Authors: Elizabeth Lapthorne
Blade’s keen mind noticed
that these strictures technically didn’t cover him or Flame. As Enforcers, the
commissioner didn’t really have any say over them or their actions. They had
all been cautioned when the team merged that while in the human world they were
bound by human laws and had to follow human authority—it had been one of the
main reasons Captain Will and not an Enforcer had been designated their team
leader. But any fallout that the commissioner could think of or attempt to
instigate would have minimal impact on Matthias, Sage, Blade and Flame,
assuming he could touch them at all.
Will’s piercing blue eyes
met Flame’s and Blade’s for a moment, resting on them as he seemed to will them
to read his mind and understand where he was headed with this.
“Sadly, political
bullshit appears to be stalling our case. We might all know that we have more
than enough evidence and work to be going along with, but that’s how political
fallout usually occurs. There are more than enough unanswered questions about
this drug and conspiracy—we have plenty of avenues to run down still,” he
stressed firmly. “Who was
Sarke
working with? Where
has he gone to hide? Who is bankrolling this endeavor and where will they be
springing up next? We might have had a success with that lab blowing up, but
the main culprits have escaped and will simply set up shop elsewhere now.”
“If the names of the
co-conspirators were to fall into the laps of the police and Enforcers,” Flame
continued, “then new, separate cases could be opened.”
“Why, yes.” Will nodded
thoughtfully, pretending the thought had never crossed his mind. “Yes, that is
certainly true. Should fresh, separate information come to light, new cases and
charges would indeed be looked into. But the police commissioner has insisted
that this case be wrapped up.”
A few mumbles and growls
of complaint followed, but Will continued as if he couldn’t hear them.
“Julian, Matthias—you’re
to start your report and back up all the data you’ve gathered. Sage, Chase—you
two have debriefs to write up and more than a few reports to make.”
Blade smirked as
Will
turned to him and Flame.
“You know what’s
interesting?” Will asked
,
as if rhetorically. “I used
to work within a now-defunct black ops division. It’s one of the reasons why my
file has gotten so thick with ‘does not follow orders and authority well’-type
memos since I came over here to the more vanilla side of the organization.
There was this awesome team leader I used to work with, Jarred.
Excellent guy.
Happy to skate the rules when a situation
called for it and managerial bullshit got in the way of real work.”
Blade struggled not to
laugh at the obviousness of Will’s suggestion-that-wasn’t-a-suggestion. The
dark-skinned wizard nodded silently, showing Will he understood the “hint”.
“I haven’t had much
contact with Jarred lately, though, which is a pity. Maybe you could look him
up for me? Pass along my best wishes?” Will
cocked
an
eyebrow inquisitively.
“He sounds like a decent
guy,” Flame replied, amused. “Blade and I might have to take some time out of
our report writing and paperwork catch-up to see him.”
Satisfied, Will nodded
and looked around the group again.
“Seriously, guys,” he
said, “
you’re
an awesome team. Regardless of the
managerial bullshit that appears to have been pulled on us you should all be
proud of yourselves. Not only because of the work you’ve done but also because
of how you’ve proven that the two worlds, while different, can manage to work
together in harmony.”
Will looked them clearly
in the eye, each in turn, and the crew remained respectfully silent while he
did so. Blade felt
a warmth
in his chest, part
admiration and part awe at how this human captain carried himself and led. It
was nothing to take for granted. Good leaders were few and far between. Blade
had served under far more idiots, pompous fools and egotistical bastards than
he had solid leaders who were worthy of his respect.
He knew without a doubt
that he would follow Will’s command of his own volition at any time it might be
required in the future. Flame had privately expressed a similar sentiment to
Blade after the annex had exploded. Will continued before any of the crew could
muster up a clear word to speak.
“No matter where you go
or what work you do, there will always be assholes with their own agenda and
more ego than common sense,” Will said with dry humor. “You’re a fucking
awesome crew and it’s been an honor and a privilege to work as your team
captain. Not that we’re dead in the water just yet, but I wanted you to all
know that directly and personally from me just in case the commissioner clips
my wings with more severity than I am expecting just now.”
Julian sniffed and wiped
away a fake tear. “
Awww
, Captain, you’re
gonna
make me blush.”
“Yeah, you sure make it
sound like this is the end,” Matthias added with a bemused shake of his head.
“This is a temporary aberration, I’m sure of it. Trust us,
Captain,
this isn’t close to a block in the road for us.”
Will met each of their
gazes in turn. Blade thought Will paused a little longer this time to show how
serious he was. Blade could clearly read the determination and sheer
stubborn-mindedness in the Captain’s look—one that was reflected by the team as
a whole.
Blade felt fierce pride
for their crew well up inside him. They might have simply been thrown together
and told to sink or swim, but now unbreakable bonds of friendship, trust and
respect held them more tightly together than any paper-pushing, tight-assed
manager could ever have foreseen, especially after such a relatively short
period of time.
Blade would without
question trust any of the gathered people to watch his back or offer a newly
created plan off the cuff and on the spur of the moment with only an instant’s
brainstorming. He would not only follow and trust them fully, but Blade knew he
would not waste a moment’s thought on it.
“Ladies, gentlemen—you’re
the best,” Will said firmly, standing up. One by one they pushed back their
chairs as Will came around to shake their hands. Blade was second to last and
as Will’s warm, pale hand clasped his he felt the slight crinkle of a slip of
paper being palmed to him. He made sure his face betrayed nothing, his gaze
steady on his leader’s pale-blue eyes.
“There are much bigger,
better things for you out there, man,” Will said with a heavy inflection in his
tone, stressing each word as if it were of vital importance. Blade nodded and
quickly palmed the paper as Will removed his hand.
