The Blood Eagle In The Big Easy Part 15

It was around eight when I got the message from Gregory asking to meet at his office at nine thirty for a joint task force situation report (SITREP). He also requested that I bring any additional files I might need to ensure the task force was brought up to speed. After pus.h.i.+ng everything I needed to cloud storage I grabbed my things before calling for Mir.

"How may I be of help sire?" He made a quick bow as he made one of those disapproving looks you get from your girlfriends mom when she really doesn't like you.

Looking around the room to see what could have caused such a reaction I plopped back in my seat. "What is it?"

He scrunched up his nose as he considered the room. "It's nothing really."

Wow he was a worse liar than I was. "I'd like to call bulls.h.i.+t!"

Mir shook his head as he leaned back. "Fine have it your way." He gave the office one more hard look before turning his attention back to me. "Isn't this place a bit archaic and more than a little moldy? It's such a change from your residence, which isn't exactly modern but... h.e.l.l there are still soot stains from old gas lamps that used to hang on the walls. For G.o.d's sake, you really need to step into the industrial age and we can work our way up from there."

That would have hurt my feelings if I hadn't heard the same argument from my daughter. I had to admit it still kind of sucked to hear it from someone else. Moldy was a bit of a stretch... sort of. Everything in New Orleans was at least a little moldy. d.a.m.n! I really was going to have to talk to Kira about her plans for a more modern building in the near future.

I wasn't about to give up without at least trying to defend myself. "Such is the way of things here in the Crescent City. We seem to cling to tradition."

"Tradition?" He said incredulously. "So black mold and toxins are the reason nothing ever gets done in this city! That's one h.e.l.l of a tradition."

Oh for Christ's sake! "Let's just table this discussion for now and move on to the reason why I called you."

He straightened himself in his chair as he continued to look around the room disapprovingly. "By all means let's get a move on! I'm an illusion in your minds eye and even I feel a chest infection coming on."

I never thought of Mir to be a hypochondriac before, and if I had to guess he was just trying to prove a point. "Someone is feeding information to Gullveig pertaining to our investigation."

He smiled as he understood his task. "So you would like me to find them?"

"Immediately if not sooner."

"Consider it already taken care of, I'll be in touch." As quickly as he appeared he vanished into the aether to chase down our mole and perhaps to escape the toxic fumes.

Gathering a few personal items I left my office soon after heading for the Hale Boggs Federal Building, named so after the Senate Majority Leader who died in a plane crash in 1972. Considering how close our two buildings were it only took me ten minutes even with heavy morning traffic to arrive at the underground parking garage. Flas.h.i.+ng my ID to the Court Security Officer, or CSO, on duty he waved me through unimpeded. As I made my way to the elevators another CSO stopped me to check my ID before escorting me to the sixth floor, leaving me at the security checkpoint just outside the Marshal's office before returning to his duties.

At this point I was greeted by two young deputy Marshals who looked as if they just stepped out of a photoshoot for GQ magazine. They escorted me to the conference room which surprisingly was filled to capacity. I looked around the room to find that the members of the SOG were forced to stand against the back wall while a veritable of who's who in Louisiana's Judicial system took center stage. At the far end of the table sat the Clerk of Court and her a.s.sistant stood behind her. As head of the Marshal's service Gregory sat next to her. The Chief Judge and her staff took up the remainder of the far side of the table. Gregory gestured for me to take the only open seat, which was conspicuously at the head of the table. Taking my seat I looked to my right and saw the rank and file of the FBI.

Gregory stood as he shook my hand. "As you can see we have a few guests today." Making myself comfortable I nodded at the head magistrate. "It would appear that many of my esteemed colleagues wanted to meet you."

The Head Magistrate stood and smiled in my direction. "What Mr. Aaron meant to say was most of the people in this room are left to clean up your messes." With a smile she waved me back in my seat as I started to stand. "It's not as if we mind usually, we just wanted a chance to meet and thank you for your service to our community." She sat back in her chair relaxing slightly. "I for one am very happy to take credit for all your hard work, especially if all I have to do is push a little paperwork around to hide certain things from the public, its a small price to pay."

Smith couldn't help himself as he feigned a cough trying to hid the f.u.c.k you he muttered under his breath. The agent next to Smith glared at him as his voice took a hard edge. "My name is Special Agent in Charge Michael Anderson, it's a pleasure to meet you." He gave Smith one of the deadliest looks I'd ever been witness too before he gave me his full attention. "It would appear that Agent Smith has yet to learn his place. I'll make sure I rectify that personally."

