The Blood Eagle in the Big Easy

by K. A. Lange

  Anger erupted inside me, I threw my elbow back with all my strength, shattering her nose causing her to stumble back. I kicked in a wide roundhouse shattering her jaw and sending her sprawling across the floor. The aircraft suddenly lurched to one side causing her to slide out the bay doors. She lashed out with her silver cane, shaped like a skeletal version of an arm with claw like fingers forever arched in pain. The fingers caught the lip of the bay as she dangled precariously through the opening. Instinctively I reached out for her as she glared at me and spat a curse in my direction.

  The head of the cane glowed white and as if in slow motion I watched as a brilliant white ball floated towards me. I felt it wrap around my shields. The white ball slowed and I screamed in pain as the air around me burned my flesh and evaporated what little oxygen I had left. Almost as quickly as the burns appeared they vanished as my body compensated for the injuries. The floor beneath me and the wall behind me however did not as they melted away. As pieces of the wall and floor fell away, I fell with them.

  As I plummeted I watched helplessly as she dangled from the aircraft, until she finally lost her grip and fell into the darkness. A few seconds later the aircraft exploded into a ball of flame as it finally gave into the inevitable. We were all doomed and even the aircraft seemed to know it. Several smaller piece of metal from the disintegrating craft were deflected by my shields but something large and black approached, too late for me to try and deflect it as it slammed into my skull. I knew that the aircraft would be scattered over thousands of miles from this height and my people would never be able to recover enough of it to know what happened.

  I knew that today I would die alone in a place no one would ever find me. I didn’t know how long I’d been off course. It’s funny what goes through your mind just before you believe you’re about to die. My vision was blurry and I felt tears freeze on my face as I cried and screamed through the night. Finally I was granted darkness and the bliss of unconsciousness. Nothingness was all that I would know, and for the first time in my life I was okay with that. I had done my job and the witch would fare no better than I. She too would perish. It was a good day to die...

  With a sharp intake of breath I woke with a start to see Kira’s face hovering over me in concern. I closed my eyes as I tried to focus and remember what was going on.

  “Are you alright?” I heard Kira ask. “Do you know your name?” She persisted.

  “Oh for gods sake Kira will you get out of my face?” I grumbled. “I would like to catch my breath.”

  Kira sat back allowing me to sit up. “You didn’t answer my question!”

  “Kira Lee Ann, give me a damn minute.” I demanded as I tried to get to my feet. My head swam and darkness nearly took me once more. Kira’s hand steadied me as I took a seat in the chair next to the bed. “Thanks.”

  “Oh now you’re going to be fucking polite!” Kira snapped. “How about telling me the Goddamn date since you don’t seem to know your own name!”

  “November 28th! Now can you please let me catch my breath?” I growled. “And my name is Viktor Engel Warden. I’m in a private hospital room with an annoying doctor up my ass.”

  Kira’s face softened a bit as she said. “Yeah you are still down with a terminal case of asshole.” She gave a hard look across the room at the two doctors standing there, itching to try and treat me before she spoke. “See, I told you he would be just fine. So you hacks can just take a step back.”

  “With all due respect ma'am he needs to be checked out by a real doctor, not a gun toting thug” the tallest of the two said.

  I winced as she jerked herself up to her full height and marched toward the man. The guy knew he had crossed the line as he flinched back against the wall. “I have forgotten more about medicine than you two so called quacks will ever know. Not only am I a real medical doctor but I have four PH Ds in various fields of medicine. So please remember my name is doctor ‘gun toting thug with a medical degree’ which means I can shoot you, then treat you for your wounds before shooting you again.”

  The two clinic doctors found the exit as quickly as they could under the furious glare of my daughter. Tony and Gregory however stood there smiling and shaking their heads. Gregory stepped forward and nodded in my direction. “Think we can talk to Nicholas now?”

