Faith Defiled (Gray Spear Society Book 14) (25 page)

"They will need guardians, a special group of
legionnaires
, the best available."

"I suppose."

"I'll choose them." Wesley had a fierce expression. "When the aperture is activated, the right people must be present. I'll go to Chinatown, too. Yes, this will work!" He clenched his fist triumphantly.

"Hold on! I thought I was in charge."

Wesley stared at him.

"Fine." Aaron shrugged. "We'll call that Group A. Marina will be the commander, and I'll stay here to run the war. Is that all right with you, dear?" he asked Marina. "Are you willing to go to Chinatown and be responsible for the twins' safety?"

"Sure," she said uncertainly, remembering the toxic waste. "What condition is the building in?"

"It has water, power, and everything else. I'll send Nancy along as your guide. The only major deficiency is a lack of defensive weapons, but that shouldn't matter. The enemy will have their hands full fighting me. They won't even think to look for you. You'll have peace and quiet until the project is done."

"Sounds a little boring. You're going to have all the fun."

"I hope that's the case," he said. "Now I just have to figure out how to move a large quantity of people and equipment from here to Chinatown without the enemy noticing. We'll need trucks and a distraction..."

Marina could tell from his expression that a plan was coming together in his big head. She was eager to hear it. This was why the Lord had chosen him.

"Actually," Aaron said, "we'll need three groups. Group A will be the Chinatown team. That's you, Wesley, the twins, the scientists, and the 'special'
legionnaires
. Basically, anybody we can't afford to lose. Group B will be the Rosemont Tower Hotel defense team which I will command. We will protect this building with every weapon we can muster. Nancy designed this place to hold off an army. We'll see if she did a good job."

"What's the point of that?" Marina said.

"To give the enemy a meaningless objective. The longer I can stretch out the war, the better it is for you. This plan is all about creating confusion and buying time until the aperture is ready. Group C will be the guerilla fighters. They'll go out and harass the enemy with ambushes and sabotage."

"That's the group I want to run. Sounds like fun."

"No." He shook his head. "Group A is a thousand times more important. All our eggs are in that basket. I would really like the Lady of the Society to be in charge."

She pouted. "You're right." She could hardly complain that she was getting an inferior assignment.

He gave her a hug. "But maybe you can have a little fun. We have to ambush a supply convoy tonight. We need more weapons and ammunition. It should be a nice, bloody fight. Do you want to lead that team?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Thanks." He always knew exactly what she needed.

"Anything for my darling bride."

She smiled at him. He kissed her on the lips.

"That leaves the question of who will command group C," Aaron said. "I suppose it should be one of the legates."

"The South American legate," Wesley said. "Leonardo."

Aaron raised his eyebrows. "You're sure?"

The boy nodded. "Yes. It's his destiny. Let's go tell him!" He scampered off.

Aaron, Marina, Charles, and the protection team followed Wesley through the large hotel. They first had to take the secret elevators back to the first floor, and then they had to ride a regular elevator back up.

Marina used the opportunity to call her headquarters in San Francisco. She dialed Min Ho's number.

"Ma'am?" the hacker said. "How are things in Chicago?"

"Very interesting. I'm married to Aaron, and we were both promoted. We're in charge of the entire Society."

"What? I think we have a bad connection."

"You heard me. I'm your boss's boss's boss." She explained in a little more detail.

He paused. "Then who is my boss now?"

"I guess I have to figure that out, but it will wait. The SF
legionnaires
and I will be stuck here for at least a couple of days. In the meantime, I want all the assistants to stay in headquarters full-time. Olivia needs whatever protection you can give her."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Oh," she said. "One other thing. We left our van in front of the executive terminal at the airport. It has a computer in the back. I took it from the enemy after the fight under the Golden Gate Bridge. Get the computer and analyze the data. There might be an important clue."

"Can it wait an hour, ma'am? We're in the middle of dinner."

"Sure. That mission is temporarily on hold anyway. Take your time. Bye."

Marina put away her phone.

