Angel and the Badman Ch. 01

The Orca.

Not sure where this one is going yet so I posted chapter one.

Standard disclaimer: if you want to complain about the hackneyed unbelievable drivel I write, lack of character development, or inflated breast sizes, be my guest. Just know I won't care. I sometimes enjoy reading the commentators that criticize my writing but if you're going to, remember, I already called it drivel. If you can't top that don't bother. Why commentators insist on displaying their own stupidity for the world to see always baffles me. Let's see the plot sucks, the characters aren't believable, I write like I didn't graduate high school (I didn't by the way), I barely know a noun from a verb, etc. Read at your own risk.

And yes the rights to this drivel, such as it is, are reserved by me and any resemblance to any other real or fictional character is purely delusion on the readers part.

PS. Despite some rather nasty threats (not directed at them) no children are harmed in any way in this story. I may write drivel but some lines should never be crossed

I arrived at Traci's office around 12:30. I had actually made an appointment with her boss for a consultation on a personal matter I wanted to discuss with him, and he was giving me fifteen minutes before lunch at 12:45 as a favor to her. Traci introduced me around to a few of the other secretaries in the office and showed me into his office about ten minutes later.

I went with the traditional country club casual look today, by Brooks Brothers. Cream flannel trousers, snow white shirt with club collar, and dark blue blazer. I never liked the button-down collar as I liked the rounded look the club collar gives without a tie. I had my jackets, trousers, and shirts made to measure, nothing off the rack, and they were able to adjust it so that the 9mm at my front hip was hidden.

Traci made the introductions. Her boss, Attorney Alan Bender, was a slick, fortyish, oily sort with an Italian suit and a slightly condescending smirk as he shook hands with me. We had never met before and I noticed him giving me a second look as I think the first one wasn't what he expected. We chatted for a few minutes, inconsequential small talk about Traci's brilliance as a secretary and how he absolutely depended on her, praise she modestly disclaimed and blushed at hearing, before she excused herself and he pointed me to a seat.

"So, what problem can I help you with today, Mr. Williams?"

"I appreciate you taking the time to see me Mr. Bender. Please just call me John. Traci tells me you are a real shark."

"I'm just a regular attorney. I have won a few cases but nothing special."

"I think your being too modest. When Traci was selected to work for you I did some checking. You do have a very successful, and interesting, reputation. You have defended some high-profile clients and won some large settlements."

The statement just sort of hung there in the air for a minute as both of us looked at it. Then he tried to stare me down. Like most, he gave up quickly. Something about my eyes tends to disturb the average person. It tends to disturb hardened killers and terrorists. He instead found something on his desk interesting to look at as he talked.

"And what is it you do, Mr. Williams, um John? Traci says you travel quite a bit, but she seems a little vague on what your actual job is or where you travel to. She didn't seem sure, but she thought it might be international."

I know a bit about cross examinations myself, although the methods I used probably wouldn't fly in the court settings he was used to. But I wasn't there for him to interrogate me, and I don't think he could do the type of interrogation I was used to anyway, so I just ignored it. When questioned I usually deflect as a matter of habit.

"I read an interesting article flying back from the Middle East last week. It was all about sharks, great white sharks, to be exact. You do know what a great white shark is, correct? They are the biggest, nastiest, most deadly shark around. Turns out that a lot of them are turning up lately, off the coast of Australia, floating dead, with their livers torn out. It seems that Orca's, killer whales, consider shark liver a delicacy. So, whenever a school of sharks gathers an Orca comes to feed."

He gave me another look. I don't think he had me analyzed yet and it bothered him. He quickly realized he had no idea what I was and the unsettled look he had before was suddenly sinking into his bowels. I do tend to have that effect on people sometimes, so I was used to it. I didn't think he would enjoy lunch today though.

"So, to answer your question I guess you could say I am an Orca. It seems there are a lot of sharks in the world and sometimes the schools need thinning. So, when there is a school of sharks somewhere that is becoming troublesome, causing one of our three letter friends to become annoyed or concerned, then they contract with me to do what Orca's naturally do in a school of sharks. Basically, I go and tear their livers out."

