“It’s a start,” Bob said. “Thank you, Eric.”
“We need to find out who leads the Black Hand,” Greg said eagerly.
“We will work on that,” Bob replied. “You worry about finding out what the people at the agency all know. Work on it with Christine.”
“We’ll try our best,” Christine said. “Greg, I’ll talk with you after the meeting is over to clue you in on what I know so far.”
“Okay,” Greg replied. “But what else is there to talk about?”
“The elections of course,” Bob said. “We’re going to try to get candidates for local elections later this year to try to help with the Black Hand, among other things.”
“We have some time on that,” Charles said. “Filings for state offices aren’t until July. For now, we need to focus on weakening the Black Hand.”
“Six months is not that long of a time,” Bob countered. “There are already people trying to run for the mayoral election and that isn’t for nearly two years. We need to get in on that fast.”
“I don’t know how far we can get with the elections anyway,” Ashley explained. “I mean we have no money, we have no candidates, we aren’t a political party, and nobody knows what we are trying to do.”
“That may change between then and now,” Bob protested. “We just need someone to go out and recruit people to our cause.”
“How big do you want this to get?” Christine asked, concerned. “I came on board based on this being a small organization, but now you are talking about getting candidates who support us to run for office. Which one is it, Bob?”
Bob did not reply immediately, instead looking down at the carpet. “At the end of the day, we are not going to get very far if it is just the few of us here. There are millions of people here and God knows how big the Black Hand is. What are we few supposed to do?”
Christine walked over to him and rubbed his shoulder. “We do what we can. But let’s drop the elections for now, okay? If we get somewhere, maybe we can bring it back up again.”
Bob nodded glumly and said, “We’ll need to get bigger at some point though.”
“We may. But for now, this is a good start,” Christine said, consoling him. “Are we done for the night then?”
Bob nodded. “The next meeting is a week from today. We always meet on Saturdays,” he added, for Greg’s benefit. “Who wants to host next time?”
“I will,” Christine said. “No offense, Bob, but it is a lot nicer than this place. Anyway, Greg come with me. I need to talk to you about the agency.”
Greg nodded and followed Christine out the door. As they descended in the elevator she started talking, “Look, I’m sorry if I was short with you earlier, but we’re under a lot of pressure here.”
“It sounds like it,” Greg replied as they emerged into the foyer of the building. “How did you get here?” he asked, as they emerged out into the snow.
“I drove,” Christine replied, pointing at a car parked on the street. “How did you get here?”
“A cab,” Greg replied, looking around to see if there was another one before remembering he was in Hoboken.
“I’ll take you home,” Christine said. “Where do you live?”
“Midtown,” Greg replied, grateful for the ride given that he was otherwise stuck across the river in the snow.
“That’s on my way, so that works out. I can clue you in on what we know on the drive,” Christine said, getting in the car.
“Cool,” Greg replied, getting in the car as well. Christine took them eastwards back to Manhattan at a faster pace as the streets were quiet at this time of night.
“What did you think of everyone?” Christine asked.
“It’s early, but they all seem okay,” Greg replied. “I didn’t know you were going to be a part of it though.”
“I was the one who sent you that letter,” Christine said. “I just used Ashley as a messenger because I am so close to Emma it would have looked suspicious.”
“Of course,” Greg replied. “What is going on there anyway?”
“I haven’t found out anything definitive,” Christine replied as they crossed the Hudson River. “Emma likes to keep everything close to the chest and she also keeps a close eye on me so I can’t do much. Charles and the others aren’t really involved in what goes on in the office, so I’ve been by myself until you came along.”
“Is there anything explicit that you know about?” Greg asked.
“Not without doing some hacking,” Christine said wearily. “I’ll admit it’s been difficult.”
“I don’t know how to hack, but I do have to talk to everyone important around the agency from time to time since I’m the spokesman,” Greg explained. “I’m sure if I start asking the right questions, something will come up soon.”
Christine, however, had become focused on something going on in the city. “Whatever you have planned, you better be good at it, Greg. We don’t have any more time.”
Greg looked to see what she was staring at and found it quickly. A large column of smoke was building over the Upper West Side, illuminated by a large fire burning beneath it.
Chapter Five
Settling In
As a cloud of smoke was building over New York City in the early morning hours of that Sunday morning, Rebecca Daniels was still awake, having been unable to sleep for the past few hours. She was still getting used to living with the Smiths and was having issues with the bed being softer than anything she had ever slept on previously. Anne, ever adapting to whatever was thrown her way, had no trouble sleeping. She may not have liked the idea of being taken in by the Smiths, but she certainly did not mind the perks it came with.
Rebecca was sitting next to the window, reading by the light emanating through it from the street lights. The Smiths had had an empty tower that Anne and Rebecca had moved into, which was the only space they had left since five other children lived there. One was their age, a girl named Georgia. There was also Ben, a couple of years younger than them, a twelve-year-old girl named Jessica, and lastly the six and four-year-old pair of brothers Kevin and Russell.
