by Michael Todd
The two walked out of the building, shutting the lights off for the last time.
Korbin stood at the window watching the semis drive down the road. He had to give it to Stephanie; when she was given a task, she didn’t give up until she accomplished it. He wasn’t too sure of who she’d managed to hire, but she knew the importance of what they were doing so she had his trust.
He watched Joshua and Stephanie disappear back into the building, then went into the kitchen, grabbed a water, and headed back down to his office.
Once inside he plopped down in his chair and opened his drawers. Nothing remained that could incriminate him in any way. They knew what the place was for, but he had cleaned everything else out, including any paper trail. He clicked on his screen and waited for it to load, figuring he might as well clear out his email too. He probably had some emails to answer anyway, so he could kill two birds with one stone.
When the email had loaded he opened the first, a message from the higher-ups double-checking that everything was ready for the next day’s visitors. Korbin sighed and wrote back, wishing they had a little more trust and faith in him. It was the part of the job he hated the most, smiling and placating the people with the checkbook. They were private citizens and he knew very little about them, but they ran the show and he had a job to do. He told them he had taken care of everything, being vague in his descriptions to keep the email safe just in case. He clicked Send and scrolled to the next, slightly nervous at seeing a familiar email address. It was his contact with the DEA; the agent who had covered his tracks not too long ago.
Korbin,
I hope this is finding you well. This came across my desk early this morning and I wanted to know if they belong to you? Find the videos attached.
Your friend at the DEA office
Korbin winced, rubbing his hands over his face before opening the attachments. There were three videos attached to the email and he slowly pulled each of them up, watching each from beginning to end. The first was of an active-shooter situation in a bank, which rolled into two very familiar faces walking inside.
Katie and Damian were saving the damn day.
The time stamp put it on the exact date they had been in LA, trying to be inconspicuous and hiding from the team leaders. The next video picked up just as Katie grabbed the butt of the gun and lifted the robber off his feet. Damian was in the foreground beating the hell out of another guy, then hitting him over the head with a metal pole.
The last video took the cake. It showed Katie throwing a knife into the last shooter’s arm.
Korbin replayed the last video a second time and sighed, leaning back and shaking his head. He had told them to go and relax, not become the superheroes of LA while they were there.
When Damian had told him that they had helped the police with a bank robbery call he had assumed it was with tactics, not by disarming the assholes.
“Helping where they weren’t supposed to,” Korbin muttered.
As if he didn’t have enough on his plate, he now had to worry about whether the videos had the potential to out Katie and Damian. Sure, the cops wouldn’t know they were looking at demons, but their operation was black ops. It was under the radar, and they just might have shown themselves in the light.
Only a select group of people knew about them, which would make the videos very confusing to a judge who wasn’t in the loop. They looked like crazed vigilantes who had rolled into a bank and saved the day by annihilating three criminals. No matter how many lives they had saved, they hadn’t had his approval to do something like that.
Korbin sincerely wanted to kill them or rip them a new asshole, but they were already on their way to New York.
All he could hope was that the tapes got swept under the rug and they kept their noses clean while they were in the Big Apple. National incidents were not what the higher-ups needed to keep the whole thing going, nor would they appreciate “rogue” team members running around town saving everything that squealed.
Korbin pulled the email back up and began typing, letting the DEA agent know that the LAPD had requested they tell them when the team was in town in case they needed help.
He let her know he hadn’t authorized it, and that he could not afford for his two best operatives to be implicated in the event. It needed to stay hush hush. He didn’t know if it was something she could help him with, but he had to give it his best shot.
Then he skipped down a few lines and asked the most important question, not knowing if he really wanted the answer.
“Are these videos available to the public?”
Chapter Fourteen
Katie, Damian, and Ella looked out the window as the jet pulled into a private hangar; the same one Ella had been picked up from. They gathered their stuff, and Katie ignored Ella’s loud sighs. She was just going to have to get used to it; there were no two ways about that. When they climbed out of the plane there was a tall guy wearing all black and leaning against the back of the SUV. He straightened as soon as the jet’s door opened and walked toward them.
“Hi,” he said, shaking all their hands. “I’m Isaac, the team second. John sent me to pick you guys up and bring you back to the base on the main island. Is there anything you guys need before we get there?”
“No, thanks.” Katie smiled and elbowed Ella before she could speak.
“All right,” he said, opening the back. “You can put your luggage in here, and we will get you set up back at base.”
“Sounds good,” Damian told him. “Thank you for taking us on such short notice.”
“No problem at all,” Isaac assured him. “Seems to be the name of the game in this business.”
“Yeah.” Damian shrugged.
“So how are you, Ella?” Isaac asked as he helped her into the SUV.
“Oh, just peachy. Just freaking peachy,” she replied.
He chuckled. “I’m glad to see you still have your spark.”
