by Michael Todd
He nodded, took the phone from his assistant, and dialed the number. Katie stood there as he waited for them to pick up, and then began talking in French to whoever was on the line.
“Oui, Madame, je suis ici avec Katie, de Katie's Killers. Elle exige le paiement, disant qu'elle ne travaille pas pour le gouvernement Américain et exige que nous lui donnions le paiement intégral ... Oui, je lui ai expliqué ... Non, Madame ... Oui, elle a les yeux rouges. D'accord, attendes un moment, s’il te plait.”
He handed the phone to Katie. She pulled the phone to her ear and answered.
“This is Katie, who am I speaking with?”
“Yes, Katie, this is the Prime Minister. First, I would like to thank you for everything you did for the country today.”
“Mhmm,” Katie replied, raising an eyebrow.
“We were not aware that you were expecting payment, at least not yet.”
“Right. Let me explain something to you. I’m a mercenary, and we do this for money. That’s what mercenary means. Sure, I love saving the world, but I have bills to pay and a life to support and other people to pay as well. We cannot just sit around and wait for people to take months to pay us. That is not how business works.”
“I understand. Let me speak to Henri.”
“Sure.” She handed the phone back. “Henri, she wants to speak to you.”
Henri put the phone to his ear, glancing at Katie, who was staring at him. “Oui, Madame. Très bon Madame, je vais lui dire tout de suite. Non, Madame, il n'y a pas de danger.”
The Prime Minister sighed on the other end. “Just get her out of here as soon as possible.”
The guy nodded and hung up, looking at Katie with a nervous smile. “We will arrange a transfer right away.”
Calvin had heard why on the phone and shook his head, mumbling under his breath. “Ungrateful bastards.”
Katie and Calvin turned for the steps to the jet. “Honestly, if they knew how much my monthly food bill was, they wouldn’t gripe so much. I have the food bill of a ten-person house, and it’s just me and sometimes one other person. Half my pay goes to feeding my demon, and that sounds creepy but it’s mostly donuts and the occasional Italian food that we stuff into our faces. I hate working with other countries. They never appreciate the work you do, at least not until they are fearing for their lives because they don’t want you to eat them.”
Calvin and Katie both laughed as they climbed the steps and went into the plane. She walked over to the bar and poured herself a whiskey. She offered Calvin one, but he shook his head. She sat down and put her feet up, leaning her head back and sighing. She swished the whiskey around in her glass and looked at the Eiffel Tower in the distance. She had always wanted to go to Paris, to be in the City of Love, but after today she was pretty sure she would never look at the place the same way again.
Before the plane started down the runway Katie’s phone dinged and she picked it up, looking down at a text message from Brock.
Just letting you know we will be back in the United States within two weeks. Then we get seventy-two hours of full liberty, thank God. I can make it up to New York during that time.
Katie bit the inside of her lip and looked around to make sure Calvin wasn’t paying attention. She smirked, feeling her cheeks growing warmer. It had been a long time since a man had made her feel that way, and she loved it. She wanted to show him and his team one hell of a good time.
My plane seats twelve. Bring some friends, and we will show you that we mercenaries appreciate you soldiers.
She turned her phone off and looked out the window, laughing to herself. She could only imagine what his response to reading that text was. She watched out the window as the plane sped down the runway. It was raining out, and the droplets smeared down her window before flying off behind the plane. The wheels lifted off the ground, and the plane took flight.
For the first time in her life she didn’t flinch or freak out, she just took it as it came. She knew that if she was facing demons, fighting and protecting others, she couldn’t live her life fearing taking off in a plane. Besides, if the plane went down, she had wings. She could just jump and glide safely to the ground.
“So, what are you going to do when you get back?” Calvin asked, interrupting her train of thought.
She shrugged. “I guess I’ll continue what I was doing. Make money, set up some new businesses, get my condo together, and continue to help the New York Police Department clean these demons out of their city. How about you? You ever coming back to work?”
“Maybe.” Calvin chuckled. “I’m just focused on seeing Sophia. I left the poor girl all alone in a bunker under the Nevada desert.”
“She’s not alone. I’m sure she and Timothy are having a blast. He needed a friend. He’s been moping around ever since Stephanie left. She was his bestie, and I’m not really the girl to do manicures and talk boys with him. Sophia probably needed that in her life after everything she has been through.”
Calvin grinned. “You’re probably right, but I’m stealing her back.”
Katie was just happy that he was smiling again.
George drove his car at full speed down the road leading to the gates at the base. He was tired of dealing with these assholes, and they needed to start respecting the motherfucking badge. He was a United States IRS agent, but they didn’t seem to understand what that meant. When he got to the front gate, he demanded to speak to someone immediately. The soldiers weren’t too pleased to deal with his rude ass, but they put him in the Humvee and phoned Timothy, who was in the armory building.
When they got there, George jumped out of the vehicle and stormed up to the door. By that point he was irate and screaming, banging hard on the door.
“I will shut this whole damn operation down,” he yelled. “You need to answer this door and do as you are told!”
