Gargoyles I, II, III: Dark Angel Alliance

by Rach Elle

  Elizabeth allowed the crackling fire to fill the silence for only a moment. “As hard as it may be for you to believe,” she whispered, “it’s not always all about you.” She headed for the door and quickly exited the guest house, leaving Kingsley standing alone in front of the fire.

  36

  “Alright, just sit tight while I get into my office; then you can climb the fire escape and I’ll open the window for you.” Sunders spoke in a hushed voice even though he was standing on the opposite side of the street from United Financial. He was flanked by Mason, a young man no older than twenty with nearly black slicked back hair and a lip ring. He stood casually in a pair of jeans and a buttoned up plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. To Sunders’ right was Bawli; a large, heavy set man with a broad frame that could rival the size of a bull. He wore an open navy blue cardigan over a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

  “I don’t think so mate,” Bawli sad, clasping his hand on the Finder’s shoulder. “The deal was we were to stay with you every step of the way.”

  “You can’t be serious,” Sunders mumbled, “I’ll be out of your sight for five minutes.”

  “A lot can happen in five minutes.”

  Sunders scowled quietly. At least the duo had let him go back to his flat first to change before infiltrating the DAA. He had time to take a quick shower and for the first time in a while he felt fresh as a daisy. He figured Bill Maines would be impressed he wasn’t coming into work with a hangover.

  Sunders winced. The last person he wanted to run into was Bill. The Dark Angel Alliance was by any definition a secret agency and they held onto their secrets like there was no tomorrow. They didn’t like outsiders roaming the halls for fear information would fall into the wrong hands. Bringing in Crisp had been bad enough; at least he had a reason to be there. How was Sunders going to explain Bawli and Mason?

  In a clean t-shirt and a pair of wrinkled slacks Sunders took a deep breath and began crossing the street; his escorts in tow.

  The three entered the United Financial building and were immediately amidst the hustle and bustle of a typical work day. The receptionist smiled at Sunders before batting her eyelashes at Mason. She watched as the three walked onto the elevator and headed for the fourth floor.

  “Good afternoon Mr. Harper,” Madge said with little enthusiasm as they stepped onto the fourth floor.

  “Madge,” Sunders began, “I’m not your direct supervisor anymore. Please, call me Sonny.”

  Madge’s eyes widened for only a second before a small smile played across her lips. “Alright then,” she said, suddenly in a much better mood. “And who are we bringing onto the illustrious fourth floor?” She picked up a pen and prepared to enter them into her book.

  “Um, actually,” Sunders closed the distance between them and lowered his voice. “Maybe you could not sign them in; just this once?”

  “But Mr… I mean, Sonny; I have to log everyone in. It’s my job.”

  “I know, and you’re fabulous at it, by the way; but my friends here would rather not be announced.”

  “I don’t think I made myself clear,” Madge matched Sonny’s quiet tone, “It’s my only job. If I stop doing it then what’s to stop anyone from letting me go altogether?”

  Sunders’ ears perked at the sound of Bill’s voice coming from the break room. He peered around the corner to see Bill heading down the hall with a cuppa in hand. He turned back to Madge with urgency. “Please Madge,” he begged, “Just this once. I’ll give you a bonus.”

  She crooked her brow, “What kind of bonus?”

  “Whatever you want,” Sunders stood hunched at the shoulders to bring himself down to Madge’s eye level, growing more and more anxious with each passing millisecond. The middle-aged, overweight woman in large rimmed glasses didn’t appear to be budging.

  Finally, Bawli softly pushed Sunders aside and leaned down; bringing his lips to Madge’s ear. He whispered something and she blushed; a giddy giggle escaping her lips. He pulled away and she looked at Sunders, “We’ll discuss the bonus later.”

  “Thank you!” Sonny exclaimed in a hushed voice as he ushered the boys quickly down the hall and into his office before Bill had time to round the corner.

  Sunders crossed the floor of his office and reached his desk. He turned on the table lamp, barely affording Mason any reprieve from the darkness. Bawli headed for the window and opened the heavy drapery, allowing the natural light to fill the space. He and Mason sat down on the sofa, sighing as if they’d had a trying day.