"But needless to say, I was a little concerned to understand Traci was working in a school of sharks. I may be an Orca, but Traci could probably be best described as a minnow. A very beautiful, and very desirable minnow, but a minnow. Traci has the delightful habit of only seeing the best in people while I guess you could say I only see the worst. Which brings me to the purpose of my visit here with you. Seeing as you are the head shark I thought it might be best to ask that you see to it that no one in your little school eats up my minnow. And make no mistake, Traci is my minnow. She isn't to be shared. You might find if that happened I would be a little perturbed and would find a need to do some feeding closer to home. And of course, I would appreciate it if you passed the word, discretely, to your fellow sharks."

"Are you threatening me, John?"

"Not at all, Mr. Bender, not at all."

I smiled at him. I have been told my smile, the one that never reached my eyes, once scared a group of ISIS fighters into converting to Judaism, but I liked to think of it as charming. I reached inside my blazer jacket and removed my billfold and extracted a plain white business card. Placing it on his desk I slid it over to him. He picked it up and I saw his eyes widen, and then narrow. I knew he had met the local bureau chief on a professional basis at least once.

"I am sure you meet many people who pretend to be something they aren't, this is just a mutual acquaintance that can assure you that in this case, if anything, I am more than I seem. Although he knows me by the name of Eric, just Eric, but between that and my description I think you should be able to establish what you need to."

He pushed the card back over to me.

"I am well acquainted with the gentleman and the fact that you would refer me to him is enough, I have no need to validate your credentials. We are, in our way, big fish in a big pond. But these guys just drain the pond and leave all the fish to rot. Would you like a drink, John," he asked?

He went to rise but I waved him back to his seat. I crossed to the corner and flipped the hidden switch on the credenza that opened the bar. The books shelf split, the books sliding to each side, and I looked over his supply. Top shelf all the way. "Scotch" I asked him? He nodded. I put two fingers in a crystal highball glass. "Soda"?

"Neat" he replied.

"A man to my own taste" I said, "why spoil good scotch with water. And this is exceptionally good scotch." I brought his drink to him and sat down again.

He was good. I had shown him I knew his office as well as he did, and he never blinked. I tipped my drink at him. "I can see why you do so well in court" I said.

I picked up the card and replaced it in my billfold. On reflection I got out and handed him another card. It was plain black, with just a number, and the name Eric on it, in gold. Vanity, I know, but occasionally I succumb.

"If you ever need to get a hold of me, call this number, and ask for Eric. They will pass a message on to me. Anything concerning Traci, of course, but as her boss you would also be entitled to call on my services if the need arises. You never know when those Russian mobsters, or some other client, might become a safety issue."

"Traci never hinted about any of this. Is she even aware of it?"

"As I said Traci sees only the best in people, including me. She sees me not, perhaps, as I am, but as she would like me to be. It is her innocence I prize so greatly, her capacity for love, and her ability to look beyond the evil that exists in men. And have no illusions, Mr. Bender, it exists strongly within me. So that innocence is something I will jealously guard, and protect, at the cost of my, and a great many others, lives if necessary."

I rose up and leaned across the desk to shake his hand.

"It was good to meet you. I feel a lot better knowing Traci is in such capable hands. I think I will find my lovely bride and take her to lunch now."

He grunted an affirmative, so I showed myself out of his office and went to hunt Traci up.

I was in London, finishing up a job for MI-X, when I received the message that Paul Bender wanted me to call. MI-X was entirely capable of carrying out their own work, but we had done several lucrative jobs for them in the past. There are times when, for various domestic concerns, a contractor is the preferred choice, and this was one of them. Although I did most of my work for the three letter agencies they were not opposed to me subcontracting as long as the job coincided with their interests. In point of fact, it was often the smaller countries that were the most lucrative and had allowed me to amass the small fortune I possessed. Many times, I had taken payment in shares of the business that my services had enabled, and my company now owned minor shares in oil, natural gas, minerals, and myriad other companies across the world. You would probably not be shocked by the number of times removing the right government official who was blocking development rights would then allow a project to move forward. I specialized in "natural cause" and could eliminate problems in a variety of ways.

