It’s still not too late to step back from this. When you realize you’ve gone too far, contact me. I can’t change what’s been done, but if nothing else, I promise I will bring you in alive.

I hit send. I didn’t even know if Tom still used that email address, but at least I knew I had tried. Sighing, I rose and looked at the array of boxes piled on the floor of the small apartment. I located one the seemed to mostly contain kitchen items and bent to pick it up, wincing as I felt my ribs grind under the wrap on my side.

“Put that down!” the sudden voice caused me to drop the box and spin around.

“What, am I just supposed to sit here and watch you guys move all of my stuff?” I asked.

“Yes!” Gail threw up her hands in exasperation. “You have 4 broken ribs and a concussion, among other things, you are not supposed to be bending over or picking things up right now. Doctor’s orders.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. But we probably should have waited to do this until I could help. I hate sitting here, feeling useless. And it isn’t fair for you all to be moving my shit like this.”

“Come on, Ray. You know that this couldn’t have waited until you were healed up. The de facto head of a new terrorist organization knows where you live and has every reason to want you dead. And we know he is certainly willing to try and make it happen. You couldn’t just keep living there like nothing happened,” Gail put the box she was carrying down on the ground and took a seat on the edge of the coffee table.

“What, you mean to say you don’t have Wallace’s people all buttoned up by now?” I smirked, dropping down next to her.

“Yeah, not exactly. I told you that already.”

“You were a bit vague on the details, though.”

“Well, I didn’t want to bother you in the hospital. And things have been… hectic. But since the others have gone to pick up the last of your things, and you clearly can’t be left alone,” she glared at me. “I suppose now is as good a time as any to fill you in a bit more.”

I propped my elbows up on my knees and rested my chin on my hands,

“Well, since I am clearly not allowed to do anything else, I’m happy to listen.”

“Good. Alright, well let’s see, what have I already told you?” Gail gathered her thoughts for a moment. “I told you that Tom managed to avoid us at the arena, right?”

“Obviously,” I gestured around the room to all my worldly possessions in boxes around the room. “But you didn’t explain how. I mean, he must have left the arena at some point. How did no one spot him?”

“Yeah, well, I am not happy about it either,” Gail pinched her nose. “We’ve reviewed the surveillance footage, and I can’t find him anywhere. The best I can figure is he must have played it smart. Grabbed a ball cap, kept it down over his face and blended into the crowd. If he had left early, we probably would have spotted him, so he must have waited until the game was over and joined the mass exodus at the end of the night.”

“Clever.”

“Unfortunately. We have people looking for him, but I suspect he will keep a low profile, for awhile, at least. But he can’t escape us forever.”

“Maybe I should have stayed in my apartment. Lured him out.”

Gail rolled her eyes, and declined to even dignify my suggestion with a response,

“We did round up several of the newer recruits at the arena. So that is positive.”

“What about Reardon, Anderson and Sutherland? Any sign of them?” I removed a lamp from the box at my feet and began unwrapping the cord as we spoke.

Gail shook her head,

“No. Unfortunately, they all went to ground before we could pen them in. Makes sense that they would be a bit more prepared than the new kids.”

“Yeah. Still don’t like it, though.”

“Me neither. We’ll keep looking.”

“And the facility? How did that go?” I placed the lamp on the side table and began rummaging through the box looking for the bulb.

“Well,” Gail rubbed the back of her neck. “There were a decent number of recruits that surrendered willingly. I assume that you had something to do with that?”

“I might have played a small part. You should really be thanking Luke. I understand that he had been persuading his friends and colleagues to… rethink some things.”

“I’ll have to talk to him about that then, the next time we speak.”

“He’s still in custody, then?” I asked.

“Absolutely. I know you’ve vouched for him, Ray, but we need to make sure where his loyalties lie, before he can be released. Surely you understand why we can’t blindly trust just anyone who seems to be on our side,” she raised a meaningful eyebrow at me.

I chuckled,

“Fair. Just, be gentle with the kid, huh? He’s been through a lot.”