"f.u.c.k you!" Smith screamed as he jumped to his feet. "I can't believe you would allow this menace to roam the streets to do whatever he pleases!"

Anderson got to his feet slowly as he turned to Smith, grabbed him by the elbow and escorted him forcefully from the room. Normally I don't care to bare witness to someone getting their a.s.s chewed out but in Smith's case I was more than willing to make an exception. Anderson quickly relieved Smith of his badge and service weapon before dismissing him from the premises.

Anderson tried to compose himself as he stepped back in the room. "Mr. Smith will be unable to continue his duties during the course of this investigation." He placed the weapon and badge inside his briefcase and snapped it closed. "I would like to offer my support in this matter from here on out. Whatever resources you need are at the SOG's disposal."

Smith's outburst and subsequent removal dampened the overall mood as Mr. Letten stood to speak. "It would seem that the SOG with the a.s.sistance of the FBI have much to discuss with you Mr. Warden, but I too would like to take a moment to thank you for all you have done to keep our city safe."

"It's been a pleasure to serve the community." Standing I shook the hands of all the visiting VIPS as they filed out to return to their daily routine. Anderson issued orders to his fellow agents and quickly followed the VIP's out of the room to run down what few leads we had. Soon all that remained was me, the SOG, Anderson, and Gregory, allowing room for the SOG to sit in comfort for the remainder of our little gathering.

"For those of you who may not know Special Agent in Charge Anderson, he's the head of the New Orleans FBI Field Office." Gregory looked unsure if he were happy about the new wrinkle in the room. "Now that the dog and pony show is over we can get down to business. Deputy Jones would you please bring us up to speed on the case."

Jones stood and grabbed a remote which dimmed the lights and lowered the projection screen. He began with the standard background information, starting with the purchase of the farm by Creepy George ten years ago, during which time it had been cited on several occasions by the local authorities for building code violations until the entire farm was condemned six months ago. CSI recovered a laptop in the upstairs bath that had been encrypted in layers, the first of which their techs already penetrated allowing them access to emails and other files. The second layer of encryption was military grade software and protected a part.i.tioned section of the hard drive which Jones a.s.sured us would be penetrated soon.

There were two emails in particular that were of interest which revealed official FBI files and photos of the two previous crime scenes in New Orleans. What made them of particular importance were the threats of violence in the body of each of the emails. The SOG had already secured a warrant to track the IP address of the person who created the now defunct email, but there was little hope they would find whoever did this in time to stop Gullveig. Unfortunately it was all we had at the moment. Jones concluded his part of the presentation and handed the remote to Pete who quickly delved into the details of the latest victim before turning the room over to yours truly.

"Deputy Jones if you could please have someone access this address." Handing him a piece of paper with the web address and pa.s.sword for the cloud drive we waited until the file opened. Unfortunately for me I didn't have a clue on how to work this particular clicker so I faked it with the O.D.I.N. interface and opened the files at the speed of thought. "We'll backtrack a little to lay the groundwork for where we are today."

Photos from Maine came into view as we discussed some of the basics of how we came in contact with the Fenrir or *the wolf' Cult. I had the unpleasant task of informing them that one of the five missing leaders of the cult had been Helena. Disbelief and anger could be felt throughout the room. No one likes to be used and the Marshals as a whole were no different. With Helena, Dr. Galvez and Creepy George dead it left two unknowns still walking free, which meant that Gullveig only had two henchmen left at her disposal. The sooner we were able to discover their ident.i.ties the quicker we would be able to track down her whereabouts.

Confirming what many in the room were beginning to suspect I revealed that it appeared that we had someone inside our investigation feeding her information. The room was surprisingly quiet at the revelation allowing me to theorize that it was the same person who leaked them information twenty years ago. Though she could have recruited someone new during the past 20 years I didn't think it likely. Suddenly my phone alerted me to a new message, which surprised the h.e.l.l out of me since I was forced to turn it off before entering the building. Excusing myself, I opened the phone to find a message from Mir.

*Sire, I was able to access the files on the laptop recovered from the farm. Please review these photo's to see if you recognize anyone.'

The first photo was of Helena, Galvez, Creepy George and Smith all posing for a group photo as they held Gullveig's cane in the air like it was a trophy. Swallowing hard I closed the screen. "Exces me, Agent Anderson, can I have a moment of your time before we continue?"

"Is it important?" Anderson was surprised at my request. "If it's something to do with the case go ahead and share with the room." Stepping over to him I clicked the screen open on my phone to privately reveal the photo.