  “What did you say to that receptionist?” Mason asked.

  Bawli shrugged, “Nothing much; just put on the old charm, ‘tis all.”

  “I didn’t know you had charm,” Mason nudged his friend.

  “You may be able to climb into bed with that cute chippie downstairs; but I have middle-aged women with low self esteem in my back pocket.”

  A small knock sounded at the door and Sunders nervously looked up from his desk. Please don’t let that be Bill. The door slowly opened and Rue poked her head in. Sunders could feel his shoulders release about a hundred tons of tension. “Rue,” he began, exasperated. “This is not the time.”

  “I’m sorry Mr. Harper,” Rue stepped into the office; oblivious to the two men sitting on the sofa against the back wall. “May I speak to you for a moment?”

  “I already told you; I can’t be fagged.”

  “Don’t shut her out on our account,” Mason chimed in.

  Rue jumped, startled at the voice coming from behind her. She whipped her body around to see two men sitting on the couch. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized, “I didn’t know you had company.”

  Annoyed, Sunders stood from his desk. “Alright, we can talk out in the hall.” He looked to Bawli and Mason, “I’ll be right back.”

  “Looking forward to it,” Bawli smiled as he watched Sunders follow the hot chick in a pencil skirt into the hall.

  “Alright Rue, what is it?” Sunders asked, hoping for a very short and to the point conversation.

  “I wanted to apologize for my actions yesterday.”

  Sunders looked down and met eyes with the woman in front of him. For the first time her voice didn’t sound like nails on a chalkboard. She actually spoke like a normal human being. “What actions?” He asked.

  “You know,” she let her voice trail off. When he clearly didn’t she continued, “With the police officers and how I kind of jumped out of the window to chase them down.” He still didn’t respond, “I was just afraid they had stolen something, you know, why else would they take the fire escape? I don’t know, I guess it was my Protector instincts kicking in,” she forced an awkward laugh.

  Sunders continued to watch Rue’s lips move at a rapid rate. He was anxious to get back into his office and didn’t have time for a blether. But Rue just kept on and on; explaining, backpedaling, explaining some more.

  “So I’ve learned to be very suspicious of everyone…” she continued.

  Sunders tried not to roll his eyes or grit his teeth, but she just wouldn’t stop her havering. “Anyway, I’m sorry I just kind of disappeared and didn’t return to work for the rest of the day. It won’t happen again.”

  Sunders furrowed his brow.

  “You didn’t notice I never came back, did you?” She asked in a small voice.

  He tried to think of a sensitive way to respond, “I’ve been really busy.”

  “Oh, well, I didn’t and I’m sorry.”

  “That’s quite alright,” Sunders nodded, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to tend to.” Under normal circumstances he may have been more intrigued by the closet ninja in front of him, but he had two very unwelcomed guests lounging in his office at the moment and that took precedence.

  “Oh, of course,” her cringe-inducing voice was suddenly back followed by an annoying giggle. She smiled and pivoted on one foot and headed back to the team’s office. He watched her hips sway from side to side in that tight
pencil skirt. He sighed; unfortunately watching her leave was just about the only thing she was good for.

  Mason and Bawli had gotten to work the moment Sunders left the room. Mason bugged his computer, his office, and all of the sport coats he had lying about as Bawli watched the Finder talk to the chick through the glass inlay that flanked the door. Once Mason was done he and Bawli returned to the sofa as if they had never moved; just as they did when they were in Sunders’ flat earlier in the day. The Scotsman would be hard pressed to make a move without being monitored.

  The two had been sitting in silence on the sofa for only a moment before one of them decided to speak.

  “Hey Bawls,” Mason said while staring at his shoes.

  “Yeah?”

  “You know Vin and I were just kidding, right? About your dreams? We didn’t mean to offend you.”

  Bawli took a deep breath, “I know.”

