by Tom Clarke
“You mean when he would be allowed to die” Jim said.
“Yes” David replied. “Jim, Nico has done some terrible things over his many years on this planet. I would imagine that he told you he sold his sword, he did. Except that his sword was in service to Alan. He did try to come to us for help, for forgiveness, but he was turned away. So, he returned to the service of the one who had tricked him to begin with.”
Jim walked away from David, “That explains a lot. I understand where he’s coming from now.”
“I know you do Jim” David said. “You have to understand that the word of God has remained the same, it hasn’t wavered through time. It’s man’s interpretation that has evolved. Along the way something happened, and Nico walked away from Alan. Sometime in the mid 1700’s he walked into a small church in Spain and began his return to us.”
“So, what about all this shit we’ve been wading through for the past week?” Darrel said in a slightly agitated tone of voice. “David, did Nico plant that bomb at the Vatican?”
David took a deep breath, “Yes. But he did it on our orders. We had been getting information from several inside sources that Alan was getting ready to make a move of significant importance. The decision was made to have Nico reacquaint himself with the beast by fabricating a falling out between him and the church. Nico became involved with Alan again and at Alan’s direction, and approved by us, he planted a bomb at Saint Peters Basilica. However, the device that exploded that day was not the one he had planted, there was not supposed to be any injuries. He was betrayed by another member of the church. So, not knowing who he could trust he went to the only people he knew he could.”
Jim just put his hands on his head and started to walk in a circle.
“Jim” David continued. “I believe that he was going to tell you what he was involved with when Alan made the move we had been hearing about. The attack on your wife.”
Jim looked at David, the rage running through him was more than apparent, “Did you know he was going to hit my wife!”
“No, Jim, I did not” David replied in an apologetic tone. “We didn’t really know what was happening until our security services got an alert from the DEA international desk that a phone to one of our couriers was being looked at. From there we started tracking things down, a fire at a motorcycle repair shop in Missoula, Montana was what led us to Arizona. We sent another one of our agents to find and assist Nico.”
“The Russian, with the tattoos” Darrel said.
“Yes” David replied. “He was an informant of ours in the same crime group that the two assassins Alan sent came from. He used to provide us information until he was discovered and ran to us for protection. It wasn’t until he was killed by his own team, men that were supposed to be the best of our most trusted agents, that we understood the level of infiltration within the church we were dealing with.”
“Those men at the safe house?” Jim asked. “Why did they have to die?”
“I don’t know” David said, shaking his head. “You have to understand that Nico is many things, but most of all he is a killer. Something may have happened that made him think they were going to pose a risk to him completing his mission so, he ended them.”
Seeing Jim’s anger begin to rise Darrel spoke up, “Jim, these guys aren’t doing anything that you and I both haven’t done. It sounds like they cooked up a complicated undercover operation, dropped Nico into the middle of it, and things went sideways. Nico ran, but then saw a chance to get back on track and help us at the same time.”
“I shot my friend!” Jim said. “I shot my friend, the man who saved my life the first time we encountered the demons, monsters, or whatever the fuck they are. You tell me, right now! Is he still alive, or did I kill my friend?”
“Easy brother” Darrel said grabbing Jim by the shoulder.
“Fuck easy!” Jim yelled. “You tell me, did I kill my friend!”
David, who didn’t even flinch in the face of Jim’s anger, smiled, “No my son, you did not. Nico still lives. I don’t know where he is, but I do know he is still alive.”
Jim let out a ragged breath as Darrel gripped his shoulder tight. Shelly wrapped one arm around her husband and her other around Darrel who was now working hard to fight back some tears.
David looked at Jim, Shelly, and Darrel and smiled. “Jim, Darrel, there are challenging times ahead for all of us. The attack on your family was just the beginning. We need you, we need both of you.”
Jim didn’t respond, he just looked at David. “Jim, I know that you walked away from God some time ago, and I know why. Believe me when I say that he never walked away from you. Think about it, please.”
David handed a business card to Jim and one to Darrel and started to walk away when Jim said, “How can we trust you, or anyone else in the church? We know, David! We know what’s going on, your house is in such disorder, how can we seriously trust any of you?”
David turned back and faced Jim. As he pulled a pair of sunglasses out of his jacket pocket he replied, “It’s just a house Jim. It’s the faith and love of the people in it that give it power. Remember, to live in the light you will have to walk through the darkness. Come back to us, when you’re ready. I’ll be here.”
A look of disbelief came across Jim’s face, “David, who are you?” Jim asked.
David just smiled, put his sunglasses on, and then with the rest of his group drove away, leaving Jim, Darrel, Shelly, and the young girl standing in front of Jim’s house.
Sunday morning came early. Jim was sitting in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee when Shelly came out of the bedroom. “Good morning, how did you sleep?”
Jim looked up from his cup of coffee, “I slept better than I can remember having slept in a long time” he replied.
Shelly smiled, “Nice, me to! I’m going to get ready to go to church.”
She hesitated, knowing what Jim would say after having asked him the same question so many times over the years, “Hey, you want to come with me?”
Jim set his coffee cup down and looked up at his wife, “Yes.”
Standing up and stretching Jim smiled, just like sleep, for the first time in a long time. He reached down and scratched the heads of his two dogs and headed off to get dressed.
As he walked to his bedroom Jim glanced into a mirror and just for a second, he saw the image of a large wolf looking back at him. Jim just smiled, as he peered into the darkness of the mirror. Smiling back the wolf faded and was gone, “Soon” Jim whispered as he walked on to get dressed for church.
END