Even after having lived there for a month, Rebecca was still surprised by everything that went on in the house. For starters, they went to church on Sunday mornings, which was something that Rebecca had not expected. Additionally, both Ed and Kathleen were at the house most of the time as well, as they homeschooled the other children.
From what Rebecca could tell, Ed had made it off rich a couple of decades before through playing the stock market and investing wisely in some businesses. He had yanked his money out of the system before the economy went south and put it all into an annuity that he had been living off of since. He used the money to build an expansive house in rural Johnson County near Olathe and to fund several charities in the city, like the homeless shelter that he had found them in.
Rebecca had taken advantage of the homeschooling by starting to read again. In her previous life with her neglectful aunt, she had distracted herself by becoming a voracious reader. She had to leave the books behind when she fled Topeka and had not been able to find the time to read while avoiding the gangs in Kansas City. Now that she was safe and secure in the outskirts of the city, she had picked it up again in earnest.
After a long while, she put the book down and glanced out the window. To her surprise, it was snowing. She stared at it for a moment, fascinated, then got up and squeezed onto the balcony to let as little warm air as possible get out so as to not disturb Anne. Once fully outside, she let herself become entranced by the stillness and the peace that the falling snow brought.
It was cold, but Rebecca did not let that bother her as she enjoyed watching the snow fall all around her. She had never felt so at peace with the world in her life before and she was determined to enjoy it for as long as she could tolerate the cold. The only thing she could hear was the light rustling of the snow as it landed on the ground and she allowed herself to use the peace and quiet to appre
ciate how much of a good turn her life had taken so far this year.
Eventually, she did feel the cold start to get to her, so she retreated back inside and found Anne still fast asleep. The peaceful feeling that she had felt out on the balcony had induced fatigue in her as well. Rebecca clambered back into bed and allowed herself to fall into the deepest sleep she had had in years.
Though the Smiths were churchgoers themselves, they had not yet tried to get Anne or Rebecca to join in with them in that venture. When Rebecca woke up the next morning, she descended from the tower to find that she and Anne were the only ones in the house.
Rebecca found Anne sitting in the kitchen, eating a bowl of cereal, and watching the news. She made herself a bowl of cereal as well while listening to the news report. Normally it would be some Sunday morning talk show, but something was going on that had drawn the networks away from scheduled programming.
“The fires started late last night and have continued into the morning hours in several places in Manhattan and the Bronx while firefighters and the NYPD have tried to contain the situation as best as they can,” the reporter on screen was saying. “In addition to the mass arsons, there have been shootings all over the island and a string of vandalisms with small groups of people showing up in an area, trashing everything, then leaving quickly according to reports.”
“Police so far have not been able to find any leads as to who these suspects are or whether they are connected, but they urge people to remain vigilant and to call 911 if they see any suspicious activity.”
“That sounds like the gangs here if they were organized,” Rebecca said.
“No this is way worse,” Anne said. “You didn’t see most of the report. There’s been attacks for hours now all over the damn city. They don’t know how to respond to it.”
“Call in the National Guard?” Rebecca asked.
Anne rolled her eyes. “Yeah like that would help. How late were you up last night?”
“I don’t know,” Rebecca said. “At least one or two.”
“I don’t know how you can sleep as little as you do,” Anne said. “I slept for nine hours and I’m still tired!”
Rebecca indulged herself with the cereal to avoid the question as the reporter started speaking of a fresh attack on Long Island. “Is there anything better on?” Rebecca asked.
“No,” Anne replied. “It’s Sunday morning.”
“Can we turn it off then?” Rebecca pleaded instead.
Anne sighed and said, “Yeah fine.”
Rebecca turned the TV off and continued eating her cereal. Anne finished hers quickly and said, “What are you going to do today?”
“I don’t know. Read?” came the reply through a mouthful of food.
“You always read,” Anne said.
“Play in the snow?” Rebecca suggested.
Anne looked moderately intrigued as she glanced out of the kitchen window to look at the fresh snow as it continued to come down. “It’s definitely a lot nicer to look at knowing we won’t be stuck out in it all night. I’m game,” she replied. “Just let me get dressed for it.”
Rebecca finished her cereal while Anne disappeared upstairs to go change into warmer clothing. When she had finished, Rebecca followed her upstairs to do the same. Though they had not had much in the way of clothing upon arriving at the Smiths, Kathleen had taken them out since that time and had gotten them an entire wardrobe. This wardrobe was only for winter clothing though, meaning they would have to go shopping again once it started warming up.
That did not concern Rebecca at present as she got out of her pajamas and into heavy winter attire. It was still snowing outside and from what she could tell it was even colder now than it had been last night when she had gone onto the balcony. After dressing warmly, she rushed back downstairs to find that Anne had already raced ahead of her outside.
Anne was notoriously good at hiding, having used this skill on her teachers and parents multiple times when she did not want to be around anyone. Over the years, this ability to hide herself had lent its way to pranks and other surprises that she would spring from her hiding spot. Knowing that Anne was probably going to try to ambush her, Rebecca looked around warily for any sign of her. She noticed Anne's footprints in the snow heading off to the tree line that marked the beginning of the small woods that covered most of the property. Rebecca was loathe to follow her in there; it was the perfect place for a trap with the dense trees and the snowfall limiting visibility.