  “I suppose I’m done at the moment. It would seem that I owe someone an apology while you tend to your respective jobs.” I stood and headed toward my daughter who was leaning against the doorframe still seething with anger. “I’m sorry about that back there. I don’t know what happened.”

  “You fainted just before you had a grand mal seizure. As you can tell the last five minutes have been a little tense.” Kira said as she bit her lip nervously.

  Gregory came up behind me and said. “We will need to get his statement and after that we can figure out a safe place to keep him. As far as your glamazon’s concern for you goes that’s all well and good but those two doctors back there were only trying to help. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”

  I chuckled. “Well I have very specific medical needs and as such she was right to keep them away from me.” I smiled and bowed slightly towards my daughter. “And the Glamazon here is my daughter.” Waiting a minute I let the words sink in as Gregory’s face paled. “Gregory I would like you met Kira. Kira this is Gregory.”

  Kira nodded as she huffed. “Pleasure to meet you. I have heard very little about you. I am sure you already know by now that my father is an ass.”

  I shook my head and said. “You never did play well with others.”

  She just looked at me with her mouth half open. “Oh my god! Really? This coming from the poster child for antisocial behavior.”

  As tempting as it was to give her a piece of my mind and yes I have more than enough to spare I remembered where I was and thought better of it. “We will pick this up at a later. We still have a job to do. Let’s go talk to Nicholas.”

  “What?” She replied angrily. “I’m not so sure that he didn’t cause your seizure.”

  “It wasn’t him! We’ll discuss it later!” I growled. “He was simply delivering a message from an old friend.” I said while trying to get my emotions back in check and turning to Gregory.

  “As you all can see my daughter is just being overprotective. I assure you that I’m fine and the boy will recover from his injuries. Gregory if you could do us all a favor including Tony there can you do whatever needs to be done to take over the investigation?”

  “Already done. It seems that Tony is more than willing to turn the whole investigation over to me without even the slightest of fights.”

  “Like I told you on the way in. When Viktor is involved shit gets crazy, and I have enough crazy on my plate at the moment! He is all yours, Deputy Aaron. Good luck with that.” Tony chuckled handing Gregory some paperwork. “Hell I’ll finish all the paperwork for you if you get these guys out of here now.”

  “You seem to inspire interagency cooperation Viktor.” Gregory laughed.

  “I’m thrilled that I am the butt of your jokes. Wait till Christmas and see who gets a lump of coal in their stocking.”

  Tony and Gregory left the room to finalize the paperwork needed to make this an official Marshals Service investigation while Kira reluctantly tended to Nicholas's injuries. Once I was confident that things were under control I headed after Gregory to see what needed to be done to have the boy released into my custody. Nicholas had entirely too much information that I needed to simply let him be taken into federal custody, the least of which was what Gullveig planned to do with Galvez. The greatest clue to who I was and where I came from lay in the mind of the boy being tended to in the bed behind me. I couldn’t possibly leave this to the authorities.

  Chapter 8

  November 29th

  It was a few minutes before midnight when Gregory and I completed all the necessary paperwork to release Nicholas into my custody. As I signed the last line of several lengthy documents my co
mpany was officially designated as a safehouse for the US Marshals Service. Gregory, while not happy about the arrangement had reluctantly agreed that Nicholas would be safest under twenty four hour guard by someone that wasn’t part of the normal chain of command. With the day officially wrapped up Gregory took a moment to step out of the office and address his staff thanking them for their support during this trying time. From what I could see they were taking it all in stride even if Gregory wasn’t.

  He sank back in his new office chair, still wrapped in plastic trying to relax as he made the last call of the day to his wife to let her know he would be home hopefully before dawn. From this side of the conversation it didn’t seem that Mrs. Aaron was all that happy about the lateness of the hour in which her husband would return home.

  “You sure you don’t want to head on home Gregory?” Feeling slightly responsible for the situation, I looked over at Nicholas trying to reassure the both of them everything would be alright. “I can assure you we have the situation handled.”

