The Price of Disrespect (Gray Spear Society Book 6) (11 page)

"Tawni!" Aaron said. "Get over here. I need to talk to you."

He walked off a short distance. Tawni slowly backed away from the sword and went over to him.

"I thought you were smart," he said in a low urgent tone. "Wasn't it obvious you needed to keep your mouth shut?"

"I..."

"Listen. You may think I'm a nasty son of a bitch, but I'm a cream puff compared to these guys. Stow the attitude, be extremely polite, and speak only when spoken to. Got it?" He glared at her.

"Yes, sir." She swallowed. She was still jumpy from almost being decapitated.

Aaron walked over to Charles. "Sorry about that."

"How new a recruit is she?" Charles said.

"Technically, she's not a member, yet."

"What? You're allowing an armed civilian near the Child?"

"I admit it's not ideal," Aaron said.

"I'm disappointed with you," Charles said.

Aaron crossed his arms. "I have responsibilities besides looking after Wesley. I'm doing the best I can with an impossible situation."

"This is unacceptable."

Charles walked over to Tawni. She backed up nervously. The weight of the MAC-11 under her sweater was comforting.

"Tawni," he said, "we are the Gray Spear Society. It's a global organization that fights God's battles for Him. We seek out and destroy His enemies. Aaron is the commander of the Chicago territory, an area that covers over three states. Norbert is a field operative, also known as a
legionnaire
. That's now your title also. You just joined the Society."

"Charles!" Aaron said.

Charles continued, "Wesley goes by several names: the Voice of Truth, the Beacon of Light, and the Child of Destiny. One day, he will lead all of mankind into the next era. Until then, it's our responsibility to keep him safe. I'm the leader of the protection team. The others are Atalanta, Yvonne, and Carlos." He nodded to his companions.

"Are you crazy?" Tawni said. "What are you talking about? God's enemies?"

"Aaron will tell you the rest. Congratulations on becoming one of us."

"I didn't join you!"

He leaned towards her. "You know too much now. The only way out is death. Do you want to exercise that option? I'll be very happy to assist you. I promise it will be relatively painless."

Even up close, Charles was hard to focus on. Tawni's attention kept drifting.

She looked around. Aaron was rubbing his forehead with his eyes closed. Norbert appeared sad. Atalanta had an evil smile on her face.

"No," Tawni said. "I'm good. I don't want to die."

Aaron sighed deeply. "Charles, that was cruel."

"It had to be done." Charles shrugged. "Now she's not a civilian. Problem solved."

Wesley clenched his fists. "You always do stupid stuff like this!" he yelled. "You mess with other people. You act like you're still the legate, but you're not. You retired. Remember? Tawni is Aaron's recruit, not yours. You had no right to tell her anything. Go away! All of you! Let Aaron do his job."

Charles reluctantly left and his crew trailed behind. As soon as they were gone, Aaron exhaled.

Tawni looked at him. "What just happened?"

"I'm sorry." He patted her shoulder. "You weren't ready, but I guess nobody ever is. The truth is you're stuck with me for the rest of your life."

"No!"

"I know it's not fair. I'll explain everything later. Let's just get through this assignment first. Come on."

He and Wesley walked off. Tawni remained in place.

Norbert took a few steps, stopped, and looked back at her. "You have to come," he said in a gentle voice. "Please."

"I don't want to," she said.

"You don't have a choice."

"I'm not his slave."

"You're his
legionnaire
," he said.

"I'll fight him."

"Then you'll die. I know it's impossible for you to believe, but a great thing just happened. You got the best job in the world. You have to follow Aaron's orders though. The Society doesn't tolerate disobedience. Come on."

She stood still. His hand moved towards his belt buckle.

"If I refused, would you kill me?"

He winced. "I'd have to. Sorry. I'd feel awful, but we have rules." He looked and sounded sincere.

She rolled her eyes.
These mother fuckers are insane.
She followed him out of the store.

They found Aaron and Wesley standing outside. Tawni expected a comment from Aaron, but he just started walking.

She thought about what Charles had told her. It didn't make sense.

