Guardian's Hope

by Jacqueline Rhoades

  “Give her your money,” Col said as he pulled a wad from his pocket. He stuffed it into her hands. “This ought to get you started. We’ll help figure the rest out tomorrow night. Use some of it to call a cab.”

  Dov added his money to the pile and they left her standing in the doorway staring after them.

  “You go that way, I’ll go this. If one of us spots him, call. Then we make like we’re playing tag. Just havin’ a good time on the bikes. Don’t let him know we’re following.”

  “Gotcha.” Dov roared down the alley and into the street.

  Col nearly missed them. He was almost past the street when he saw them and made the turn so fast he just about dumped the bike. He sped past, barely looking at them and stopped to call Dov when he rounded the next corner. For the next few minutes, they played a game of cat and mouse, chasing each other up one street and down another, sometimes passing in opposite directions, laughing and hollering like they were two half-drunk kids having a good time, but they never lost sight of Smith or the wall of flesh lumbering beside him that radiated the smell of demon.

  They tried calling Canaan, but were immediately sent to voice mail, so they called Grace. They were so excited, they had to share it with someone.

  “We got him, Gracie!” Dov told her about the call from Nora, the trip to Bloodsucker’s and the game with the bikes. “Yeah, 2757 Borden. Don’t worry. We got another hour before sunrise and we’re on our way home.”

  “We could have taken them, bro. I could’ve taken the demon and you could’ve got Smith. Oh shit! I meant to tell Gracie about the demon. He’s a big sucker, isn’t he?”

  “We did the right thing. Canaan wanted him followed to his house and you’re right, that fucker is big. Suppose you needed help. We might’ve lost Smith. You can tell them again when we get home.”

  *****

  The two Guardians opened the door to the church and stepped inside. Broadbent stood in front of the altar, straightening his scapula and brushing off his sleeves. Except for his sweat soaked hair, he looked much the same as when they had left him there hours ago. He nodded to them and, with great dignity, walked slowly down the aisle. When he reached them, his dignity wobbled a bit along with his knees and they both reached out to steady him. Up close, they saw that his eyes were still glazed.

  Canaan was waiting outside at the bottom of the stairs. He held out his hand, “Broadbent ad Sebastian, I welcome you to the ranks of the Guardians of the Race.”

  Broadbent solemnly raised his right fist to the place over his heart where the lilies blossomed around a new black skull with red tears falling to the banner below. The black skull, symbol of his willingness to die for his calling, and the red tears of blood he would shed for the cause throbbed beneath his hand.

  “I serve at my Liege Lord’s command.”

  Each in turn, Nico and Nardo formally greeted him. “It is my honor and pleasure to call you brother.”

  On the way to the car, Nardo asked, “So, how does it feel, Professor?”

  “Like I’ve passed through all levels of Dante’s Inferno and found my way back.”

  “Yeah, that pretty much covers it,” Nardo laughed as he slapped his friend on the back.

  *****

  Hope had her coat on and the phone book out on the counter. Her finger skimmed over a yellow and red marked map on one of the first few pages. She was wearing the long denim skirt and oversized turtleneck that she used to wear when she first came. Her hair was pulled back tight in a bun at the base of her neck.

  “Where are you going?” Grace asked more out of curiosity than suspicion. It wasn’t unusual for one or both of them to run errands in the early morning and Hope was unfamiliar with the area.

  “I’m looking up Borden Ave.” Hope’s roving finger stopped. “Ah, got it. There’s no Borden Street, so this must be it.” She tore the page from the book and headed for the door. As she grabbed the keys from the peg she asked, “I’m taking the junker, do you mind?”

  The junker was Grace’s car, inherited from the twins. “Yes, as a matter of fact. Not the junker. I mean what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  “I’m going to talk to Smith.” She turned back from the door. “Look, he’s running. That’s the only reason he would take all that money and if I can’t get to him before he leaves for good, Faith may be dead before we find her. I have to go. Now.”

