Alexander went to his desk and looked over the reports. He quickly glanced over at Anjoleah's office. He missed her and wondered where she might be. This just didn't feel right to him. After the last time that he bumped into her, Xander expected her to come around. When she didn't... well, he was puzzled. It made him wonder if he would ever be able to be close to her again. His thoughts flashed to memories of her in the office and at home. He took a drink and then signed off on the papers allowing him to do Anjoleah's job for the time being. He had to sign right under her signature. Alexander looked at the way she signed her full name, Anjoleah Catriana. He wished she had signed his last name. He would have married her, but things seemed to change from one day to the next. Life sure has a way of knocking the wind out of you when you least expect it. I didn't even see this one coming.
The job he held wasn't what Alexander expected to be doing at this time in his life. He was recruited at a time when he had decided to show his parents just how little they meant to his life. He went to the recruiting office to sign up for the Marines. They assigned him to the Special Ops program.
Back home, they were waiting for him to take over the family business. He showed them. Alexander laughed at himself. At this time he could have been somewhere else, a multimillionaire living a carefree life. Why have all that, when he could be here taking the punk watch?
He growled, "Just another day in this twisted world's paradise."
He was ready to turn in his notice and go home, but first he wanted to make sure his unit was going to be in capable hands. Alexander wasn't a quitter, but if Anjoleah was through with him, then he'd already put in his time and he wouldn't feel bad about walking away. This job didn't define him. He'd found the girl of his dreams and wanted to stay by her side. Who was he kidding?
He put his jacket on and headed for his destination of choice. Someone was going down today. He was angry, and he might as well make someone pay. He had a feeling Craig had been too easy on those punks. It was time to go punk pulping. Alexander tried not to notice the quiet talk as he walked by other people on the force. He joked with them but he knew they had been talking.
"Doesn't really matter," he told himself. "Just a couple more days then I'm out of here. I'm already gone!"
From the second he entered the restricted area; the people around him took notice. There was a strange feeling in the air. The individuals, who were hanging around, gave him sour looks. He looked around, keeping alert.
Bobby had heard the gangs in another sector talking about Alexander’s tough reputation. "You're making quite an impression," Bobby said when he walked up.
"Obviously they like and recognize this pretty mug, or something big is getting ready to happen."
"Uh, I don't think they like your mug being here, from the looks on their faces. I don't think that's it. I'd say it's the second option boss."
Alexander was talking softly, "When and where boys? When and where? It was rude of them not to invite us. I'm in the mood for a little party crashing. You in?"
Bobby said, "Right behind you, boss. Looks like we may be getting close to the tea party from the looks we are getting."
Talon and Craig showed up beside them. "Heard through the grapevine you sissies are about to step into on an angry hornets’ nest, and could use our help," Talon said.
Craig followed Talon’s remark with, "I'm mad. This is my sector and I wasn't even invited to their soiree."
They went to silent mode using hand signals as they approached a bar known for shady deals. Alexander stood outside the heavy door and smiled at his unit. He grabbed the door handle tight and flung it open, slamming it against the wall making a loud thud. The sudden noise startled everyone inside, with the exception of the one lone figure sitting at the bar. While the unit started to take everyone into custody, he missed seeing the figure at the bar put something in their pocket. The figure continued to sit motionless. Alexander felt a flash of rage as he ran toward the figure. He grabbed for the hand resting on the bar. Xander attempted to put the feminine hand behind her back. A few simple moves from the chick, and before Alexander knew what was occurring, he was launched airborne; he'd been flipped from behind, onto a table. For the second time he had the wind knocked out of him. It started to register; only one person could do that move. As the figure staring at him came into focus, Xander could see the irate face staring down at him was Anjoleah's.
She snarled, getting louder as she said, "What are you doing, Xander?"
He looked at her puzzled. "Wha, what are you doing here? I could have hurt you!"
She scowled. "Unlikely. Now get out of my face and leave me alone!"
