by Tom Clarke
I refused to accept the fact that Danny had committed suicide, he may have tossed himself in front of that truck, but he was not acting under his own power, and that I was convinced of.
My thoughts of Danny turned to all the other poor souls that had taken their own lives since these things had made their appearance. And how about the former owners of the heads that had been found in that van, and all the as-of-yet undiscovered victims.
These two monsters were carving a wide path through our community, even if they were predominately targeting dopers and criminals. What was it the professor had said, it was only a matter of time until they consolidate power and then move against those they feel posed a threat to them.
Seemed to me the best solution was to set up the meet with King, snatch him and make him talk, and then go pay the rest of them a visit with some high velocity lead and shit that goes boom!
10. The Deacon
With that thought my house phone started ringing, it was Keith. “Hey Keith what’s going on?” I answered.
“I was trying to call your cell but it’s just going straight to voice mail.”
“Yeah, I turned it off last night” I replied. “I just needed a break.”
“I get it” Keith said. “Hey Darrel called me, he was trying your cell too, anyway he wants to meet before we go to the office. He wants us to meet him at St. Michaels Catholic Church, says he has someone we should chat with.”
“Okay, Shelly’s got your Jeep, come get me.”
“Will do bro” Keith said, “see you in 20 minutes.” I hung up the house phone and then turned my work cell phone back on, I guess my break was over.
True to his word Keith pulled into my driveway, driving my car, almost exactly 20-minutes after he had called. I walked out to the car and said, “Move over, my car, I’m driving. So, what’s this all about, were meeting Darrel in a church?”
“Yeah” Keith replied as he got situated in the passenger seat. “He sounded a little freaked out, but that’s kind of been this entire week right. Listen Jimmy, I’ve got to tell you, I really don’t feel right about how we just left Sylvia at that house last night.”
“Me too brother, I say that when we are done today we go back and we move her out of there.”
“What about those jokers in the suits?” Keith asked.
“You really need me to answer that?” I said.
“Nope” Keith replied, “Just wanted to make sure that we are on the same page.” “Every day bother, every day” I said with a smile on my face.
Before heading to the church Keith and I stopped for a coffee and then continued on to the meet with Darrel.
As we pulled into the parking lot of the church we saw Darrel’s SUV. Parked next to it were two other SUV’s with tinted windows we didn’t recognize. “Those are fed mobiles if I ever saw one” Keith said.
“Sure enough brother, come on, and don’t forget Darrel’s coffee he will be pissed if he sees we stopped and didn’t get him one.”
Keith grinned, “Yeah, I still think we should have gotten his with whip cream and some sprinkles”.
I smiled, “That would have been some funny shit. Come on, maybe Darrel brought Jay Edgar Hoover with him this morning.”
Keith and I walked into the church, both of us wearing worn motorcycle boots, old blue jeans, long sleeve biker t-shirts, I in a sleeveless jean jacket vest with some patches on it, and Darrel in a beaten-up leather motorcycle jacket. We both full beards and pony-tails.
We must have been quite the sight for Darrel, who was dressed professionally, and the two other men who were both wearing suits and ties. “What took you guys so long?” Darrel asked.
“Calm down, here, we stopped and got you a coffee” Keith replied as he handed Darrel the to-go coffee cup from the gas station we stopped at by my house.
“Two sugars?” Darrel asked. Keith winked, “Who loves ya baby.”
Darrel, Keith and I all shook hands, happy to see each other still in one piece. One of the men in the suites cleared his throat.
I looked up and saw that the other two fellas were looking at Keith and I with very disapproving looks, probably because we didn’t bring them any coffee.
Darrel took a swig form his coffee, gave Keith a thumbs up, and then said, “Jim, Keith, this is Special Agent John Dudson from the FBI Major Art Theft Unit out of Los Angeles, and this is Special Agent Mike Monroe from the Diplomatic Security Service, D.C.”
Keith and I stepped forward and shook their hands and introduced ourselves. “So, fellas, what brings you to our neck of the woods” I asked. “And why are we meeting in a church and not my office?”
“Because of me, I’m afraid” said a smaller, older man, in broken English as he walked out from around a corner in the church. The older man was accompanied by a younger, taller male, probably in his early 30’s who stayed just to the right of, and about two steps behind the older man.
Keith and I looked at the older man, who was wearing what looked to me to be the uniform of a priest. I looked at Keith who was gently shaking his head, then I looked at the FBI and DSS agents, they were just standing there, stoic. Then I looked at Darrel, he was sipping the gas station coffee we had gotten him, “Darrel?” I asked with my hands raised.
“Jim” the DSS agent said, “This is Deacon Grergedes of the Vatican, and Nico Abegg, head of his security detail from the Swiss Guard.” I took a deep breath, and as I exhaled I ran my hand across my face and stroked my beard. I looked at Keith who looked back at me and said, “I told you we should have gotten some beer.”