They arrived at the intersection of East Adams Street and South Michigan Avenue. Tawni looked across the street at the Art Institute. It was one of the largest and best art museums in the United States, but she had been inside only once for a school field trip. She vaguely remembered that the art collection had seemed limitless. The architecture was strictly classical, and the exterior was made of white stone. The building looked pretentious to her. She expected rich, snooty, white people had built it.

The protesters were already beginning to gather. Some carried signs and others just looked angry. Tawni could tell the protest would turn ugly.

She tried to read the signs. Some showed animal rights slogans like "feed it, don't eat it" and "meat is murder." Another sign read, "think outside the bomb." A pink sign showed "bullies are turds" which was oddly out of place in this context.

One pattern did stand out. Most of the protestors were black. A huge portion of the population of Chicago was African-American, but they generally kept to their own neighborhoods. The cultural center of Chicago was an odd place to find such a high concentration.

Aaron knelt down in front of Wesley. "Use your gift. Tell me what's really going on."

"I don't want to." The boy shook his head.

"This is important."

"I swore I wouldn't. I'm trying to be a normal boy."

"I'm ordering you," Aaron said.

Wesley looked down. "There are some orders I can't follow, sir. I'm sorry."

Aaron stood up with an expression of disappointment.

"What are you talking about?" Tawni asked. "What gift?"

He looked at her. "Wesley sees the truth."

"I don't understand."

"It doesn't matter anyway. He's being stubborn. We'll have to do this the old-fashioned way with eyeballs and brains. Stay close together."

Aaron continued to lead. He walked around the south side of the museum and entered a park. A belt of tall trees ran around the perimeter of the block. Some had leaves but most were still budding or bare. The center of the park was open, and clusters of protestors were gathering there.

He approached one group in particular. A bald man was standing on a wooden crate and giving a speech. About forty other people were listening.

"We're the real people of Chicago," the man yelled. His eyes bulged with anger. "We stock the shelves. We pick up the garbage. We stand behind the counters. This city runs on our sweat and blood. But do we get any respect? No! Those rich bastards drive in from the suburbs in their big, gas guzzling cars, and they act like they own us. They treat us like we're one inch tall. I'm tired of it. You're tired of it. Today it stops! We're going to scream until they hear our voices. This will be our city again! And if we can't have it, nobody can. We'll burn this stinking, corrupt place to the ground..."

Aaron walked away with a thoughtful expression. Wesley, Tawni, and Norbert followed in that order.

Aaron approached another man who had a white button-up shirt and plaid shorts. He wore sandals with socks, but the socks didn't match.

"Marxists and Mexicans are invading this country!" the man screamed hysterically. "And don't forget the Burmese pythons in Florida or the alien Japanese Kudzu. Our great nation is being overrun by freaks!"

Nobody was listening to his rant.

Smiling pleasantly, Aaron walked up to him and said, "Those are good points."

The man perked up when he saw he had an audience. "You understand me?"

"Sure. Kudzu is dangerous stuff."

"It can tear apart a bridge in a week!"

"Wow." Aaron furrowed his brow. "I had no idea."

Tawni didn't understand what he was doing. The guy in the shorts was clearly insane. What did Aaron hope to gain by humoring him?

The guy smiled. "I can tell you a lot more."

"I'll be happy to listen," Aaron said, "but do you mind answering a question first? When did you start getting this great information? When did you become interested in Kudzu?"

"My enlightenment started two months ago."

"What were you doing before that?"

"I was a plumber," the guy said. "I remember the night it happened. I saw a news report on TV about Zebra mussels in Lake Michigan. That's when I knew the world was in big trouble. I quit my job the next day."

"That's fascinating," Aaron replied with no hint of sarcasm in his voice. "What were you doing that night, exactly? Were you drinking? Was anybody visiting you? Did you eat unusual food?"

Tawni noticed Wesley had a very troubled expression. Norbert was frowning.

"No." The guy shook his head. "Just watching the news. I think I had a pot pie and a beer for dinner. Why do you care?"

"Did you see a strange light?"

"No. Of course, not."

