Chapter Thirteen

Anubis stalked to the waiting vehicle parked next to the ambulance on the ramp of the flight line.

"Where to?" Asp's question pulled his attention away from the aircraft that was powering up.

"Nowhere until that plane takes off." Anubis kept his eyes on the plane as it powered up and then exited the parking apron where it had stopped. The two men sat in silence until the rev of the engines at the end of the flight line rattled the windows in the vehicle. The bird screamed down the runway and took off in a high arc. Anubis felt his heart leave his body and go with his women, and the physical separation felt as if it snapped his humanity from his body. He turned to Asp and an evil sneer threaded its way across his face. "It's time I go after this son of a bitch."

"Awesome. Where are we going?" Asp started the Air Force vehicle and drove off the parking ramp through one of the side gates that meandered through the various maintenance areas by the flight line.

"We?" Anubis shook his head. "You're still on the sideline."

"That's bullshit, and you know it. Besides, you could be walking into your death. This guy is hunting you. He made a mistake going after your woman with three men. I'd bet my off-shore account that he sends a fucking army after you next time."

Or an assassin or two. "Not taking that bet. Head back to my DV quarters. They have a secure landline in the office. I need to contact Bengal and find out what he knows about Faas."

"Didn't you get that information when you went against his uncle?" Asp signaled his left-hand turn and waited for a push-back tug to pass in front of them.

"I got enough to know Haghen had been coded and that he was the scum of the earth. Beyond that, I don't give a shit." Anubis stared out the window watching the trees and buildings pass.

"Huh."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Anubis knew he was wound tight and tried to rein in his attitude, but he wasn't sure he managed it.

"In order for me to do an assignment, I demand the entire brief. I want to know the exact type of scum I'm working against, down to the body count and where he buried them."

"Why the fuck do you need to know that?" Honestly, Anubis was surprised Asp would be given the information.

"I used to work for another agency. I completed a mission where my handler told me the man was a traitor and that he was selling national secrets to the enemy. I found out six months later he was innocent. He'd been a pawn in the handler's political climb up the agency's ladder. That's when I punched my exit ticket."

Anubis snapped his head toward Asp. "Holy fuck." He had complete and total faith in his handlers at Guardian. He knew when they handed him an assignment the targeted individual was guilty and evil. He couldn't imagine being placed in the same position as Asp. "How did you end up with Guardian?" Anubis tossed the question out as they pulled up in front of the DV quarters he'd been assigned.

"Long story."

Obviously, Asp was done sharing for the day. Anubis closed the conversation, "Roger that."

They made their way to the small apartment, and Anubis headed for the office. Asp stopped in the kitchen. "I'm going to eat. You want your food?" Asp asked with his head buried in the refrigerator.

"No." He'd eaten before he'd met up with Sky at the hospital. Moriah was watching his family, so he was able to come back to the apartment, shower and eat. He dialed Bengal's number and put the phone on speaker.

"Reynolds."

"Still not used to that name, man." To Anubis, he would always be Bengal.

"Takes a hot minute, that's for sure." Bengal's voice sounded distracted. "Give me a minute to secure the connection and get Alpha on the line."

"Roger that." Anubis put the phone on mute. He could hear cutlery rattling in the kitchen and the refrigerator opening and closing. Asp strode into the office with five inches of meat and cheese stacked between two half inch slices of bread.

"How the fuck are you going to eat that?"

"One bite at a time, my man. One bite at a time." Asp put the plate on his lap, hunched over, and smashed the sandwich between his fingers before his mouth took massive chunks out of the whole. Anubis chuckled to himself at the sight. The man was the exact opposite of what Anubis thought of when he thought of an assassin. He stuck out in a crowd, like a flashing neon night light in a pitch-black cave.

"Alright, Alpha's on the call, and I've pulled up the files on Haghen and Faas."

Anubis unmuted the speaker. "Affirmative. I have another with me."

"Six-six-eight." Asp managed to confirm his identity around the pile of food in his mouth.

"Six-four-nine, I pass you, Cobalt." Alpha's voice rang out in the room.

"Azure, sir."

"Six-Six-eight, I pass you, tackle."

Asp moved the food in his mouth to the side and barely managed. "Bait, sir."

"What the fuck are you eating this time?" Alpha laughed the question out.

"A sandwich the size of my head," Anubis answered for Asp because he'd just taken another massive bite.

"Figures. Alright, let's run this down. CCS, the floor is yours."

"Haghen's nephew Faas has flown under the radar because his transgressions haven't affected us or our allies. It seems Faas has a penchant for killing his compatriots and raining terror down on the good citizens of Suriname, but he's very careful to only target those who can't fight back. Until he went after you and your family."

The information about Faas was superfluous to Anubis's objective. He really didn't give a flying fuck what Faas had done in the past. "Where is he now?"