“We are making sure he is well taken care of, Ray. Same as the others who surrendered voluntarily. I hope we can even convince some of them to join our ranks.”

“Good.”

“However, that is all the good news. Otherwise the raid on Wallace’s facility didn’t exactly go to plan. Perhaps I should have gone there myself, but the situation at the arena seemed more critical,” Gail shook her head.

“What happened?”

“Well, the police made up the bulk of the force that surrounded the building. There were only a few of our people present. The staff inside must have known that they were trapped, though, because only desperation explains what they did.”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“Spit it out, Gail,” I gestured for her to continue, then returned to screwing in the lightbulb.

“They released all the prisoners.”

I stopped, hand frozen on the bulb,

“All of them?”

“Yup.”

“They were containing some extremely dangerous ubarae there,” I chewed my lip, thinking of Vicki and Cramer, especially.

“I know. And the people in the raid party now know, too. I’ll spare you the gory details but suffice it to say it was chaos. A few prisoners were recaptured by our people, but the rest escaped. Including the ones you are surely thinking of. And many of the staff in the building used the upheaval as a cover to escape as well. At least those that weren’t killed or taken by the ubarae they freed, of course. Frankly, the whole thing was a shit-show. There were… casualties. I thought the cops could handle it there and clearly, I was mistaken.”

“Well, you couldn’t have known that they would be crazy enough to free the prisoners.”

“Perhaps not, but I probably should have at least considered it. Maybe I should have had them weld the doors shut and just wait for us to handle it,” she sighed. “But either way, what’s done is done. I have people out there searching for the fugitives now. Hopefully we will get them before they cause any real trouble. And at least the movement Wallace started has been severely disrupted, if not dismantled entirely. It will be a long time before they are able to mount another attack. That will have to be enough, for now.”

I nodded, placing the lamp down on the side table and switching it on.

“Well, it sounds like you have a lot of cleaning up ahead of you. Even more than me,” I glanced ruefully at the stacks of boxes.

“That’s an understatement. But it could have been a lot worse, Ray. Even if I don’t exactly agree with how you went about it, fact is you are the one that dragged this out into the light. At great personal risk. Thank you.”

I shrugged,

“Well, it’s not like I could just sit by and do nothing.”

“No, see, you could have. But you didn’t. That means something. I owe you one.”

“Well, you are letting me stay in this safe house until I can find a new place. We can call it even.”

Gail scoffed,

“This would hardly even be a start.”

“It is a shame though,” I sighed, ignoring her remark. “I liked my old place. Thick walls, disinterested neighbors… it was perfect. And looking for a new place after this is going to suck.”

“You can stay here as long as you need, so don’t worry about that right now.”

“Thank you. I might need a bit of time, since I am going to have to find a job, now, on top of everything.”

“A job?” Gail raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I am going to have a hard time qualifying for a new place with no income,” I shook my head.

“Seriously?” Gail broke in.

“Well, yeah, it’s a tough rental market and…”

“That’s not what I meant. Have you not checked your bank account in like a year?”

“No,” I furrowed my brow, confused by this line of questioning. “Why would I? I figure they’ll let me know when I run out of money.”

“For fuck’s sake, Ray. All this time I just thought you were messing with me,” Gail dropped her face into her hands.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Clearly. Well, allow me to explain, then. You have a job. You’ve had one this whole time. Pay might be a bit lower than usual, but it should still be going into your account regularly.”

“What?”

“You didn’t think the Organization would fire you, did you? After everything?”

“Well, no, but the Organization doesn’t exist anymore.”

“No, not technically, but everyone employed there, who was still alive, was simply transferred to my purview in the new agency. No one was let go.”

“Ok… even if that is true, I haven’t showed up in months.”

“Well, that’s to be expected, you’ve been on mental health leave. No one disputed that you needed it.”

“I don’t remember signing any paperwork for that,” I mused.

“If anyone official asks, maybe don’t mention that part. I could probably get in some trouble for signing your name,” Gail shrugged.

I chuckled,

“So, I’ve worked for you this whole time?”

