Summoned Again?

I had been right and the corporation committee loved Nat's designs and artwork even more than I did. We settled on a square design for the Clarity pendant with the image of a clear blue sky over a green field, with the option for a blank front for the people that didn't want the artwork. The back would have the corporation's logo, which we haven't decided on, and Nat and I would need to work on it later.

I thanked everyone for all of their hard work and carried Teddy out of the meeting, with Nat carrying Crystal beside me. Luckily, Crystal had liked Nat's art and had stayed interested, even during the boring parts of the meeting. I wanted to thank her for that by doing something special later and we climbed into the car to head to a familiar hotel. I had stayed there twice already and knew that it was a quality place that wasn't too high scale.

We checked in and I pretended to drop our things off in our room, freshened up a little, and decided to go be tourists. To my surprise, Crystal was fine with leaving Teddy behind, because she said she knew that carrying him around was hard to do for too long. Her acceptance made me seriously think about taking Teddy everywhere, so I decided that I would take him out at certain times and have Nat take pictures of us. I would stash Teddy in different places in the background for Crystal to find later.

We had something to eat for lunch and started our day of tourism. There was a lot to see in Washington D.C. and Nat had the bright idea to join a city tour group. I was fine with that and the three of us boarded the open topped bus. It was a bright spring day and our light coats were perfect for keeping us warm. Even so, I sat Crystal in my lap and hugged her tightly. She didn't complain.

The tour was pretty impressive and had several stops at the major monuments. The group usually had ten to fifteen minutes to enjoy the sight, look around, and take pictures. That was a surprisingly perfect amount of time and we were usually the last ones to take a picture. My favorite one would end up being the Lincoln Memorial, because we weren't allowed to climb up and sit on Abe's lap and I put Teddy there for the picture.

Since he was an eight foot tall teddy bear, he looked like a normal size on Abe's lap and that was just flipping hilarious. Nat noticed the bear easily this time and laughed when she checked if the photo came out well and Teddy could be clearly seen behind us. She didn't mention it and I winked at her.

The tour moved on and the three of us enjoyed it a lot as the tour guide talked about everything. It ended at the gates of the White House and the tour guide said that no tours would be accepted today, which made a few people on the tour sad, until Nat whispered an idea in my ear.

“I can't do that.” I whispered.

“Sure you can.” Nat responded. “No one's looking.”

The tour guide mentioned a few important facts about the various presidents and asked a couple of questions.

“There's nothing for him to hide behind.” I whispered back.

“That's kind of the point.” Nat said with a smile. “Stick him right there behind the bars of the fence.”

I sighed and made sure that no one was looking, since they were all looking at the tour guide, then I nodded and made Teddy pop up behind the bars.

Nat was ready and took the picture of the White House before Teddy fell over, and I stored Teddy again. “I got it.” She said and showed me. Sure enough, the White House was in the center of the shot and Teddy could be clearly seen right behind the security fence.

“Lemmie see, Nat Nat!” Crystal said and plucked the phone out of Nat's hand and then gasped. “TEDDY!”

“That's right! Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt commissioned the creation of the Panama Canal.” The tour guide said, a pleased smile on her face. “He was one of the more outgoing presidents...”

Crystal looked out the window at the White House and didn't see what she wanted, so she looked back at the phone. After a moment, she sighed and held the phone out to Nat, who gave me a look.

“We should wait until we get that laptop.” I said and she gave me an awkward look. “All right, go ahead.”

Nat gave Crystal the phone back. “Swipe right.”

Crystal wasn't sure why she said that, then she swiped the photo aside. She gasped again and looked up at me with wide eyes.

“Keep looking.” I said and Crystal became completely focused on the task as the tour bus moved on.

Nat had taken a bunch of pictures and even she didn't realize that I had sneaked Teddy into every single one. “Wow, that one was subtle. Now I see why you wanted a laptop for her to look.” She whispered and Crystal asked where Teddy was hiding. “Look at the trees.”

Crystal looked at the trees and used her fingers to zoom in. Sure enough, Teddy was half hidden behind the tree trunk that was almost the same color as his fur. The baby blue vest made him stand out, though. Crystal giggled and checked the next picture and the next. By the time we were back at the drop off point, she had a huge smile on her face and gave the phone back to Nat. We went back to the hotel to eat supper and I dropped Teddy and our bags into the room before we entered.

“Hi, Teddy!” Crystal said happily as she hopped onto the bed with him and turned on the television.

“I'll order room service.” Nat said and picked up the phone. “Anything specific for you?”