Aaron furrowed his brow. "Golden Gate Bridge?"

"It's a huge mess that still needs cleaning up. Coming here wasn't convenient."

"Blame God for the timing. And who is Olivia? I don't remember somebody with that name on your team."

"Wesley's girlfriend." She smirked.

"Huh?" He stared at her.

"That's right," Wesley said in his musical voice. "And she'll be my wife one day."

"You actually met her briefly," Marina said. "She's the little girl I saved from the tsunami. She can perform a kind of mind control."

Aaron shook his head. "I don't have space left in my brain for more surprising twists. Let's focus on the task at hand. Leonardo is the legate of South America, and he has a rather strident personality. His bodyguard is Débora."

Eventually, they reached the room on the twentieth floor where Leonardo was staying. Aaron knocked firmly.

A woman opened the door, and Marina guessed she was Débora. The legate's bodyguard had a gorgeous mane of brown hair which was tightly braided. Her formal gray robes were more stylishly cut than usual. Knives and guns hung from a leather belt around her waist. She had a huge lump in her throat as if she were in the middle of swallowing a rubber ball, but she didn't appear to be in distress.

"Yes?" she whispered.

"We need to see the legate," Aaron said.

"Come in, please."

"Why are you whispering?"

"When I speak normally," she whispered, "ears bleed."

The crowd entered the hotel room. The suite was as large as an apartment with the bed in a separate room. The furniture was upholstered with black and blue striped fabric. Plush, golden carpet covered the floor. Three big-screen televisions were placed around the suite. A heavily tinted window provided a beautiful view to the east of the Cook County Forest Preserve.

Leonardo was watching a soccer match on television. He was a stunningly handsome man with a perfectly trimmed goatee. Long, black hair went past his shoulders. His skin was a golden brown which suggested long days spent under a tropical sun. He was holding a dark brown drink. He wore a yellow silk shirt with a thin, gold chain around his neck. He looked ready to go to a nightclub instead of war. Marina smelled cologne.

She had never met the South American legate before, but she could already tell she didn't care for him.

Leonardo stood up.

Aaron smiled. "We have good news. You're getting an important assignment."

"I am?" Leonardo furrowed his brow. "By whose authority? I give assignments. I don't receive them!"

"Things have changed."

"Bow to the Lord and Lady of the Society," Wesley said. "Show your respect."

Leonardo looked at the boy. "The what?"

"Your new bosses."

"According to who?"

"The Voice of Truth and the Lord Almighty," Wesley said. "Good enough? Ask God. He'll tell you."

Leonardo had a distant expression. After a moment, his brown face lost a shade of color. He knelt on one knee and lowered his head.

"
Mis disculpas, Señor y Señora.
How may I serve you?"

"We need a commander to lead a guerilla force into battle," Aaron said. "Are you our man?"

Leonardo looked up. "I was born with a knife between my teeth."

"That must've annoyed your mother." Aaron smiled. "Your assignment is to cause as much havoc as possible. Make our adversaries chase their own shadows until they drop from exhaustion."

Leonardo nodded. "I won't disappoint you, sir, but we need more weapons."

"They're in short supply. You'll have to scavenge the bodies of those you kill."

"Not a problem."

Aaron patted Leonardo on the shoulder. "We'll assign
legionnaires
to you at the meeting this evening. We'll see you there."

Aaron, Marina, and the rest of their party left the room.

"Can I get something to eat?" Marina said. "I haven't had a bite since breakfast, and it's been a rather busy day."

"Sure," Aaron said. "It will be a great pleasure to feed my new bride, but first, we have to get the ball rolling on the move to Chinatown. We need a lot of big, strong bodies."

She smiled at him.

Chapter Thirteen

Iris's airplane touched down for the second time today. After a seemingly endless flight, she was back in San Francisco.

The airplane taxied over to the executive terminal and parked. She and Laurence walked up to the cockpit.

The pilot turned to her. "Is that all you need, ma'am, or should we fly somewhere else?"

Iris didn't like his tone, but she let it go.

