The Shadow Above The Flames

by Daniel Swenson

  "These things are relentless, sir. Wells and I are having a hard time pushing them back. It appears they figured out how to avoid the gas bombs Wells rigged up in the ventilation system."

  A rusty tire iron spun through one of the already broken windows and clattered its way across the store floor. Rick spun around opening fire on several of the persistent little creatures, who tried to claw their way over the window seal. Several more explosions rang out from the rear of the building before the comm squawked back to life with Wells on the other end.

  Between heavy breaths, Wells gave his report. "The building . . . is now secure. These . . . hellish squirrels tried to sneak in through the ventilation system. They bypassed my gas traps and nearly had the drop on Jacobson. Luckily, despite a few scrapes, he held out ‘till I got to him. We're going to seal these ventilation shafts before heading up to the front of the store."

  Rick grabbed one of the busted shelves near him and shoved it in front of the broken window. Several of the squirrels hissed when they found this entrance blocked. They scampered off. Once he was sure the board was secure in the window frame, he walked over to McAvoy and reported that the squirrels were in full retreat.

  Sergeant McAvoy nodded and clicked on his comm. "Wells, you and Jacobson need to hurry up. According to Morgan's report, the freaky little fur balls have scampered off from the front of the store. Either they've decided we weren't worth the fight, or they're going to find a few more of their dangerous friends. Either way, I don't want to be here when they come back."

  Henry swiveled in his plush chair and gazed out the fourth floor window of his office, where he could watch the ships in the Lower Bay. There was nothing quite as peaceful as watching large sailing ships on the open water making their way to the Atlantic Ocean. Even on an overcast day, watching the ships allowed Henry to slip into a state of tranquility.

  Luckily, for Henry, it had been a rather uneventful day of video surveillance and reports wouldn’t take much effort to complete. He hoped to get off work in time to swing by the coffee shop before Carly went home.

  The way Carly smiled and laughed at his jokes, even the dumb ones, always brightened his day. The only other person who thought his jokes were funny was Rick.

  He frowned as he thought about Rick. He shook his head and wondered, not for the first time, why Rick had decided to stay in the military. Even after all this time, it was still a sore spot for him. He grimaced at the memory of Rick trying to convince him that reenlisting was the right thing for him to do. Afterwards, they had argued for days, and at some point, they had nearly come to blows. Henry had decided he was done with military life; he had wanted to head back to the States and be as normal as possible. In the end, the brothers had gone their separate ways, embittered. Neither of them had talked to one another since.

  Henry slowly turned the chair back around and looked at all the paperwork sitting on his desk. He wished he had known back then how boring a normal life was. The most excitement he got these days came from Roger Smythe, who had a habit of causing problems for him and his team. He let out a sigh, picked up his favorite pen, and wrote up his daily report.

  As Henry finished the last document, he felt anxiety bubble up inside him. Henry normally wasn't the shy type, but there was something about Carly that made his mouth dry whenever he tried to speak to her. Needless to say, it took months of dropping by the shop and purchasing two hundred or more cups of coffee before he'd finally worked up enough courage to ask her out on a date.

  Ever since the first time she flashed her smile at him, he was hooked. He glanced at the clock and realized that he still had time to get to the coffee shop before it closed.

  With five minutes to spare, he wrapped up the last report and then tossed his pen into the mug on his desk. He smiled as he jumped up from his seat and headed towards the coat rack; the fates were with him today.

  When he reached for his jacket, the door opened and in walked his old friend, Leonard Kowalski. Lenny, as he was better known, was an old buddy of Henry and Rick's before they had enlisted in the service.

  Henry groaned. Even when they were kids, Lenny never showed up unannounced unless he was in trouble. It was one of those weird things Lenny did; he always called before coming over. Henry remembered one time when Rick had asked Lenny why he always called before coming over, and Lenny’s response was that his grandmother had taught him that it was respectable to call before showing up on someone's doorstep. However, when Lenny was in trouble, that never applied.

