All of it had been for naught, or so Jen felt. She tried telling herself that she could make an insurance claim, but she knew better. Pyrotechnics on the roof and a bunch of dead bodies on the inside weren’t something that any insurance policy covered.
She’d get stonewalled for sure, especially when the police reports came back that there had been gunfire in the building itself. Jen wasn’t sure how much the police would be able to piece together, but she knew that the damage the bullets had caused to her workout machines would still be readable even after the fires ravaged everything else in the building. Jen glanced to her left to see if she could tell what Seth was thinking about but he just looked pensive.
Seth could feel Jen’s eyes on him and intentionally didn’t meet her gaze. He felt responsible for what had happened. He had known better than to allow them to fool around, but instead of doing what he knew to be best he had done the opposite. He wanted to tell Jen it was all his fault that her business lay in ruins. Seth couldn’t though, there would be too many intimate details about them fucking that would be revealed to the group.
He didn’t feel like getting heckled by Mike and Nate. Seth thought that Wiz would stay out of it but it was hard to tell with him sometimes. Earlier, when Mike had made the remark about the burned down dojang being a “nojang” Seth had flinched. Some of this had to be their fault. Maybe Mike would blame it all on Earl, but Seth would still feel fairly responsible. Sure, if Earl wouldn’t have fucked around like an idiot and killed someone with a camera, maybe things would have gone differently, but how differently?
When their little vigilante group, the Knights Templar, had been formed it had been partly out of fun, not just for economic gain. Sure, getting paid helped pay the rent and the bills so that was a big part of it, but it had always been about how fun it had been to combat people who thought they were smarter than everyone else.
Up until now they had mostly taken care of people that were essentially bullies. Jealous exes, angry employees, crooked bosses and other assholes had been the main thing they had had to deal with. There had never been any commandos dressed in scary body armor wielding giant machine guns before, and quite frankly Seth was starting to feel that they were all a little bit out of their league. As Seth glanced around the van he caught Nate’s eye.
Nate raised one of his eyebrows slowly and Seth nodded slightly. Seth knew Nate was thinking the same thing. They had been working together for a little over a year now and Seth knew that Nate would think they were in way over their head. What had they asked for in payment when this thing had started?
“It might be time to stop pretending we are vigilantes,” Seth said.
“I second the motion,” Nate said.
“You mean you don’t want to make money working for me?” John said.
“No,” Mike said. “We want your money; we just need to work something out real quick.”
A silence settled over the van for a second, then Jen spoke.
“You guys don’t want to protect me anymore?” Jen asked.
“It’s not that,” Seth said. “It’s that we are completely in over our heads right now.”
“Totally and completely in over our heads,” Nate said.
Jen couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but then again she couldn’t believe most of what had happened today.
“Jen,” Mike said. “It’s not that we are abandoning you. I mean, you aren’t leaving our sight until all of this is over, but we pretty much failed to protect your property.”
“And we were doing this for pretty much free, if I remember right,” Nate said.
“You guys wanted free passes to the dojang for life,” Jen said in a flat voice. “I guess I can’t give passes to something that doesn’t exist.”
“Jen, to tell you the truth, this is the biggest job we ever took on,” Seth said. “We usually just handle assholes or bullies.”
Jen started to tear up and sniffle as she looked out the window, her face hard. The dojang was barely even smoking now and the fire trucks were pulling away in the twilight.
“It’s nothing personal, Jen,” Mike said. “And like I said you’ve got to stick with us anyway. Now we are doing some quick work for Mr. Government Agent back there, and hopefully that will clear all of this up for you.”
“I’d be happy to make sure that the insurance company honors their agreement to reimburse you for fire damage,” John said. “I do feel badly about how your place burned to the ground. It was very unfortunate but couldn’t be helped.”
“That would be super of you,” Jen said in a bitchy tone of voice. “You’ve all been so helpful.”
“Lady,” Nate said. “I don’t mean to get all shitty but I seem to remember watching one of my coworkers get sawed in half today with a fucking machine gun.”
“I’m pretty sure I killed someone today,” Wiz said from the back of the van.
“That you did Wiz,” Mike said. “That was some good shooting, by the way.”
“They call me the Wizard,” Wiz said with a smile on his face.
Nate chuckled for a second until Jen glared at him like she wanted to claw his eyes out.
“Enough,” John said calmly. “I understand everyone has been under an enormous amount of stress today, and I get that all of this is very new to all of you, but I’m going to need each and every one of you to have your eyes up and alert, your heads clear, and all of that. The people that burned down that building aren’t exactly fucking around. I’m not sure if any of you have noticed but they have every intention of killing us and then burning down whatever building we might be in at the time.”
“I did notice that, yeah,” Mike said while he bobbed his head and smiled sarcastically. “It’s almost like I’m not an idiot.”
“Listen,” John said. “I don’t think any of you are idiots. If you were, you’d be dead instead of sitting here chatting with me. I do need all of you to follow my lead and do as I say though, and not just because I’m paying you, but because your lives depend on it. And mine.”
As the sun dipped below the horizon everything cast a long shadow. The trees were silhouetted by a sunset that painted the sky in colors of blush, rose and some yellow tints. Everyone was quite for awhile, until John spoke again.