The lot of us just stood there for a few seconds assessing each other. There were the three nicely dressed feds, the Deacon from the Vatican, his security guy dressed in an expensive suit, and then Keith and I looking like we just crawled out of the pages of an Easy Rider magazine.
“Okay” I said, “What’s going on?”
“Agent Richards” the Deacon said. “We came as soon as we could after speaking with Monsignor Cowley.”
“Monsignor Cowley?” Keith said, “Jesus fucking Christ, Jim, what the hell?”
“You will not use that blasphemous language in the presence of the Deacon!” Abegg barked in broken English as he stepped forward, obviously offended.
Keith barked back “You better settle the fuck down there Swedish chef before I punt your ass back to the fucking Muppet Show!”
Darrel just took his coffee and sat down in one of the pews, the DSS agent let out a slight laugh, the FBI agent looked on with a sense of shock, and me, well it was all I could do to keep from bursting out laughing.
The Swiss Guard looked puzzled, he looked at the Deacon who I could see had a slight smile on his face. “It’s okay Nico” the Deacon said as he patted Abegg on the arm.
I looked over at Keith, we had been under a lot of stress the past several days and it was starting to show. I had no doubt that if that Swiss Guard had pushed the issue Keith would have pushed his face in. “Easy brother” I said in a hushed tone.
Keith turned and walked back away from the group a bit to cool off. FBI agent Dudson said, “Is he not going to apologize to the Deacon?” I looked at Dudson and replied bluntly “No.”
“Agent Richards” the Deacon started to say when I stopped him, “Please, call me Jim, Agent makes me feel a little, out of place.”
The Deacon smiled and said, “Jim, I take it that you did not know that Professor Cowley was a member of the church.”
“I did not” I replied. “How about you Darrel, did you know that?” I said.
“No Jimmy I did not” Darrel replied between sips of his coffee. “I just found out this morning when Dudson and Monroe came to my office.”
“Jim” Agent Dudson said, “My unit is trying to track down Steve Oso, he was involved in the theft of, well, some priceless art that was in the possession of the Vatican. It’s a large stone tablet that was being moved to a private facility when it was stolen.”
“You know Stevie is DEA right?”
I asked.
“Yes” Dudson replied. “We also know that the last time anyone saw him was the other day, while he was helping your unit on an operation.”
I looked at the DSS Agent who said, “Don’t look at me, I’m just here to coordinate security and movement of the Deacon.” I smiled and shook my head.
“Jim, do you know where Oso is, or how to get in touch with him?” Dudson asked.
I looked at Dudson and asked, “What was on the tablet?”
Dudson replied, somewhat stuttering, “Well, I really don’t know, you see, it’s, well, I’m not sure it really matters what’s on the tablet.”
I looked at the Deacon and said, “You know, or else you wouldn’t be here, am I right?”
The Deacon smiled slightly and nodded his head. “Gentlemen” Deacon Grergedes said addressing Dudson and Monroe, “would you please leave us for a few minutes.”
“Well just a minute, I don’t think” FBI Agent Dudson started to say, when the DSS Agent grabbed him by the arm, started towards to door and said, “We will be in the parking lot when you ready sir.”
When the two agents had left the church, the Deacon invited us into a small office located off the main hall. We all took seats at a table, Keith looked over at the Deacon and his guard and said, somewhat sheepishly, “I’m sorry for back there.”
“It’s okay” the Deacon said.
“Yes” Abegg said in broken English, “I am too sorry, no feelings….I mean, no hard feelings.” Keith smiled and they shook hands.
I sat back in my chair and said, “Deacon, with all due respect, Keith, Darrel, and myself have had a very weird and disturbing week! So please, can we get to some sort of a point here?”
The Deacon looked at Keith, Darrel and I, then straight back at me and said, “You have seen it, haven’t you Jim?”
I looked at Keith and Darrel and replied, “Yeah, we all have, both of them.”
“Both of them?” the Deacon asked.
“Yes, as best as we can tell there are two of those things running around. I killed one its disciples, I guess you would call him, the other day.”
The Deacon and Abegg looked at each other and then back at us. “Look man” I said in a slightly irritated tone of voice, “we’ve been dealing with some serious next level shit here! We don’t know who to trust, or even how to go forward. I mean this nonsense is way outside of our jurisdiction for sure! So please, tell me what you are doing here, and that you cats know how to deal with these things.”
“Jim….my friends” the Deacon said, “you have to understand that you are dealing with something not from our reality, but from the realm beyond ours.”
“Yeah, we got all that from Cowley, how do we deal with them?” I said.
“Jim, I would like you to tell me everything, in detail, that has led you and your friends up to this day.”