  "Hi, Lenny. What’s up?" Henry asked.

  Lenny closed the door behind him before plopping down on the cheap office couch. His eyes darted around the room and landed on the glass table. He immediately searched for something under it. After he appeared satisfied, he picked up one of the glasses that sat on the table, inspecting it before setting it back down.

  "This is a pretty cozy office you have here." Lenny remarked as he smiled and broke eye contact. It wasn’t unusual for Lenny to not look someone in the eyes when he talked.

  Henry noticed that Lenny had started tapping his foot as he had made his inspection of the office.

  After glancing up at the clock, Henry remarked, "Come on, Lenny! Spit it out. I’m in a hurry."

  Lenny continued to fidget with the glass on the table without saying a word. His standard stained gaming t-shirt hung over his six-foot seven-inch frame as though he hadn’t eaten anything in his entire life. It made Lenny look ridiculous sitting on the couch.

  If it wasn't for the fact that Henry had actually seen Lenny eat, he would have sworn he was some half-starved, homeless person living on the street. Nonetheless, even with all of Lenny's idiosyncrasies, he was from the old neighborhood, and he was like family, so Henry put up with him.

  Lenny stood, walked over to Henry, gave him a hug, and whispered, "We can't talk here; it's not safe. Meet me at the Goal Post on the corner of Bay 17th Street and Bath Avenue. I will be there around ten-thirty tonight. Henry, this is important; it’s about Rick."

  Lenny released Henry from his hug and took a step back. "Take this!" He shoved a blue security identification card into Henry's hand.

  "What’s this?" Henry asked while examining the card.

  Lenny didn't respond. Instead, he spun around, scooped up the glass from the table, and inspected the various facets of the cut glass. Henry kept asking Lenny what the card was for, but he refused to tell him anything.

  "For the safety of everyone involved, please don't show that card to anyone. We’ll talk about things later when it's safe. Until then, I apologize for what I'm about to do."

  Henry scrunched up his face in confusion at Lenny's last words. Before he could say anything, the door to his office burst open, and Lenny hurled the glass he'd been holding towards Henry's head. Henry dodged to the side and turned to see the glass shatter against the wall behind him, showering the area with shards of glass. Henry stared in wild disbelief at the tall, lanky man who kicked things over in his office and screamed obscenities at Henry.

  "You have got to be kidding me!" Lenny shouted. "The one person in the world I thought I could count on is now telling me it's not his problem and to get out of his office. Are your veins full of ice water? We grew up in the same neighborhood, Henry! How could you do this to me?"

  Henry stammered for a reply but couldn't find one. Soon two security guards entered the room. Lenny picked up another glass and threw it towards one of the security guards who entered Henry's office, barely missing him. Henry immediately noticed that Lenny had purposely thrown the glass high above the guard’s head, causing it to fly over him and shatter in the hallway behind him.

  Lenny's face was bright red when he spun around towards Henry. "Seriously? You called security on me! I thought we were friends, Henry Morgan!"

  The security guards tried to tackle Lenny to the floor, but he dodged them before they could. As Lenny bolted towards the door, he snatched one of the officer’s hats and plopped it on his head.

/>   "Well, I can tell I'm not wanted here," Lenny huffed. "I will see myself to the door if you don't mind."

  As Lenny scuttled past, he turned his head slightly, making sure the bill of the hat covered most of his face and then winked at Henry. He then stormed towards the door, shoving his way past the guards. As soon as he reached the door, he launched himself out, causing him to slam into the wall and tumble to the floor.

  "Henry Morgan!" Lenny yelled, "You are a cold heartless bastard. How dare you throw a friend out like this? You and I are done! Do you hear me? I don't need you! I'm just sorry that I hadn't seen your colors before now. I'll go find someone else who will help me."