  “I would feel better if I knew Nicholas was comfortable with the arrangement and not just secure.” Gregory took a deep breath as he fidgeted with his phone, finally placing it on the desk as he looked over at Nicholas. “You are comfortable with this whole arrangement aren’t you?” Something in Gregory’s voice pleaded for some type of reassurance. It was clear that whatever was going on at home was being compounded by the case.

  “I can’t think of a better option.” Nicholas could barely keep his eyes open. I could hardly blame the guy. It had been a very long day for everyone, especially for him. “And from the sounds of things you two have some pretty damn good reasons for not putting me into the standard protective detail.”

  “It’s the same reason we let Viktor handle your relocation twenty years ago.” Gregory answered as he tried to rub away the stinging redness in his eyes. “Every time we got close to the ‘Church of Fenrir’ something would tip them off. Well more likely someone.” As he stood the plastic on the chair crinkled and stuck to him in odd places. Brushing the wrapping away he stuffed himself into his jacket as he gave me a curt nod. “I can’t, no I won’t let anything happen to you especially after this mornings fiasco.”

  “Thanks.” Nicholas stood and followed Gregory out the door as my troop and I followed in their wake. “Thank you both for going through all this trouble for me. I don’t know how to repay either of you.”

  “After all this is over thrive.” Putting my hand on the back of his shoulder in what I thought was a reassuring gesture. “Don’t just survive this or your mother’s sacrifice will be for nothing.” Nicholas was alone and scared without a place to call his own and that was something I was well versed in. The loneliness could change him in ways that weren’t necessarily healthy unless someone were to offer him a safe haven. “After this is all over you’re welcome to stay on with my firm if you would like.”

  He looked relieved for the first time since I’d seen him as small boy. “Thanks, I might just do that.” He hung his head as his voice dropped and his tone softened. “Anyway it isn’t as if I have anywhere else to go.” He pushed his shoulders back and held his head up. “I suppose there are worse places to call home.”

  It was the first time in a long time that I felt like I’d truly made a difference in someone’s life and for that I was exceptionally grateful. “We’ll see how you feel after its all over with. You might not feel the same.”

  We took the elevators to the first floor of the Federal Building and out the side entrance where security officers were waiting to escort us to our final destination. Catching a ride with Gregory and Nicholas I was able to avoid a further outing in the Elsie Mobile. It would seem that Justine had pulled out all the stops for our imminent arrival after my earlier call letting them know that Nicholas would be under our protection for the duration of the case.

  The glow in the night sky we’d seen earlier wasn’t an event at Armstrong Park as I had assumed earlier but instead was my office building. Even at this distance we could see the area was aglow with enough lighting to give the impression that the sun had risen early just above the roofline. Plainclothes guards patrolled the area ao not to attract too much attention but failing miserably. The armed guards who were stationed at every entrance to Warden Industries kind of defeats the purpose of their less obvious brethren. These men and women were in full black kevlar body armor, armed with submachine guns to boot. The usual crowd of drunks and vagrants the street normally attracted at this time of night were nowhere to be found.

  The church doors directly across the street from my office stood open in invitation to anyone wanting to find solace in a house of god. They had been in the neighborhood long enough to know that when I demonstrate this much force something bad was bound to happen. They had taken to opening the doors to both my people and the general public to help find their way inside to confess their sins or hear midnight mass. The local clergy did their best to comfort the souls of those who entered their hallowed walls during these trying times.

  Entering through the brass doors of Warden Industries, I could feel that the office was alive with tension. We made our way through the lobby and down the stairs into one of the few true basements in the New Orleans area. This was here where our private medical facilities were housed, which happens to be right next door to the morgue. What? I told you before I bought the place from a funeral home!

  “Nicholas if you’ll follow me please, I need to examine you.” Kira motioned to Nicholas to follow her. “We will need to do a general physical and treat your wounds. I want to make sure that those ‘clinic doctors’ didn’t do more harm than good.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Nicholas was trying desperately to avoid being poked and prodded any further. “I heal very quickly! Like I said I’ll be just fine.” He protested.