Lastly, Will moved to
Flame and similarly shook her hand. Blade noticed no piece of paper exchanged
between them.
“You watch her back,”
Will warned Blade with a slight nod to indicate he was speaking about Flame. “No
knowing what kind of mischief she might be up to. I buddied you two up
together, Flame, because you’re similar but also because you complement each
other so well. Where you sometimes rush right in without checking your safety
line, Blade here thinks and ponders more. Then again, where he might not trust
his instincts or take a leap of faith, you can go and nudge him to follow on
gut hunch. You’re a good pairing—a most excellent partnership. Make use of it.”
“Will do, Captain,” she
replied solemnly. With a slight sense of shock the team watched as Will left
the room, leaving the door partially open to indicate they shouldn’t linger too
long.
“What a total load of
shit,” Chase exploded instantly. “Blade, seriously, anything you need, man,
Sage and I
are
in. Management
be
damned—those assholes can just burn in hell.”
“Absolutely,” Sage agreed
readily. “Blade, maybe we should—”
“No,
Sage,” he replied firmly, not ashamed for a second to cut her off.
“If Flame and I need any of you to
help in an underhand manner, we’ll let you know. I swear. But let’s try to not
set a fire underneath the powers that be just yet, yeah? They can’t really
touch us Enforcers, but they can make life pretty damn miserable for Will,
Julian and Chase. I think we should trust Will, here, and let’s try to be
subtle to start with.”
“Subtlety has never been
my strong suit,” Sage mumbled, but she tilted her head to the side in silent
agreement.
Julian held out his hand
to shake and Blade readily complied. “Anything I can do, man.”
“We make a good crew,”
Blade insisted. “If it weren’t your asses on the line I’d love to work further
with you. Like Will said, we all complement each other well, not just our buddy
pairings, but the group of us. We’re onto something good here and I’m not keen to
get my ass whooped because I’m trying to play hero.”
Flame
huffed
a silent laugh.
“We’d better get moving,”
she added quietly, with the slightest nod out the window to where a few night
shift officers periodically looked at them. Blade presumed they were curious
because Will had left and they lingered behind talking. Chase and Matt in
particular had barely contained fury in their body language. Blade wasn’t
surprised a bunch of police officers could pick up on it and were subtly keeping
an eye on them.
“I loathe paperwork,”
Matthias grumbled as they collected their stuff.
“All those
fucking forms.
Empty tick boxes, checking and rechecking—it’s all
bullshit, man. Point out an essence for me to track, have me watch people’s
asses—hell, even let Flame explode or burn a damn building down around my ears.
Just for fuck’s sake don’t ask me to fill out a form and write a damn report
about it afterward.”
The others laughed softly
and made a few ribald comments colorfully expressing similar sentiments. When a
couple of officers outside shot increasingly worried glances their way, the
crew began to scrape their chairs into place and slowly start the process of
leaving the meeting room.
Blade and Flame hung back
as the others moved on, talking loudly enough to give them a semblance of
cover. Dipping into the pocket of his camouflage pants, he pulled out the scrap
of paper, the single word “Jarred” written in neat block letters and a phone
number beneath.
Blade headed toward the
nearest desk and was reaching for the phone when Flame placed a restraining
hand on his arm.
“Later,” she intoned
firmly. Blade paused, blinked and thought for a moment. While he highly doubted
the phones in the police station were bugged, a solid, undeniable paper trail
linking the office with Jarred also might not be the smartest idea.
“Damn,” he sighed. Times
like this were rare, but for once he wished he owned a cell phone. Tempted to
pickpocket one on the way out, Blade toyed with the idea but didn’t take it too
seriously.
The skeletal night shift
staff was scattered. It wouldn’t take long for them to realize a cell phone was
missing, and there would be hell to pay if any of Will’s team abused their
fellow coworkers again. Already in the past the Enforcer-police crew had
“commandeered” a cell or two. Their colleagues had not been amused then, and
would be less so now the rumor of their disbanding was no doubt circulating
with lightning speed.
“It’s a pain in the ass,”
she agreed obliquely, “but neither of us signed up for easy, simple and
monotonous, did we?”
Blade sighed again and
let his hand fall away from the receiver.
Without further
discussion they headed toward the door.
“I can’t imagine the
internal police lines are monitored,” Blade said as they left the station
house.
Ange
nodded and looked up and down the street,
her eyes unreadable behind her sunglasses.
“Probably not,” she
agreed. “But if Will was being circumspect enough to palm that paper to you and
keep
it quiet, then calling this Jarred guy on the
phone in full view of the communal office area probably isn’t the smartest move
to make.”
Blade chuckled, caught
somewhere between feeling embarrassed and amused by
Ange’s
scolding tone.
“You take such good care
of me,” he teased her, not in the least surprised when she thumped her fist
against his chest in retaliation.
“Shove it, Bradley,” she
ground out. Despite her angry words and use of his Christian name, the faintest
hint of a smile tilted her lush lips and showed she wasn’t truly upset. “What
do you make of the shut down by management?”
“I think we can safely
assume that at least one of the drug ringleaders is either human or has close
and powerful connections with the human world,” Blade replied.
“That person has proven
powerful enough and savvy enough to know which strings to pull to get the mayor
and commissioner to shut our crew down,” he continued thoughtfully. “Who knows?
Maybe this Jarred guy can actually be of real assistance. Since we’re pretty
much restricted right now to just you and me, it would be good to have someone
else on board who’s connected.
Will wouldn’t
have sent
us
Jarred’s
way if he couldn’t be helpful, and he
might have a good understanding of what we need and prove to be the perfect
ally.”