  “Canaan and Nico are on their way. At least wait until they get here.”

  “Why? So they can tell me they won’t let me put myself in danger? No, Grace. I won’t be in danger. I can handle one lone man. Tell them where I went. Tell them I’ll call. Tell them we’re running out of time.”

  Grace grabbed her arm and Hope angrily shook her off. Her eyes were blazing. “Don’t…”

  “Two are better than one,” Grace said at the same time. “You go start the car while I get my coat. Give me one extra minute to leave a note.”

  *****

  Dov and Col came barging into the kitchen, threw their jackets on the island and kicked off their boots, heedless of Grace’s rules. They were flying high on their adventure and success.

  “Oh Gracie, we’re home,” Dov yelled their usual greeting and when there was no answer, “I wonder where everybody is?”

  “Don’t know. Want a beer?” Col already had his head in the pantry refrigerator where Grace kept all the cold drinks. He didn’t wait for an answer, but popped the tops off two bottles and returned to the kitchen. They’d chugged half a bottle when the garage door opened again and Broadbent came through followed by Nardo, Canaan and Nico.

  Dov toasted Broadbent with his bottle. “Hey, new Guardian! How’s it hangin’?”

  “It’s hanging quite well, thank you for asking.”

  “Yeah, congrats, professor. What was it like?”

  Canaan cleared his throat. “You know better than to ask, Col. I’ve told you before, it’s personal and for each man it’s different. Where’s Grace?”

  “Don’t know. We called but no one answered.” They heard the outer door in the den open. “That’s probably her now.”

  But it wasn’t.

  “We wanted to come and pay our respects to the new Guardian.” Manon went to Broadbent, kissed both his cheeks and rubbed away a smudge of lipstick with her thumb. Her eyes widened for a moment and then she smiled. “He’s a handsome one, is he not?”

  “Ooo, that’ll come in handy fighting demons,” Nardo teased.

  Nico stood off to the side with his eyes lightly shut. “Hope?”

  Otto shook Broadbent’s hand and pulled him into a manly hug. “Welcome to the ranks, son.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “Cut it a little close there, didn’t you? Thought I was going to fry when we crossed the alley. Grace’ll have to put us up in one of her fancy guest rooms. Sun’s well up by now.”

  “Hope?”

  “Do you know where Grace went?” Canaan asked Manon.

  “I’ve no idea. Probably to the store to pick up something special, non?” She looked at the island where Nardo had thrown his jacket on top of the twins’. “And if I were you, I would hang all of this up before she gets back.”

  “Hope!”

  The two culprits grabbed their jackets and took them off to hang on the rack in the den.

  “They’re both gone,” Nico said aloud.

  “So they went to the store together. They’ll be back in a minute.” Nardo walked over to the key rack. “See. They took the junker. The worst that can happen is the POS falls apart.”

  “Jeesh, you guys are so old.” Col pulled out his cell phone. “Modern times, guys.” He speed dialed Grace’s phone.

  “Don’t forget these.” Manon stooped to pick up a boot.

  Everyone turned as Grace’s phone rang from its place on the counter.

  “What’s Hope’s number?” Col asked.

  “She doesn’t have one. She always borrows.”

  Manon stood with a piece of paper instea
d of a boot in her hand. She laid it on the counter for all to see.

  Went to Smiths. Will call. G+H

  “Hope!” Nico headed for the door.

  Canaan grabbed his arm. “Don’t be a fool! The sun’s up. You’ll be too sick before you get there.”

  “How’d they find him?” Nardo asked.

  Dov raised his hand guiltily. “They didn’t. We did. Grace was supposed to give you the message.”

  Nico changed directions and headed for the twins, his fangs exposed and his face hard with the rage. Nardo and Broadbent stepped in front of the twins.

  “It’s not their doing,” Broadbent said with more force to his voice than they’d ever heard from him. “Flying into a rage will only hurt one of us, not those who need it.”