"If you will excuse me for a moment I need to make a call. Please continue in my absence." Anderson stormed out into the hall to make his call.

I continued, pretending to click the pointer and displayed the photo on the big screen to the entire room. Anger erupted from everyone in the room except Gregory, who turned several shades of gray. He picked up his phone and quickly dialed. A phone rang under the conference table. Gregory dropped out of site for a moment and returned with a phone in hand. "That son of a b.i.t.c.h!"

"Smith?" Anderson asked as he returned to the room. "If he shows up at the office they have orders to arrest him on sight."

"He had to know we would find out or he wouldn't have left this." Gregory tossed the phone across the table at me. "Any idea's where to start?"

"Same as any other criminal!" Anderson seethed. "Only we need to keep it out of the press, for the safety of everyone involved as well as the public."

"Agreed," Gregory nodded at Jones who quickly left the room presumably to issue a bolo for Smiths' car and an APB for the man himself. Anderson made a call to activate the GPS tracker for his vehicle which was quickly found abandoned on the side of the road in the East. Smith had years of training on how the FBI or any other governmental agency would try to hunt him down and he could hide from them indefinitely if the need arose.

It was time I played my trump card as I focused on what I needed from Mir, who was able to access all available cameras, whether it was cellphones or traffic cams throughout the city to track Smith's movements. While the Marshals and the FBI could legally access these options they lacked the resources needed to view them in real time. Mir however could. The fact that Smith would never make it to trial was left unspoken yet understood throughout the room. He had far too many strikes against him, starting with the fact he was in bed with a homicidal body jumper and ending with the fact he had betrayed his fellow law enforcement brethren. It was only a matter of time before we found him, and once that occurred someone was going to have a really s.h.i.+tty day.

Chapter 22.

It was nearly noon by the time I was able to extricate myself from the hornets nest I created with Smith's photo. The Marshals, FBI and the Local Law Enforcement (LEO's) had quietly launched a ma.s.sive manhunt for Smith who was, for the moment at least, eluding detection. I was offering two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for information which lead to his capture. That should help any reluctant CI to step forward with any helpful details. It didn't take long for word to spread through the city. h.e.l.l, this place is known for its gossip. The most intriguing side effect was the fact that nearly all criminal activity came to a screeching halt as they reluctantly joined forces with law enforcement. Smith had little hope of finding safe harbor and the odds continued to stack against him with each pa.s.sing hour.

Stepping out of the elevator into the garage I found that there weren't any CSO's present. They were possibly tightening security around the perimeter of the building. One less thing for the Marshals to worry about as they focused their search for Captain Douche. Unlocking the car door I let my mind wonder as I absently left the garage, headed for the office. It would appear that Smith left his cell on purpose, using it as a listening device to ensure a head start if he were discovered.

The lack of traffic this time of day made my rather short commute pa.s.s even faster. As I turned into the drive I quickly discovered that traffic hadn't been light they were just all jammed into my parking lot. Kira's pink Hummer was at the far corner, Katherine's Mercedes was next to it, and Rex's SUV was across the lot along with a few other vehicles I recognized. My security teams were visibly making their presence known as they patrolled the area. Something told me that whatever the issues were inside the building, it had little to do with Smith.

I barely made it through the bra.s.s doors before Justine frantically waved me over, forcing me to ignore the s.h.i.+fting crowd on the second floor for the moment. "Good afternoon Justine." I gave the crowd above us a hard look before turning my attention back to Justine who appeared to be highly stressed. "I take it we have visitors."

Her face was strained. None of the usual levity touched her delicate features. "You could say that." she snapped. She glared upstairs as she pointed at my office. "Katherine and Kira are waiting for you. It would seem they're at the center of this whole mess!" She was clearly angry about the current state of things.

"Any clue what's going on?"

"Not really." She pushed the sign in sheets to one side in a huff. "Its the entire MCC." She waved her hand at the banister. "Every single one of them are here, waiting to see you, Kira and your *EX'-wife."

I guess I was having one of those days that just kept piling s.h.i.+t onto my plate. As if I didn't have enough to handle at the moment the two of them had to go and add to it! "I guess there's nothing left to do but see what's behind door number one."

"I'm sorry?"

She seemed confused by the expression. Granted I'm old but I know that this was at least a semi recent reference. "You've never heard of Monty Hall and *Let's Make a Deal'?"

"Before my time, I would imagine."

