The Angels' Mirror Pack 2: Books Four through Seven

by Harmony L. Courtney

  Certainly HUVA could trace and track them if they were, indeed, just vacationing. Or even if they were in search of Calico, Romeo, and Angus. That would have been too obvious and evident, if her brother and sister-in law had shown up in Mississippi after moving to the town where she, Romeo, and Angus had hidden away to live.

  So where could they have gone?

  As Brice said, there were no tickets out of the country in any form or mode, so unless they somehow illegally got access to a HUVA transporting unit – and there were only five in the world that Calico knew of – then how would the pair have gone anywhere without notice?

  Her brother certainly wasn’t a scientist, and while her sister-in-law was sneakily smart, she couldn’t see either of them figuring a transporter out if their lives depended on it.

  She’d seen photos of controllers for them on the internet, and it made her head hurt just thinking about it.

  “Angus, are you sure you don’t want any more of this quiche before I set it aside for leftovers,” she called gently to her son, who was working on a puzzle at the dining room table, the pendant lamp overhead giving off enough light that it spread across the floor to where she was.

  “Don’t want any,” he said, even as someone knocked on the door.

  “Are you expecting someone,” she asked him, and he nodded.

  “Who?”

  “Why, Cassidy and Bishop and Prudence and Amos, of course. Silly Mama, don’t you ‘member?”

  As she smiled at him, he beamed back at her, then ran for the ramp up to the door. “Who is it,” he asked, as he had been taught, his voice stronger than she’d heard in a long time.

  “Cassidy and Prudence,” she heard through the door. “Amos and Bishop, they cannot make it today. Sorry.”

  Angus looked up at her with tears in his eyes and frowned, then opened the door to the women who had joined them for the day. For a few moments, his face crumpled into sadness, but then he began to brighten: half of the people who were going to spend time with him had shown up.

  What was it that they were here for again? She couldn’t recall in the slightest, her thoughts still occupied with that horrible dream she’d had. She sensed gooseflesh prickle up on her arms, and a shiver coursed through her at the sensation of it; and not for the first time that day.

  “Are you ready to go swimming,” Prudence – dolled up to look like Raggedy Ann for the day – asked the boy. “It looks like the weather will be nice, and I think we’ll have a lot of fun, even without Amos and Bishop.”

  Cassidy, her clothes as mismatched and ill-fitting as ever, ran a hand over her wrinkled pastel pink blouse and the line where it met a bright green tulip skirt as she nodded her agreement. “Definitely nice weather, Angus. And we’ve got a surprise for you, to boot.”

  Somehow, these two women had endeared themselves quickly to Calico and her family, even though they were so different from them.

  And perhaps that was why they had.

  Like Calico, they were misfits. Though looking nothing like the broken toys in the Christmas movie, it was as if this hotel were an island unto itself in the midst of the city around them. And it suited them all quite well.

  “I’m sorry,” she replied as her son ran up the ramp to his room to gather his things. “I completely forgot about the swimming lessons today, and then there was-”

  “No worries,” Cassidy reassured her, laying a kind hand on her shoulder as she interrupted. “We know there’s been a new update on how things are going. Brice called the team for a meeting at the most ungodly hour on Earth, I think it was. Devil o’clock, it had to have been.”

  “Do you mean eight,” Calico asked, laughing.

  Devil o’clock? Really?

  She and Romeo had spoken with Brice until close to that, and it made sense. She could still hear her husband in the background discussing the missing couple as they made their way further inside, closing the door behind their guests.

  “Oh, earlier than that. It was more like 7:53. Way too early for a group call, when I was still in my curlers and everything. I’d just put eggs on, too… and they burned. I kid you not, anything before nine, and it’s just way too much for me.”

  Angus came flying out of his room, a huge grin on his face, and a pair of Minkle and Stub swim trunks and matching towel over his arm. The alligator pair scattered across the trunks - and the larger pair on the towel – portrayed Minkle in scuba gear, with Stub frowning at him because he couldn’t go in the water. It was a scene from one of Angus’ favorite episodes.