  Nico’s hands clenched into fists as he brought himself under control.

  The story spilled out of the twins, back and forth, alternating sentences until finally Dov said, “We always leave messages with Grace when we can’t get you. Shit, you guys, we never thought they’d do something like this.”

  “No one did.” Canaan said stiffly. He was having his own problems maintaining control.

  “It gets worse,” Col added miserably. “They don’t know about the demon.”

  Chapter 37

  Smith thought they were some damned holy rollers banging on the door and he ignored them, expecting them to go away, but the banging continued and he finally ripped the door open to blast them a new one before they banged the goddammed house down. He had enough troubles without listening to some song and dance about going to hell.

  And there she was, looking exactly like she did when she was in Bloodsucker’s. He stared at her for a moment with his mouth hanging open and then at her friend before smiling and inviting them in just like a couple of fucking Avon ladies. Ding-dong, your get out of jail free card is here!

  “Come on in ladies. What can I do for you?” He held the door open wide.

  “Mr. Smith,” Hope said politely as they passed through the door, “I know you know who I am and you know I want my sister. I think we might come to some arrangement.” She was shaking inside.

  They’d talked about it on the way over. Smith was frightened of something, most probably the demon holding Faith. They could offer him protection in exchange for information. He was human after all and the Guardians had rules against killing them. Surely Nico and Canaan would offer him safe passage out of town if it meant getting Faith back and finding the demon’s lair.

  “Now that you’re here, the only arrangement to be made is me getting you to Damon and getting rid of the Incredible Hulk here.” He poked his chin at someone behind them.

  They turned as one and Hope gagged. Like the creature she’d seen running into Lenny’s house, this one looked like a giant man, but she could see the demon shimmering in and out like some bizarre double exposure.

  “You ladies can stay here as my guest until I figure out how to handle this.” His eyes kept straying to Gor. What kind of name was that? The guy hadn’t said a word since he’d latched onto him at Damon’s place. What if this guy was supposed to kill him when he found the bitch? Wouldn’t that be a poke in the ass.

  Grace hadn’t said a word since he opened the door, but her eyes were darting around the room memorizing the layout should they need it.

  “Let me take your coats.” Smith held out his hand and when they politely declined, he gave them his best shark’s smile. “You don’t have a choice. Take them off or Gor here will take them off for you.”

  They reluctantly passed him their coats. He checked the pockets and threw them carelessly onto a chair. Then he rubbed his hands together and leered. “Sorry ladies, but you’re next.”

  One at a time, he ran his hands over them, snickering when they winced and squeezing painfully in places he shouldn’t have touched at all, taking a lot more time than he needed to check them for weapons. He enjoyed it. They endured it. The demon started to drool and lick its slavering lips. Finally, he stepped away.

  “Take them upstairs to the back bedroom. Don’t forget to lock it.”

  The demon took a step toward him and stared.

  “Well I’m not going to fucking run away now,” Smith snarled. He used his thumb to point at Hope. “I got the bitch.” He huffed and shook his head angrily when Gor didn’t budge. “Get up the stairs.”

  Smith, with Gor following behind, led them up the short flight of stairs and down the hall. There were two doors to the right and two to the left. He stopped at the last door on the left and ushered them in.

  “Make yourselves comfortable,” he said with a humorless laugh. “You can try the window if you want, but it’s nailed shut. You can smash through it, I guess, but I’ll fucking hear it and be back before you can get out and if you do get out, it’s a long way down. Gor’ll have you before you finish saying ow.” He closed the door behind him and they heard the key in the lock.

  “Make yourselves fucking comfortable,” Grace mimicked. “On what?”

  The room was empty except for a single chair with a metal frame and padded seat and back rest like the kind found in many restaurants and bars. Hope went to the small window. Smith hadn’t lied.

  “Grace, I’m sor…”

  “Don’t,” Grace snapped, “Don’t you dare say it. You didn’t force me to come. I volunteered. So instead of the two of us whining about how I shouldn’t have let you go and you shouldn’t have let me come, let’s figure out what the hell we’re going to do.”