Timothy quietly and calmly opened the door with a closed-lipped smile on his face. Behind George, four guards closed in. He looked at Timothy and narrowed his eyes before turning around to watch the guards. Not one of them looked the least bit pleased with George storming onto their base, screaming at their people, and making a scene in front of one of their bosses.
George straightened his shirt and put on a professional face, calming his demeanor. “I am not too happy here, sir. This situation has not been rectified, and I have my bosses breathing down my neck. Now, I am a powerful man working for a powerful organization, and it is the law that even people like this woman pay their fair share of taxes.”
“Let me stop you right there.” Timothy sighed, stepping outside. “You work for a powerful organization that is being used by the demons to attack one of those who has been fighting for your freedom from damnation. Someone in your precious organization is going against everything that this country stands for and has gone into your system, falsified dates, and tried to pin crimes on a woman who is not only innocent but a goddamn hero. Now, if you have watched the news at all, you will have noticed that there was an incursion in France just yesterday. And during that incursion, a woman from our country saved thousands of lives. Guess who that woman was?”
George stuttered, but Timothy put up his hand. “I think that if you are so damn proud to be an IRS agent, you would be furious at the fact that you are being set up to carry out orders that are against the very code that your employer has put out. This woman does not deserve this, and the authorities have been notified of the issue. Would you like me to add your name to that list?”
“I don’t like to be threatened,” George spluttered indignantly.
“Let me tell you something, sweetheart.” Timothy snapped his fingers and moved close to George, his eyes flashing red. “While you are out here running the roads in your sweaty-ass short-sleeved shirt, complaining about having to come all the way here, maybe you should stop and do your job. I had to stop the very important Top-Secret intelligence work that I do and do your job for you, making sure the claims were correct, and when they weren’t
, tracking them back to the culprit. So, don’t you come marching up to my doorstep with your ugly-ass paisley tie, pocket protector, and combover, darling. Not when I just spent my own billable hours on your ass.”
George just stood there with wide eyes while Timothy tore him a new asshole. When he was done, he took a deep breath and pulled an envelope out of his pocket. George raised an eyebrow and took it, pulling out the paper.
“What is this?”
“This is a bill, approved by the US Government, to fix your obvious fucktardness. So pay up, bitch, and get off Katie’s Killers’ property.”
George’s face went pale white, and his hands shook as he stared down at the bill. “I... I don’t have this kind of money!”
Timothy shrugged. “Not my problem. Find it.”
“I... Yeah, uh...” George stuttered as he walked back to the Humvee and sat down, dizzy and clammy.
They watched as one of the soldiers drove him back toward the front of the base, to his car so he could leave. The guards all burst out laughing, putting their hands up and giving Timothy high-fives. The guards started to walk away, still chuckling and shaking their heads.
“Oh,” Timothy called, “don’t forget, soaps at ten!”
They all waved and walked back toward their posts. “Don’t forget the sugared popcorn this time!” one called.
“Oh, you know I won’t!” Timothy watched them all walk away. He smacked his lips before heading back into the armory.
Joshua looked up and smiled. “Did you take care of him?”
“Boy, let me tell you… That little gremlin will not be giving us any more problems. I can’t believe he had the damn nerve to come rolling up to my house, slamming his greasy little fist on the door, and dropping his spittle as he demanded I do things for him.” Timothy giggled and grabbed Joshua’s arm. “You should have seen his face when I gave him that bill. I am pretty sure he peed a little.”
Joshua laughed. “I kind of feel bad for the guy.”
“Why? He should have done his homework on the case before rolling up in his pocket protector and demanding my boss pay her fair share. Okay, how about you fight demons your fair share then, bitch? Yeah, that wouldn’t have happened. They would have ripped him up and thrown him in the spoiled pile.”
Joshua chuckled. “You are too much.”
“Mhmm, I know that’s right.”
Angie continued to watch replays of Katie’s interviews on the news. She was so excited that Katie had kicked serious ass, and she couldn’t wait for her to get home and give her all the gory details. Angie stopped and frowned, surprised that she would be the least bit interested in the gory details. She shrugged, figuring the world was changing, and so was she. She had to keep up with the times and go with the flow.
Just then the doorbell rang, and Angie smiled, pausing the DVR and walking over to the door. She peeked through the hole to find a tall, slender man on the other side of the door. His hair was long and silver, and he was wearing a glimmering white tunic. Normally, Angie wouldn’t open the door for someone she didn’t know, but for some reason, when he looked at the peephole, she felt like his eyes were staring into her soul. It was a peaceful and calm feeling, and she instantly trusted the man on the other side.
“Hi.” Angie smiled as she opened the door. “How can I help you.”
“My name is Gabriel,” he informed her kindly.
“Oh,” Angie replied, realizing that this was the angel that Katie always talked about. “Um, Katie’s not here right now, but you probably already know that. Would you like to come in? I can put on some tea or coffee.”
He smiled gently. “No, thank you. I have to be on my way, but I was in the area and wanted to stop by and give Katie and Pandora a message.”