  And Angus… he had so much more energy than the day before.

  Was it because Prudence was around? She seemed to be able to cheer him up and relate to him even more than his own parents. Sometimes that worried Calico. Was the woman setting herself up for more heartbreak, and even more, setting Angus up for it, too, if they had to move on?

  It was something to definitely watch out for.

  “I told you, they’ve been missing for nearly four weeks now, and nobody has seen them; not a trace, not a hair, not a skin fiber, nothing. It’s as if they vanished into thin air, and I want someone there who can do a more thorough job of searching,” she heard Romeo say, his voice raised louder than normal as he paced in the living room area behind her.

  “We’re sorry, Sir, but Mr. Justice Morrison is unavailable until further notice. If you wish, we can put you in touch with his brother, Keith, but I am sure he knows nothing more than we do. There was something about a research trip in the near future for him, anyway, so I don’t see why adding an extra piece of research will harm anything unless he’s overloaded with requests.”

  The man on the Imagebar – a short, close-shaven, long-haired man of ethnic origins Calico could only begin to guess, with his green eyes and dark brown hair and skin – was unfamiliar to her, though she had heard his voice somewhere before.

  But where? And for what reason?

  A foreboding came over her as she nodded in silence to Prudence and Cassidy that they could take Angus down to the pool.

  “Just make sure one of you is with him at all times,” she whispered. “Please.”

  “No problem,” Cassidy told her. “That was always the plan.”

  “Well, then, what about that… oh, what’s it called? Rutherford Research?” Her husband glanced her way, and as their son departed with the ladies, she moved to shut the door behind them and then joined him in the living area.

  “We’re afraid that only one team member is available in the current circumstances. We will gladly mediate if this is what you wish,” the man said. “Due to the sensitive nature of people on both ends of that relationship, we find it best not to cross-pollinate the lives of or people, but we can assure you that Mr. Fakhoury is an excellent researcher, and he and the Misters Morrison are at the least, acquainted with one another.”

  “So if he has questions, this Mr.… This Mr. Fakhoury could, with our permission, seek help from either Justice or Keith, as well as the others in the facility?”

  “That is correct,” the man told him. “I will call him within the hour and have him get on it right away. I have a feeling this might be more interesting and important to the people at Rutherford than whatever else they might be researching these days.”

  He smiled, and Calico noticed the slightest hints of gold caps on a few of his teeth.

  Where had she heard that voice before?

  Now it was going to hound her until she figured it out. She hated not knowing where she’d met someone before, or how or when or under what circumstances.

  “Then so be it,” Romeo said with a sigh. “We just need to get to the bottom of this situation, and quickly. Why Brice didn’t mention anything before today astounds me, but that cannot be changed at this point. We must move forward; it is imperative we learn what has happened to Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins, and soon. If they are in danger due to the foolishness of looking for us, they are still our responsibility, at least morally speaking, before God. And I, for one, wish
there be no blood on the hands of my loved ones.”

  The man on the other end of the holoscreen nodded, and it pixelated a few moments. “Understood,” he agreed. “We will check back later to inform you of the situation. Thank you for your time.”

  And with that, the man’s thumb came toward them, causing her, as always, to back away.

  How giant it looked, coming at her. Why they could only turn off with a thumb and not with voice, as they could be turned on, was beyond her, but it creeped her out to no end.

  As the screen returned to the hotel’s insignia, she moved back in and sat down, and Romeo soon followed, putting his arm around her shoulders and sighing.

  “Well, there’s one good thing today,” he said after several minutes of silence.

  “Oh?”

  “At least we’ll have some semblance of contact with people we know and love, even if it is indirectly through the big boss.”

  “The big-?”

