The Blood Eagle In The Big Easy Part 10

I took the piece of paper and pushed the food away as my appet.i.te left. Billy was always well informed but this was fast, even for him. "How did you hear about that?"

"Weren't you listening earlier when I said I had a visitor?" Billy tried to smile but failed. "One of the Gatekeeper's men stopped by to see me this morning and dropped this off." He tossed a thumb drive on the table.

"What's on it?" I was fairly sure it was the same thing that was on the drive Katharine had dropped on my desk earlier.

"Some very interesting footage of you being tossed around like a rag doll." Billy's face sank as he seemed to age even further as I watched.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

He wiped his round face with one of his meaty hands as he looked at me. "Yeah, I'll be fine." Sighing as he leaned back. "He's trying to discredit you with this, y'know."

The weight placed on those around me was a heavy burden for them to bare, and it concerned me that Leonard had gone this far. "Leonard can kiss my a.s.s!" Pus.h.i.+ng the thumb drive back at Billy. "It isn't the first time I've gotten my a.s.s kicked."

"True enough." Billy laughed. "It is the first time we have video of it though."

Looking up at Billy I smiled. "Did it look good at least?"

"What your a.s.s?" Billy laughed one of those full body shaking laughs. "I don't know I was too busy watching you bounce across the street."

"d.a.m.n that must be a popular scene." I grumbled. "Everyone seems to reference it. I will have to get a copy for myself." I quipped "Yeah well, I told my visitor to kindly get the h.e.l.l out of my house this morning just before I packed my things." Billy shrugged helplessly. "So that's why I was asking about the apartment. I just don't feel safe where I'm living now."

"It isn't a problem. Just drop by the office and pick up the keys." Anger welled up inside me at the thought of Leonard's men driving someone from their home. "The place is furnished. Is that going to be a problem?"

He genuinely smiled again. "All my worldly possessions fit in my van." He sat back dreamily as he spoke. "To sleep on something other than an air mattress is going to be heavenly."

"You deserve it." Opening the small piece of paper it only contained an address.

"1615 South Saratoga St."

"I take it this is where I can find Creepy George?"

Billy nodded. "From what I hear he has been holed up there since this morning."

"Thanks Billy." I stuck my hand out to shake his. "Don't forget to stop by the office and pick up those keys." Pulling out my wallet Billy started laughing.

"You didn't really think you were going to pay for this did you?" Billy rocked forward in his chair as his face turned several shades of red. "Oh G.o.d you must have b.u.mped your head harder than I thought", wiping the tears out of his eyes. "Like you said earlier I always eat for free!"

Tossing two twenties on the table I stood. "They can consider it a well earned tip." Billy nodded in approval. "Thanks again for everything."

Billy shrugged. "Tis nothing mon frere."

"It is to me."

"If it means that much to you." Billy smiled with wickedness in his eyes. "Want to do me a favor?"

Curiosity got the better of me. "And what could you possibly want me to do for you?"

Billy's face went deadly serious as he spoke. "Can you please knock that s.h.i.+t eating grin off the Gatekeeper's face?"

Billy and I had a good laugh as we walked out of the door and to our respective vehicles. Before proceeding any further I called Justine to let her know that Billy would be by to pick up the keys to the apartment on Seventh Street. Wheeling the car into traffic I headed for South Saratoga St in Central City.

Chapter 14.

About fifteen minutes later I was in the heart of Central City. I pulled into a parking lot across from the Israelite Baptist Church and waited a few minutes to make sure that I hadn't attracted any unwanted attention. S. Saratoga wasn't in the best of neighborhoods as abandoned houses were the norm more often than not these days. According to the satellite photos Justine sent over the front half of the two story house was intact. The back of the property was a different animal altogether. It was a burned out hulk. Prior to the fire that gutted the place the house must have been the nicest place for several blocks.

Making my approach to the house I focused my will wrapping my s.h.i.+elds tightly around me. I felt a surge of power flow through my body as the s.h.i.+elds were activated. Something told me that Mir's repairs were coming along splendidly and the upgrades would be less taxing and more powerful than anything I had known prior. This could prove to be an interesting development or not, G.o.d only knew at this point. The front door and all of the first floor windows were boarded over, and trash and other debris lined the abandoned building except the garage door. Here all the debris was pushed back slightly when someone had opened the door to gain entrance.

Watching the upstairs windows as I pa.s.sed by the house I didn't catch any movement. I ducked through the broken fence and made my way through the charred remains quiet as a church mouse. Feeling my s.h.i.+elds s.h.i.+ft slightly I slowed my progress as I tryed to discern what had changed. It took me a moment to realize that while slightly distorted my s.h.i.+elds were reflecting and wrapping my surroundings around me, rendering me not invisible per se but very well camouflaged. Things were certainly turning in my favor today, which usually meant that something was about to go spectacularly wrong. I don't know about you but when stuff starts going this well for me something really bad comes along and takes a chunk out of my already nonexistent a.s.s.

