Page 79 of Tied Over

After I read it to him, I said, “My phone rang, I answered, Ian said, ‘Harold of visions,’ and then the line went dead,” I recounted without any embellishment.

“The fuck does that mean?” Chris Becker, our supervisory deputy, snapped.

“Harold who?” Miro asked out loud. “What’s going on? First Eli and now—”

“Repeat what you said,” Kage ordered.

And I did, word for word.

“Okay, so not Harold like a name,” Kage intoned, “but herald, like an angel. Like the Christmas carol.”

Miro said, “I don’t under—”

“And the herald of visions is the archangel Gabriel.”

Everyone was silent.

“Wait. Gabriel?” Miro sounded unsure. “Are we thinking Gabe Brodie? He’s the only Gabriel I know.”

“Me too,” Becker agreed.

“That number is for a Catholic church on the south side,” I heard Wes say in the background. “We’re going now,” he informed our boss.

“Check the rectory first,” Kage threw out. “Ian’s probably there.”

“We’re out,” Wes announced, and then there was noise and I heard Kage shouting orders at Becker to put Miro in a vest and to not let him breach with the SOG team.

“Redeker?” Kage said.

“Yessir?”

“I need you and Callahan back here now. I have no idea what’s going on, but Eli was giving a press conference today, and someone tried to kill him.”

And suddenly I couldn’t breathe. “Would you repeat that, sir?”

“Someone tried to shoot Eli while he was giving his final press conference about what occurred with you and Crouse and that whole shitshow last Monday night.”

I wasn’t going to defend myself, because yes, everything had technically turned out okay, but it was still an absolute clusterfuck of the first order. “Why was he giving another one?”

“The Wexlers were taken into custody by the DST, the Directorate of Territorial Security, when they arrived in Paris this morning.”

I didn’t remind my boss that I knew what the DST was, as I’d worked with them many times when fugitives fled to France. The man was in full operational mode at the moment, so he was giving me the facts like he would to anyone.

“They flew there because they’re stupid, and as I said, DST picked them up. They’re being extradited as we speak.”

“So Eli was giving an update to the press about that.”

“That’s correct.”

“Is he all right?”

“Shaken but unharmed.”

“Thank God that whoever did it was a lousy shot.”

“They weren’t a lousy shot,” Kage corrected me. “Eli was fidgeting with a lapel pin Celso had given him. Apparently, he took it off before the briefing, thinking it was too over-the-top or whatever for the five o’clock news.”

Eli was a big believer in subtle and chic. He never wanted to draw attention to himself outright, never wanted to be ostentatious. But if you did look at him, or if he was giving a press briefing, he had to look flawless.