Aaron leaned in. "There was nothing special about that night, other than your unexpected enlightenment?"

"It was just a regular shitty day at work. I came home. I was tired. Why? I want to talk about the conspiracy to control the price of gold. Our natural currency is being manipulated by the sovereign banks!"

"That's great. I should probably go. Keep up the good work."

Aaron swiftly walked away.

Tawni hurried to catch up to him. "Why were you talking to that nut ball? He was spewing garbage."

"I thought he was very informative actually."

She made a face. "Kudzu and Zebra mussels?"

"You have to pay more attention." Aaron stopped and turned. "Norbert, what did we just learn?"

Norbert stood tall. "Judging by the crowd, the phenomenon is obviously affecting a lot of people. I haven't seen any pattern of scars or other marks. The victims seem physically healthy. My first guess would be an environmental agent. Maybe a drug in the air, water, or food. The main symptom is overwhelming anger and anxiety, which the victims try to rationalize."

"That's very good." Aaron nodded.

"Thank you, sir." Norbert grinned.

"Wait!" Tawni said. "You think all these people are poisoned?"

"It's a possibility," Aaron said. "We'll find out one way or another."

She still couldn't figure him out. On one hand, his organization was violent, paranoid, and secretive, which made her think of mobsters. On the other hand, he didn't talk like a criminal. In fact, he seemed comfortable working with the police. The Gray Spear Society was most likely a secret government agency, but Charles' explanation had sounded religious.

Aaron faced south. "Damn," he muttered. "I guess the authorities decided to stop this protest before it really started. The O'Hare mess must've been a lesson learned."

Tawni looked in that direction. A line of cops in riot gear was moving towards her. The wall of plastic shields stretched all the way from Michigan Avenue to Columbus Drive. Patrol cars with flashing lights backed up the men on foot where pavement was available.

"Come on." Aaron headed north at a brisk walk.

Tawni followed, but she kept glancing over her shoulder. She expected the protestors in the park to scatter, but they stood their ground before the slowly approaching police.

"Stop," she said. "Let's see this."

He kept going. "That's not how you talk to your commander."

"Please, stop, sir."

Finally, he stopped. "Just for a minute. It's not safe here."

The cops reached the protestors and continued to push forward with their shields. The protestors tried to reach around and grab the men in blue. The cops responded by swinging nightsticks. Fights quickly broke out up and down the line.

"This is crazy," Tawni said. "Do they all want to get arrested?"

"They're obviously not thinking clearly," Aaron said. "We have to find the source of this madness."

There were hundreds of police officers, but they were already having trouble maintaining order. The protestors refused to back down and didn't seem to care if they were beaten.

Tawni heard many people screaming from the other direction. She turned and saw a wave of protestors running over to support their comrades. The angry mob was dense and coming fast. It was impossible to get out of its way.

Aaron and Norbert immediately moved in front of Wesley. The men settled into strong defensive stances.

"Shield Wesley with your body," Aaron ordered Tawni. "Now!"

She didn't like the boy, but some maternal instinct compelled her to comply. She got down on her knees and hugged Wesley tightly. He squirmed a little. She could feel his thick body armor under his clothes.

The wave of protestors crashed into them. Aaron and Norbert fought back with their fists and feet. Tawni had seen some good martial artists in her day, but Aaron wasn't just good. He was a master. His punches landed with the force of a sledgehammer, and his kicks would've made the cut in a Hollywood action movie. For a big man, he had incredible agility.
Who the hell is this guy?
Tawni wondered.

Norbert's skills were inferior but not by much. His style was very similar to Aaron's, and the master-student relationship was apparent.

Tawni felt a painful tingling in her guts. She grimaced and clenched.

"What's wrong?" Wesley said.

"I must've eaten bad food."

"Is it a warm feeling? It hurts but in a good way?"

"Yeah." She stared into his perfect face. The color of his glistening eyes reminded her of sapphires.

"That's God's breath burning inside you. It means you're a true
legionnaire
."

The sensation made her want to fight beside Aaron. She had never felt this strong before. Wesley's explanation sounded ludicrous, but she almost believed it.