The Deal (The Fallen Angel Series Book 1)

by S C Cunningham

  Brrr, brrr. Brrr, brrr.

  “He seems nice. He didn’t hurt me. He was trying to help me. And you liked him enough to shag him.” Alice pleaded. “What harm can he do with the two of us here?”

  Jack shook his head and paced the room.

  Brrr, brrr. Brrr, brrr.

  “OK, OK,” Amy answered, still with a disdainful voice. “Yes?”

  Jack threw his arms in the air with frustration.

  “I need to speak with you. It’s urgent.”

  “What about?”

  “I can’t talk over the phone. Let me in. I know Alice is with you. Let me in.”

  Silence.

  “Amy…Amy, let me in. It’s life or death.”

  “For goodness’ sake, don’t be so dramatic. OK, OK.” She marched over to the entry phone and buzzed him in.

  Jack tapped his ear. “Pyke, you’d better listen to this. We’ve got James Smythson at Amy’s flat.”

  The light popped on in Jack’s line of sight. Pyke was tuned into what he saw.

  Chapter Seventy-Five

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t manage to get hold of you, Amy. I left a few messages, but I don’t understand why you never got back to me.”

  “No, you didn’t. I didn’t get any messages.”

  Jack, watching from the corner of the room, smirked. Pyke tutted, “Did you delete her messages?”

  “Might have.”

  “You lied to me,” Amy continued. “You aren’t a client, and you don’t live at the apartment where we spent the night. Why?”

  “I can explain.” He turned to Alice. “Are you OK, Alice?”

  She nodded, wrapping Amy’s dressing gown tightly around her. The two girls sat on the sofa, opposite James, who took the armchair. He felt like he was being interrogated.

  “Did you know about Dio Buchananan?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why did you send me to him?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “Why did you have a picture of Alice at your apartment?” interrupted Amy.

  Alice whipped her head around to look Amy in the eye. She hadn’t told her. Amy gave a ‘trust me’ glance, and placed her hand on Alice’s knee to quiet her.

  “Look, we haven’t got much time. You are in trouble. I am not James. I’m working undercover. We had been trying to catch Dio Buchannan for a long time. I was based at the show flat to gather intelligence on the VIP gang’s activities.”

  Alice and Amy exchanged shocked glances. Did they believe him or was this the worst excuse ever for being a dick?

  Jack whispered, “Do you believe him?”

  Pyke muttered, “Hmmm, it’s possible, I suppose. Our database hasn’t brought up anything on his image.”

  “I don’t believe you,” smirked Amy. “This is ludicrous.”

  “Look,” he pulled out a Police badge and showed the girls.

  “My name is DC Matt Pearson. I work with the Major Crime Team. We’ve been following this ring for a long time. We were about to nail the bastard when Police swooped on his Brighton address. I’m sorry I didn’t stop you going to Brighton. I asked for a marker to be put on you, to be followed, kept safe, but that obviously didn’t work. I’m so sorry.”

  He turned to Amy.

  “Once the cops and media were traipsing around his London address, I would have been discovered and our work scuppered, so I had to pull out.”

  “Why did you tell me you were a new client?”

  He gave a slight chuckle and lowered his head, swinging it back and forth in confession mode. “To get into your knickers. I fancied you and didn’t want you going back into work. I lied, yes. But hey, you’re gorgeous. Can you blame me?” he asked with a shrug.

  Jack crossed his arms in a huff, moving a step closer to the man.

  “Down, boy,” whispered Pyke. “That’s not going to help. Let’s just listen. I’ve put his name into the database. Let’s see what comes back.”

  Amy blushed and caught herself. She sat bolt upright, all business, pretending not to enjoy the compliment.

  “Look,” he said. “I didn’t mean to get you involved in this. I was fed up, stuck in that flat for weeks, so I sneaked out to have a drink and act like a normal person. I bumped into you and your office party and joined in. I liked you. I shouldn’t have brought you back. I’m sorry.”

  Amy nodded her acceptance of his apology, grabbed Alice’s hand, shrugged her shoulders and asked. “What’s next?”

  “We’ve got to get you out of here, now. You don’t cross Dio. He’ll deal with Alice one way or another. He has loyal associates who’ll do his bidding. And now that you’re involved, Amy, you’ll be on his list.”

  Amy and Alice exchanged another round of nervous glances. “Where do we go? I can’t just get up and leave my apartment, my job, my friends,” Amy said.

  “I have a car outside to take you to a safe house in Scotland.”