"San Francisco. At the Apogee, he's-"

"And there is where we have the problem." Alpha's voice interrupted Bengal. "He's in the United States. As of this time, he is not coded. The evidence we have tying him to this situation is circumstantial. We have no live witnesses, and for obvious reasons, six-four-nine will not be making any witness statements." Yeah, there was no way an assassin would make a good witness. Alpha continued, "Faas is a bastard of the highest order, but as of this time, Guardian is not authorizing you to go after him."

Asp looked up from his sandwich, his questioning gaze met Anubis's stare. Anubis lowered his eyes and waited. He had infinite patience and right now he needed to amass as much information about Faas as possible. "I copy."

"I understand your family is enroute to the complex. Perhaps you should take some time to tie up some loose ends and figure out what your future looks like. When you're ready to talk, I have an option I'd like you to consider. Until then, check in with CCS as required. I'll deactivate you until you've finished what you need to do. Take all the time you need, six-four-nine."

Anubis read between the lines. His automatic "Yes, sir" acknowledged the non-command. Alpha couldn't authorize the hit, but he was giving Anubis the time to take the matter into his own hands.

"CCS, make sure six-four-nine gets the documentation he needs to complete his leave of absence. We want to make sure the HR people don't have a cow."

Anubis shot his eyes to Asp who wore stupid ass grin. As far as humanity knew, the Shadows didn't exist so HR was a smokescreen. Alpha was instructing CCS to give Anubis the information he needed to take care of Faas.

"Roger that, sir. I've already dropped it." Bengal confirmed the order.

"How did I guess that? Alpha out."

They waited for Bengal to confirm Alpha was off the line. "Take note of those HR forms I sent you. That department is in a state of flux right now. There is a telephone number you'll need to call if you have any issues while you're on vacation.

"Got it." Anubis lifted the receiver and set it back down. He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers together staring out the window at the few cars driving down the boulevard.

"They didn't sanction the hit, and the man is in the US." Asp leaned back after putting his empty plate on the desk.

"Correct." Anubis continued to stare out the window. The Apogee, if he recalled correctly, was a grand old hotel in the heart of San Francisco. He needed a blueprint of the facility. Hopefully, Bengal had included one in the documentation he dropped into Anubis's Shadow World email account. If not, well, he'd had missions where he'd flown by the seat of his pants. He could do it again.

"What are you going to do?" "Nothing." Anubis turned his head toward his friend. He wasn't sanctioned on this operation. His company wouldn't extend themselves further, he knew they couldn't without crossing lines they would never cross. The Shadows were different. They operated in a transient state, not quite of the world, and yet in the world and answerable to the rules and regulations Guardian put in place to police their profession. If they went rogue, they would be no better than the people they put down. The cold, calculating way he was plotting the death of a man who had paid to have Sky killed and planned on using his daughter to lure him to his death proved he was already rogue on this case. If anything went wrong… Anubis shook his head. If his actions brought any inquiry into the death of Faas, if he missed a camera and his picture revealed his past identity, if his method of assassination led the international community to Guardian's door, he'd be cut off from the tether of sanity that was Guardian.

"Bullshit. I can read your intent from here." Asp dropped his head back onto the high backed chair and raised his eyebrow. The expression mocked his statement as much as his words.

"No. I'm going to do exactly what Alpha said. If I want my family to be safe, I need to decide a few things. I can't remain a Shadow, but I don't know how to walk in the light anymore. I'm fucked up and I'm the worst of all possible situations for them. I need to figure out a way forward."

"Right, and the yellow brick road is actually made of twenty-four carat gold, and it starts right outside this door. I heard the same thing you did. Don't lie to me." Asp kept his gaze locked on Anubis.

"Then stop asking me stupid questions." Anubis pulled the secure phone Guardian had sent him out of his pocket and hit up the email account where Bengal had dropped the information he needed. He stood and looked at Asp. "I'm doing this one alone, brother. I can't ask you to step into my destiny."

"I don't recall you asking." Asp stood and looked at Anubis.

"You're right. I'm telling. I'm not letting you, or anyone else, buy into this hand. The cards that have been dealt are mine to play." Anubis held out his hand.

Asp stared at his hand and then, slowly, reached out to grasp it. "I'll lay it on the line for you, brother… I'd have a problem being involved anyway, but… you need to take a breath and think about what you're going to lose if you take action." Asp swallowed hard and continued, "You take care of you. I'm a phone call away when this becomes a sanctioned dossier."

"I know it, and I appreciate it." Anubis shook the big man's hand and released it. After what Asp had confided not thirty minutes ago, he understood how an off the books operation would be damn near impossible for him to support. That the man was still willing to be called in for backup spoke volumes. He watched as Asp spun on his heel and left the apartment without another word. Anubis glanced down at his phone and hit the draft folder where the documentation was waiting. He had one evil mother to put down. He needed facts, and he needed them now.