The Wrath of the Daemon Ch. 02

"About time you finally decided to make room in your busy schedule for me," the voice was condescending, full of unwarranted anger, and entitlement. For the first time, she was beginning to see this man in his true light, like a spoiled child with a grand sense of self-importance.

"What do you want?"

"Just what exactly were you doing following me around?"

"I was not," she replied, "I was there on an assignment," she continued, "that had absolutely nothing to do with you. But I am glad for it, it showed me who you really are when you are away from me. Now, if there is nothing else, I have work to get back to."

"Do you think that you can dismiss me so easily?" His voice had changed, there was some dignity perfumed with an air of aristocracy with each word. "I will be there to see you in two days, I expect a warm reception." He disconnected before she could reply, however his smug attitude solidified her intent; she had been willing to simply let it go. Now, she would demand vengeance.

The two days passed almost uneventfully quick, had the anticipation not kept her aware of the date she easily could have forgotten all about it. But this was the day; the smile on her face was a quiet threat to those around her. There was nothing deprived or obscene about her plan; all she wanted was to deliver the same brutal pain that he had delivered. She wanted him to feel the same level of disrespect that he had shown her. The knock on her door allowed her fantasy to begin, she moved quietly and graciously through the already tattered remains that he had foolishly left behind. People never plan out their betrayals, she told herself.

"About time," he said as the door opened, "I was beggi...." His eyes locked into the steel barrel of a pistol aimed directly at him. The coldness of the reality froze him in place; his feet were stuck to the ground as if suddenly filled with cement and iron. His knees, however, shook like leaves caught in an updraft.

"Enter," the single worded command ripped the cement from his feet, the small movement of the pistol confirmed this was not a request. He had been inside this room many times before, but this was the first time that it looked in such a state, as he tried to figure out his next move did he realize what was littering the floor.

"You fucking, psychotic bitch!" The heaviness of the pistol dropped him to the ground; he was spitting blood and tears with equal fervor. He looked at the woman and the mask of complete emptiness that greeted him as she looked down to him, he was truly terrified.

"You have said enough," her normally warm voice had turned into stone, "more than enough. Now, it is time to listen." She motioned for him to stand up, and then guided him to the main bedroom where they had spent many an evening together. "You will listen well; the rest of your life depends on it."

"Are you going to do something with that?" His bravado was slowly returning, that defiance that he hoped would subjugate this woman was spilling out of him. It was clear that her hand had not wavered for a second as she held the pistol steady, always pointed directly at him. He saw the natural way she carried it, he knew that this was not the first time that she had pointed such an instrument at another person. "Or are you just..." the butt of the pistol silenced him.

"If you are talking," she began, her voice unmoved, "you aren't listening. I am going to tell you a story now, it is not necessary but it will help you understand your predicament. If you won't shut up long enough to hear it, I will be forced to gag you. Trust me, darling, you don't want me to do that." She moved like a predator, her prey more than secure. As he took the seat she had prepared for him, she continued, "the plastic in the floor should be more than a hint as to what will happen if you don't play along, so now that you know what the end game can be, its time for you to understand how we are going to be getting there."

"You don't have it in you," he replied, the desperation was seeping out of his vocal chords, "and even if you could, you wouldn't get away with it, you psychotic fucking bitch."

"I told you that I had been in your hometown on business," she said ignoring his comment, "but you weren't smart enough to ask me what type of business. In fact, never once had you asked me what I did for a living, you just came in and out of my life. For a while there, I thought that you could see it, that some part of you was at least suspicious of what I did and chose to ignore it for the sake of us. Now I realize how wrong I was, you are just so self-absorbed and selfish that I doubt you could see anything beyond your own self-fulfilling needs. But trust me, you should have paid attention.

"If you had, then you would have understood how little tolerance I have for disloyalty, how little tolerance I have for lies and deceit. I would've told you the reason, well there is three main reasons for that intolerance, the first one is named Angel. You see, when I was much younger, I had fallen for this man because he saved me from a terrible childhood. He took my innocence after I willingly gave it to him, and he brought me into a world that I have been navigating ever since. That world is the second reason: my Family. They protect me and I crawl the shadows for them, doing unholy and terrible things for the greater good of the Family. Do you know what a Sweeper is?"