“Sure.”
“Please tell them both that they did a good job in France. And please tell Pandora that perhaps she should tell Katie about the sword skills and the armor.”
“Sword skills and armor, check.”
Gabriel nodded and turned, walking away. Angie looked down at her hands and repeated the message to herself. Suddenly she remembered that Katie had wanted to talk to him, so she poked her head around the corner to catch him.
“Gabriel, Katie wanted...”
She stepped out in the hall and looked back and forth, but Gabriel was nowhere to be found. The elevator doors hadn’t opened; she would have heard that. She looked up at the ceiling as the lights flickered ever so softly and a comforting feeling drifted over her. She smiled and clasped her hands together, walking back into the apartment and shutting the door. She had never seen a real angel before, and until she had met Katie, she had questioned if they actually existed.
She thought of Katie as her guardian angel, and she supposed Gabriel was the same to Katie, only a teacher for her. She was curious about him, but who wouldn’t be? She sat back down on the couch, holding on to the feeling still pulsing in her chest.
She smiled and pushed Play, basking in the warmth of having been touched by an angel.
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
Written July 14, 2018
HOLY CRAP – Thank you for reading to the back of this book and these Author Notes!
Since the last time I spoke about KatieDora, a few things have happened. (To you folks in the Protected by the Damned Facebook Group, I did NOT speak to Pandora about using that name. Should she find out, I’ll randomly pick one of you and throw you under the bus. I figure that is similar to a red-shirt walk-on, right?) We actually have book 04 in the queue for editing, and the COVER is kinda sort of in process.
It’s…dramatic-ish. At least, it is at the moment. The artist and I were talking about it the other day.
BEHIND THE SCENES ON ARTWORK
I don’t have as much space in the back of the book anymore. Amazon put in a constraint, and by God, we aren’t going to get anywhere NEAR the mandated amount if we can help it. There are too many people depending on LMBPN to not screw up to allow that to happen.
But I’ll tell a short story.
So, Artist X… (I can’t remember if he wants me to share his name or not.) Anyway, we were talking about THIS cover and how we liked it so much. When I picked the poses for him to work in 3D with for Katie, I picked one that was…different.
Moody.
It looked good on the original poster for the film, but when Jude works the concept for our stuff, we change it (obviously) and it might work, or it might not.
This book’s image concept was from a Batman cover I saw one time. I like the fact that Katie is in New York and looking down, and having been in New York recently, it totally fits.
Her trip next book has a slightly different feel.
So, Artist X had started on both concepts, and when we were finalizing this cover (he totally made the gargoyle from scratch in 3D, by the way) he mentioned he wasn’t sure if the other cover was going to work.
I rather flippantly told him, “No problem. Set it aside, we will use it for something else.” I was thinking that he knew best whether it would work, and I didn’t need to second guess him.
(For the record, I think he second-guessed himself and sent it to me in Slack.)
I took a look at the image, thinking that I would go, “You are right…”
What I said was, “Hold on! There is something with the image.”
When AX (yes, I’m shortening his pen name) and I got on the phone, he felt the same.
So, we are moving forward with the image and crossing our fingers that we got this…and it comes out just as cool on the cover as we both hope.
If it does, I think everyone who has been with us on this ride of how to use 3D for our covers from Protected by the Damned Book 01 until now will agree…
You did DAMNED good Artist X! Damned good!
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael
P.S. – Here is a snippet from a short conversation Laurie and I had the other night in Slack:
lauriestarkey [7:08 PM]
<
br /> Thank you Mike. I appreciate that so much.
Okay - if you're in Chicago --- RPM Steak.
By far one of the best restaurants I've ever eaten at. Expensive as fuck, but it was insanely cool - well worth it. Every dish.
<
Okay -- now to lay down somewhere. I ate like a fucking PIG > UGH
michael [9:41 PM]
"May the fatted pig RIP" ;-) LOL
lauriestarkey [6:35 AM]
Lol. That needs to go in a book somewhere.
michael [7:13 AM]
We have author notes due ;-)
(She failed to share it in hers… So here it is.)
Author Notes - Laurie Starkey
Written July 1, 2018
Okay, so I don’t know about you, but there are several things in this series that I just want to know more about, both as a writer and a reader!
Now, it may be creepy or slightly sadistic, but I want to see the research facilities in the world of the Damned. I know all hell is breaking loose (or did already!), but I want to walk into a mental institute-looking building with a wild-haired creepy-assed mad scientist at the helm of the research of the Damned.
Because you guys know how this works: you get infected, then you’re either a mercenary, research, or you die. I’d go with kick-ass fighting machine myself (as I’m sure you would too), but there’s a curtain to pull back on what’s going on in the mad science lab.
Spoiler alert—we’re going to get to see that this fall. I’ve been working with Mike on one of our spin-off series, and we’re going to have some fun with the research facilities.
We spent hours the other night preparing the emotional, FUN, adventurous ride we plan on first, going on by writing the books, and second, taking you on with us if you’re interested.