  At this point, many of the other Union Forest employees stopped what they were doing and watched the spectacle in the hallway. Lenny continued his tirade by calling Henry all sorts of colorful names and obscenities while the two guards tried to subdue him. It wasn't long before four more guards arrived and surrounded Lenny. Henry noticed that the guards had their stun batons out and ready. To Henry's surprise, Lenny calmed down at the sight of the batons. He handed over the stolen hat and slowly began making his way towards the elevators.

  Henry watched the events unfold before him in stunned disbelief. But as soon as he thought it was over, one of the guards reached out to grab Lenny on his way down the hallway. Lenny sidestepped the man's grab and turned with such ferocity that it snapped Henry out of his shocked stupor.

  "Don't touch me!" he screamed. "I know my rights, and I can see that my gazpacho soup loving ass doesn't belong here."

  Lenny stared down the other security guards, almost daring them to try something. Then when no one else attempted to grab him, he shrugged and headed for the elevator. Once the elevator doors closed, Henry watched, from inside his doorframe, as the remaining security guards visibly relaxed. Eventually, everyone realized that the spectacle was over and went back to work. Thoroughly confused, Henry closed his door, walked back over to his desk, sat down, and started filling out a new incident report.

  Lenny's smile of satisfaction reflected off the elevator panels as he made his way to the ground floor. He pulled out his tablet and overrode the boring ads coming from the elevator speakers, turning it to his favorite tune. The two security guards stared at the speaker wondering what in the world was going on. Lenny put his tablet away and began humming the song.

  When the elevator reached the ground floor, the security guards handed Lenny over to another set of officers waiting to escort him out of the building. He had no doubt they were itching for a reason to pull their sidearm.

  Both guards grabbed Lenny's arms and tossed him out the door, causing him to topple into one of the bushes near the stairs. While lying in the bush and gazing up at the clouds, he chuckled to himself. He thought his little performance for the Union Forest employees had been rather believable.

  If his life had gone in a different direction he could have been an actor. Unfortunately, that dream had died long ago with his parents. Lenny picked himself up out of the bush, collected the items that had fallen from his satchel, and started walking down the street.

  Lenny figured the Union Forest security force would put a tail on him once he left the grounds, so he walked up 14th Avenue towards Dyker Beach Park. He enjoyed the walk and made sure to stop at multiple locations along the way. Once he arrived at the park, he located a nice metal bench, which had what appeared to be white clouds painted on it. The bench sat under a large sugar maple tree, big enough to block out the sunlight on hot, sunny days.

  Lenny sat down and removed his satchel. He rummaged through it to pull out a bruised apple and one of his favorite books. The book was ancient by most standards. Lenny had read it so many times that he had to tape the book back together so he could still read it. Henry had once offered to purchase him an electronic copy of the book before he had entered the service, but Lenny had refused because there was something about holding the book in his hands and turning the pages that made reading the story more fun.

  Lenny flipped through the pages of the book until he found the last place he had read before taking a bite out of his apple. He looked as though he didn't have a care in the world, but in reality, he kept an eye on the two black SUVs parked on the other side of 86th street.

  It amused Lenny that with all the spy shows that had been released over the years, government and security agencies still drove black vehicles. What Lenny found even more ridiculous was that these guys would sit out in the open in their black SUV's, which were always cleaner than the few vehicles that remained on the street. He wondered why they didn't drive a normal beat-up car and wear everyday clothes so no one would notice.

  Lenny chuckled to himself as he put his book down and rummaged through his satchel again. When he found the notebook he was looking for, he pulled it out, inspected it, and then sat it down on the bench, placing a cash card beside it.

  Putting everything else away, he stood to stretch out the kinks in his back and legs. When he finished stretching, he noticed a random guy jogging towards him. He smiled and waved at the man. As the jogger neared, Lenny stopped him for a moment and asked him if the items on the bench were his.

  The jogger quickly scooped up the items. "Yes, they are. I must have accidentally left them here when I started my jog. Thank you for pointing them out to me."

  Lenny smiled and bid the gentleman good day, then walking down the path that led to 14th Avenue. Once there, he signaled for a transit cab. A few moments later, one quietly pulled up to the curb. Once it stopped, Lenny climbed inside.