He spun around to her on the table. "Anjoleah Catriana, answer me! What are you doing here?"
Fire ignited in her eyes and she hissed, "Don't you ever use that name." She was so mad, her fingers started to bend, ready to strike. When she blinked, the anger was gone.
He said firmly with desperation in his voice, "I'm only going to ask you this one more time. What are you doing here, with this?"
He stalked over, grabbed a guy by his collar and lifted him up off the ground. The guy’s feet were dangling. Anjoleah raised an eyebrow. Alexander dropped him and walked back to her.
He turned and said, "Get them out of here boys. I'll take care of this one." They didn't say a word as they left.
He said, "If you won't answer me, then I will have someone else talk to you. I will get it out of you one way or another."
"Let me go."
"Are you out of your beautiful mind? You know I cannot do that. That request isn't going to happen. I'm taking you in." She looked away.
Bobby came in with an earpiece and handed it to Alexander. He put it in his ear. The voice on the other end said, "Alexander?"
"Yes."
The voice said, “This is Commissioner Caruzio at headquarters. I was just instated by the prime minister himself. Just so you know I am legit, my code is 17A-16 NY." Alexander dropped his head down and listened to the message. "I hear you have the Angel in your custody."
What did he have to lose? "Don't call her that."
The voice said, "Anjoleah."
"Yes."
"Let her go."
Alexander growled and threw the earpiece at the wall. He looked at her and walked away. As he walked away, he said, "If it wasn't for the ring, I just might have hurt you."
He said to Bobby as he was leaving, "The talking voice said let her go, not me. Did you hear that?"
Bobby nodded. He knew Alexander was tough as they came. He had been assigned number two, but to the guys he was capable of being Alpha. Bobby barked, "Sir. Yes Sir!" Bobby left the bar, leaving Anjoleah alone in the smoke filled room.
She breathed a sigh of relief and reached in her pocket feeling around. The fake ice cube with the tiny gold coin was gone. Anjoleah smiled. "He loves me."
Alexander quickly rode his disk back to the station. Before he stepped off, he reached into his pocket and withdrew the broken cube. He saw a tiny golden coin suspended in the middle of the cube. Xander knew just the thug to look at this beauty to gain the information he needed. Time to call in a favor. If Anjoleah wouldn't come to him on her own, then he'd help her. She wasn't going to do this gig alone.
**********
Well, it hit the fan. Only Anjoleah could make such a direct shot. Anthony poured a glass of his favorite drink and threw himself in a nearby chair. He took a sip and set the tumbler down on a side table. He now had time to think. Dimitrios was with Cassia. It would be at least an hour before he arrived. His new commissioner was the second best out there and very capable. With Alexander as Caruzio’s second in command, what could go wrong?
Anthony rubbed his forehead. He felt a headache coming on. He closed his eyes and began thinking about the problems that could arise, carefully isolating each and every detail. The prime minister knew he had to make educated calculations based on the information he had available.
Then it happened, the buzzer
from his gate kept sounding off, getting faster with impatience. Anthony walked to the door. It can't be that important at this hour. He glanced at the screen to discover Bobby with his finger on the keypad. The prime minister stared at the young man wondering why in the world he was so impatient. He'd known Bobby since he was a young boy. Anthony played poker with Bobby’s father when he could get away from his work related commitments. They had been good friends for years.
Anthony pressed the key to open the gate. He watched Bobby lope up the walkway, to the front door.
Anthony opened the door, as Bobby blurted out, "Sir. The new commissioner requests your presence at headquarters. It seems that we have a very large problem."
Anthony stepped aside and asked Bobby to come into the foyer and brief him before he would leave. After the young man told Anthony about Alexander's rampage and his dispute with the commissioner, the prime minister grabbed his coat.
"Has anyone reached Dimitrios?” Anthony asked as they ran out the door and started their disks.
"No. I came to you because the new commissioner keeps throwing your name into this muddle, trying to get Xander to calm down. He’s using the exact wrong tactic to accomplish his goal. Nothing against you, Sir, with all due respect."