I know you probably wanted to have some romantic notion of what I do, that I go around the world taking out bad men and predators. I have done plenty of that but have also taken out plenty of good men who stood in the way of an oil company raping their country or a mining company plundering their resources and using their children as workers. As I told Traci's boss there was plenty of evil in my heart. I wasn't a sadist, nor did I kill for pleasure, but when there was money to be made I never let a little thing like life or death, good or evil, or morality, interfere

You may wonder, given this, why Traci worked, as we had no need for the money. Several reasons. First Traci had no idea the extent of our wealth. Most was owned by overseas shell corporations and never entered the US. We had a nice condo in the city and several mini estates scattered around in strategic locations, but she was only aware of one of them. Second was I was away often and a rich women alone was a target. She needed something to do to keep busy and the secretaries job was perfect cover for a girl who didn't even know she needed cover. And third it limited the circle of predators around her.

Bender had sent me his cell phone number. The advantage of dealing with lawyers is they understand discretion. I called him back. It appear Traci was the center of some unwelcome attention.

"I passed along a friendly warning to him, but he seemed to take it as a challenge" Bender said.

"Thank you for calling me" I responded, "I will deal with it. I understand your company is having a holiday gathering in a few days. I will be sure to look you up for a drink".

I put my people on gathering what information was available on Paul Simms. It appears he was a junior partner, unmarried, and a bit of a player, but a good lawyer. We found several vulnerable areas in his life.

Two days after I returned home I took Traci to her companies holiday party. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, at 27 as fresh as the morning dew on a rose. She could have easily been a model, or an actress, with her high cheekbones and delectable body. I had gone with Brooks Brothers again, a Golden Fleece tux. I know they aren't the high end, don't have the cachet of some of the Italian houses, but I had bought my first real suit from them, and I tend to stay loyal. I know many of you think loyalty is a strange attribute for a killer but often in my line loyalty to one another was all we had.

The party was about what you would expect from a rich law firm. Expensive hotel, good food at the buffet, open bar. I sat with Traci and three of her single friends, fellow secretaries, who were here without dates. I mean what single girl brings a date to a convention of rich lawyers? Not that the other seats at our table were empty much we were treated to a succession of men who stopped to ask one girl or another to dance. Traci and I danced a few times ourselves and after one such excursion I steered her to the table and excused myself to use the gents.

When I came back from the facilities there was a new addition to our table. It looks like Simms had made an appearance. Introductions were made, greetings exchanged, and then I took drink orders and asked him to accompany me to the bar.

I rattled off the drink order to the bartender and motioned for Simms to sit for a minute. He was spouting off some inconsequential bull about this or that when I silenced him with a look. As I have said my eyes have that effect.

"I will make this short" I said, "you're not worth the effort of a long conversation". I handed him a slip of paper. There was only one name on it. He looked at it, puzzled, and handed it back. I could see the question on his lips.

"Amanda, 11, and John, 9. Your niece and nephew go to this school. I know you don't get back home much to know details like this. It is very simple; you stay away from my family and my people will stay away from yours. You fuck with my family, and you will lose yours."

"What the fuck," he said, getting angry. I stopped him there.

"Your senior partner gave you a friendly warning. I am not friendly, far from it. You can't hurt me, Simms, but I can hurt you in ways you can't even begin to comprehend. I would cheerfully kill you for your intentions towards Traci, but some things hurt worse than death. Could you ever face your baby sister again, knowing her children were lost just so you could dip your pen in another man's inkwell?"

"What kind of monster are you," he asked?

"The kind you hope you never have a private talk with again, because if you do someone will have died. I am death, Mr. Simms, and you don't want to dance with it. You should have listened to Mr. Bender; he is a wiser man than you," I answered. The drinks arrived and the bartender placed them in front of us.

"Here, show some Christmas cheer, put a smile on your face, and help me carry these back. I am sure there are plenty of unattached women here that would enjoy your attention. And Simms, I would be very irate if the details of our conversation was passed around. You really don't want to piss me off any more than you have."

I grabbed three of the drinks and left the other three for him to carry.