  “The sooner you follow her instructions, the sooner it will be over.” I advised. Reluctantly Nicholas left with Kira, closing behind them and leaving Gregory and I alone for the first time since breakfast. “So you still think you have a leak somewhere in the system?” I inquired

  “I don’t know!” He leaned forward cupping his face with his hands in exasperation. “I would like to believe it was all some big coincidence, but I can’t take that chance with Nicholas’ life in the balance.” He looked up at me tired and weary. “His mother was murdered and he was tortured. I just don’t think its worth the risk.”

  “I agree.” I stopped pacing the room as I leaned against the wall opposite him. “You should head home for the night. We really do have this under control.” Giving him my best it’s all going to be fine smile as I jerked my thumb at the door. “He’ll be safe here.”

  Gregory stood slowly as the days events were catching up with him. “I suppose you’re right. I need to go home and get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be busy.” Putting his arms above his head he stretched before heading toward the exit. “That and my wife is going to kill me if she doesn’t see me soon.” He sighed as he took a step towards the stairs. “Hard to believe I have been here less than a week and everything has gone to shit.”

  “Welcome to New Orleans!” I laughed. “Great food, interesting people and the playground for all sorts of sick shits.”

  Gregory chuckled as he went up the stairs. “Not exactly comforting!”

  Sitting outside the examination room, I had just as I dozed off the door opened and I snapped back into the land of the living to see Kira standing there. “Gregory went home?”

  “Yeah, he needed to get some sleep and make up with the wife.” I stood, stretching as I did. “How is Nicholas?”

  “He’ll live.” Kira stepped aside. “I’m sure you two have some things to talk about while I fill out these reports.”

  “Thanks.” I kissed her on the cheek as she walked by before heading into the exam room to speak with our boy. “You’re the best!” I called after her. “Before you ask for some sort of reward, it was rhetorical alright!”

&nbs
p; Kira just rolled her eyes as she made her way into a small private office at the end of the hall closing the door behind her swiftly but quietly. She learned a long time ago slamming doors was inappropriate. She had once slammed the door to her room when she was about thirteen after she and mother got into an argument. I promptly removed the door and put it in the garage for the next two weeks. Something about a teenage girl with no bedroom door tends to scar a young woman. Or so she says whenever she wants try and make me feel guilty over something.

  “Good evening Nicholas.” I said as I walked into the room. I found one of the stools and took a seat so I’d be at least semi-comfortable while we talked. “Are you feeling alright?”

  “As I said earlier I heal very quickly.” Nicholas waved dismissively. “I’ll be fine. Well, as fine as a person can be after watching someone butcher their mother.” Fury contorted his face and anger caused his voice to shake as he spoke. “That witch, Gullveig, whatever you want to call her is a monster. I can’t believe she’s even human after I what I’ve seen!”

  “I’m sorry.” My words seemed so inadequate given the situation. “I know it’s not much but its all I have.”

  “She only let me live to give you that message...” He stood and paced the room running his fingers through his hair nervously. “It would seem that she is obsessed with her hatred of you.” He stopped and looked at me as anger and confusion swam through his being. “She says you two were once allies but you lost your way...”

  His words hit me like a sledgehammer. “I don’t know her...” I hesitated because that wasn’t exactly the truth. “More accurately I should say I don’t remember her. Many years ago I sustained a head injury that affected my memory. So who knows? What she says could be true. It’s doubtful but I’ve learned that one shouldn’t speak in absolutes unless you can be very sure about the situation.” Taking a seat on the stool, I lost myself to the fragmented memories. “All I can say for certain is for as long as I can remember my life has been dedicated to doing the right thing and trying to help others whenever possible.” Nicholas stood there, taking in my every word. “The way I have lead my life and the the way Gullveig has chosen to live her’s seems to mutually exclude one another from us being friends or even allies but I suppose stranger things have happened.”