“Ok, so it’s Agent Latens, this time? You're not getting out of my sight until you come clean about who you really are and why you seem to turn up around so many criminals.”
I smiled and put on the charm. “Congrats on getting a position with the Bureau, Agent Nesstor. How long have you been working with us now?”
“Cut the bull right now, before I take you in for impersonating a federal officer. Tell me who you are and what’s going on here, and maybe I'll ask the judge to go easy on you.”
“Nesstor, if I really told you who I was, or what this was all about, you would assume that I was totally deranged. So, let us part as friends and who knows, maybe we will bump into each other again. You never know, who I might decide to be on that day.”
“You’re joking right? You escaped from me once. There is no way in hell it’s going to happen again. You can either get in the back seat of my car without the bracelets, or I can slap them on you and make them really tight.”
After getting into his car, Nesstor drove me to a nondescript office building in downtown Los Angeles. Three other agents were already seated when I entered the second floor room with Nesstor.
“This is the guy I called in about, Sir. I'm sure I've seen him in Chicago near two other crime scenes, and now he was talking with an admitted embezzler. He claims to be working with us on secret missions. Did you pull his records?”
“I did, but there's not much in it. I've been making calls to everyone and no one has ever met this man. Even on the dates in his file, where it shows he went to the academy, no one can remember this clown. My guess is he's working in a highly classified department as his file indicates, or all his records are a total forgery. We need to keep him locked up until I can run across someone who actually met him.”
Nesstor escorted me to a small room with no windows and one door. There was a small camera perched in the corner of the ceiling just to my right side. After being chained to a metal table, I was tossed into a grey metal chair and told to sit. Agent Nesstor sat across the table from me in another grey chair. We sat silently, while I watched the second hand on the clock above his head tick away. Four minutes and thirty-eight seconds later, another man walked in and sat in the other chair across the table. He motioned for Nesstor to leave the room.
The looked to be in his early to late sixties, dark hair with traces of grey, black rimmed glasses and a coffee stain over the left side of his upper chest on his white shirt. He wore dark blue pants and a very plain black tie with a small gold clip to keep it in place.
“Mr. Latens, I'm Agent Jerry Hopkins. I'm the regional director for the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Western District. I apologize for our less than cordial treatment of you, but Agent Nesstor has reason to believe you're not one of our agents."
I shrugged as Hopkins went on.
"He claims to have met you in the Chicago area posing as two different people. Now you show up in my district claiming to be working here. I've done a background check and despite finding documents suggesting that you are gainfully employed by the Bureau, no one has ever met you. If you can shed some light on this, I'll be more than pleased to release you and allow you to be on your way. Until that time, I'm afraid you'll remain as our guest. Is there anything you would like to tell me?”
“Agent Hopkins, is it your policy to detain every agent of the Bureau, who dares to enter your district and not report to you?”
Hopkins smirked. “Don’t get cute. We have every reason to believe your records are forged. Why don’t you tell me why Agent Nesstor believes you’re not who you say you are.”
“I can’t speak for Agent Nesstor’s faulty memory; maybe I have a common face, I don’t know.”
“It’s responses like that, which will keep you as our special guest for a very long time, Mr. Latens.”
I could see this tact was getting me nowhere so it was time to change course. “Are you a man of your word Agent Hopkins?”
“I would like to believe I am. Why do you ask?”
“I'll make you an offer and we’ll see if you really are a man of your word. I will answer each and every question of yours with complete honesty, if you see no laws have been broken, will you release me?”
“I guess that depends on if I believe your answers, but you're welcome to try.”
“Ask away, Agent Hopkins. I can only hope you listen with an open mind because all my responses will be accurate.” I looked into Hopkins’s eyes as he offered his best poker stare.
“Is your real name Latens and are you currently an employee of the FBI?”
“My name is Caeles Novo. You will not find records of my birth or any existence of me in your database. Do not bother trying. I am not paid by the FBI, but I do have proper credentials under the name Latens, in order to gain access to information when I am working on a mission.”
“What type of missions do you work on, Mr. Novo?”
“Agent Hopkins, I have no doubt you are as good a man as I know Agent Nesstor is. I have seen his work up close, when we were back in Chicago. I admit he has seen me pose as other people. However, if I were to tell you my true mission, you would never believe me. I realize you have no reason to trust me, but we are on the same side. Your mission is to arrest criminals and put them in your jail cells. My mission is to shackle them with their personal chains for as long as they walk this earth.”