“All right,” John said. “I left the trunk unlocked, all you should have to do is pull up on it and it will unlatch. Once it is opened grab the three or four large pelican cases and the two duffle bags and load them in the back of this van. After that we’ll make for my hotel room.”
“Where is that?” Mike asked.
“Downtown,” John said. “In one of the few skyscrapers in this little city.”
“Fair enough,” Nate said. “Let’s get this shit over with.”
Without too much bitching and moaning the pelican cases and the duffle bags were loaded into the van and Mike slowly pulled away from the burning dojang. The police had taped off the front entrance, but besides that it didn’t appear that they were making an effort to keep anyone out. Jen wondered if that meant they hadn’t found any bodies in the burned-out building or if they were planning on looking tomorrow. If there were bodies in the building she would have to rely on John to make things right, or she would be absolutely fucked. Jen wondered if John was really with the NSA like he said. She couldn’t remember if he’d shown them a badge or not, but that didn’t mean much considering how much crazy shit had happened so far that day.
Chapter Seven
The ride downtown was uneventful. When they got to the hotel John was staying in he told them to wait in the van while he ran in real quick and did something. When he came back out he informed everyone that they each had their own rooms for the night, courtesy of the United States Government.
“Aww, yeah,” Wiz said with a smile on his face. “Going to get trashed on the government’s dime tonight.”
“I’m going to need everyone to be bright-eyed tomorrow around ten in the morning,” John said, standing outside the open side door of the van wh
ile it idled in front of the hotel. “So that means overdo it tonight. I’m not saying anyone should stay sober, unless they want to that is, I’m just saying that if you can’t handle your booze then don’t booze it up.”
“Thanks dad,” Mike said. “I’m glad you are here to tell me how to live my life. Without you I’d probably go drink a fifth of liquor and decide to jump out of my hotel window.”
John scowled at Mike before continuing.
“I’ll need all of the cases and bags brought up to my room before everyone turns in for the night,” John said. “I plan on paying all of you in the morning, by the way. I know that will make some of you happy.”
“It’ll make me real happy,” Nate said. “Considering I saved your life today and I hate the government with a fiery passion.”
“And I appreciate it,” John said. “Believe me.”
John reached out and playfully bopped Nate on the chin like he was a little kid. Nate bared his teeth immediately and Mike had to give him a sharp look to get him to settle down.
“Whoa there, tiger,” John said. “Don’t bite the hand that is going to give you money in the morning.”
“I’m not getting any money from you in the morning; does that mean I get to bite?” Jen said.
“Only if you want to,” John said with a wry smirk on his face. “But I do plan on writing something out that should make sure that the insurance company doesn’t somehow fuck you out of your money once it learns how sordid the arson of your dojang was. There is going to be no hiding it from the fire department when they sift through the rubble tomorrow. I’m not sure what kind of devices the heavily armored asshole threw on top of your building, but I am sure that they didn’t just turn to dust after they were done burning.”
“Meaning what, exactly?” Seth asked. Seth’s mind was burnt out from the long day, and as much as he hated the sound of John’s voice, he just wanted the NSA man to tell them in plain speak what was going on.
“Meaning that the insurance company will be notified that the dojang burning down was arson and, being as insurance companies are, they might want there to be a huge investigation done to make sure that our friend Jen here didn’t have anything to do with it,” Johns explained. “Once the cops realize the place was shot the fuck up they will be infinitely interested. But, I can throw everything off with a little something from my pen.”
John paused for a moment then looked around at everyone’s face inside the van.
“Is that all the questions everyone has for me?” John asked. “If there are any other questions, ask them now.”
“How do we get a hold of you in the morning,” Mike asked. “I don’t exactly have your cell phone number.”
“Not to worry,” John said. “I’ll be getting a hold of you all via telephone call circa ten in the morning, no doubt about that.”
When it became apparent there would be no more questions Mike, Nate and Wiz started grabbing the cases and bags they had hauled out of the black sedan while Seth walked Jen up to her hotel room.
“I can help you guys carry stuff up,” Jen said in protest as Seth walked her into an elevator and hit the floor all of their rooms were on. “I’m strong like you guys. I can help.”
“I know you can,” Seth said. “You’ve had a long and fairly traumatic day, though. We all have. The rest of the guys think it would be best if you turned in while we hauled everything up.”
“How do you know?” Jen asked with a laugh. “It’s not like you had any alone time with them to ask.”
“I just know that’s what they think,” Seth said. “I mean, I have been working with them for a few years now. It’s not very often that we need to stop and compare notes anymore.”
The elevator lurched upward, picking up speed quickly. After a few seconds it chimed and the doors swooshed open.
“I want you to sleep with me tonight,” Jen blurted out. “And I don’t mean we have to do anything, I just want your company.”
Seth hesitated.
“Do I have to say I’m scared? Is that what has to happen?” Jen said angrily. “Listen asshole, I just want to spend some time with you so you’d better come keep me company.”
The elevator door swished closed and Seth quickly hit the button to hold the elevator on the floor they were at, then hit the button to open the doors.