Anthony stopped in midair and asked, "In your opinion Bobby, how do you think we could calm Alexander down?"
Bobby gave Anthony an intense look and said, "Xander knows the ropes better than anyone else, better than Anjoleah in some respects. He should have been the logical choice, Sir. Let him do his job."
Anthony nodded. He wanted to tell Bobby why Alexander couldn't be the logical choice. It wasn't because the man wasn't capable. It was because Alexander and Anjoleah were a team. They made a complete duo that was unmatched. Until now, Anthony didn't know if faced with Anjoleah going rogue, Alexander would actually bring her in. Now he knew for sure the younger man’s loyalty. Well, he already knew, but Xander had covered for her in the past. They headed as fast as they could to the station with Anthony's guards falling behind because of the rapid speed the two men were applying.
Shawn Caruzio was red faced and yelling at Xander behind closed doors. When Anthony threw open the door to Caruzio’s office, the whole unit got an earful. Xander was stretched out on a chair with his arms folded and his glasses on. As soon as Anthony stepped in the office, the unit started taking bets on the outcome.
To make matters worse, the door to the headquarters burst open and Anjoleah walked in. Everyone's eyes grew wide as they ran for cover. Some of the agents tried to escape, until Anjoleah’s voice commanded, "Halt!" Everyone froze as if they were in rigor mortis. She said in her commander tone of voice, “Where is Xander? He has something I want."
They pointed simultaneously to her old office. She climbed the steps with purpose and barged in without knocking. The officers all looked at each other and decided to send Bobby to get Dimitrios.
Bobby swallowed hard, "Why me? I just brought the prime minister. I don’t want another dangerous mission."
They said at the same time, "Because everyone likes you!"
"Not anymore." The young man complained, as he ran out of headquarters.
It was eerily silent in the office. So much so, the occupants could hear each other breathe. For the longest time no one even dared to say a word. Then it happened...
Chapter 125
Caroline walked up the steps to her house at exactly 9:00. The porch lights lit up the house like a stadium. Charles knocked on the front door and waited holding Caroline's hand.
Kevin answered the door and greeted Charles. He asked, "Would you like to come inside?"
Charles declined saying, "No, thank you. We have school in the morning and I still have chores. Thank you though."
He kissed Caroline on the cheek. Joyce brought a bag of cookies for him to take home. He thanked her and said goodbye.
Caroline feigned being tired. She kissed her parents goodnight, thanked them for letting her visit the Jones’ farm and ran upstairs to get ready for bed. Once she was ready for bed, she took stationery from her nightstand and began writing a letter.
Chapter 126
On the way to find Dimitrios, Bobby was talking to himself, "What exactly am I supposed to say? No one told me that. ‘Dimitrios, I’m sorry to interrupt. Please come with me. Right this way.’ Yeah, yeah, yeah."
As he neared different officials watching their sectors, he asked if they had seen Dimitrios. Finally he found one agent, who had seen Dimitrios having dinner at a nearby restaurant. He pointed to show Bobby the right direction.
As the young agent entered the restaurant, he asked the hostess where Dimitrios was seated. She walked him halfway and nodded to a table in the corner.
Bobby walked to the table where Dimitrios was sitting with Cassia. Dimitrios looked up, as Bobby said, “I am sorry, Sir."
He glanced to Cassia. "Pardon me Ma'am."
He turned back to Dimitrios. "Sir, may I have a word with you? My unit sent me."
Dimitrios stood from the table and walked with Bobby to an area out of the hearing of the other diners. Bobby explained the tense situation at headquarters. Dimitrios went back to the table and told Cassia he had to leave on business. He'd take care of dinner and whatever she wanted. He asked if he could meet up with her later that night. She thanked him and agreed to meet later at her residence. Dimitrios gave Bobby instructions to make sure she arrived home safely. He gave the waitress his gold card to cover the bill and rushed to headquarters.