As I pulled my pistol I opened the scorched door that led to the unscathed half of the house. The door leading to the garage lay broken in the hallway. Stepping over it carefully I cleared the first floor before proceeding upstairs. The stairwell was smeared with old blood and the stench of rotting carrion a.s.saulted my senses, nearly overwhelming me. Choking back the nausea I steeled myself for what was to come. Though I had wounded Creepy George I was sure he was not the source of what I was seeing or smelling. Taking a tentative step up the stairs my skin crawled at the wrongness of my surroundings. Each step brought a nearly imperceptible whisper of a crunch from the copious amounts of dried blood that had mixed with a heavy layer of dust.

Reaching the top of the stairs the walls seemed to ripple and humm in universal objection of my arrival. The wall nearest me burst to life as thousands of flies angrily swarmed my s.h.i.+elds, as I tried to swat them out of my field of vision. I was almost instantly sorry I had. The now vacant wall was covered in all types of bodily fluids, of which blood was the least offensive to my senses. The old hardwood floor running the length of the hallway was smeared in feces and blood alike, drag marks leading into each bedroom. The door furthest away from me was slightly ajar and sunlight weakly shone through.

Pus.h.i.+ng the door open with the barrel of my pistol it revealed what must have been the master bedroom during its prior life as a dwelling for the living. Neglect and abandonment had taken its toll leaving the room a broken and tattered version of what it had once been. A ragged, heavily stained mattress lay on the floor under the heavily molded windows. Filth cluttered the heavily scarred wooden floor. Thick red ichor pooled outside the double wide closet doors. Stepping across the threshold my eyes watered from the overpowering stench of rotting flesh.

Upon closer inspection of the mattress, a fresh pool of blood glistening in the weak sunlight caught my attention. Realizing I couldn't ignore the rotting pachyderm in the room any longer I turned my attention to the closet. I pulled open one of the doors, revealing several bodies in varying stages of decay, the freshest of what I guessed to be a man in his early twenties dressed in black leather chaps. Hundreds of cuts could be seen on his torso most of which were superficial and hardly life threatening. Some were deep enough to have required medical attention had he lived long enough but the ragged gash across his throat had ended his life.

Satisfied that the house was empty I tucked my pistol in its holster and I made my way down to the kitchen rummaging through the cabinets until I found a box of ziploc baggies. Taking a couple I sprinted back up the stairs to the bedroom. Pulling out my knife I cut a large section of the fresh blood stained mattress and stuffed it into the waiting baggies which I quickly shoved in my jacket pockets, then made my way to the front door. The need for stealth was well behind me, so I quickly kicked in the plywood covering the door, causing it to land heavily on the porch. Pulling my phone out of my pocket I dialed Tony Costa's number as I walked to my vehicle.

"Tony?" Hitting the key fob to unlock the door I put the ziploc bags in my glove compartment.

"This is Detective Costa, how can I help you today?" Tony's voice was hard and irritated as he spoke.

"Sorry about calling you on your personal cell." I needed to make sure that he didn't ignore the call so I bypa.s.sed his work number. "This is Viktor Warden."

"Oh... Hey..." Tony stammered looking for the words to chew me out.

"Again sorry about this but I have some information you need to hear." Trying to cut him off before he built up a head of steam.

"This can't be good!"

"Well that depends on how you look at it." Relis.h.i.+ng the fresh air as I leaned against my truck I sucked in a particularly deep breath before continuing. "I know where you can find your missing prost.i.tutes."

Hearing something sc.r.a.ping across the floor and coming to an abrupt silence I began to wonder about Tony's wellbeing. "Alright, I'm sitting. Now go ahead and hit me with it."

"I will text you the address after we hang up but someone needs to get here fast." The foul stench of the house reached me even this far away. "There must be a half dozen bodies in the master bedroom alone." No longer able to tolerate the smell I coughed to clear my throat as I opened the door to my SUV and climbed inside, though I was fairly sure that the smell had permeated my clothes. "I will wait outside till someone gets here but if I were you I would send everyone you have to process the scene."

"Oh, G.o.d..." Tony took a sharp breath then groaned. "It's that bad?"

As I sat in my truck, memories still too fresh in my mind a.s.saulted me. "Yeah it's that bad."

"Do we have a suspect?"

"You're not going to like it." The memory of Creepy George tossing me through a window came to mind. "I'm sure you already heard about my incident yesterday?"

Keys rattled in the background as he issued commands. "Yeah I heard about it."

"Same guy different story it would appear."

Hitting the send on the text message containing the address I grimaced. "You have the address on your phone now."