“All right, all right,” Seth said with a smile on his face. “I’ll at least come visit you before I go to bed, but I’m not promising I can spend the night.”
“Well, I guess that will have to do for now,” Jen said as she slid the card to her room through the electric lock on the door handle. “But you’d better be ready to spend the night is all I’m saying.”
“We’ll see,” Seth said with a smirk on his face.
By the time Seth made it back down to the first floor and out through the lobby all of the cases and bags had been unloaded. Seth stood outside of the hotel for a moment looking around for the van until he caught sight of Mike smoking a cigarette.
“Fucking sucks how Iowa is all stuck up about letting people smoke in their rooms,” Mike said.
“Aren’t there smoking rooms in hotels in Iowa anymore?” Seth said.
“Maybe somewhere,” Mike said. “But it would certainly appear that there are none here.”
Seth stood shifting his feet from one to the other while Mike puffed on his smoke.
“You out of smokes?” Mike asked.
“Naw,” Seth said. “Just not in the mood. Sometimes when I get really stressed out it makes me not want to smoke, for whatever reason. I guess my body is kind of weird.”
Mike stood quietly for a moment as he smoked.
“So me and Wiz opened up one of the cases while Nate was helping John with another,” Mike said, and then let out a low whistle. “And let me tell you what, John wasn’t fucking around when he said he had guns with him.”
“What kind of guns?” Seth asked. “If you can describe them to me I’ll probably know what they are from my time in the military.”
“I don’t know enough about guns to even start to describe them in any way that won’t make me sound like an idiot,” Mike said. “But these things are motherfucking antiaircraft weapons. For real.”
“Did they have any names on them?” Seth asked. “Or bear any insignias?”
“Nope,” Mike said. “All black everything. Black steel, black stocks, black trigger guards, black triggers and black ammunition.”
“Black ammunition?” Seth said incredulously.
“Well, all right,” Mike said. “Maybe I didn’t see the ammunition but I wouldn’t be surprised if that ends up being black as well.”
Mike flicked his cigarette out into the street.
“So what’s up with you and home girl, anyway?” Mike said. “I mean, besides the fact that you two are fucking and what not. That’s pretty obvious, by the way. In case you were wondering.”
“I’m not really sure what is up with us,” Seth said. “I mean, yeah we are fucking, but besides that she has seemed super sketched out by any feelings she has had towards me in the past. The first night we fucked she offered to pay me!”
“Offered to pay you?” Mike said.
“Yeah, offered to pay me. Like I’m some kind of prostitute or something,” Seth said.
“Damn,” Mike said. “That might be the coolest fucking thing I have ever heard. I mean, I’ve fucked my fair share of girls but no one has ever offered to pay me afterwards it was so good.”
“Listen asshole,” Seth said, trying not to smile. “Maybe it sounds cool but it really hurts my feelings since I actually kind of like her. I don’t want her thinking that I’m some kind of hooker. Not that there is anything wrong with hookers, it’s just that I wasn’t fucking her for any other reason except that I wanted to fuck her. You know?”
“Of course I know,” Mike said. “It’s fucking. It’s not that complicated or everyone would fuck it up.”
“So what do you think the deal is with
her offering me money?” Seth said.
“Well,” Mike said. “My first thought is that she felt something real for you, besides your penis, and this scared her badly enough that she tried to shut the whole thing down by pissing you the fuck off.”
“Maybe,” Seth said.
“No maybe about it, my man,” Mike said, clapping Seth on the back. “You gave her some of the good dick, and she got some feelings.”
Mike let out a loud laugh as they turned to walk back into the hotel lobby.
“On the real,” Mike said, just before they crossed through the doors. “It’s pretty obvious that she actually likes you, and not just for your ding-a-ling.”
Seth didn’t have time to reply. As soon as they walked in the lobby they saw John wave at them from the hotel bar that was just through the lobby. Beside him, bellied up to the bar, were both the Wizard and Nate.
“Well, well, well,” Nate said as Mike and Seth approached. “I’m sure Seth was just talking to you about how scared he is to go make love to Jen in a few minutes.”
Seth’s jaw flexed as he bit down on his tongue. He liked Nate, but Nate always had a habit of ribbing him just the right way as to piss him off.
“Now, now, Seth,” Wizard said. “Don’t be mad.”
“Friend, you are far too young not to fornicate like a rabbit,” John said lifting a tumbler full of liquor in Seth’s general direction. “What will you drink, Mike?”
“I’ll take a scotch on the rocks,” Mike said sitting down next to Nate.
“And what about you, Seth?” John asked.
“I better get upstairs,” Seth said.
“Nope,” John said. “You’d better get your ass to a bar stool. You have time enough for a single drink.”
Seth sauntered over to the bar stool by the Wizard and ordered a beer. As the bartender poured him a pint Nate started to talk to Mike about tattooing, and Wiz kept chiming in over John, who seemed content to just smile and listen. Seth was all mixed up in his head, though, and didn’t feel like talking about art, or tattooing. He watched as a soldier on the television screen in front of him was air lifted to safety from a firefight in Afghanistan.
Knights Templar (Sean) Page 12