Of course it was. "Right then, off to see the wizard." She rolled her eyes at yet another old man reference. Making my way up the stairs and through the throng of waiting Kings and Queens I was finally able to squeeze into the office, closing the door behind me. Rex and Zulu filled the two chairs in front of the desk while Katharine and Kira stood on either side of my desk chair, silently waiting for me to take a seat.

No one was willing to start the conversation which was really starting to p.i.s.s me off. "I must have forgotten we had a meeting today, please forgive my tardiness."

Rex was more than a little amused at the situation as he glowed with excitement. Zulu on the other hand was much more subdued, almost contrite. My daughter wore an expression devoid of any emotion which meant she was desperately trying to hide something. Katharine however looked to be thoroughly enjoying her new found power and prestige as she thrived on the attention being heaped upon her.

Rex leaned forward giving me a sly wink. "We have come due to our need for a new Gatekeeper." He paused as he gave a sideways glance at Zulu before continuing. "Several members would like to violate the laws of Comus by having, the *Progenitor', you, serve in such a capacity."

Zulu was quick to take over as he got to his feet. "Many of us would like to see you take over in a more active manner."

And there it was! d.a.m.n! "Have you ever considered there might be a reason that particular rule was created?" I'd always thought it obvious that no one should be entrusted with absolute authority. That's why I'd created a system with checks and balances. "We need to maintain the balance to ensure that no one, not even me abuses their position."

Zulu's voice was full of reverence as he spoke. "You could at least consider it for a moment, think of all the things you could accomplish."

Zulu's reaction to the news I was Comus was the real reason I'd never wanted to take control of any of the organizations. As I was unique among men people always had the same reaction. I was either an angel or a devil and either way I lost what I valued most which was the relations.h.i.+p between men. Not the relations.h.i.+p one has between what they perceived as divine or evil incarnate for that matter. Either way those around me would stop looking for answers for themselves and rely solely on my judgement.

Standing up I walked around to the front of my desk where I leaned hard against the heavy oak frame. "While I appreciate the offer, I honestly do, there is just no way I could accept. There is too much that could go wrong." Pus.h.i.+ng myself off, I paced around the front of my desk. "For all that you think I am... I make mistakes." I watched as Zulu's face sank and I suddenly felt like the guy who kicked his dog for no reason. "The Gatekeeper is there to temper the will of Comus, to guide the courts and show them the way."

Zulu wanted to object but I laid a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Sometimes the Gatekeeper is an a.s.s or just wrong, but that is why Comus exists, to bring in new leaders.h.i.+p." This was probably the most frustrating part of being discovered. "Usually this is taken care of in the natural order of things, as power structures evolve over time. The courts have governed themselves for nearly two hundred years and giving me the role as Gatekeeper my voice would hold too much influence."

Bowing my head I felt the weight of my actions over the years bear down upon me. "I live to serve others and not to rule over them. It's my duty to fight along side the brave men and women who stand in harms way. Please allow me to remain as an advisor and a soldier to continue to serve those under our protection." Returning to my seat Kira placed a rea.s.suring hand on my shoulder as she squeezed, letting me know she was proud to be my daughter.

Silence reigned throughout the room as everyone considered what I had said, Rex leaned back in his chair as he chose his words carefully. "While none of us believe you would abuse your power, the fact of the matter is that you are uncomfortable with the situation, and we should respect that."

Zulu's shoulders slumped as he hung his head in defeat. "If you don't wish to be Gatekeeper would you help us choose a new one?"

I felt Kira's grip tighten as she tensed, letting me know she had been waiting for this moment. "While I'm sure Viktor would be happy to a.s.sist the courts in their quest, my mother and I would like to go on record as wis.h.i.+ng to forego such consideration since it might be seen as favoritism."

Zulu's face contorted as he saw his chance of getting me by proxy slip through his fingers. "That would be acceptable." He looked over to Rex as they obviously had a backup plan. "If you would excuse us while we retrieve our candidate?"

"Take your time. I need a few minutes with my family if you wouldn't mind."

"Of course. We will let you know when the candidate arrive." Rex bowed slightly as he hobbled from the room.

Crossing the room while Rex and Zulu made their way out of my office I poured myself a drink and I waited for Kira or Katharine to clue me in as to what was actually going on. As soon as Rex closed the door behind him Kira's body visibly relaxed whereas Katharine seemed to be abuzz with energy. Kira made her way around to the front of the desk and planted herself heavily in her usual spot.

"That was fantastic." Katharine glowed as she nearly floated across the room to fix herself a drink. "You actually sounded sincere when you said you didn't want to *rule' over them!" She grabbed a bottle of bourbon and poured herself a double before slamming it back.