"We're getting off," she said, "but I don't want to leave this jet here. My enemies might notice it. Park it at another airport in the area. I'll call you back when I need a ride."

"Yes, ma'am."

The airport staff placed a staircase against the airplane. Laurence opened the hatch, and he and Iris climbed down to the tarmac.

She led the way to the parking lot on the north side of the terminal. She was looking for a brown van with no windows in the back, and she had a general idea of its location. She had seen the van through the eyes of the woman with red hair, and the memory was still fresh.

The parking lot in front of the executive terminal was very large, so it took some wandering back and forth, but she eventually found the van. She put her face against the window and peeked inside. The interior looked right, and bulletproof windows were additional confirmation.

"This is it," Iris said. "I want our most sophisticated tracking device attached and twenty-four hour surveillance. The enemy could come back at any time."

"Yes, ma'am," Laurence said. "I'll get some of the Warriors over here right away. On that topic, the second team has arrived. Do you want to speak to them in person?"

She pursed her lips. She rarely spoke to her underlings directly, particularly those who might be captured by the enemy. It was safer if they didn't know her face.

"No," she said. "I'll hide and watch as usual. You do the talking."

"I'll make the arrangements." He took out his phone.

* * *

Marina looked at the expensive furnishings in the Italian restaurant on the ground floor of the Rosemont Tower Hotel. Everything was made of brass, dark wood, and black leather. Opera music played softly in the background.
Nice,
she thought. She and Aaron sat at the table nearest the door.

A waitress rushed over and gave them both menus. The young woman kept glancing fearfully at Aaron.

After she left, Marina said, "You still have civilians here?"

"Some of the hotel staff stayed to help out," Aaron said. "Wesley made them assistants in the Society so it would be official."

"He does a lot of that sort of thing."

"Yes. It's irritating. Now that we're Lord and Lady, we can probably tell him to stop."

They quickly made their selections and called the waitress back over. They were in a hurry. Marina ordered Fettucine Alfredo, and Aaron ordered a sausage and pepper dish. The waitress took their order straight to the kitchen.

"I keep hearing about a meeting this evening," Marina said.

Aaron blanched. "Yes. The entire Society is gathering in the main ballroom. I guess I'm supposed to speak to them as their supreme leader."

"You? But you have stage fright."

"Thanks for reminding me."

She reached across the table and held his hand. "You're terrified."

"I think I'm going to throw up, and I haven't even eaten."

"Just relax. You'll survive."

"You haven't met the other legates," he said. "I have."

"They won't kill you. They wouldn't dare."

He didn't look so confident.

She gave him an encouraging smile. "I'll be there. Just look at me if you need a little support."

"OK. Tell me about this mission in San Francisco. I'm curious."

"Some person named the Goddess is creating spectacular illusions of angels. They've been flying over popular tourist spots."

"Why?" He furrowed his brow.

"Unclear, but they told people to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge. It was supposedly a shortcut to Heaven."

"Did people jump?"

"Six hundred and fifty," she said.

He grimaced. "There is no shortage of stupidity. You don't know the underlying motive?"

"Not a clue."

"In a way, it reminds me of the cannibal thing. Mass murder with a secret agenda."

She stared at him. "That's interesting."

They didn't speak any more during the meal. Both of them had a lot to think about, and they knew quiet time was a luxury to be cherished. Just being together was enough.

They were cleaning their plates when Aaron said, "When all this is over, we have to make some decisions. How are we going to run the Society? Will we keep the existing structure or reorganize? Should we stick with small, isolated cells or go for bigger teams?"

"I don't know." Marina raised her eyebrows. "It never occurred to me that we can make those kinds of changes. Maybe we should talk to God about it. We work directly for Him now."

"Later. Let's get through the current set of crises first." He stood up. "Come on. We need to supervise and manage. A lot of stuff has to happen tonight, and we can't afford any delays."

She followed him out of the restaurant.

* * *

Min Ho pointed at a brown van. "There it is."

Jia nodded. "I see it."