She looked as he shook his head, confusion was painted on his face, "don't worry, I just needed to know what level of explanation you needed. A Sweeper is a person that takes care of the garbage by getting rid of it, when Angel gives me garbage I take it out. I have done countless of assignments for my Family, and each time it has been a success because of my third reason: Daemon." She saw him cringe at the name, "I see you have heard of him," she laughed in amusement, "D took special interest in me during my training. He showed me all I know, not just on how to take a life but how to live after."

"You are a psycho bitch," he whispered, all bravado was now gone. "You are a fucking criminal. What are you going to do now? Kill me?"

She held the weapon steady, aimed directly at his face, "when I first invited you to share my bed, I had spoken to Angel about you, you see D has left the Family and his brother Angel had taken the seat at the head of the Family. No, my love, I am not going to kill you," she saw the smile cross his face, "he is." She saw his expression turn just as the flash at the end of the barrel went off like a camera taking an intimate picture. His lifeless body collapsed off the side of the chair and onto the floor, she drew a cigarette out from the pack that was resting on the table before she pressed a single button on her cellphone. "Cleanup crew, please."

...

"Where is Agent Presley?" Carter asked one of the girls in the headquarters, if anyone would know his whereabouts it would be one of them. At the very least he would have to report his location.

"He went off grid about an hour ago," one of them responded, "his last communication said that he would return in approximately three hours."

"What the fuck is he doing?" Carter asked, more to himself than to any of them, he was not disappointed when he did not receive a response. He drew his cellphone and tried to dial his number, it immediately went to voicemail. His next call was going to be directed at his boss, but before pressing the send button to make the phone call he thought better. "I need the recordings from Agent Presley's wire, send them to my terminal. Hold all calls until I tell you otherwise." He again did not wait for a response, he simply moved to his makeshift office.

...

Elvis was making his way to a small village away from the influence of D's Family. He was closely following Angel's instructions, he had sent him to find a man in this faraway land, a man who's name meant very little to Elvis but who's title was supremely important. If he was right, this man was directly responsible for the attack on D's Family and Angel's incarceration, but the well had been muddied by that single shot. Elvis did not think this man was capable of such foolishness, he tried to make a giant move for such a little man and he bet on the wrong horse. While he had been responsible for putting these events into motion, he had placed his trust in people whose greed proved to be greater than his own.

He found the small house easily; there were no visible guards or traps of any kind. This man was fully confident that his anonymity provided much more protection than it actually did, Elvis had seen far more careful men fall under the weight of their hubris. Still, Elvis loosened his weapon before knocking on the door.

"Can I help you?" The man held the door open as far as the chain allowed it to open, Elvis could see that his right hand was tucked neatly against his lower back, perhaps this man was not as ignorant of his danger as he initially thought.

"Agent Presley," Elvis replied as he held up his badge, "CIA. I need to speak with you, Mr. Vazquez. We both know the reason, I am sure." The older man looked closely at the badge, nodded softly before closing the door. Elvis heard as the chair was removed and the door was opened again, "thank you for speaking with me, sir. May I come in?"

"I didn't think anyone would find me," he gestured for Elvis to join him inside the well-kept house, "after the bitch got greedy, I decided to cut my losses and left. Would you care for some coffee?"

"Beer if you have it," Elvis replied.

"I thought you guys weren't allowed to drink while on duty," the man replied.

"That's just in the movies and television shows," Elvis replied, "to be honest, it took some of my resources to be able to find you, sir. You have done a decent enough job at staying off the grid, for all intents and purposes you barely exist. I take it you have stayed up to date on the happenings in the city?"

"Just what's on the news," he replied as he handed Elvis the cold beer, "like I said, when the bitch started crossing the line from careful planning to recklessness, I decided that it was better for my lifeline to get out of there as quietly as possible."

"When exactly was that, if you don't mind me asking? I have my own working theory, but I would like to hear your side if you don't mind sharing."