  “That was Olivier Ramos Gerard. The originator, the founder, the head of the Hollywood Underground Victims Assistance program. Not so intimidating just to look at him or hear his voice, but together, and with the understanding of how much power he wields…” Romeo shivered next to her, causing a shiver to run up her own spine.

  “He’s one of the ten most powerful men in the country, and nobody’s ever heard of him.”

  “Then, he’s who I heard talking to Brice when…?” She hesitated to fill in the rest of her thought, but sensed him nodding next to her anyway.

  “You’ve heard his voice not just talking with Brice, but probably also discussing things with Joel and Clementina Rodrigues, or even Mario at the front desk downstairs. And, of course, with me.”

  “So you’ve spoken with him before this,” she asked, sliding from underneath his arm to sit up and look him in the eye.

  “We had a few extra difficulties with Roscoe Judd, and then, there was trying to keep Felix and Jasmine at bay, considering their intentions were less than stellar.”

  “He’s my brother,” she told him. “I don’t see what the big deal is, so many years after…. I just don’t understand how come…?”

  But she knew.

  And if it weren’t for Jasmine’s presence, things may have been altogether different, but even then, there was no way to predict what he’d have done. Her brother was volatile, the whole time they were growing up. Why he’d married a woman who always needed her own way and who bullied people to get it was beyond Calico’s comprehension, and yet… for the first time, it actually made sense to her.

  Their attitudes – strange as it might seem – complimented one another as long as they always knew who was in charge of what aspect of their lives and marriage. Not that it could be much of a good pairing, in Calico’s opinion. Two people who continually wanted things their own way, even if one of them was passive more often than aggressive, were bound to have a few issues.

  It wasn’t impossible that they were happy; and quite happy, at that. Calico just couldn’t imagine it so.

  Then again, it wasn’t for her to judge. It was for her to pray for and care about them, in spite of themselves, for those who were the least loveable. Wasn’t there some saying that they needed love more than most?

  Finally, she nodded in assent to her waiting husband and he smiled down at her, a twinkle in his eyes.

  “It seems we have the place to ourselves,” he said, suddenly changing the topic.

  “Mmhmm,” she said. “So it seems.”

  “What say we try to put some of this stress behind us and mellow out for a bit with a rest,” he suggested, pulling her close again for a quick kiss.

  “I think that would be a splendid idea,” she concurred, smiling back.

  Time alone – truly alone together – had been too long ago, and she relished the thought as he took her by the hand and led her toward their bedroom.

  “A nap sounds like just the thing,” she agreed again. “And more needed than I realized until you mentioned it.”

  “Mmhmm. That’s what I thought,” he told her. “How long do you think they’ll have him out swimming?”

  “I don’t know, but given he doesn’t swim a long time, I wouldn’t count on too long of a nap.”

  “I’ll take what I can get.”

  Thirteen

  Seal Beach, California… May 10, 2025

  Brice slammed his fist against the steering wheel as he left his meeting with Mr. Gerard.

  How was it they were getting Malik Fakhoury involved in this?

  He had nothing against the man, but didn’t know him well enough to know how trusted he could be. Usually, he liked to do research on anyone they worked with himself, in person.

  Melody had reassured him that the man was a close friend to both the Rutherfords and the Stuarts, which made him feel a little better, but still… if he’d known that Justice Morrison would go and throw himself through a mirror into a doorway that was – from what he’d heard – part reality and part mirage – he would have chosen someone else entirely to do the research. Now, his hands were tied.

  “It isn’t the end of the world, you know,” his wife said as she buckled her seatbelt in next to him.

  He gripped the wheel hard a few moments, taking some deep breaths to try to calm himself. Their old Jeep Cherokee recently dead, they’d finally put it to rest and gotten a more innovative Chevy four-door, but it wasn’t the same. At all.

  And with all the newfangled gadgets attached to it, he didn’t always know what would happen if he pressed this button or tapped that screen. At least with the steering wheel, he figured he couldn’t go too wrong.