  “Just like that?” Amy rushed to the window to pull back the blinds and survey the street below. A black people carrier sat parked outside her apartment block. Two men in suits and sunglasses stood guard bedside the vehicle, arms crossed, eyes scanning the street, waiting patiently. She nodded to Alice, who was getting more and more nervous by the minute.

  “Pack a bag, the minimum you need, and come with me now,” pleaded Matt.

  “What about my work?”

  “We’ll take care of it later.”

  “How long will we be gone?”

  “Until the court case and the threat is over.”

  Pyke sounded in Jack’s ear. “The number plates are fake, but that doesn’t mean anything, with these operations. I’m not getting anything for his name. It may be another alias.”

  “I don’t like it,” said Jack, watching the girls enter Amy’s bedroom.

  “Stay with them. I’ll do further checks. If they are in danger, it’s important they get out of there pronto.”

  Chapter Seventy-Six

  Amy pulled out a suitcase from underneath her bed and randomly tossed articles of clothing into its wide cavity. She gave Alice a change of clothes and a new hat to disguise her memorable hair.

  James, or Matt, seemed real enough. She couldn’t ignore the few hunks standing outside her apartment. It made sense that a powerful man like Dio would want to get rid of witnesses. It was just a shame she’d gotten mixed up in it.

  The girls dressed, joined Matt in the living room, and all three filed out of the flat, jogging down the stairwell to the ground floor. He pulled out a radio and notified his team to have the car doors open. He made the girls wait at in the hallway whilst he checked the front door and scanned the street. He waved them on and they ran out of the building into the waiting blacked-out people carrier.

  Jack stood in the middle of the street watching them drive off at a high speed. He pulled out his phone and started to type Amy a message.

  The vehicle drove east towards London City Airport. A motorcycle sped past Jack, driving straight through him. The driver chased after the car, pulled a gun from inside his jacket, took aim at the tyres and fired. The vehicle skidded off the road and slammed into a wall.

  Jack looked up at the noise, he stared shocked, not believing his eyes. Then sped through the air to the smoking vehicle.

  The biker pulled up beside the passenger’s door, shot through the lock, opened it up, reached in, and fired two shots.

  It all happened so fast. Jack arrived at the scene just as the bike raced off into the distance. His cry of “Nooooooo….” bellowed out over the sound of its screeching engine.

  He stood at the window, his hands pressed against his head, too shocked to move.

  “AMYYYYYY… NOOOOOOO…..” his cry could be heard in the heavens.

  Pyke tuned into him.

  “What’s wrong Jack.”

  Jack couldn’t speak. He turned around and around, spinning in the air, screaming Amy’s name.

  Passers-by pulled bodies from the vehicle as flames started to flicker from
beneath the engine. People screamed as the victims were dragged to safety on the tarmac. Amy and Alice’s lifeless were bodies stretched out on the ground side by side, blood staining their clothes. Their three male companions sat dazed on the kerb.

  A man shouted that he was a doctor. He tore off his coat and jacket, and tried to stifle the flow of blood oozing from the girl’s chest. He barked instructions at two women who’d offered to help, giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

  Jack spun out of control in the air above, losing his mind, circling and diving like a panicked bird of prey. Feeling helpless, not knowing what to do.

  Pyke screamed in his ear to calm down, but Jack wasn’t listening. How had he not seen this coming?

  The Erthfolk unaware of the cyclone happening above them, carried on fighting for the girls lives. Ambulances, fire crew, and police swarmed upon the scene. Droning sirens echoed through the streets, drowning Jack’s cries. More people flooded the street to see if they could help. A few started praying out loud as the Paramedics took over.

  Exhausted Jack fell to his knees at Amy’s head, begging her not to die and yelling at the doctor to try harder.

  He heard laughing, and didn’t have to guess who’s morbid taunting found entertainment in the scene. Gregori stood beside him, puffing his cigar and blowing spiralling trickles of smoke into Jack’s face.

  “She’s coming with me, Jack, where she belongs…with her father. Get used to it. She’s no longer yours.”

  “But she’s done nothing wrong. What have you done? You can’t take her. She’s mine.”

  “Blah de blah, dear boy, Blah de bloody blah, do I look bothered?” Gregori rocked his head back and laughed.

  Jack lost it. He stood up and threw himself at Gregori. With a loud pained roar he pushed Gregori through the burning car, through a row of houses and into the next street, his hands squeezing at his throat, trying to throttle him.

  Pyke shouted at him. “Stop, Jack, stop. You’ll be dragged down with him. Stop! He’s dead already.”

  “I don’t care. I’ll go with her,” shrieked Jack.

  “You’re not invited dear boy,” gurgled Gregori, lashing out, trying to squirm free.

