New Forrest, England. Now.
After the fight with the ghouls, I waited around long enough for the LOA emergency paramedics to turn up and check that everyone would be okay, before leaving and heading home.
Agent Greaves was almost back on his feet by the time I left, and Olivia was nursing a sore, but healing, wound on her shoulder. Everyone got away with minimal injuries, a lucky break when it came to dealing with ghouls.
I took the time to head home, get a shower, and wash off the grime from the incredibly long day. Dealing with ghouls, finding another murdered girl, searching Vicki's house, and interviewing Neil had left me feeling emotionally, if not physically, exhausted.
Even so, after making an important call, I managed a few hours' sleep, only to be woken by someone banging continuously on my front door until I made my way from the bed to open it.
"Hey, Tommy," I said, with all the joy that I could muster after just being woken. "Could you possibly be a little louder? I think there are some rivets in the house that you haven't worked loose."
"Nice to see you, too," he said stepping inside, and closing the door behind him.
"I don't think my kitchen can take another fridge raid," I told him as we made our way to the kitchen, where I made both of us a cup of white tea.
"I'm not hungry," he said.
"Okay, what's wrong? You're always hungry. Are Olivia and Kasey okay?"
He nodded firmly. "Yes, thanks for that. You saved Olivia's life. And Kasey is… concerned for her mum. She'll be okay, though."
I waved his thanks away. "Glad to hear it. We were all in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"They've taken Olivia to the medical clinic at my office building. We've got some of the best trained people in the world. They want to keep her in for a few days to make sure that the neurotoxin has worked its way out of her system. Olivia's pissed off and wants to hurt something, but she'll live."
"And Agents Greaves and Reid?" Agent Reid had been found unconscious, covered in his blood a few streets away from the police station. He'd been incredibly lucky.
"Greaves is less than happy that he's under my people's watchful attention, but he's healing well. Reid was bitten by the ghoul who used to be Vicki. He's going to be in the infirmary for a day or so like Olivia."
"How did you come to have such a good medical team?"
"We did some work for a medical centre whose staff was getting harassed by a pissed off ex-employee and his friends. Apparently, trolls hold grudges. Who knew? I offered them a place to work without worry, whilst we dealt with it, and they ended up staying. So they work for me, but are pretty much their own little section of the business."
"And I guess it helps having the people who are there for treatment being right next to the people who might look into such things without notifying Avalon."
“The thought never crossed my mind.”
"Why are you here? I assume it's not just to give me an update on Olivia and the rest, as good as it is to know they're all okay."
Tommy's expression changed to one of seriousness in an instant. "Ghouls, Nate. There are goddamn ghouls and a lich in my city."
"I know, Tommy," I assured him. "I made a few calls earlier today. I'm expected at the airfield in about two hours."
Tommy chuckled. "Off to Canada?"
I didn't need to answer. Tommy knew full well that the answer was yes.
"Right, well, I'll go get ready and meet you there."
I opened my mouth to argue, but thought better of it. If I'd said no, he'd only have been at the airfield waiting for me anyway. "Fine, meet me there in two hours exactly."
"Done," Tommy said, dashing off and out of my home seconds later.
The old airfield had been officially abandoned years ago, leaving the twelve-foot-high chain-link fence to guard nothing more than the grass, which broke through the tarmac, and the vines, which grew over an old hanger, threatening to consume it like a slow moving predator.
The fence kept away anyone who might get too interested, or kids thinking that breaking in would be a good for a laugh. But it was just window dressing. Anyone getting past the fence would notice that the runway further into the compound was oddly free of any grass, and the tarmac was smooth and well maintained. And a close look at the front of the hanger would make it obvious that the vines had been allowed to grow in a very specific way, never obstructing the entrance.
Military signs, bright yellow and black, each the size of a manhole cover, adorned the fence at regular intervals. They extolled the notion that anyone caught trespassing would be arrested and charged without fail. Some of them suggested armed guards were still patrolling the area.
The airstrip was in fact fully functional all year long, and served as a very private landing spot in the south of England. It was staffed all year, too, although most of the workers actually stayed in an underground complex, only coming up to deal with those landing and taking off.