"Thanks, I will be there in fifteen to secure the scene." There was silence for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. "We will need a body when this is over to close this case. Things have gone too far in the media to not have either a body or a trial."

Relief swept over me as I realized he was going to let me do my job unimpeded. "You will have one, I promise." Clearing my throat I leaned on my steering wheel heavily. "Thanks."

"No problem..." Tony hesitated for a moment longer before I heard a car door close. "Understand that I am not happy about you doing my job for me but I realize sometimes it can't be helped."

"Thanks again Tony, I appreciate your understanding." I knew it cost him something to not go after George himself but he realized some things were out of his grasp. Tony hung up the phone only to pull up beside me five minutes later.

Stepping out of the truck I walked over to greet Tony. "Good to see you."

Tony pulled himself out of the car which seemed a few sizes too small for him. "And you." Shaking my hand vigorously he looked at the two story house in front of us as he covered his nose to help keep out the stench. "What the f.u.c.k?"

"I know right?" coughing a little as I spoke. "After I hung up with you I scoped the other bedrooms upstairs and they are in much the same shape as the one I told you about."

Tony winced as he calculated the numbers in his head. "That's a lot of dead bodies."

Nodding in agreement I clapped him on the shoulder. "You will forgive me if I don't hang around right?"

Tony nodded. "Yeah, its probably best you aren't here when the others show up." He waved a meaty hand in my direction. "Your presence isn't always that easy to explain."

"Thanks again Tony. Take care." Climbing back inside the truck I waved to Tony, not daring to roll my windows down as I drove off. Several police cars with their sirens blaring pa.s.sed me as I left the scene on my way to the office. Looking closer at the screen on my phone I realized that I had three missed calls from Katherine.

Hitting the command b.u.t.ton on my steering wheel I quickly redialed the number. A young woman answered the phone nervously. "Viktor?"

"Yes it is..." Attempting to keep the tension out of my voice as I spoke. "Who is this may I ask?"

"It's Samantha, your wife's a.s.sistant." Her voice trembled with fear and nerves.

"Ex-wife," I corrected gently. "What's wrong?" Katharine never left home without her phone and if her a.s.sistant was using it something was terribly wrong.

"She hasn't come back..." Samantha stammered as her fear took full control. "She left me her phone and asked me to call you at noon." She started to sound more frantic with each word. "You didn't answer... I didn't know what to do, so I waited."

Alarm bells started going off in my head like crazy but that wasn't going to help anyone until I had all the facts. "Samantha, take a deep breath and lets start at the beginning. I am on my way to your office, please speak quickly and concisely so I can help."

Samantha was quick to inform me that Katherine was summoned to the courts this morning at seven, which she had been reluctant about attending. She left her phone with Samantha with instructions to call me if she were not back by noon. Samantha tried contacting the courts directly only to be told that Katherine was in a meeting and was unable to be disturbed. I asked Samantha to close the office for the rest of the day and told her that if she and any others who wished to join her could meet at my office for safekeeping. Furious I hung up the phone as I changed destinations. Pus.h.i.+ng the command b.u.t.ton once again I dialed Nathan.

The phone barely got through the first ring before Nathan picked up and spoke quickly. "I was wondering how long it would be before you checked in."

"Nathan, I am going to ask you a simple question. Are you detaining my wife?" My voice was seething with anger.

"I am not holding your *EX-wife' but the Gatekeeper is attempting to keep her preoccupied. I think she has had about enough of his s.h.i.+t. I really need your help before someone gets hurt." He took care to emphasize the *ex' in ex-wife as if that would ease my anger simply because we were no longer married.

"I'm listening!" Anger rolled over me as I drove. "I'd say you have about six minutes before I roll up, so speak quickly." Putting my emotions in check I prepared myself for a fight. "When I get there please keep everyone out of my way!" Craning my neck to loosen the muscles, I readied myself for battle. "Let's just say the wrath that will be brought down upon them will be biblical in nature. Am I clear?"

Nathan's voice shook with nervous energy. "Viktor, I swear to you no one has laid a hand upon her!" His voice grew stronger and steadier. "And no one will so long as I have anything to say about it!" He took a deep breath steadying himself. "I can a.s.sure you that none of my men will stand between you and the Court's chambers." His voice faltered. "But from there you are on your own." Nathan sounded tired more than scared. "After you're through the Chamber doors you will encounter Leonard's hand picked bodyguards. I can't speak to what they might do." His voice was higher than normal as he spoke quickly. "He is acting crazy and when Katherine wouldn't relinquish her position in the Muse's for someone more pliable, he lost his mind."

"Could you relay a message to Leonard and his people?"

"I can try."