  When he sat down, a pleasant female voice asked, "Where can I take you today?"

  Lenny fastened his seatbelt before responding. "Utrecht High School at the corner of 16th Avenue and 79th Street, please."

  The light on the dash flashed green and the transit cab pulled away from the curb. Lenny looked back at the bench and saw four gentlemen dressed in black suits and dark sunglasses standing next to it. Two of the black suits were wrestling the jogger to the ground as he vehemently proclaimed his innocence. While another pair of black suits stared dumbfounded at the item that he had left behind.

  He had picked up the old notebook a few weeks back at the Purple Rose on 73rd Street. It contained the heart-crushing ramblings of some drunken fellow who had recently lost the love of his life. Lenny wished he could have been a fly on the wall back at black suit headquarters while they spent countless man hours trying to decipher the secret code they believed was hidden within the notebook.

  Lenny leaned back in his seat and pulled out his favorite book, slipping out a red-colored card that had been tucked inside the dust jacket. He tapped the card on the panel in front of him. The feminine voice spoke over the internal speakers. "Yes, sir, what can I do for you?"

  Lenny replaced the card back into its place in the dust jacket. "Please take me to the Goal Post instead and do not log this destination as per my authorization pass."

  The panel glowed with a yellow light while it processed the request. The light on the dash turned from yellow to green and flashed "Authorization granted. New destination accepted. And no record will be logged. Thank you for using Transit Cab, General Carmine."

  The cab changed lanes and proceeded towards its new destination. Lenny was excited to get back to the Goal Post, where he would be able to get some decent food and talk with some friends. But he still had to convince Henry that Union Forest was covering up an operation gone bad and that his brother Rick was right in the middle of it all.

  While Henry sat at his desk struggling to finish his report on the incident with Lenny, he heard the door creak. He looked up as Walter Perkins walk in. Mr. Perkins was the vice president of the Intelligence and Security unit at Union Forest. The few times Henry had crossed paths with Mr. Perkins were generally in the hallways or in meetings. During those meetings, he would often try to imagine what Mr. Perkins might have looked like when he was younger, that is, before he ended up with salt-and-pepper-colored hair.

 
Henry couldn't remember a time when the stern man hadn’t worn a perpetual scowl upon his face. So when Henry imagined Mr. Perkins in his youth, he would picture a little Mr. Perkins sporting a goofy smile, which would make Henry chuckle.

  Henry shifted uneasily in his seat. It was never a good sign when Mr. Perkins came by.

  "Good evening, Mr. Morgan," Mr. Perkins said as he entered Henry's office. "I hear we had a bit of an incident down here this afternoon."

  Henry signed the incident report and pushed it across his desk towards Mr. Perkins.

  "Yes, sir, I have it all documented in my incident report here. You are welcome to review it for yourself. I've made sure to include everything that transpired. I’ve even covered everything that was said to me, both in private and public." It was, of course, a lie.

  Mr. Perkins scooped up the report and reviewed the document. Henry eyed the clock, watching the minutes pass by as the vice president's steel gray eyes shifted back and forth reading the incident report.

  "Sir, I feel I must apologize for the incident that happened earlier today, and I understand if this will require an infraction being placed upon my record. I will be sure to put Lenny on the blacklist for this and any other Union Forest sites."

  Mr. Perkins looked up from the report. "Your attention to detail is amazing, despite how trouble seems to follow you."

  The salt-and-pepper-haired exec finished reading the report and adjusted the front of his suit jacket. "If only I could get half the security staff here at Union Forest to put as much detail into their daily reports as you do. Your honesty is vital. Please make sure Leonard Kowalski is placed on the blacklist as you said."

  With the report in his hand, Mr. Perkins strode towards the door. When he reached the doorway, he turned back towards Henry. "And it’s best for all involved, especially yourself, if you were to refrain from associating with someone like Leonard Kowalski. It may jeopardize your future here at Union Forest. Goodnight."