"Once she setup the boy to take the fall for all those weapons, I knew that she had lost her mind," he replied, "She wasn't happy with the blackmail idea, no, she wanted it all. You haven't asked me who she is, so I will assume you already know as much?" Elvis nodded, "I had suggested that we approach the boy with the information about his brother, to get money for our silence. She was supposed to collect the money and make the transfers, she would keep her fee and I would get the rest. I had already retired, Agent Presley, I looked at this opportunity as a way to supplement my income. She saw it as an entirely different thing."

"What did she want to do?"

"Her plan was to get rid of him," he replied, "so that when the other boy took over the Family, she would reveal who I was and use that as a way to take over for herself. Even if her plan had worked, I knew that my days would have been numbered. So I ran, as far and as fast as I could, came into this house, had my brother buy it and been here since then."

"Things have gotten out of hand, Mr. Vazquez," Elvis replied.

"I had nothing to do with the shooting," he pleaded, "you have to believe me, Agent Presley. But there is no doubt in my mind that she was responsible for it all. That woman, she is manipulative, clever. Even after she showed me her true colors, I found it hard to believe. Are you here to arrest me?"

"I am here to take you into protective custody," Elvis replied, "your life is in danger. As it is, the only reason I knew of your existence was because of Angel."

"He sent you here?"

"Yes," Elvis replied, "he knows the extent of your involvement, and more importantly, he knows that you had nothing to do with his incarceration or his brother's shooting. At least not directly. But if we don't get you out of here, whoever finds you after I do will not be as gentle with you."

"Will I be able to return to my home?"

"No, sir," Elvis replied, "I'm afraid you won't."

"It's a shame," he replied, "I had grown fond of it. It can't be helped I suppose, we all have to pay for our mistakes at some point." He stood, "I have a bag ready, we can leave now if you like."

...

"That son-of-a-bitch!" Special Agent Carter was slamming down with both fists onto the table, "that traitorous fuck!" He reached out for his phone, "get me all reports submitted by Agent Presley, I want them on my terminal, I don't give a fuck if I have the clearance for it or not." He began to dial another phone number, the voicemail once again picked up. Just as he was about to throw his phone against the wall in frustration, the phone rang. "What?!!!"

"Did you lose what little mind you had left, Carter?!" the Director's voice boomed through the phone.

"Sir," he immediately composed himself, "I apologize, I was expecting someone else."

"Why am I seeing a flag with your name on it, requesting access to CIA case files? I thought I had told you to play nice and drop this shit with Presley?!"

"I just listened to a recording from Agent Presley," he replied, "where he is warning his good buddy Daemon about our ongoing operations, sir."

After a few minutes of silence, the Director finally replied, "are you sure about this?"

"Yes, sir."

"Sure enough to bet your badge?"

"Yes, sir. I need access to those files to confirm if we have a mole within the organization."

"Before you tell anyone," the Director said, "I better be your first call." Carter's terminal notified him of incoming files, "you better pray that you aren't wrong here, son." He disconnected the call just as Carter began to read the file headings. He stopped at a particular one, one that Presley had submitted when he first had began his investigation into Daemon's actions, a heavily retracted version that listed a second agent. Carter pulled up this agent's case files, cross referenced the dates, and found the list of events. It had been a background investigation into Daemon's actions prior to returning to his hometown.

"Who the fuck are Martha and Rebecca?" He asked himself as he continued reading, the smile on his face grew as he read on.

...

"CeCe," Jose was surprised to see this woman standing in his doorway, she would be the first female face, other than the one from his constant bodyguard, that he had seen since his exile. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here as a favor from D," she replied, Jessica nodded at her before she walked away leaving them to their private conversation.

"Of course, he would send you," he replied, "doesn't have the stomach to take care of his own dirty business. Fucking pathetic." He spat, "well, get it over with."

"It's not going to be so easy for you, Jose," she replied, "I am not the one to end your miserable existence. He sent me to help your body guard protect you, there are things in motion that led him to believe that you are in danger."

"He kicked me out of the Family!"

