by C. G Harris
I hesitated, knowing this next part might press that fury button a little harder than I wanted to.
“Also, what?” Judas leaned back in his chair, staring off into the distance as he took my story in.
“Well, he said if anything were to happen to him ...”
“He would reveal our little secret about the Denarii Division.”
Now it was my turn to be surprised. “Yeah. He said he would blab our secrets to anyone who would listen.”
Judas nodded, never revealing so much as a spark of fiery irritation. Thoughts of killer lamas trotted through my mind again.
“I doubt it would be quite so easy… Like it or not, he is still bound by the oath of the coin. If he reveals the secret, he will be right back where he started from.”
I wasn’t as sure as Judas was on that last point. After all, the coin was supposed to suck you into some inescapable never-where, and he had gotten out. If he had found a way around that rule, who’s to say he couldn’t find a way around this one? I decided to let that speculation lie. We were doing pretty good, considering. No need to poke the dragon.
“Unfortunately, now that he has escaped our efforts to stop his travel Topside, we will have very little control over what he does from here on out. The use of Whisper Wraiths confirms the fact that this is indeed a mission authorized by The Council of Seven. I will not be privy to any of his actions or missions from here on out, and any efforts on your part to track him could expose our operation.”
I let that sink in for a moment. “Wait. Are you saying now that he’s free, we’re going to let him do whatever he wants?”
“I am saying we have many fights yet to wage. We have lost this one. Better to prepare for the next than die fighting a losing battle.”
I shook my head. “But we can’t ...”
Judas slammed his hand down on the table cutting me off. “How many times must I explain this to you? Every failure has consequences. Until you begin to take this position seriously, some of those consequences will be dire. I hope you understand how meddling in your friends’ affairs rather than attending to your real duties is a direct cause of everything that has happened here. We have no idea what Simeon will do, but I can assure you, it will be nothing short of disastrous.”
I hung my head in shame. I wasn’t cut out for this. How could I choose between my friends and my job? I could never watch Zoe die just to stay on track with a mission. On the other hand, taking care of Zoe had caused ... To be honest, I wasn’t even sure how high the cost would be.
I stood in silence, not knowing what else to say. After a few moments, I turned and headed for the door, no longer caring if Judas got angry or not. Coin or no coin, I made a personal vow to stop Simeon myself, no matter what it took. I would find a way to track him and run his plans into the ground, Council of Seven be damned.
“I understand the weight of what I’ve asked you to do.” Judas’s voice was uncharacteristically understanding. “I need you to understand it as well.”
I paused and nodded. “It’s not the understanding I have a problem with. It is the weight itself.”
Judas let out a chuckle. “That is the meat of it. If the burden were light, it would be no burden at all.”
With that, I sighed and walked out, carrying the full weight of the denarius on my shoulders.
Chapter Forty-Seven
I shifted around, trying to find a way to make myself comfortable on Dan’s anti-ergonomic bar stool. Hula Harry’s had a sparse clientele, but tonight, the Wobegone smattered here and there were scarce even by Harry’s standards.
I sipped a double bourbon of some sort. Definitely not top shelf. If we couldn’t get drunk on the stuff, it would be nice to have something that didn’t taste like turpentine filtered through a pair of old gym socks.
“What’s got you looking so down?” Dan stood behind his bar of old bus doors and cleaned a glass with a towel. The scene looked so normal at that moment, I could almost forget we were in The Nine—save the car compacted brick walls and the ever-present feeling of doom.
“Let’s just say it’s been a very bad day.”
“Looks like your face had a bad day. What did you do? Try to play matchmaker to a couple of charging rhinos? I would offer you another drink, but it won’t do any good. I’m happy to lend an ear though.”
I let out a cynical chuckle. “Have you ever run into a situation where you knew the goods were too good to be true, but the angle was hidden so well you couldn’t seem to find it?”
Dan laughed. “Sugared poison.”
“What?”
“I’m not proud of it, but that’s what I used to call my con. I never once pulled a trigger, but sugared poison hurt a lot of people. Probably killed its fair share too.”
Dan kept his eyes on his glass as he polished away spots that weren’t there. I could tell his mind had taken him to a place that haunted his memories. Mine sometimes did the same. The sins I had committed with my cousins were unforgivable, and my atonement was now everlasting.
“You know, I’ve been known to lend an ear or two myself. If it helps, I can stand behind the bar, and you can come out and sit on one of these terrific stools.”
Dan laughed. “I wouldn’t last ten seconds on one of those things. They’re terrible.”
I stared at him with my mouth open.
“What? I made them. I didn’t say I was in love with them.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Seriously though, if you ever want to talk ...”
Dan shrugged and looked at me. “Not much to say. It all amounted to the same thing. I would offer something amazing. Show them how their life could change. Real estate was one of my favorites. I would present an investor a huge plot of land ripe for development in the next ten years. They never knew those properties were zoned as toxic waste dumps or radiation hot zones. They thought they were getting commercial properties for pennies on the dollar.” Dan shook his head. “Worked for almost anything. Pharmaceuticals, charity donations, you name it. Sugared poison. Go in offering them candy, and by the time it melts down to the toxic core, it’s too late to do anything about it. Ruined a lot of lives for my greed. I figure I wound up in the right place to pay for it.”