  As Jack tightened his grip on Gregori’s neck, he felt a vice-like hand on his shoulder, pulling him back and tossing Gregori to the ground. It was Micael. His statuesque body dwarfed Jack’s. A shining white light surrounded him.

  Gregori closed his eyes and shielded his face, unable to look into the light, crying out in pain.

  “Jack, come with me. We’ll hold her, we’ll fight the energy.” Micael’s deep but soft voice resonated throughout the street.

  “He’s taking her down, he can’t do that, she’s done nothing wrong, she hasn’t broken the deal… we need more time… I’m gonna kill him,” screamed Jack, inconsolable, grabbing at Gregori’s neck. Micael raised his hand.

  “She needs you. You need to fight for her… and her child.”

  “What?”

  “She’s with child. We must hold onto her as she dies and pull her back.”

  “What child? Who’s child?” Dazed, Jack didn’t understand.

  “We need to go now Jack.”

  Letting Gregori fall to the ground, Jack followed Micael up over the rooftops. Gregori shouted after them.

  “Naive fools, you think you rule the world. But I know that evil is stronger than good. You’ll see.” He massaged his neck as he raced over the rooftops to follow them.

  The crowd circled Amy and Alice, gawking at the sad sight while medics fought to keep them alive.

  Micael and Jack knelt either side of Amy’s body, placing their hands on her head and shoulders. Gregori hovered nearby, staring at his daughter.

  “Fight for her, Jack. Concentrate.” Micael whispered.

  Jack closed his eyes, resisting the magnetic pull. With all his might, he summoned every last ounce of energy and forced it into her, wrenching her back from the earth. Micael matched Jack’s efforts, and together they sparked a red force field glowing around them, burning, spitting, swirling. The noise thunderous, Gregori placed his hands over his ears.

  The crowd saw nothing, just two girls lying in the street with gunshot wounds to their chests, pools of blood spreading onto the ground around them, not responding to their paramedics’ strenuous efforts to keep them alive.

  Micael and Jack started to burn up as they fought to keep her. Crashing thunder deafened their ears as their hands sizzled with pain.

  A paramedic finally gave up, whispering to his colleague, “She’s gone.”

  He let her go, wiped his brow and leaned back on his heels.

  His colleague replied, “So has this one.”

  The doctor called it, pronouncing them dead and reciting the time from his digital watch.

  Heat and thunder built more and more until a powerful explosion of bright light blasted Jack and Micael off Amy, crashing and spinning them into the sky.

  Gregori stared up at them as they left, gave a wave and wry smile, and slid down through the ground.

  Everything went deathly silent.

  “We couldn’t save them,” a medic announced aloud, a defeated tone in his voice.

  The crowd stepped back, giving the girls space, saying a prayer and mumbling blessings. The three other passengers were lifted onto stretchers with cuts and bruises.

  Chapter Seventy-Seven

  Cloud 9

  “It’s not your fault. He’s a bastard. We just didn’t have enough time to work something out,” Pyke said, soothing Jack as best he could.

  “But why? She did nothing wrong to break the deal. For fucks sake, we save everyone else. Why can’t we fucking save our own?” Jack slumped into the sofa.

  “I know. But Jack…”

  “She did nothing wrong… unless.”

  “What?”

  “Unless.” Jack held his face in his hands. “We had sex.”

  “What?”

  “Sex, in her dreams, I made love to her… is that bad?”

  “Shit Jack, I am not sure if the Fallen are allowed carnal relations with Erthfolk.”

  “So it’s all my fault… she broke the deal.”

  “It may not be the reason, you don’t know for sure.”

  Maggie stepped into the office, her shoulders hunched, her eyes red from crying. She walked over to Jack and offered her hand. He took it, stood up, and let her fall into his chest like a child, wrapping his arms around her.

  “I’m so sorry, ma’am.”

  Pyke joined them, circling his two friends in his arms, the three holding each other tightly.

  “I let her down. I let you down,” Jack whispered.

  The doors flung open.

  “You SO did, you plonker.”

  The three looked up to see Amy and Alice standing in the doorway, both beaming with joy.

  “Honey, I’m home,” Amy smiled. “And I brought my friend with me… let’s get back to work.”

  ~~~ The End ~~~

  Thank you for reading this book. I hope you enjoyed it. I certainly had fun writing it and look forward to the next in the Fallen Angel Series. If you would like to read more of my books, check out my website.

  www.sccunningham.com

  @sccunningham8

  or

  the S C Cunningham Amazon Author Page.

  Please leave a review if you think worthy. Reviews give us Authors courage.

  Thank you again, and

  may blessings and good karma go with you.

  Siobhan x

 

 

 
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