“Unfortunately, you and the others will likely forget much of what you saw of that angel and rationalize the rest into terms and images you find more comfortable. Written or recorded accounts will become muddied or vanish, as well. You will remember that Hauser was manipulated. You will not remember the details.”
“So we’re just going to forget Rachel?” Nguyen asked.
“No. Rachel is a special case because of the bond she and I share with Alex. I recommend that you not dwell upon her, though. Heaven keeps its distance for good reasons.”
Nguyen let out a frustrated breath. “That’s gonna make writing these reports a joy. At any rate, local police are cordoning off the area now-hopefully while obeying our orders to stay out and leave this to the Bureau. My bosses have more task force agents rushing out to help clean up this mess, but it’ll be a few hours. We all appreciate you staying around. It looks like we can get you all on your way home shortly.”
“So, that’s it?” Wade asked after the group exchanged a round of glances. “We just go home and call it bygones?”
“That’s how I plan to play it, yes,” Nguyen confirmed. “I’m closing this case as soon as I can. I’ve got concerns and I’ve got questions,” she said, eyeing Lorelei meaningfully, “but in the end, we never had solid cases against you and you weren’t our primary target to begin with. Everything we could reasonably charge you with seems to have been a matter of self-defense. So for the record, I just wanted to say that we’re square here.
“However, I’d love to interview you all on a less adversarial basis,” she continued. “You have experience with supernatural matters that nobody on our task force can match. You might provide a lot of valuable insight for us going forward. That’s not going to happen tonight, though, or tomorrow. We’ll make arrangements, if you’re willing.”
“Seems fair,” Alex shrugged.
“Of the vampires, the werewolves and some others, I can speak,” said Lorelei, “but my advice on other matters will be sparse at best.”
“Strictly voluntary,” nodded Nguyen. “I’m not talking about subpoenas here.”
“But that’s it, then?” Drew asked. “Just do an interview and it’s cased closed?”
Nguyen pursed her lips. “I need to speak with your other two friends, but they aren’t in any trouble, either. As far as you’re concerned, though? Just the interviews. Nothing more. Move on with your lives and call us if you run into trouble in the future. Maybe we can repay the favor you did us here.”
Drew let out a sigh of relief. Lorelei leaned her head on Alex’s shoulder. Wade sank into a chair.
Jason quietly walked out of the room, his eyes cast down to the floor.
* * *
“I’m sorry I haven’t introduced myself until now. My name is Colleen Nguyen, and it looks like I’m the agent in charge now,” she sighed wearily. Stress and exhaustion showed on her face as easily as all the dirt, but none of it looked likely to put her down soon.
The hallway offered no place to sit, but it beat speaking outside. The three stood under one of the hanging lights. It hardly offered complete privacy, but Agent Nguyen wanted at least a little space from the others for this.
“I’m Onyx,” nodded one of the young women.
“Molly,” said the other. She made a little wave with one hand before folding her arms across her chest once more.
“First off, I wanted to thank you for all of your help here tonight, both with the rescue and hanging around until now. On a less pleasant level, I’m obligated to tell you that this entire incident and everything you know about my task force is one big national security secret. If you tell anyone, by act or omission, you’ll be arrested, tried and probably put in prison. Again, that’s something I have to say. I don’t want to be the bad guy. We owe you our lives… and that leads me to the real reason I wanted to talk to you.
“You’re obviously talented sorcerers. I’m told that’s the proper term to use in a conversation like this. Anyway, I’ve heard at least a third-hand account of everything you did last month with this crew, and I can see what you’ve done here in this incident. I wanted to ask if you’d be interested in helping us out in the future?”
Neither of the younger women expected that question. “You want us to join the FBI?” Onyx blinked.
Nguyen shook her head. “No. Well. Not immediately, anyway, but I’m sure the option would be open once you met our recruiting standards. Neither of you have a college degree yet, as far as I know. But like I said, I’m the agent in charge of a very special task force with special rules and resources. I can’t just recruit new agents out of the blue. I can, however, hire outside consultants.”
“You mean the kind you pay money, right?” Molly asked. “Like, paid consultants?”
“Absolutely,” nodded the agent. “You’d have to pass the background check, of course. Do either of you have criminal records? Are you both American citizens?”
The pair snorted out a laugh. “Yeah, we’re good there,” Molly nodded. “What sort of work are we talking about here?”
“I’m not talking about full-time responsibilities, and I don’t want to put you in the line of fire. I’m talking about a case-by-case relationship. It may only come down to providing expert advice. But we pay for that,” she added for Molly’s benefit.
“How much of this has to do with keeping track of us?” Onyx ventured.
“That’s a concern,” the agent shrugged, “but outside of you turning up here to save our asses, I don’t have much to pursue with you two. I plan to wrap up this case and put it to bed. I’d be a lunatic to try to charge any of you with much of anything after all that’s happened. At any rate, it’s too late to keep our task force a secret from you. I’d rather have you on our side. I’m more than willing to show you two that we answer to actual judges and real courts. This might be a big government secret, but it’s also under strict supervision.
“So, what do you say?” asked Nguyen. “Should I give you a call in a couple days?”
Neither Onyx nor Molly needed to look at one another to know the answer, but they shared a grin anyway.
* * *
“I am not drunk! I am not high on some drug! As I have already said, hooligan teenagers hijacked my automobile at gunpoint and left me marooned here! I simply need to return to my lodgings.”
The pair of police officers watched and listened to the protest with skeptical frowns. The lights of their patrol car offered enough illumination for the gathering, but everything else around them was still dark. “Sir,” said the one called Murray, “I’m gonna ask you again. Reach out with both hands, close your eyes, and touch your nose with your right hand.”
Wentworth stared daggers at the presumptuous mortal, but held his wrath in check. After all he’d been through tonight, he did not need further violence. He had to find shelter before dawn, and he needed to get far from this scene as quickly as possible. Bad luck put him in the path of these cretins as soon as he’d made it from the Magnuson park property to a major street, but at least the police officers had a vehicle.
Letting out a grumbling breath, Wentworth acquiesced. He touched his nose with one finger. “Are you quite satisfied?” he asked. “Or must I recite the alphabet again?”
“Well, sir, I’m satisfied that you aren’t drunk,” Officer Murray shrugged.
“Excellent. Now take me to my lodgings downtown,” he urged, staring deeply into the officer’s eyes.
Murray blinked. He shook his head a bit, looking toward his partner. “Yeah,” he murmured, “I think we can give you a ride.”
“Thank you,” huffed the vampire. He tugged his filthy and disheveled shirt into place.
“Kevin?” asked the other officer.
“We can take him downtown, right, Tyrone?” Kevin Murray shrugged.
“Well,” frowned Officer Johnson, “we need to pat you down before we put you into our car. Put your hands on the roof of the car, please.”
“I-wait, what?” blinked Wentworth. “You already checked me for weapons! I’ll not submit to another such search! Take me to my lodgings downtown,” he urged the other officer, employing a similar stare.