I looked at Keith and Darrel, both of them gave me a shoulder shrug, so I started relaying everything, in detail. As Deacon Grergedes and Swiss Guard Abegg sat and listened with great attention, stopping only to ask an occasional question, Darrel, Keith, and I briefed them on everything that had happened, that we had heard, and that we had done since this nightmare started.
When we finished the Deacon looked at Abegg, then back at me, “Jim, please give me the address of your friend’s widow.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I would like to send some of my people over to her house and secure her safety before it’s too late.”
“What does that mean, before it’s too late?” Keith asked.
The Deacon smiled and said in a calming tone, “My friends, it means, before it decides to feed off of her completely, ending her life. From your description, she has already been corrupted, but we can still save her, if it’s not too late.”
I gave Deacon Grergedes the address for Danny and Sylvia’s house, he then gave the address to Abegg who excused himself from the room to make a call.
I leaned forward on the table and said, “Deacon, I’m taking a pretty big leap of faith here by giving you that address. I want you to understand in no uncertain terms that if you are not 100% above board with me, and something happens to Sylvia, Deacon or not I will end you in a very violent manner.”
The Deacon looked at me and smiled, “It’s going to be okay my friends.”
“Jim, can I talk to you for a minute” Keith said, “In private.”
I looked at Keith, he had a very concerned look on his face as he motioned for Darrel and I to step out of the small office and away from the Deacon for a minute.
“What’s going on bro?” I asked.
Keith looked at Darrel and I and replied, “How do we know we can trust that this cat is who he says he is? I mean for all we know he is working with the LW’s, or worst case he is another one of those things.”
My mind started racing, if this supposed Deacon and his buddy from the Swiss Guard were in fact not on our side, then I just gave them everything that we had, not to mention that I also just sent them to Sylvia’s house.
“Darrel” I said, “How did these guys contact you?”
Darrel looked at Keith and I, “The FBI and DSS guys showed up at my office this morning, they introduced me to the Deacon and his guard when we got here.”
I could see a look of concern start to spread across Darrel’s face, “Boy’s” Darrel said, “that’s not the same FBI agent who came by the other day looking for Stevie.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Keith asked.
“Relax, it doesn’t mean anything, except that there may be more than one FBI agent looking into this” I said trying to calm Keith’s growing anxiety.
As I was trying to calm Keith’s paranoia I could feel mine starting to grow, the events of the last week started popping up, cutting holes in my ability to stay calm. There was an overwhelming feeling that I could not trust anyone. I turned and walked away from Keith and Darrel with my hands on my hips taking a few deep breaths in an attempt to refocus myself.
“Jim, what is it?” Darrel asked.
“This Deacon, he would be considered a foreign dignitary, right?”
“Yeah, I guess he would at that” Darrel replied.
“Okay” I said, my paranoia starting to show through. “So, the DSS guy, I would have imagined that there would be a Secret Service agent assigned to this instead of DSS.” Keith and Darrel just looked at me.
“We know the FBI agents around here, for a multi-agency event involving a security detail from another country, don’t you think there would be a local FBI connection? I mean the agents here are not about to let something like this come into their back yard and not get out their shiny sunglasses and sport coats out.”
“Wait a minute Jim, they had appropriate credentials” Darrel said.
“So did Stevie!” Keith said.
A chill ran down my spine, “Did these fucks just sucker us into a trap?” I asked.
I started to look around, trying to spot the closest exit, trying to quickly identify points of cover and anything that would impede my movement.
I looked over at Keith and Darrel, they were both doing the same thing. A sense of panic was starting to build among the three of us. “Stop!” I said “Focus, Keith take a peek out front and see if those other two are still out there, Darrel, you cover him, I’m going to hold here and watch the door to the office.”
Keith and Darrel moved towards a side door, Keith moved up to the side and when Darrel was ready they both slipped out to the side of the church. When they moved outside I moved up and took a position next to the door where I could see the entry to the office. I could hear talking, it was the Deacon and his Swiss Guard talking in Italian, or Swiss, or some other shit that I didn’t understand.
A few seconds went by and I heard a slight tug on the door, which had locked itself when it closed.
Making sure that I was well to the side of the door way, I reached over and pushed the door open. Keith and Darrel both came back in.
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“We got a serious problem” Darrel said.
I looked at Keith who said, “They’re still out there, but Stevie is out there with them….and they have their body armor on.”
I exhaled like someone had just squeezed me like a rag doll. “Mother Fuckers!” I muttered. I took a few deep breaths, and looked at Keith and Darrel, “Okay, enough of this shit” I said. “We are going to go back in there, snatch that Deacon and his pet Swiss boy toy! I saw a role of duct tape in that office, let’s get them wrapped up and get the hell out of here.”