Whenever someone landed, the place buzzed with activity. Whoever was arriving usually supplied their own security staff to maintain the area, which was made evident by the armed guards who stood at the entrance and waved me through.
I took the bike into the open hanger and switched off the engine.
"You took your damn time," Tommy said from a nearby chair, his feet up on the table beside him.
I took notice of the sandwich in his hand, the wonderful smell of bacon wafted toward me and my mouth watered. "Yes, you look incredibly pained," I said.
I turned and took in the jet that sat idly on one side of the huge hanger, and was surprised to see a young girl exit the plane. "This is awesome," she squealed and almost jumped down the stairs connecting the jet to the hanger floor ten feet below.
"Kasey," I said with surprise, and turned to Tommy. "You decided it was a good idea to bring your daughter."
Before he could answer, Kasey raced over to us. "What's the plane called?" she said with obvious excitement.
"It's called a Pegasus, or a Pegasus 1488, to give it the full name."
"It's amazing," she said. "I've never seen a plane like it."
The Pegasus was an incredible feat of engineering. Its owner, like most of the truly powerful members of Avalon, was probably four or five generations of technology ahead of anything humans had access to. The jet was a sort of amalgamation of a Concorde at the front and an SR-71 Blackbird at the rear. I'd been inside it several times on long journeys, and was fully aware of the luxury it contained.
"It has beds in there, Dad."
"I know, Kase" he said with a smile. "She's a bit excited," he told me.
"Never would have guessed. I thought eleven-year-olds were meant to be on their way to being permanently surly."
"She likes flying." Tommy grinned. "Kase, why don't you go on board and pick yourself out a chair."
She didn't need to be told twice, and was off like a shot, taking the steps two at a time until vanishing back inside the fuselage.
"What the hell?" I asked.
"I couldn't leave her with Olivia. It's too dangerous."
"Does Olivia know whom we're going to see?"
Tommy nodded.
"Does Kasey?"
He shook his head. "If I told her, she'd ask a million questions. And as it's a four hour flight. I'd rather not have to go the whole way sitting with the Spanish inquisition."
"She has a bunch of questions for me, doesn't she," I said with sudden realisation.
"A whole notebook full," Tommy confirmed. "It's in her backpack. She's looking forward to it."
"You could have stopped her, you know."
"Could have, didn't want to."
Before I could call Tommy a very rude name, a female flight attendant came over and informed us that we'd be leaving shortly. I thanked her and she smiled, flicking her long blonde hair off her shoulder before walking back to the jet.
"How do you do that?" Tommy asked.
"Do what?"
"Have beautiful women want to drop their pants after talking to you?"
I shrugged. "Didn't know they did. Must be my inherent charm."
Tommy laughed all the way over to the jet. "Yeah, that must be it, the charm."
The flight attendant was waiting for us inside the jet with another winning smile. She motioned for me to take a seat, and I selected one of the dozen black leather chairs that I knew to be as comfortable as they appeared.
The door slowly closed, and the jet began to taxi to the runway as Tommy sat opposite his daughter, across the aisle from me.
"You're Nathan Garrett," the flight attendant said, drawing my attention after I'd found myself looking out of the window.
"Umm, yeah, that's me," I said.
She bent down and hugged me tightly, her hair falling across my face and tickling my ear until she pulled away. "I just wanted to say thank you," she said.
"No, thank you," I managed.
"You don't know who I am, do you?"
"Sorry," I said.
"Nineteen forty-two, Berlin. You saved my life."
I studied the woman's face, which I suddenly realised hadn’t changed in over seventy-years as an image flashed in my head. A woman being held by the throat by a man. A knife was in his hand, a Nazi insignia on his arm. The memory came flooding back to me in a rush. "I remember Berlin," I whispered.
"You saved a lot of people that night. I've always wanted to thank you for it."
"You're welcome," I managed, and she walked off behind a curtain at the rear of the fuselage.
"Charm, my ass," Tommy said with a laugh. "I didn't know you were in Berlin during the war."
"I get around," I said and noticed Kasey scribbling something in her notebook.
She glanced up and caught the frown on my face. "I had a question about the second world war," she said, and went back to writing notes, causing Tommy to laugh.