Once everyone had gotten into the vehicle, Isaac pulled out and made his way toward the City. Katie sat up front with him, watching as the buildings got taller and closer together. She had never been to New York besides the last fly-in, so it was exciting to see how it really looked. There were people and stores everywhere, and the taxis were just like the ones in the movies. They passed the entrance to Central Park and Katie smiled, watching the people rollerblading in the dry ice-skating rink. She had always wanted to go to New York in the winter time to see the lights, the trees, the snow, and the festivities. She watched all these movies at Christmastime, and that was how she pictured Christmas in the rest of the world.
Growing up near Las Vegas was a drag when it came to winters. The coldest it normally got during the day was fifty, and it only reached freezing about one week out of every year. They got snow and you could watch it fall, but it always melted before it hit the ground. She had never seen a white Christmas in person, and the Santa in a t-shirt just wasn’t the same as the warm red suit to her.
Even in the warm weather, though, New York was a sight to see. Part of her wished that she would get the chance to stay there longer and really do some exploring.
She thought she would love walking around big cities and getting lost in the architecture, the sounds, and the amazing food. Well, the food part was Pandora, but would still make the experience that much better. She hoped she had a chance someday.
“So, you described the base like it wasn’t the only one?” Katie asked.
Isaac smiled. “Yeah. We, uh…we actually have three bases in New York City alone. Or near it, at least. We have the one we are going to, which is here on the island, we have one on the other side over the bridge, and then we have one in New Jersey. Jersey City, to be exact.”
“Why so many?” Katie asked. “Is this a serious stomping ground for demons?”
“Well, yeah, for smaller ones, and the covens here are fruitful for sure, but the traffic is the biggest problem,” he explained. “It can take three hours to get through the tunne
ls sometimes. We had to spread out to be able to tackle the whole place. We have a larger team than most—twenty-one spots. It sounds like a lot to everyone, but I personally think it should be bigger than that. If you think about it, there are multiple fire departments in each area of the city, and they are full too. We should have just as many bases, but the higher-ups think that would cause too much noise.”
“Right.” Katie frowned. “I knew you guys covered a lot of territory, but I had no idea you had basically three teams in one.”
Katie turned and looked back at Damian, wondering if they should have gotten more weapons. He didn’t read her mind like she had hoped, just stared back at her blankly.
“Why did this not come up in meetings?” Katie asked. “I didn’t know that New York had the equivalent of three teams just in the City.”
“Yeah,” Damian admitted. “I mean, I knew that. I guess it just never came up.” He shrugged. “I didn’t even think about it.”
“I suppose it’s a good thing you have that many,” Katie agreed, turning back around. “I mean, it would be nuts to take care of this city with just seven team members.”
“Yeah.” Isaac chuckled. “I don’t think we would be able to do it with so few.”
Just then his phone started to ring, and he excused himself and picked it up. Katie looked out the window, not wanting to be rude and eavesdrop. The buildings were so tall, and she wondered how they managed that when chasing demons. She immediately had more of an appreciation for their teams.
She felt overwhelmed at the compound and at the base; she didn’t know how she would handle it in a city block like that. Even in LA things were spread farther apart. There were a million hiding places out there, and a million ways to find yourself in a really bad situation.
“We have to make a bit of a detour,” Isaac told them. “There is a call for an exorcism not far from here, and since I have a priest I told them we would handle it. I hope that’s all right, Damian.”
“That’s fine,” Damian agreed. “We can give this little lady a taste of the big leagues.”
“Oh, lord.” Katie sighed. “She does not need to go on an exorcism yet.”
“I was talking about you.” Damian winked.
“Very funny,” Katie replied.
“What?” Ella asked excitedly. “We are going on a call? I want to see this stuff go down.”
“She hasn’t been on a call yet?” Isaac asked.
“No,” Katie admitted. “It’s been slow back at home, and to be honest we are lucky to get her out of bed for training every day. I am not sure she is quite ready for a fight.”
“I don’t know if that is true,” Ella said, “but I think I am definitely ready to be a spectator. How am I going to learn if I don’t know what to expect? I mean, they just threw you in on your first incursion, Katie.”
“Yeah, but I was dedicated to getting better,” Katie answered. “I didn’t try to escape out any windows. Besides, I remember my first exorcism; it was definitely not what I expected. In fact, I don’t even know if I want to go to this thing. There were demons and souls, and a giant demon that had to be defeated. It was not like the movies. I would take Spinning Head Girl over what happened any day.”
“That doesn’t sound like a normal exorcism.” Isaac laughed.
“Nothing ever seems to be normal for our team,” Katie replied with a smile, turning back to Damian. “You remember the first ‘date’ you took me on?”
“Oh, lord.” Damian laughed. “That was a doozy.”
“What happened?” Ella asked.