I shuddered at the thought. If that was Simeon’s plan, sugared poison could be the catalyst to a global catastrophe. If his nanos could be turned against their host, then ... I shuddered again, thinking of how many people would soon be infected by MiRACL’s new cure-all.
“Sorry, that was probably a little more information than you wanted about your neighborhood bartender.”
I looked up and realized my thoughts had bled through to a horrified expression on my face. I clamped my mouth shut and smiled.
“It’s not you. We all have skeletons in our closet. Sometimes they rattle louder than we want them to. I’m not here to judge. Believe me, my closet is a walk-in big enough for the imperial palace, and it is chock full of the boney bastards.”
Dan laughed and set two more glasses up on the bar. “What’ll it be, ladies?”
I turned my head and saw Alex and Zoe standing behind me.
“I’ll have whatever Gobble Gabe’s having.” Zoe chuckled.
I groaned. “Glad to see you two are bonding.” I dreaded hearing what Alex had told Zoe about my unusual dislike of turkeys.
“Make that two.” Alex slumped onto the stool next to me and then promptly stood up again as if someone had slipped a handful of thumbtacks onto her seat. She looked down, wondering like everyone else how something could manage to be so uncomfortable.
Dan eyed me with a smile then poured the two new drinks. I chuckled realizing these stools must be his little joke to enjoy every time someone new walked in the door. His sugared poison watered down to more of a practical joke.
“You three make yourselves comfortable. I made those stools myself; I hope you like them. They were a real labor of love. I need to go make sure the rest of my customers are happy.”
I nod
ded and grinned again at how his prideful comment stopped Alex from saying anything about the stool.
“You know, it’s not nice to make fun of someone’s fears,” I said, drawing Alex’s attention away from her seat. “I don’t make fun of your phobia for normal hair colors.”
“All I did was explain the nickname.” Alex had a grin that said she had explained way more than that. “I might have told her about the small incident with you at the turkey farm.”
“That’s why I love being your partner. You’re always looking out for me.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Zoe shot me a rueful smile of her own. “I would never use anything your cousins made up to torture you.”
“Thank you.”
“Not when there’s so much material in your haunted house escapade.”
I turned to glare at Alex. “Is nothing sacred?”
“Not among sisters, it’s not.”
“Screaming Slasher, Jumpy Juggernaut.” Zoe held up a finger. “Wait, I got it. Gory Gabe.”
I set my face in my hand and sighed. “Could we talk about something else?”
I looked back up and turned my attention back to Alex. She grinned to the point of laughter. “Did you bring it?”
“I brought it. You know, if you get caught with this thing, you are going to be in a lot of trouble.”
“I know. I’ll take the heat for it, don’t worry,” I said.
“Every time you say that, I do begin to worry.”
I wanted to laugh but couldn’t. I felt like I had made such a mess of everything.
“I haven’t been much of a partner lately.” My eyes went to Zoe. “Or a great friend.”
Zoe shook her head. “I got myself into a mess, and you got me out. You and Alex. I couldn’t ask for better friends.”
Alex smiled over at her. “I’m glad to help.” Her smile faltered, and she shook her head. “That’s the problem, isn’t it? I really am glad to help. How am I supposed to be a Judas Agent who’s always running out to perform roadside assistance? It’s not what we’re all about.”
I gave her half a grin. “I think people like us need balance. If we have to go out and poke a few bears, we want to be able to come back and apply a few bandages too.”
Alex shrugged. “Maybe so. Doesn’t help when the people handing out the sticks are the ones with the paychecks though.”
“True. For now, why don’t we show Dan his new toy.”
“New toy?” Dan came up behind us. He had apparently finished his rounds. “What sort of toy?”
“Can we check out your back room?” I nodded toward an open doorway behind the bar.
“It’s a bit of a mess, but yeah, I guess so.”
He led us all inside, and the four of us stood there cramped together. The storeroom was made up of the same crushed car walls as the rest of the bar. There were a few metal shelves stocked with bottles and spare glassware and a corner stacked with a few odds and ends.
Procel had let a secret slip about traveling Topside. He insinuated that there may be more than one way up. The only way I knew was the Envisage Splice, so I had asked Alex. She hadn’t known of any other ways to transfer Woebegone, but there was a gadget the Judas Agency used to transport messages and small packages and that got me thinking.
I walked over and cleared out the spare junk from the corner—a broken broom handle, a couple of old, metal crates, and a dustpan. When it was free of obstructions, I laid the four flat rods Alex had brought from the agency on the floor and connected them at the corners. The second they were together an audible hum filled the room.
“What is that?” Dan leaned in and examined the simple construct lit by a high beam on an old Pontiac.
“This is your ticket to success.”
As if on cue, a case of Coca-Cola appeared inside the square.
Dan’s jaw hit the ground.