Once Dimitrios arrived, he ran up the steps of the headquarters building and stopped short of opening the door. He straightened his posture before going forward. He wasn’t prepared for what he saw when he entered. He took a step inside and looked around. Headquarters was clearly devastated. Papers were strewn everywhere. The look on the officers’ faces alarmed him. Something had gone terribly wrong.
He asked Craig, “What happened here? Where's Commissioner Caruzio?”
Craig said, “I don't know man, it happened so fast. Xander, Anjoleah... It's bad. The commissioner is upstairs with the prime minister cleaning up.”
“The prime minister is here, in the office? Cleaning up?”
Craig nodded his head. “Yeah man. Good luck.”
Dimitrios went back to the hallway and upstairs to the office. Anthony was scratching his head. The prime minister looked at the ceiling then at Dimitrios.
Dimitrios asked, “What's going on around here? This place looks like a tornado ripped through here.”
Anthony answered, “It did. Two of them.”
Dimitrios scowled. Then he looked at Shawn. “Tough first day?” Shawn did not look amused. Dimitrios folded his arms. “Where is Xander? What does Anjoleah have to do with this?”
Shawn threw up his hands. “She's the one that did the majority of it.”
Dimitrios shrieked, “What?”
Shawn nodded. “True my friend, all true. Never seen anything like it.”
“You two are no help.”
Frustrated Dimitrios went to play back the security tape. He sat on the edge of the desk with his arms folded and watched. “Oh my...!” He paused the tape. “What in the... Why? No! She didn't.” His mouth was open. That was all he could say about what he saw on the footage. He walked out of the office, mad as a hornet being swatted. He had two people to find and he wasn't going to stop until they were captured.
Anthony and Shawn entered the room. The prime minister turned off the tape. “Yep. That's about what we said.” Anthony sat in the chair and covered his face. He thought: Those two. Anjoleah, you are enjoying this way too much. I hope you know what you are doing.
He said to Shawn, “Well, have your men finish cleaning up this mess, business as usual. Bobby is now your number two. Looks like Xander quit.” Shawn shuffled papers on the desk before leaving the office and heading down to talk to the officers.
No one said much or looked at anyone else. The agents just got to work.
Brian sa
id under his breath, “Tough day at the playground. Man, I wish things could go back to the way they were... No offense, Sir.”
Shawn said, “None taken. Business as usual.”
Craig growled, “Why does Xander get all the fun?"
Talon said, "I don't know, man. But did you see Dimitrios’ face when he walked out of here? I think the party is over.”
Dimitrios was on a mission to locate the two rascals. He figured they couldn't be too far ahead of him. He wasn't going to stop until he found them. He thought: What in the world happened? He was still in shock over their behavior. Anjoleah and Xander were behaving totally out of character. Dimitrios wondered if quitting her job made Anjoleah lose her mind? Nothing made any sense; it was all-irrational behavior. In his mind he began playing out different scenarios. All of the sudden a thought crossed his mind: What if I had lost my edge somehow. Was I fooled into thinking the two were legit, and they really weren’t? He pondered the thought then decided it was rubbish. It was just his mind playing tricks on him. He groaned as he paused and tried to decide which way to go. Dimitrios bent over and put his hands on his knees momentarily. Then he straightened up and began a brisk walk. Every so often, Dimitrios heard his name being called out. He acknowledged the voices with a wave of his hand and continued on his way. He occasionally stopped to ask questions of people whom he thought might have seen them. No one had seen either one. It made sense to him at this point, that they had changed their looks and were now in disguise.
**********
Dimitrios was correct, they were in disguise and he was uncomfortably close to their position. Anjoleah saw him first. She nudged Xander, who turned and reached for her hand. They waited for Dimitrios to turn away. Then they made a run for it. Xander and Anjoleah kept jogging until they reached their destination in the center of the Hub. It was an unimpressive building with two wings.
Return of the Clonsayee Page 59