"If Leonard or any of his lackeys stand in my way I will put them down hard." My voice was barely a whisper as I spoke.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks..." I was just a few blocks away as I hung up the phone. As I parked in front, several men I recognized as Leonard's supposed elite poured out of the exit. Each refused to meet my eyes as I strode through their midsts without incident. One of them actually held the front door open for me as I strode through. Leonard should have learned that money wasn't the best way to secure someone's allegiance.

Nathan met me at the outer door leading into the courts intersanctum simply handing me his pa.s.s key and walking off without another word. I found it sad that Leonard had inspired such a lack of fidelity over the last twenty years which allowed me to walk into the heart of the courts without even the slightest of attempts to hinder my progress. Two more men stood as silent sentinels outside the ornate doors of the the lavish official reception area of the courts.

"I am here to see Leonard." I gave each of the men a level look as I strode forward. "You can either open the doors or I can open them for you." Stopping several feet away I waited for their response. "Your choice, gentlemen."

They smirked at one another as each grabbed a handle and pulled the doors open. "We're here to protect the courts not a jacka.s.s like the Gatekeeper." The guard on the right growled. "Please proceed with our blessings."

Looking around the room I saw many of the same people I had two days ago. The mood was very different today as many hung their heads in tension while silence held the room transfixed. All eyes fell on me before they turned their heads in near in unison to Katherine who was kneeling before the throne of Comus, her face bruised and b.l.o.o.d.y with her hands in shackles.

She looked at me as a wicked little smile crossed her face. She glared up at Leonard who sat atop the Throne of Comus twitching with rage as he stared at me. "You dare enter these chambers uninvited?" He stood shaking a fat finger in my direction. "I'll have you strung up for your insolence!"

Darkness welled up in my soul as I saw Katherines injuries but I quickly squelched it, bottling it deep inside me to be used at a more appropriate time. Taking a few steps toward the throne I glared at Leonard. "You've overstepped yourself." I pulled off my jacket and laid it across an empty chair before rolling up my sleeves. "You have one chance of making things right." I slowly strode forward. "You can relinquish your position as Gatekeeper and let Katherine go all in one fell swoop and you can walk out of here unharmed."

"Oh that's rich!" Leonard absently tugged at his chin. "It is you who have overstepped!" He paced around the raised dais as he spoke. "You forget yourself. Here in this room I sit atop the throne of Comus and my will is law!"

"Your will is jack s.h.i.+t." My s.h.i.+elds wrapped themselves around me unbidden. Something deep within my soul went cold causing me to s.h.i.+ver as its power wrapped itself around me bodily. My voice no longer sounded like my own as I spoke. "I don't have time for this Leonard!" I could feel the room shake with each syllable. Taking the first of the twelve steps I paused to look up at Leonard giving him one last chance to run. "Step down and release Katherine or I will remove you from your station."

Leonard whirled around and grabbed the Scepter of Comus from its resting place on the antique table to the right of the Throne. The scepter was a golden rod three feet in length and about one inch thick. The head of the scepter contained a huge sapphire larger than my fist while the b.u.t.t contained an emerald about half of the size of its head. The Scepter of Comus was a weapon of last resort used against the worst of our kind. He sneered as he leveled the weapon at my chest. The blue light that emanated from the scepter could turn its target to ash. No one could withstand its power, save for Comus himself. The entire room took a collective breath.

"What are you going to do Leonard?"

"I am going to watch you die!" He screamed.

"I doubt that seriously."

The scepter hummed to life as it glowed under Leonard's grip, his knuckles turning white as he clenched the rod tightly. I stood there looking up at the hatred in his eyes. Sweat beaded across his forehead and he stammered a bit as he spoke. "You forget where you are Viktor. You forget that here I wield the power. Not you. Never you. You will kneel before me and then you will die."

Halting my progress just a few steps away from Leonard I shook my head sadly. The anger and hatred left me and all that was left was pity and sorrow for a man who couldn't be saved. "Please, Leonard," begging him to stop before things went too far, "you don't have the will or the power to wield the weapon before you." Holding out my hand to take the scepter I pleaded one more time for him to stop. "Even if you were able to fire the weapon you might be surprised..."

Leonard screamed as he tried to unleash the power held within the scepter. The sapphire glowed brightly for only a moment longer before its light faded. The hum fell silent and Leonard screamed in agony as the smell of his burning flesh filled the room. The room was still and no one dared move for fear of disturbing the room's precarious balance. A sad smile crossed my face as my secret was laid bare for all to see. "As I was saying you might be surprised if you tried to use it... Surprise!"

Leonard blinked several times as he looked back and forth between me and the scepter. I walked up the stairs slowly until I stood on the dais with him. Stooping over I picked up the scepter in my left hand while I grabbed Leonard in my right flinging him across the room, where he slammed into the far wall with more of a splat than a thud.

He groaned and looked back at me and said. "How's it possible you're not dead."