  Grace flopped into the chair and Hope propped her hip on the window sill. Grace’s anger helped Hope focus.

  “Okay. Let’s begin at the beginning.” It was what she always said to the children at school when they were trying to solve an arithmetic problem. “Start with what we know.”

  “There’s a big ass demon downstairs and neither one of us can take him. That’s what I know.”

  “Grace,” Hope used her teacher’s voice to show how disappointed she was. It worked.

  “Okay. What do we know.” She chewed on her thumbnail while she thought. “Smith is still scared shi… skinny. Sorry, I tend to swear when I’m upset.”

  It felt good to have something to smile at. “Don’t. Don’t you dare say it. Don’t apologize, just say it anyway you need to.”

  Grace leaned against the back of the chair and grinned. “You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”

  “Yes I did. Now finish what you were saying.”

  “Smith is still scared and not just of the big ugly downstairs. He’s all talk. Even when he was feeling me up, he was stinking with fear and then he’d kind of get excited – not that way, which is kind of creepy when you think about it. Wouldn’t a normal guy get a little jazzed? – anyway, it was more like he’d won first prize and it wasn’t me. What did you get?”

  Hope nodded. “Same as you. Mixed. He wants to get rid of what’s his name? Gore? I don’t want to think about how he got that name. He said he wasn’t, but if Gore had brought us up here alone, Smith was going to run.”

  “Maybe he thinks Gore is going to kill him and take the reward for finding you.”

  “Reward?”

  “Guys like Smith don’t work for free, sweetie. There’s got to be something in it for him and I’ll place my bets on cash. But there’s something else going on there.”

  “And it has to do with Damon, who I assume is demon.”

  “Yeah, the smartass. Talk about advertising.” She looked up at Hope. “Do you think Smith knows he’s dealing with demons?”

  “No, I don’t think so. Wouldn’t he be thinking “I need to get away from these demons’? I’d pick that up.”

  “Yeah, that would be a hard thing to keep out of your head.”

  “Maybe it’s greed warring with fear. Maybe one part of him thinks this Damon is going to double cross him, kill him maybe, but the other part wants the money he’s been promised.”

  “And if Damon is a demon, and we can be pretty sure he is, you can bet your
sweet patootie he’ll go for the double cross.”

  “What’s a patootie?”

  “The thing filling out the back of your skirt, Miss Priss.”

  “Oh! That’s a new one. So, what else do we know about Smith?”

  “That’s all I’ve got.”

  “Me too, except…” Hope turned her head to look out the window.

  “Except what? Come on, Hope, maybe it’s important.”

  “He wants my sister.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure,” Hope snapped. Her chin quivered. “Once the demon has me, Smith hopes he’ll give Beauty to him. Beauty has to be Faith. I saw the images.” Her voice caught. “She’s not so beautiful anymore. She looks like she’s dying.”

  “It’s not going to happen, Hope. One way or another we’ll figure this out. Come sunset, they’ll be looking for us and in the meantime, we’ll find a way to make this work. We’re not going home without Faith.”

  *****

  Everyone at the House of Guardians agreed. They needed to be alert and at their best. There was nothing they could do until sunset. They needed to rest, to sleep. No one did.

  Nardo spent time on his computer, verifying what they already knew. The only thing he found of interest was that Bloodsuckers was owned by an investment corporation and he spent hours tracing the various entities involved. Nora seemed to think that Smith was more than a manager, but if he was, he was using a name other than Gary Francis. Nardo thought it more likely that his ‘ownership’ was more like blackmail. It didn’t really matter. It spread no new light on their dilemma and only emphasized Smith’s bad character.

  Broadbent pretended to read his book and smoke his pipe. He never turned the pages and the pipe kept going out for lack of draw. He finally gave up both and sat staring at the blacked out window, willing the sun to set long before its time.