“Well we got there for a run-of-the-mill exorcism of a house, and come to find out, the ghost hunters who tipped us off were infected,” Katie explained. “The house was haunted or infected or something, and there was legit horror-movie craziness going on. The walls were bleeding, there was crazy laughter, and the doors would shut on their own. If that weren’t enough, a giant demon came out, ready to kick our asses. We fought the damn thing for like hours and were eventually able to defeat it, but we pretty much demolished the house in the process. When we finally got back to the ghost hunters we were able to get the demons out and push them back to hell, but it was crazy. The ghost hunters were mad that they didn’t get readings first.”
“Assholes!” Ella exclaimed. “They should have been kissing your feet and thanking you for giving them their lives back. They could have been Damned, or even worse. This is why I hate people—seriously. They have no idea what it is like to be caught in a life like this—ungrateful jerks that they were. But that sounds nuts.”
“It was.” Katie laughed, winking at Damian. “It made me a better hunter, that’s for sure. I had to use skills I didn’t even know I possessed.”
“I think that was one of the turning points for Katie,” Damian agreed. “She blossomed there; showed she knew what she was up against. Trust me, though…she would not have gotten that one so good if she hadn’t been training so hard. This girl was training night and day: down there working with weapons, running, hitting the weights, and learning new moves. She knew her life was on the line, so she threw herself into it.”
“I didn’t like working out. Not many people do, but I wanted to survive, and I knew that being at my physical peak was incredibly important, so I kicked my own ass.” Katie smiled.
“Well, maybe it isn’t as bad as it seems,” Ella said, watching out the window. “Maybe I’ll think differently after this.”
Korbin paced his office floor, thinking of all the things that he should remember while the military was there. He knew he shouldn’t be nervous. They weren’t his bosses, but he understood that if they were pissed off they could give him a really hard time, and he really didn’t want that kind of drama on his hands.
He had been so close to being out of there, but they had gotten to him first. They would have a ton of questions, and he knew what he had to answer and what he could keep hidden, but he still didn’t like the intrusion—especially when he had so many other things going on.
Just then his phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out, looking at the notification of incoming email. It was from the agent and he was almost afraid to open it, but he did. He sat down and sighed before he read it, hoping like hell for good news.
Apparently the videos from the bank were not out in public, at least not that they had found while searching. The tapes had been confiscated after the crime, and immediately put into evidence.
Korbin blew out a breath in relief, then leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and mouthed the words “Thank you” to the heavens.
It was about time they had some sort of good luck, even if it was in a situation they should have never gotten themselves into in the first place. He was definitely going to have a talk with those two when everything had settled down.
He didn’t need his two vigilantes running all over the country solving crimes for the cops. They were demon hunters, and that day they should only have helped if it was demon-related and absolutely necessary. They had made enough waves in LA already; they didn’t need to start anymore.
He opened his eyes and continued reading the email.
The video was taken to the Los Angeles Police Department, she wrote.
It was stashed in the need-to-know section, and I happened upon it. The department really appreciated the help, since there were many souls in that bank and that situation could have been a hell of a lot worse than it was. No one was killed, and the officer who was shot is expected to make a full recovery. Neither the department nor the DEA will let the tapes leak, but somehow they need to figure out how to keep things like this under wraps. If this situation occurs again, we want to be able to keep it out of the public eye. Sometimes these things can move quickly, and videos can pop up before they even get back to the station.
There did need to be some sort of process for keeping these things out of the public eye, but at what cost?
The real solution to the problem was keeping the D Squad out of inci
dents that didn’t have anything to do with demons. Korbin didn’t wish harm to any of the people in the bank, that was for sure, and he was proud of both Katie and Damian for taking the initiative to help in a situation that was obviously dire, but they had to think about their cause, too.
The demons threatened the very existence of the human race, and that made it very important for the team to stay out of things that could expose them. He didn’t know how to tell them to leave a bank full of people to possibly die, but they needed to practice discretion.
As it was, it looked like the department was hoping they would be around again if something like that occurred. They were treading in dangerous territory with that, making it look like they could rely on the team to help in any old case they couldn’t handle. The reality of it was that most things needed to be handled by someone else, though.
“We aren’t frickin’ superheroes, after all,” Korbin muttered, putting his phone back in his pocket.
He got up from his chair and walked back up to the main area, staring out the window into the desert. The lights inside the house were off, and the moon was full in the sky.
It was a beautiful night; there was a lunar blue glow that kind of cascaded over the hilly desert. He was going to miss this place. He had put blood, sweat, and tears into making it a home, and in one fell swoop it had been almost completely demolished.
The new place was going to be good—good for the team and good for the country—but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t feel homesick for a while. The new base would eventually become comfortable, but until then he had to protect their secrets—and that was exactly what he was about to face.
Chapter Fifteen
Isaac pulled up to the curb and parked the SUV like a pro.
Katie knew she couldn’t drive in a place like New York. She could barely parallel park her car at the compound.