Chapter 23

Suzi pulled into a convenience store, allowing Phin into the cab. Together, they drove to Tom’s sporting goods store—a front for some underground military black ops operation.

“You know the ‘ops’ in ‘Black Ops’ stands for ‘operations?’” Phineas informed Suzi, his voice strained. He was grappling with the bizarre events he’d just witnessed.

“Yeah, I think I knew that,” she replied, her own mind reeling.

“So, when you say Tom’s running a ‘black ops operation,’ it’s like saying ‘ATM Machine.’ The ‘m’ already means ‘machine.’ It’s redundant.”

“Ugh. You sound just like Aiden,” Suzi quipped, mimicking a man’s voice. “‘You can’t say PIN Number.’”

“Heh. Sounds like a smart guy,” Phineas acknowledged.

“Yeah, he is.”

They pulled into Tom’s lot, Suzi following her usual routine—circling around back. Tom met them at the rear door, holding it open.

“You do realize you can use the front door, right?” he asked her.

“Is it open?” Suzi countered.

“Well, no,” Tom admitted, his expression pensive.

Suzi merely smiled.

“Shut up,” Tom grumbled.

Inside, Ygritte greeted her—an exuberant tail wag and a panting tongue.

Suzi bent down, kissing the dog’s head and speaking in a baby voice. “Good girl, little velvet head.”

In the adjacent room, Ricky, Kyle, and Alanna were gathered. The once-sterile space now held tables stacked with papers, folders, and laptops. Military cases, filled with enigmatic electronics, sat in the corner.

“We have a situation, gents,” Phin announced.

“What did you find?” Kyle—the towering, sasquatch-like man—asked, handing Phineas a folder. His forearm bore a tattoo of three 8-bit video game hearts—two filled red, the first a mere outline.

Phin leveled the folder at Suzi. “Little miss here’s been holding out on us. She knows more than she’s let on.”

The room fell silent; all eyes bore into her.

“Suzi?” Ricky blinked, puzzled. He glanced at Phin. “What’re you talking about?”

“He’s right,” Suzi confessed. “But I only found out this morning.”

“Found out what?” Alanna pressed.

“I don’t know how to explain it, and even if I did, I doubt you’d believe me,” Suzi replied.

“I saw it and don’t believe it,” Phineas interjected.

Tom’s dry humor surfaced. “Are you the kingpin of a massive drug-smuggling operation that traffics in small children?” His tone didn’t waver, though Suzi suspected he was joking.

“No, nothing like that,” Suzi began. Her phone interrupted, playing ‘Rio’ by Duran Duran. “Sorry, I have to take this.” She accepted the call. “Hey, baby.”

“Mom, are you coming to the hospital?” Rio’s voice crackled through the phone.

“Yes, I’m on my way. Just had to check on Ygritte,” Suzi half-lied. “Any changes with your dad?”

“Not really. Doctors plan to keep him asleep, watch for infection, and quarantine him for a few weeks. Grandma and Pops might stay another day, then leave this weekend.”

“Okay, hon. I’ll be there soon.”

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“See you when you get here. Love you, Mom.” Rio hung up.

Suzi pocketed her phone, returning to the group’s intense scrutiny. “As I was saying—”

Her phone rang again—Nick calling. She ignored it, knowing he’d text if she didn’t answer.

“—I am part of a war between Angels and Demons.”

Silence settled over the room, thick and unyielding. Suzi wondered if her revelation had momentarily halted reality—frozen time itself—as her audience remained motionless.

Tom furrowed his brow, blinking. “I don’t get it,” he confessed, his confusion palpable.

“Yeah. What’s the punchline?” Kyle chimed in.

“Guys,” the detective interjected, “it’s no joke. She possesses some supernatural powers or some shit. We’re in a mess beyond our comprehension.”

Ricky leaned back in his chair. “Show us something. Do whatever you can do.”

“I haven’t figured out how to control it yet,” Suzi admitted, shrugging.

In an instant, they all returned to their tasks.

“I’d almost prefer the drug smuggling scenario,” Tom quipped dryly.

“Guys—seriously!” Phineas pulled out his phone. “Here are pictures of the items we found being loaded, along with a document in an unfamiliar language.” He passed the phone around.

“Well, if Phin can’t read it, it must be supernatural,” Kyle deadpanned, not missing a beat.

Alanna reached for the phone. “Let me see. I can read a few different languages.”

As she scanned through the images, Ricky, Kyle, and Tom gathered around her.

“They look like props from an episode of ‘Antique Roadshow,’” Tom observed.