"This is from your time in the seat," she replied, "I can leave if you want me to, but know that if I go, Jessica will be coming with me. So sit down, shut the fuck up, and let me do my job."

"What the fuck?" Jose replied as CeCe handed him a large folder, "what is this?"

"The sum of your crimes," she replied, "D wants you to read them while we wait. I am to make sure that you read every single page." As he opened it, he saw financial documents, purchase reports, receipts, everything he had managed to hide away from the Family. Every cent had been found. He also saw the list of meetings he had held with various Families, every single verbal contract, every deal that had been struck with each individual. Dates. Times.

"How...?" he felt his mouth go dry as he tried to speak, "I.. don't..."

"You're not the first one to forget who the Daemon is," she replied with a laugh, "at least your name is at the bottom of his list. Be grateful for that, Jose. Your guests are coming soon, I hope you are at least useful with a weapon."

...

"Where in the fuck have you been? And who the fuck is this?" Carter did not waste time at getting his point across, this had been his greeting as Elvis led Mr. Vazquez into the building.

"Witness," Elvis replied, "followed some intel and decided that for his protection, he needed to be brought in."

"Then why didn't you put in a request for it?"

"I have my reasons," he replied, "he will need to be placed into protective custody."

"Well," Carter replied, the smug look on his face made Elvis be on edge almost immediately, "he won't be alone for long. I am bringing a few witnesses in myself."

"Oh?" Elvis replied, perhaps he had been wrong about this man after all, however he would not give him the satisfaction of recognition. "I have the feeling that you would like for me to ask who those witnesses might be, so I'll bite. Who are they?"

"Two females. Martha and Rebecca," he replied, that smirk grew when he saw Elvis freeze on his tracks. "I am sure you are familiar with them."

"Tell me you weren't stupid enough to put their names on the airwaves," Elvis turned to look at him, for the first time Carter could see some emotion in his eyes. He saw something there, something that he never thought he would see on this man's eyes, and for a second he felt himself being the superior man.

"Agent Presley," he replied, "I don't have to tell you how I conduct my operations." He almost lost his professionalism as he looked at this man, the great and mighty CIA agent had been out matched.

"You stupid fuck!" Elvis screamed, "Valerie, get me the CIA Director on the phone, ASAP." He was telling the same woman that Carter had spoken to earlier, she moved without question immediately following his commands. "Joe, get me a chopper, I need to be on the air in 2 minutes," he continued barking orders as he looked at a third individual, "you, take Mr. Vazquez here and put him somewhere safe. Under no circumstances is his name to be placed or said in any reports."

"What do you think you are doing, Agent Presley," Carter replied, "you have absolutely no authority here. In fact, Agent Presley, I am placing you under..." Elvis' hand wrapped around his throat, interrupting his well-practiced speech.

"Do I have your attention?" Elvis hissed at the man, with his hand wrapped around his throat he slammed him against the wall, "how about now?" Elvis held his weapon against Carter's head, "do I have your undivided attention now, Special Agent in Charge Carter?" He nodded, "those two women are mothers to D's children, they are by far the most important figures in his life. They alone keep him tethered to the world, far more than I ever could hope to do so. And you were stupid enough to put their names on the airwaves, you gave their location away." He released him as Valerie informed him that the CIA Director was on the line.

"Yes, sir," Elvis said, walking away as Carter tried to compose himself, "yes, sir. Agent Carter has released their names, I am having a chopper take me there in the next few minutes. Are there any assets on ground? Good, have them secure the area, stay out of sight from them. I will be en route shortly."

Carter slowly drew his weapon out, "Agent Presley..." a single shot to his chest silenced him, the bullet proof vest stopped it from doing more damage than breaking a rib.

"Yes, sir," Elvis finished his phone call, "thank you Valerie, please look in your terminal. You should be seeing orders to delete any associated files with the names Martha and Rebecca. Please let me know when that is complete," he pointed his weapon at Carter as he tried to level his pistol and fired again, "ladies and gentlemen, we have a situation. Recall any available agents in the area, notify local police forces to do the same, also alert local hospitals, emergency responders, and blood banks to get ready to get really busy." Without looking, he fired a third time.