  Then again, there were buttons on the middle of that, too.

  And Brice still hadn’t read the manual; he’d been too preoccupied with other things and too busy with work. Melody had read it but said only a third of it made any sense to her.

  “That Justice Morrison – the man we depend on to be our eyes and ears; the man who does more research for HUVA than anyone else; who creates the identities of our clients when they are needing a change, and who helped introduce me to you – has now been cavalier and waltzed into a reflection, and didn’t hit a wall? Didn’t hit a fence? Whatever it was that the mirror reflected off of? If he doesn’t come back, don’t you think that it’ll affect a whole lot of people? And how long, exactly, does he plan to be gone?”

  “Well, have you tried calling him? Eugenie said that Justice got through from wherever it is he’s at to call Mark, and-”

  Brice pulled the car out of the parking lot and headed back toward the hotel to check on their newest client. Thankfully, Justice had gotten to the man’s paperwork and processed it, giving him a new identity, but the rest of this?

  Just frustrating!

  Hungry as he was, he’d have to send someone else out for lunch. Papalucci’s sounded really good about now. And maybe, if they arrived early enough, he’d have time to at least text Camellia and see how her day was going.

  The thought of his daughter, with her navy-rimmed glasses, big green eyes, pale brown hair, and pudgy little figure brought a smile to his lips momentarily.

  She had grown up so fast, it was hard to believe she was already six years old. And smart a child as could be, Brice learned something new from her each week; sometimes each day.

  “That’ll have to wait,” he said, pausing a moment before he continued.

  “This new guy doesn’t sit too well in one spot. He’s already tried to run off after that dog of his twice in a week, and I don’t think he’ll stop until someone puts their foot down and really lets him have it. Jaxon and Kent, Randall, Connie, and Tim – along with their spouses – have all tried to talk him through this thing, but I haven’t really had time to get over there, with all this stuff with Felix and Jasmine Jenkins going missing. And I gotta say,” he paused once more; straightened his tie. “I thought Randall was going to have a coronary over all of this. We don’t take to clients who aren’t following the rules; they’re us
ually out of the program with two moves, and this guy’s definitely made them… big time.”

  It had gotten so bad that when Chester heard about it, he’d refused the job, not even asking about the circumstances. And yet, what mattered most to this client was his dog; not his kids, or his ex, but his dog. As sad as that was, Brice had to respect that’s where he was. After all, when one’s kids try to have you assassinated, it isn’t exactly going to give you warm fuzzies.

  The thought of Camellia someday having a grudge against him or Melody bad enough that she’d want to create violence in their lives made him shudder. He set the thought aside, doing his best to concentrate on the client and his needs.

  After all, that was his job.

  Their client had insisted on keeping his name Swedish, even though it was not the most necessary thing, and so, instead of being known as Axel Albrektsson, he was now Fritjof Axelsson, for he said, “my children have stolen my peace in their greed, and my ex has run away with her maid.”

  Fritjof, the peace thief, he had said, was all too fitting. And he refused to allow the name Axel to go to waste, and so, he’d said, he fathered his own name and identity because, well, “Justicesson just doesn’t sound right.”

  If only Fritjof had listened to the HUVA team’s advice to simply get a different dog, instead of attempting to go back into the house where those who vied for his very life lived, in order to attempt to retrieve Knut the bull terrier.

  His oldest son had nearly shot him the second time he’d gone to the house.

  There was no way Brice was going to allow someone to not only die on his watch, but be killed by the people they meant to protect him from. It was uncalled for, unnecessary, and stupid.

  And none of them needed HUVA going down over one man’s affinity for his dog.

  Or anything else, for that matter.

  Brice sighed as they pulled into the parking lot, and quickly made his way to room 402, where the team was to assemble. He glanced at his watch – eleven more minutes. Melody, her plump little legs trying to keep up, trailed him by nearly a foot all the way to the door, when he finally stopped, turned toward her, and hugged her.