing up the hood of the car.

  “I need to get you out of here.” Pagan waved over some of the others. Ammassari’s words stopped her.

  “It’s too late.” He smiled up at her. “My
dying will be such a relief. I’ve had the burden of that night weighing so heavily on my shoulders. It will be nice to let it go.” His eyes closed and his chest hitched.

  Pagan leaned in closer to him. “Tito?” she whispered. “I was the other kid you saved that night.” She watched as his eyes opened fractionally and his smile widened.

  “I saved a Sentinel? That’s got to go in my favor, right?”

  “I’d say so.” Pagan knelt by the side of the car and felt the stinging touch of the water hit her face as the fire engine’s hose reached their side of the lot. She could tell Ammassari was fading fast, and for all he’d done that fateful night, she couldn’t bring herself to hate him. She took his hand and felt him grip it. “Say hi to my parents for me when you see them.”

  “I’ll tell them you grew up so big,” Ammassari promised, then breathed his last.

  Pagan bit back a sob as she watched over him and was thankful for the water that soaked her face and hid her tears. She bowed her head beside the car and let the water drench her, washing her clean of Tito’s blood.

  *

  Pagan and Rogue rode the lighthouse elevator in silence. Pagan felt bone tired and more than ready to get in her bed and sleep through Sunday.

  “We need to get some cream on those burns of yours,” Rogue said, peering at Pagan’s hands. “You wanted to stay and help the fire crews, and look what happened.”

  “I was just trying to lend a hand. I didn’t realize that I’d scorch my gloves and get burned. I’ll go change into something more comfortable and come back for you to check them out.”

  The doors opened and Melina rushed into Rogue’s waiting arms. They held each other tightly for a long moment and then Melina hugged Pagan. She kissed her forehead.

  “You did a wonderful thing out there tonight.”

  “I gather you heard Tito’s last words for you?”