“Pretty much.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I thought you knew, honestly. I mean, how could you not notice that you were still drawing a paycheck? I didn’t want to pressure you into coming back, so I just didn’t bring it up.”

“Huh,” I pondered that revelation for a moment. “I guess that greatly simplifies my job search, then. When do you want me back?”

“I’d say take all the time you need, but frankly I am not sure having this much time on your hands is good for you. So, let’s say once you are medically cleared? And I am also referring to psychological clearance, by the way.”

“Yeah, yeah. Fine. Just tell me who to see.”

“We can take care of the details later. You do want to come back, though? You think you are ready?”

“Yeah, I think so. You’re right, being at loose ends isn’t good for me. And why lie about it? I apparently live for this shit. Can’t even stop when I want to.”

“Well then, it’s good to have you back, Ray,” Gail smiled.

“Good to be back, Boss,” I smirked.

Gail hesitated for an instant,

“Is that going to be a problem?”

“What? No, of course not. I was just kidding around. Why would it be?”

“Well, I know that James spoke to you about taking his job someday. I don’t want there to be any tension…”

“Gail,” I raised a hand to stop her. “Relax. We do not have a problem, here. James was… an excellent leader and a good man. I respected his judgement more than anyone I know, but he was wrong about that one. I would never have been good your job, and I think he knew it, too. He just figured I would never quit and wanted to arrange something… safer for me to transition into, eventually. But that isn’t what I am good at. I am not a bureaucrat; I am a field agent. And I probably will be until it kills me. I am ok with that, honestly. If things had turned out differently, I would have had to refuse his offer, gently of course.”

Gail breathed a sigh of relief,

“That’s a load off my mind. I was a bit concerned that you would be… uncomfortable with me being in charge.”

“Not at all. In fact, you seem to be very good at this. I am looking forward to working with you.”

“Thank you, Ray. And there is plenty of work to do.”

“I have been getting that impression,” I laughed.

“But let’s try to avoid that whole ‘until it kills me’ part, huh?”

“I’ll do what I can, boss. And now that we are officially working together, I do have an idea for dealing with our various problems. Sort of a, two birds with one stone kind of thing. There is some risk involved, of course, but…”

“Why am I already starting to have second thoughts about this?” Gail groaned.

“Because you are good at your job,” I laughed and clapped her on the shoulder. “Now, I have been thinking that in some ways, recent events are a golden opportunity. What we can do is…”

I was interrupted by the front door opening. I turned to see Mark entering, carrying an armful of boxes. Behind him followed Simon and Liz.

“This is the last of it,” Mark announced, finding an empty space on the floor for his stack. “It’s lucky you don’t own that much stuff.”

“That’s me, a minimalist,” I laughed, rising to take the top box from Simon’s stack and place it on the table. “Just drop it anywhere, I am not going to bother organizing this tonight. In fact, now that we are done here, I think I am going to go get a drink. You are all welcome to join me. My treat, as a thank you for helping me move on… short notice.”

“Your treat, huh?” Mark grinned. “Well then, how could I refuse? Count me in.”

“I am definitely coming,” Simon nodded. “After all, I still have a lot that I haven’t had a chance to say to you, yet. Like how stupid and reckless all of this was, and how…”

“I know, I know,” I interrupted. “Save it for when I’ve had a few, huh? How about you, Liz?”

“I don’t know, Ray, I’m not sure drinking with you is quite my speed,” the succubus raised an eyebrow.

“Relax, I am not planning on going too overboard. Besides, I know a place where they’ll water down the drinks, just for you. And I’ve been meaning to check in on Jackson, anyway.”

It took Liz just an instant to make the connection, then she laughed,

“Oh, you want to go there, huh? Well, alright I suppose I can join for a bit. Just to see how things are going.”

“Fantastic,” I smiled. “How about you, boss? Coming?”

Gail chuckled, ruefully,

“Well, I suppose I’d better. After all, someone has to keep the rest of you out of trouble.”

I put a hand on her shoulder as the five of us headed out the door.

“That’s an ambitious goal, Gail. But hey, you know what they say,” my grin widened, “there’s a first time for everything.”

End Part 2