“Needless to say, this is not your off-the-shelf item here in The Nine.” I reached down and grabbed the case of Coke and handed it to Dan and another case appeared behind it. “If anyone catches you with it, they’ll want to know where it came from. All trails will lead to me.”
Dan seemed to be on the verge of tears. He hurried over and stacked his case of cola on the shelf then rushed back and hugged me. Then he hugged Alex and Zoe too. “You don’t know what you have done for me here. This place is all I have. I will do good things with this, I promise. No one will ever find out about the ... the ...” He raised an eyebrow.
“Better you don’t know what it is called,” I said. “That way you can plead ignorance.”
“Don’t worry. If anyone comes snooping around, I’ll tell them my old connection is back.”
“If anyone comes snooping around, you let us know.” Alex said in tone so deadly the three of us all turned to stare at her. “What? Don’t act like this isn’t serious. If we’re doing this, I’m going to protect my investment.”
I grinned. “See, it’s all about balance. You are going to make a lot of Woebegone that much happier because of this. Thank you.”
Alex narrowed her eyes and nodded but didn’t say anything else.
“If you get busy and need any help, I know a couple of dependable ladies who can keep their mouths shut,” Zoe said. “They could use something to do.”
“Deal,” Dan said. “Send them over, and I’ll put them to work.”
“I set up deliveries Topside once a week.” I pointed to the cases now stacking up in the corner. “They’ll appear just like this. If you need more or less, let me know.”
Dan nodded. “You have done a good thing. All three of you. From now on, you want a drink or a place to take a load off, Hula Harry’s is your home away from home.”
I nodded, not knowing what else to say. The three of us had gotten away with a lot over the last few days and we all made it back in one piece. Zoe was home and so were Jazzy and Meg. I didn’t think they would be eager to face Skin Quarries again, at least no time soon. Besides, my cousins would be out of commission for quite some time, thanks to the beating Alex and I had put on them. I wasn’t delusional enough to believe they were gone for good though. Not by a long shot.
The Judas Agency was another story. I was under strict orders to leave MiRACL, Simeon, and whatever plans he had for the world alone. Any action on my part could expose the Denarii Division but allowing a worldwide catastrophe to go unchecked was unthinkable. I would have to find a way to stop whatever plans Simeon had for the company and bring him back to The Nine where he belonged. Doing that without exposing the Denarii Division would be the trick. No matter what, I could not allow him to expose Judas or his agents. Plus, I couldn’t stop thinking about Ryan. What happened to him when Simeon moved in. Was he dead? Did Simeon have his soul captive somewhere? Worldwide catastrophe or not, finding out what happened to that poor innocent kid was worth the risk on its own.
I looked up at Alex, realizing something else. Simeon said if anything happened to him our secrets would be exposed. The operative word was our. Alex had no idea what sort of secrets I hid, that meant she had to have a secret of her own.
“Why are you staring at me?” Alex, glanced down at her clothes and then touched her face. “What’s wrong? You’re freaking me out.”
“Nothing,” I said. “We can talk about it later. For now, let’s go have another drink. We have a lot to celebrate”–and more work ahead at the Judas Agency.
Thanks for Reading!
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Not quite ready to leave, The Nine? Find out what Gabe and Alex are up to next. Read chapter one of Artful Evil, book 3 in The Judas Files, due out for release in early 2021. And if you haven’t read book one, The Nine, now is the perfect time.
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Chapter 1-Artful Evil
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Fights in The Nine usually ended up in one of two ways; either you won, or you were dead—again—and found yourself in the Gnashing Fields. The winner wasn’t so much the problem. The dead guy, he was bad for business. Not my business, of course. I worked for The Judas Agency, A.K.A. The Disaster Factory. They thrived on death, dismemberment, and destruction. My friend, Dan, was a different story. He was a conservative guy straight out of the 60’s. He owned Hula Harry’s. One of the only torture free establishments in Hell. I wasn’t about to let a couple of beefeaters bust up his joint with their brawl. I laced my fingers into my Knuckle Stunner and pulled it out of my pocket. There was no need for subterfuge. By the time either of them registered my involvement in their little sideshow, the first guy was flat on the ground.
The Knuckle Stunner was a Hellion-made weapon that somehow scrambled the circuits in the brain. The harder you hit someone, the thicker the scramble. I had set the first guy on purée and was headed for the second when he put his hands up in surrender.
“Sorry, man. He wouldn’t stop bugging me! What was I supposed to do?”
“First, you’re in a bar where you can’t get drunk.” It was true. Booze didn’t work in The Nine because, well ... Hell. “You have no excuse for acting like a stupid frat boy. Second, grab your new buddy and drag him out of here. You’re both banned for two weeks.”
“What? That’s not fa—”
I cut him off by raising my Knuckle Stunner in his direction. “If I have to drag you both out, it’s six weeks, and you don’t want me to pick the drop spot. I know a lot of back alley cesspools with your name on them.”
Frat boy didn’t say another word. He just nodded, bent over, and dragged his penance toward the door.
“Any of you good citizens willing to help this young man out?”
I looked around the bar. Everyone seemed unusually preoccupied with their tabletops.