“I don’t recognize this writing either,” Alanna said, handing the phone back to Phineas. “It resembles ancient Sanskrit or maybe Aramaic.”

Phineas shifted to the video. “And there’s this recording. The phone was on the ground, so there’s no video, but we have audio.” He played it, and they listened intently.

“Okay, okay. Pause it,” Alanna interrupted after the first demonic utterance. “What did he say? Sounds like gibberish.”

“He knew Phineas was lying,” Suzi offered.

“You understood him?” Alanna raised an eyebrow.

Suzi nodded. Everyone stared at her momentarily, and Alanna motioned for Phineas to continue. He hit play.

“Gnur jaha set fet rayet ir,” echoed Suzi’s voice.

“Pause. Pause. Pause,” Alanna signaled. “Now YOU’re speaking that gibberish? What language is it?”

“Demonic,” Suzi replied flatly. Their stares intensified.

“What was just said?” Alanna pressed.

“He said, ‘Do your worst. Send me back to Hell.’ I sort of demanded his name.”

Alanna nodded, as if grasping the gravity. “Okay.”

The men just stared at her. Alanna looked at Phin and rolled her hand as to continue. He resumed the playback without interruption through the end. Phineas put his phone in his pocket, and they all looked again at Suzi for an explanation.

“He refused to give me his demonic name, so I asked him if he wanted to live or die. He said I would only succeed in killing his host and dared me to do it. I refused.”

“Then she somehow took this dark essence out of him and drew it into herself,” Phineas added.

The men remained silent, their pallor a shade lighter than when this bizarre conversation began.

“Well, fuck.” Tom said. “Now I really do wish you were a drug smuggling kingpin.” He went back to his laptop and resumed whatever he was doing prior.

“Why did you want his demonic name?” Alanna asked Suzi.

“I don’t know. The other part of me was in control—I was merely an onlooker.”

Kyle voiced their collective concern. “So, we’re dealing with innocent people possessed by demons. How do we fight that? How do WE avoid possession?”

“I wish I had answers,” Suzi admitted.

“Can you ask whoever told you about this war?” Ricky inquired.

“I can try. They are an angel, and I called on them once today.”

The room hung heavy with tension, each word echoing like a distant drumbeat. Suzi’s revelation had shattered their mundane reality, leaving them teetering on the precipice of something far greater.

“I found a drug lord in Venezuela. Anyone want to go?” Tom’s pragmatic voice broke the spell.

Kyle and Ricky raised their hands.

Tom pointed his two index fingers at Alanna and Phineas. “Alanna? Poodle? No? We can get a bulk discount.”

Phineas rolled his eyes at his older brother. “I’ve got to get back to the precinct and get with George. Have you guys found anything else?”

“I have found something interesting,” Alanna offered. “Spector LLC, Angel Investments, Energy Diversity Engineering, and Genisis, Inc are all owned by the same company – Jeye International.”

“Genisis, Inc?” Suzi’s voice cracked, her mind racing. “Not Genius, Inc!”

Alanna blinked, confusion etching her features. “What?”

“Adamson’s phone,” Suzi explained, urgency lacing her words. “I answered a call from ‘Genius, Inc,’ or so I thought. But now I realize it was probably Genisis, Inc.”

“Those four companies, along with a few others, are part of the group that trades properties every thirteen years,” Alanna continued. “And they’ve been doing this worldwide for over a century.”

“Three of those four have filed bankruptcy before,” Ricky said. “It may seem legit on paper, but it smells like a massive conspiracy.”

“They’re relocating their stuff from that building on 105th to one in Rosemont,” Kyle added. “Worse yet, cargo trucks are heading from Rosemont to the airport.”

“Shit,” Phineas muttered. “We won’t get a subpoena in time to stop that plane. I’ll send these photos to George and see if we can file an injunction.”

“Anonymous bomb scare?” Kyle suggested.

“No,” Phineas shot it down. “Too common. They’ll ignore it.”

“What about a GPS tracker on one of those crates?” Kyle pressed.

“Doubtful,” Suzi replied. “They’ve likely loaded and moved everything. Plus, they’re on high alert, searching for us.”

Ricky turned to Suzi, desperation in his eyes. “Can your angel friend intervene? This is their war, after all.”

“I can ask,” Suzi said, her resolve firm. “But you don’t have to get involved. It’s dangerous.”

They stared at her like it was too late, but she was unsure if it was the ‘invovled’ or the ‘dangerous’ aspect. Maybe both. Everyone but Tom laughed.

Tom threw up his arms in mock surrender. “I just bought three first-class tickets to Venezuela.”