Rebecca followed the footprints slowly, looking for any sign that Anne was lurking nearby. She drew close to the trees and peered into them, seeing if there was still any sign of the trail that Anne had left behind. As she looked into the woods, a snowball hit her from behind, making her stagger forward a step. She could hear laughter coming from behind her and realized that Anne had walked into the woods to mislead her and then circled back around to hit her from behind.
Knowing another snowball was imminent, Rebecca ducked down to assemble one of her own. She dived not a second too soon, as another snowball did go sailing over her head. Rebecca stood back up and tried to locate where the assault was coming from, but could not find Anne. She groaned; Anne had disappeared again.
Even though they had been friends for years, Rebecca had never been able to find a discernible pattern in Anne's hiding places. She could hide in plain sight if she wanted to, which is something she could be doing right now. Rebecca looked around for a fresh set of tracks when she suddenly saw the Smiths pulling up to the drive, having returned from church.
“Anne's going to use them as a distraction,” Rebecca muttered to herself. The vehicle pulled up to the front of the driveway and she saw the rest of the family clamber out of it, slipping slightly in the snow that had built up. Hoping that Anne would be watching the family, Rebecca looked around to see where she had made another hiding spot.
“Rebecca? What are you doing over there?” Ed asked, having apparently spotted her.
Rebecca did not turn to face him, but suddenly spotted Anne hiding around the side of the house. Knowing she would only have seconds, Rebecca turned towards Ed and put a finger over her lips, indicating that she needed quiet. Anne had not realized that her hiding spot was blown; she was looking at the family trying to decide if she wanted to ambush them as well.
Ed watched silently as Rebecca moved along the tree line so that she would be behind Anne and able to surprise her as well. Anne could not see Ed from where she was hiding, so she would not have known to follow his eyes to show the danger she was now in. Rebecca crept along silently, moving away from the trees so as to get Anne within range of her throwing abilities. After several tense moments, Rebecca finally got within range and launched her snowball at the back of Anne's head.
Gravity prevented the snowball from hitting Anne right in the head, but the snowball still found its mark, crashing into the small of Anne's back. Anne stood there frozen for a moment, as if trying to comprehend that she had just been ambushed. “Did you plan this out with Ed to have him distract me, Bec?” she shouted indignantly.
“No, it just worked out that way,” Rebecca said, laughing.
Ed appeared in Anne's line of sight and asked, “You two are having a snowball fight? Might the rest of the family join in?”
“If you can keep up!” Anne shouted as she sprinted towards the trees to set up another ambush. Rebecca chucked another snowball in her direction, but it fell woefully short as Anne disappeared into the trees.
Rebecca made as though to chase after her, but Ed shouted, “It's a trap! Wait for the rest of the family so we can help you!”
“It won't do you any good!” Anne shouted from somewhere in the trees.
Ed smiled and said, “Oh it's on now. Wait here, Rebecca.”
“Okay,” Rebecca replied as Ed went into the house. Within a few minutes, Ed returned with Georgia, Kevin, and Russell.
“Becca, where are your snowballs?!” Kevin asked as indignantly as any six-year-old co
uld.
“Yeah, Becca,” Georgia echoed, smiling.
“I was waiting for you before I started making more,” Rebecca explained to Kevin, who still looked rather cross.
“Mine are going to better,” Kevin replied as he bent down to hastily make one. He threw the snow at Rebecca, who dodged out of the way.
“I'm on your team!” Rebecca cried, feigning indignation.
“Girls can't be on my team!” Kevin replied.
Rebecca laughed, but soon paid for her lax attitude when Kevin nailed her with a second snowball that he had hastily crafted. She wiped the snow off of her coat and said, “So that’s how it is?”
Kevin was already making another snowball while his little brother Russell was trying to mimic him. Georgia and Rebecca took a hint that they would be targeted and so went in the direction of the woods to find Anne. They didn’t have to go far; Anne had stayed close enough to hear Kevin’s assertions of having no girls on his team.
“I can’t take that sitting down,” Anne explained upon emerging from her hiding space without pelting them with snowballs. “How do I get back at him though? He’s six.”
“Take on Ed?” Georgia suggested.
Anne peered through the trees and was able to discern Ed trying to help the younger boys make a snow fort. “I like that idea,” she said as she wound up a snowball to launch at her foster father.
The snowball landed in front of Ed with enough force to knock down the makeshift wall he had created for the boys’ snow fort. Playing along with Anne’s intentions, he feigned shock and said, “Boys! We’re under attack from those girls! We need a better hiding spot!”
Kevin, however, had apparently had enough. “I don’t want to play no more!” he intoned and charged off back to the house, with Russell following close behind him. Ed looked surprised and paid for his lapse in awareness as Georgia nailed him from behind with a snowball, followed closely by both Rebecca and Anne.
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