"Couldn't have been the fact he was sincere, could it mother?" Kira growled as she s.h.i.+fted in her seat to glare at her mother.

Obviously I had missed something. Katharine was at her core highly manipulative, devious, at times mean spirited as well as downright angry somewhere deep inside. She was of the opinion that everyone had ulterior motives which was one of the many reasons we were divorced. Don't think that she is always a bad person because she isn't. There are many traits about her that are truly endearing. Unfortunately they were often offset by her less attractive qualities.

Katharine rolled her eyes at her daughter as she filled her gla.s.s once more. "You are naive my dear, there is always more to the story." Sipping at her drink, she sashayed by to take a seat. "Isn't there, Viktor?"

Setting my drink down I turned to face them as I considered my next words carefully. "I'm sorry that after all this time you still don't understand who I am."

Katharine nearly spit out her drink as she choked back a laugh. "Don't tell me you really believe that c.r.a.p you just fed them!"

"That *c.r.a.p' as you call it, is who I am and who I've always been." Chewing my lip as I leaned back against the counter I wondered how I had lasted so many years being married to her. "You understand that giving anyone that much power to control the fate of others is a bad idea." Blood flooded my cheeks as anger welled up inside me. "It's times like this that remind me why we are divorced."

"If you will recall we're divorced because I moved out." She was quick to anger and always felt she had to go for the jugular in every fight.

"Fair enough." While what she said was true it wasn't as if I chased after her, but I just didn't want to fight. "The thing is, I meant every word."

"Of course you did." Katharine chuckled as she took yet another drink.

Kira glared at her mother as she stood and came to stand next to me as she poured herself a c.o.ke. "You two can hash your issues out later but for now we've got guests."

Katharine wanted to say something more but knew the conversation was at an end and she hadn't won the day which meant she was going to sulk and make those around her miserable, which was something she was good at. This was going to make for a long drawn out afternoon. Nodding at Kira I proceeded to the business side of the desk while she opened the door.

Zulu poked his head in to make sure safe before before entering. Rex hobbled in next pulling an oxygen tank, followed by Nathan who closed the door. Nathan stood between Zulu and Rex. "You wanted to see me?" Nathan looked nervous as he tried to maintain a stoic demeanor.

Looking at Rex and Zulu for some sort of a.s.sistance, both were quick to avoid giving any help as they pretended not to know why they were here.

"I think you have been misled." I told Nathan.

Nathan looked to his sides as Rex and Zulu sank into the waiting chairs, as the vein on the side of Nathan's temple bulged as his pulse quickened. "What's going on?"

Grimacing I leaned back in my chair. I hated being put on the spot like this. "If I had to guess you have been hoodwinked into taking the Gatekeepers position."

It took a moment for Nathan to realize what had happened and he suddenly looked a little unsteady on his feet. "I can't be the Gatekeeper! I'm not the King of Orpheus, Leonard still holds that t.i.tle."

"On the contrary young man." Rex inhaled deeply with each spurt of oxygen from the tank. "The Krewe of Orpheus met late last night and unanimously voted for you to take over as King." The machine clicked and spurted more air into his nostrils, as he gestured at the seated Zulu. "We are of the old guard and so was Leonard for that matter. It is time that someone young and vibrant took over as Gatekeeper."

Nathan gripped the back of Rex's chair to steady himself as his face went chalk white. "I don't ... I don't know what to say."

"Yes would be a good place to start." Raising my gla.s.s in his direction I saluted him. "After that, I am sure Rex, Zulu and the others will be glad to help you find your footing."

Zulu stood placing a rea.s.suring hand on Nathan's shoulder. "Its for the best that you take over." He looked at Rex and myself as he finally understood what I was talking about. "You have never sought power, yet it has been thrust upon you, which means you are the most worthy among us."

With a little help from Zulu Nathan took the now vacant seat as he tried to absorb all that transpired over the last few minutes. Kira stood next to me as she smiled at the new Gatekeeper. Katharine raised her gla.s.s as she chewed on her lip, her sullen att.i.tude clear for all to see. Like I said she was really good at being a royal b.i.t.c.h some days. Unfortunately as she grew older those days were coming more often than before. Anger and bitterness were making her hollow and if she were not careful I feared that one day it would consume her.

Walking around to the front of the desk Kira and I both took a knee followed by the others. "May the will of the Gatekeeper always be tempered with temperance."

Nathan's eyes grew wide with terror. "I haven't agreed to anything yet."