Hopkins frowned. “I don’t need some intellectual bull shit from you, Novo. Just tell me what the hell it is you are doing hanging around with known criminals?”
“My mission is to steal souls from people who cannot see the beauty in life, or appreciate all that has been given to them. I do not break any of your laws, and I have been given the right to do so by the heavens above. I will continue my mission for well over one hundred years or more after you are dead and buried. Odds are that you now think you have a crazy lunatic sitting across from you, but I assure you every word I have spoken is true. I will also tell you that I have others, who will assist me in leaving this building unharmed and unchained. I do not know when or where, but it will happen. Agent Nesstor can continue to chase me across the globe for as long as he likes, but I have broken no laws. So with all due respect, I suggest you release me.”
I sat daring myself not to show fear or break a sweat as Agent Hopkins continued to stare directly into my eyes, almost begging me to change my story.
“Mr. Novo, I believe you've been impersonating a federal officer. That is a crime and you will be charged on those grounds. Besides, what should I tell my superiors back in Washington? We had Mr. Wizard in our possession, but I was afraid he would turn me into toad, so I had to release him. Come on, you have to do better than you fly around the world stealing souls and there is no record of you on earth. Do you take me for a fool?”
I again shrugged. “Agent Hopkins, my credentials with the FBI are real. Besides, I never said that I can fly. I take the same modes of transportation as you. Despite my current position and desire to be released, I still cannot turn you into a toad. In fact, if I took your soul with the sole intention of being released, I would be punished. I promised to offer the truth if you would release me. I did my part, even if I did not expect you to live up to yours. I know how silly it sounds, however I can assure you, I am a highly educated being, who is fluent in several languages. I am knowledgeable in world politics, and have been to over one hundred countries on earth. I am of sound mind. I have tracked down and found criminals that even your people could not locate like James Blake and Miss Monet. I am not a crazy person, but I am one, who is losing his patience. I am going to ask you one last time in a calm and rationale way to kindly release me.”
Another pause ensued with Hopkins, still staring my way, before sitting back in his chair and wiping his brow.
“Mr. Novo, we get all kinds in here. Some are delusional from drugs and alcohol; others have serious mental challenges, while a percentage of them are just downright stupid. We do run into a few sophisticated criminals from time to t
ime, yet still I have no idea what category you seem to fit. You don’t seem like you want to harm anyone and even Nesstor admitted that he does not think you committed any crimes back in Chicago. I don’t know what to think about you. I know I can’t release you after hearing your story, but if your credentials are real, I'm not sure how to detain you. But until someone can identify you, or you can come up with a better story than the one you're selling now, you're going to remain our guest.”
I could hear the second hand on the clock behind Hopkins’ head ticking away, making me more impatient with every tock. Since honesty didn’t work, it was time I realized I would be staying longer than first anticipated.
“If I am going to be detained, then I assume I can make a phone call? I would like to call my wife and let her know where I am. She will be expecting me home soon. I don’t want her to worry about me.”
“We will call her for you, Mr. Novo. Please give me the number. Besides, don’t you have some way of communicating through brain waves with all of your special soul powers?”
“Agent Hopkins, I have been very respectful of you and your job, I would appreciate some of the same courtesies. Now, may I have my phone call or not? Let’s not forget, the only reason why Nesstor located me again was because I was assisting in the apprehension of a criminal. One day, you might need my assistance in locating another one. You would be foolish to doubt my skills. Those facts alone, I do believe, should garner me a phone call.”
“I don't know who you really are pal, but you did take a slow night and turn it into something entertaining. Ok, you can call Mrs. Wizard and let her know you won’t be home for the séance tonight.”
“I do believe one day you are going to rue your words, Agent Hopkins. Please hand me the phone, my super powers don’t allow me to dial from across the room.”
I called Kalani to let her know what happened. I assured her I would find a way home within a few hours. I could hear the phone click off before I hung up. I knew someone was listening from within the office. After my call, I was unchained from the desk, but was locked in the small white room with the camera’s red light watching me twist and turn in the chair. I was in a very uncomfortable mood throughout the early morning hours.