  “The truth is we think it’s pretty cool that you can see people, well, hair; and we shouldn’t have even mentioned your redhead. We know that’s a nerve with you and we shouldn’t have gone there.”

  Bawli nodded.

  “We just like poking fun; and you know Vin; once he gets started he can’t stop running his mouth. We had just gotten in trouble for rough housing like a couple of five year olds and I think we were in a bad way at the moment. We took it out on you and that’s not fair. Really Bawls, we feel like shit. If Vin were here he’d agree.”

  “I know he would,” Bawli turned to his friend, “I accept your apology.”

  After another moment of silence Mason said quietly, “I know you’ll find her one day; your redhead, I mean.” When his friend didn’t respond he concluded by saying, “She’s out there mate; we all believe it.”

  Sunders reentered his office and closed the door behind him. He looked at the two on the sofa.

  “Who was that?” Bawli asked; a coy smile plastered on his face.

  “An employee.”

  “I think I’m in the wrong line of work.”

  Sunders scoffed, “The appeal stops at the looks, I assure you. Unless you’re into that thirty-something pretending she’s a naive school girl sort of thing.”

  Bawli and Mason looked at each other and simultaneously answered, “Actually, I am.”

  “Works for me.”

  Sunders scoffed as he headed back to his desk, “You finished bugging me?”

  Without flinching at the fact that the Finder was on to them Bawli stood and said flatly, “We have eyes and ears everywhere; and they’re all fixated on you. Don’t try anything stupid. Awilda or no Awilda we will kill you if you step out of line, got it?” His green eyes hardened and his stare never wavered.

  Sunders rolled his eyes, trying to hide his anxiety. “I already told you, I have no intention of ratting on you.”

  “Good, we won’t have a problem then.” The two headed for the door, “We’ll see ourselves out.”

  “Hold up there,” Sunders called, “you can’t just waltz down the hall; someone might see you.”

  Bawli raised his brows, “What do you want us to do?”

  Sunders motioned to the window.

  “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “Are you too good for fire escapes?” Sunders asked, resting his hands on his hips.

  “No.”

  “Good,” he smiled mockingly, “we won’t have a problem then.”

  Sunders watched as Bawli and Mason disappeared down the fire escape. As soon as they were out of sight he closed his heavy curtains and shrouded his office in darkness and a dim table lamp; just the way he liked it. Quickly, he returned to his desk and sat down. He opened his laptop and powered it on. He had been itching to return to his favorite website for a couple of days now. When the icon for the internet finally loaded he clicked on it and typed in the address. It seemed like eternity before the website appeared and he could enter in the specific coordinates in Glasgow, Scotland.

  Sunders watched as the satellite image appeared and instantly he could feel a wave of calm wash over him. His anxiety dissipated and his clammy hands dried as he zoomed in several times before the clear image of a familiar rooftop came into view. He looked at the clock on the bottom right hand of the screen. It was too late for the school bus.

  It wasn’t long before he noticed movement in the backyard. He panned over to the swing set in the small, grassy lawn and squint his eyes to get a better look. Instantly a sad, nostalgic smile twitched at the corner of his lips as he watched a little eight year old boy playing on the swing. A small tear welled in his right eye and cascaded down his cheek as he remembered longingly his son’s laughter; the gleam in his eyes while he kicked his legs to swing higher and higher; and the way he called to him. He missed the sound of his son calling him daddy and begging him to let him play just a little longer even though it was almost dinner time.

  The office door swung open, “Mr. Harper,” Rue said as her knuckles wrapped against the door.

  Instantly Sunders shut his laptop and wiped away the tear from his cheek before locking on his new employee with hard, aggravated eyes.

  Rue stopped short, “Whoa,” she said, noticing his intensity, “Sorry to bother you again; but Bill wanted me to let you know that they got word from the Protectors and there’s going to be another group of them coming in by the end of the week.”

  “Fine,” Sunders grumbled, “Now get out.”

  Rue cocked her head to the side, “What are you always looking at on your computer? I swear this is like, the third time I’ve walked in and you…”

  “I said get out!” Sunders slammed his fist on the desk; the collection of items resting atop jolting suddenly from the force.

