Page 5 of Axton
“Fine, I promise!” I cried out just before one truck slammed into us on Koty’s side. Our truck swerved but Koty gained control of it then slammed on the gas and tried to outrun them.
“Is that Jeremy?” I cried out.
“If this truck stops, you run, Belle. Run fast and go for help. Tell anyone that wants to help that you need to call the number on the card I have for you. Take the envelope out of the dash and don’t lose it. It's the money papa gave me to help you and the business card of people that can help us.”
I did as my brother demanded and folded the envelope then stuck it into my pocket. Koty scared me, but only one man scared me more and that was Jeremy.
“Who are the people I have to call?” I couldn’t run for the help of someone that wanted to hurt me or lead me to sin.
“The woman that tried to help Melinda gave me that card. She escaped a cult as a teenager and has been helping others ever since. She’s a friend, please trust her, Belle.”
He was trying to out run the trucks, and doing a fine job at it. “Is that Jeremy?” I asked again.
“It’s people he has sent. He is working with bad men, ones that he has made bad promises to, and they will hurt you.” He warned me as he kept glancing into the rear view mirror. “Hold on tight.” He warned me again, just before he took another sharp turn, and the truck almost flipped. I was screaming and begging him to slow down. “Change of plans.” He said, then glanced into the mirror again before he lifted the console lid and pulled out a gun.
“That’s a gun!” I screamed again.
“And nobody will be expecting it.” He said.
“Who are you?” He was not the brother I knew.
“A protective big brother!” He was becoming even more erratic. “Get down on the floor!” He ordered.
I did as he said and began praying as I squeezed my eyes shut.
Chapter Four
Mike Axton
Iwas packing my things in my office when Creed knocked on my open door. “You headed out for the weekend?”
It was just after noon and most of the Originals were headed out to Mrs. Hoffman’s for lunch. We were experiencing an abnormally cold December, so they were heading out in their trucks. “Yeah, Perry is taking me to the airport in about an hour.” I didn’t look up as I was sliding my laptop into my case.
“You didn’t say much during the meeting.” He stepped inside my office and shut the door. We just had our daily Originals meeting and discussed the Fallon Cahill case.
“There’s not much to say. Luca has too much pull with the government. He’s testing things they want tested, so we need to focus more on our foreign cases and a little less on these domestic ones.” Although I wasn’t Luca’s biggest fan, he was in a business like ours and we needed to stay out of it. I wholeheartedly hated the man, mostly because of the science tests on veterans, and of course I hated what he did to Fallon Cahill, but we needed to stay in our lane and focus on our own business.
“He kidnapped and wiped the memory of a teenage girl, then turned her into an assassin. That can’t be ignored.” He disagreed.
“He is just one of several generations of his family that does this work. He has tentacles that reach all over the world and next to him we are just babies. Like it or not, we are in the same business, but we aren’t strong enough to take down an organization like his. We can’t risk pissing off the government like we did military intelligence five years ago. We’re lucky not to be in prison today. I’m not changing my vote, Creed, by going after Luca we are putting the entire community at risk. Just let it go, it’s not the case for us.”
He was frustrated because we voted on whether or not to start a case against someone that had a far greater power than us. Magnus, Irons, Drakos, Jennings, Bolton, and I all voted against it and Baros had not returned yet to cast his vote, so it didn’t get the support Creed wanted.
“Fine, when you come back, I’ll have more information to plead my case. Fallon does good work for us, and she deserves some justice for what was done to her.” He said.
“Don’t we have enough of our own problems? We need more operatives, and we can’t forget the crazy fan that’s stalking Magnus and Morgan. He just got another note the other day, and you guys might think it’s a crazy fan or whatever, but I’m suspicious it’s something else. We can use a satellite to find just about anyone and the computer science we have here gives us a lot of advantages, but for some reason we can’t find someone that draws silly pictures and leaves them around town. Whoever it is can outsmart us, and that doesn’t sit well with me.” I expressed my concerns yet again.
“It’s probably more than one fan and they copycat each other. That’s why we can’t pinpoint who it is yet. They’ve been harmless so far, but if they go any further with it we will take a closer look. It’s all a part of her fame, and nothing all that new to her. I am more concerned with the Fallon Cahill case.” He said.
I felt the complete opposite with both issues. I checked to make sure I had my business and personal phones, because I had a habit sometimes of not taking my personal phone with me, then grabbed my bag and walked toward the door. “It won’t change our minds about the Cahill case. Yeah, I agree the douchebag needs to be brought down, but not at the risk of Creed’s Lake. He has no interest in harming Fallon, so that’s the bright side. There’s no proof he has done this to anyone else. He was right in taking her out of the situation she was in, while I disagree with what he did with her in the meantime while they worked to take out those dirty cops, but at least she was returned home. The other veterans are taking part in these tests with their own free will, so no, he shouldn’t be our focus. I realize Magnus has a hard on for Bain, but just because the man races NASCAR doesn’t make him a God.”
“He’s a legend and so are the rest of the men in his family.” He sighed in frustration. “Bain has nothing to do with it. Luca is promising them an easy fix to their PTSD through science and dangerous medications. We both know that’s not possible and he’s giving them false hope. Aren’t those soldiers the main reason we created this community? To help veterans live the lives they need?”
I stopped in front of him. “We are doing the best we can for the veterans we bring on board. We haven’t found any cases of permanent damage to his veterans. Bring us proof that he is harming them and maybe we will reconsider, but as of now, it’stoo risky. We are helping the Cahill’s as much as we can with security and keeping them safe. That’s the most we can afford to give.”
“I’m not going to let it go, but I will for now. You’re off on another mysterious trip, I see?” He asked.
I ignored his question. “I’ll see you Monday.” I walked out of my office and went straight for the elevator. I kept my personal life private, unlike most of the Originals. They all knew too much about each other, and I was never one to mix my personal life with business.