“Let’s go, Novo. We're moving you to a secure location.”
I lifted my head from the cold metal desk. There was a hint of drool dripping from the right side of my mouth as my eyes focused on the clock long enough to realize it was just past five in the morning. I was in no mood to be shuffled off to another location, but what choice did I have?
“Is this all necessary, Agent Nesstor? Have I shown even one sign of violence or an attempt to escape? Besides, I have not even called my attorney yet. Have you guys even charged me with a crime? I know I have not been read my rights. What kind of cops are you anyway?”
“Novo, I am sure once we get a handle on who or what you are, we will release you back to the magical kingdom of fairies and goblins, but for now the chief says you are to be held in a cell until we know more about you.
“I have already told you all there is to know about me and you won’t find any more. We take great care in protecting our identity and there is a chance if the Council ever finds out how much I told you people, I will be punished. However, I wanted to go home, so I took a wild shot that someone would believe me. I have done nothing wrong. In fact, I’ll make you an offer, Nesstor. I’ll bet it’s eating at you that you don’t know who killed that poor lady in the rocking chair back in Chicago. If you release me, I will tell you who suffocated that poor woman. Now mind you, I was not there and I could never be an eyewitness, but I am certain I could help you. I did give you the lady killer, Barbara.”
“I'm no longer associated with the Chicago Police, but I'll pass along the information if you have something to offer me.”
“Oh, no, it does not work that way. You go to your boss, have him release me, and I will tell you who did it.”
“You have no idea who committed that murder, Novo. No deal.”
“Have it your way, but once my lawyer gets here, I will be walking free anyway. You might as well save us both some aggravation of the paper work and all the nastiness of my name put in the public records. It will only disappear soon after I am released, and you are left with your prick in your hands. But then again, maybe you like that?”
“Alright, Merlin, that’s enough from you. Don’t try to do anything stupid between here and the padded cell we will find for you. There is a nice doctor who wants to meet you.”
“Nesstor, I know my rights and having me carted off like this is not on the list. Now I insist on calling my lawyer before you take me anywhere.”
“You've not been charged, so no reason for a call. Talk with the nice doctor then maybe if you're a good boy, he will give you a new magic wand to play with.”
“You know Nesstor, I asked about you. I was told you have a clean soul and you were not on the list. I think I am going to double check again once I get released. And by the way, if you see an old guy with white hair, you might want to duck. I have no idea if he will be outside or not, but he seems to show up when I get in trouble. He comes to me in my dreams and every once in a while, he meets in person, while I am awake. His name is Mikael Sano, but whatever you do, don’t call him dude. He really gets upset when you do. If you don’t let me call my lawyer, I am guessing he will find a way to get me out of this mess. Then again, I have not seen him in a couple of years, so who knows. Oh well, you were warned.”
“You really do need some time away from society, pal. Now get in the elevator.”
It was an hour before dawn. The streets were dim. A nearby street lamp lit the path from the front door to the parked car a few feet away. I was being pushed towards the car door, when Nesstor dropped face first to the ground.
“Hurry, Cale, before we start to feel the effects. Grab his gun and keys and unlock yourself. We only have a moment. Hurry.”
“Kalani, what have you done?”
“Hush, and get yourself free. You can be mad with me later, but for now, do as I say.”
I found the keys and released myself as I started my body started to quiver. Kalani was in full shake. We jumped into a car driven by a friend of hers and pulled away. Nesstor was still flat on the ground, with his head hanging over the curb. We were out of view before we both stopped shaking.
“Kalani, I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but why did you do that? I was fine. They were only trying to mess with me for a while, before releasing me later today. They had no reason to keep me and didn’t even charge me. There was no reason to go to such extreme measures.”
“You're dead wrong. I had a call from Even Crowe, our man back east. He had a call from his source inside the FBI and you were being transferred to a mental hospital with locks and bars on the doors. I called Orcus, but he said he couldn’t do anything and would figure out a way to get you out once in the mental ward. I couldn't take the chance they would do something to you before we could get you out. I panicked, Baby. I didn’t know what else to do, so I took his soul. I knew you would be upset with me, but it was my only option on short notice. I'll answer to the Council. If we're lucky, it won’t affect him too much, and he can live a near normal life."
CHAPTER Nineteen
Soul Intentions Page 19