  Without another word Rue left the office, closing the door quickly. Sunders sat in his chair, huffing with deep, angry breaths before finally collapsing onto his desk and cradling his face in his hands; his shoulders bearing the overwhelming weight of regret and defeat; an all too familiar sensation.

  37

  Kingsley had finally worked up the courage to find Elizabeth. She had stormed out of their guest house earlier pretty upset. He supposed he couldn’t blame her. According to her he’d tried to kill a completely innocent girl. The sick thing was that he actually wished it were true. He wished like hell she was nothing more than a sweet, forgiving, slightly deranged mental patient and that this whole plight had been for nothing other than his own selfish desires. That would somehow make things so much simpler. He would hate himself much more, but he could live with that; self loathing had been his bed fellow long before Lizzie ever jumped in.

  Kingsley crossed the rose garden and entered the ballroom through the glass French doors. Just as he closed them behind him he heard the wrapping of small feet against the marble and looked up to see Awilda heading into the same space. She stopped short the moment she saw him and to his surprise she didn’t run away. Instead, she just stood there, staring at him.

  After a moment of thick tension hanging in the air between them she finally spoke, “I’m not afraid of you, you know; even though I should be.” Her voice was stern and overly confident; as if she was scared and too stubborn to admit it.

  Kingsley lifted his hand and rested it on the back of his neck, rubbing the muscles. “Uh, Awilda,” he began in a gruff yet humble voice, “I never did get a chance to apologize to you for this whole mess.”

  She forced a shrug, “You did it for love; which, I suppose I don’t fully understand; but thanks to you maybe someday I will.”

  Kingsley looked up to her in surprise, “Thanks to me?”

  She nodded, “If not for you then Junior would have killed me.” She bounced her head back and forth as if considering a catch 22 in her mind, “Due to preconceived notions by you, yes; but that doesn’t change the fact that without you I would be six feet under by now.”

  “True, but without me Junior never would have tried to kill you in the first place.”

  Awilda exhaled a strong breath and placed her hand
s on her hips, “Do you not want my forgiveness? Because I can keep on hating you, if you prefer; really, I can hold a grudge like it’s nobody’s business.”

  Kingsley chuckled, “No, no, I’ll take whatever ounce of forgiveness I can get.” He could feel a small weight being lifted from his shoulders. It was a slight relief, but a welcomed one nonetheless.

  “Besides,” she continued, “you’ve been missing a lot by hiding in the guest house.”

  “Oh yeah? Like what?”

  “Well, a Finder from the DAA found us, for starters. Don’t get too excited,” she held up her hands as soon as she saw him tense. “It was Sunders, the Finder from the park. He’s on our side.

  Then after that my dad showed up from out of nowhere. I haven’t seen him since I was ten. I guess we’re going to have a bonding day tomorrow, or whatever.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah; it’s been pretty crazy.” She chuckled under her breath.

  Awilda continued to stare at the old man so far away. He still stood on the other side of the ballroom, probably worried that if he took one step closer Junior would pop out from nowhere and pile drive him into the marble. Cautiously, she took a step forward only to see him tense. “You can go near me, you know.”

  Kingsley’s eyes whipped from side to side, “Junior would prefer I keep my distance.”

  Awilda continued moving forward and gave a crooked smile, “Do you always do what Junior says?”

  Kingsley was stunned by the balls on this girl; no wonder Junior had become so enamored by her. He suddenly found himself appreciating her so much more as well, which he feared. But since she was the only person in the house who was actually speaking to him he figured he should embrace it; just this once. He smiled and picked up his feet, “Not on my best day.” He closed the distance between them and soon they were standing directly in front of one another; neither one shying away for any reason.

  The door to the study swung open with force and the two looked over to see Junior standing in the doorway. A low growl climbed up his throat and filled the ballroom as his eyes burned red. He charged toward Kingsley and Awilda jumped in front of him, holding up her hands as if she alone could thwart his strength. “No Junior,” she said as sternly as she could, “It’s okay; we were just talking.”