“I'm in the mood for a nice well-done steak.” I responded. “Mashed potatoes, extra butter, and double greens, too.”

“I'm going to sound really pretentious ordering that.” Nat chuckled. “I should have kept my mouth shut.”

“Yep!” I said and took out my cell phone to send a message to the jewellery store.

Cherise responded right away and said she was almost desperate for a set of six diamonds and at least four rubies. Her clients were practically begging her for more.

I smiled. “I've got a bit more business to handle a few streets over, so I'll be back in half an hour.”

“It's not that kind of business, is it?” Nat asked, pointedly.

I showed her the texts and her eyes widened.

“You do not have something like that on you.” Nat said. “Tell me you don't.”

“I don't want to shock you.” I said with a grin.

“Oh, sweet Jesus, you have a lot more than that. That's why you wanted the gem mine.” Nat said with a sigh and I nodded. “I don't want to see it.” She said and I grinned at her. “I don't!”

“Does the girly girl want something shiny to play with?” I teased.

Nat shook her head. “Go on before I smack you.”

I chuckled. “I'll be right back.” I said and walked over to Crystal to kiss her cheek, then left the room. I quickly found a good hidden spot to take out one of the large sacks that were the size of stuffed garbage bags. The gems glittered in the light and I stored ten each of diamonds and rubies, then a couple of emeralds, just in case.

I was pretty sure Cherise was going to drool over them, especially because she was buying them so cheaply from me. The amount of money she was making from the worthless colored stones that I had picked up for free on the last world, was absolutely ridiculous, and I was going to keep giving her the discount. She had taken a chance on me and even told me that she was taking advantage of me and would keep doing so.

That kind of honesty deserved some loyalty, so I walked over to her shop, fully prepared to dazzle her. Of course, getting cash right away was great and I would add it to my growing stash. I wasn't going to be left without money ever again.

*

“What the hell were you thinking?” The director of the Secret Service asked the supervisor that had been responsible for the latest debacle with what they were referring to as the anomaly.

The supervisor had been called into the head office on his day off, just to answer for his actions that were apparently against current policy. It wasn't his fault that he wasn't up to date on his correspondence. He was a busy man and couldn't read every note, message, and email sent his way. That was what he had a secretary for. It also wasn't his fault that she had taken the same two days off as his agents.

“You were specifically warned about antagonizing him!” The director said.

“He breached the White House for god's sake!” The supervisor countered. “He also stole over a hundred million dollars in art from the Smithsonian Museum!”

“Allegedly.” The director said. “Just like we can't prove he left the note, we can't prove he took the artwork.”

“I miss the days where we could just pick people up and make then disappear, just so we wouldn't have paperwork.” The supervisor said. “Sir.”

The director sighed. “Did you see the report from the FBI office?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you have any idea how much it costs to disassemble three vehicles and remove them from a building?”

“No, sir.”

“The ones in the meeting room were easy compared to the ones in the FBI director's office and the stairwell.” The director said. “He was livid, especially since twelve of his agents somehow lost the keys as well, not to mention their guns, IDs, and wallets.”

“Sir, how is that not worth an arrest? He stole from the FBI.” The supervisor said.

“They can't prove that he did it. Even the cars, since they were returned, don't count.”

The supervisor frowned. “Sir, there's no reason to leave this man alone. He's a nuisance and a danger to national security.”

“He made an asset completely disappear.” The director said. “Bridgette hasn't reported in since she was dispatched to take care of him while in custody.”

“It's not customary for them to...”

“No calls, no texts, no car, and no report of her being seen after the anomaly left custody with her.” The director said. “I suspect that she's dead, since there was no trace of her, not even tire tracks or her scent leaving the building or parking lot.”

The supervisor sighed. “She's gone.”

“The NSA's female agent in the same operation is in jail for murder, the tech guy's hands were crushed and his apartment completely emptied, and the female FBI agent is... well...” The director looked uncomfortable. “They can't tell what's wrong with her and its getting worse.”

“This is all his fault, sir.” The supervisor said.

“Is it?” The director asked. “I've seen the reports of the operation, the ones that they didn't have time to erase. As far as I can tell, three agencies collaborated to both measure and to confiscate the target's gold assets. It was done on the orders of this 'Janus' person, who didn't have the authority to do so.”

“Sir, he's dead and can't defend himself from those accusations.” The supervisor responded.

“He was killed by one of the agents on that mission that he gave the orders to, you idiot.” The director said. “He told us everything, while attached to a lie detector, and passed without even a single blip out of place.”

“Sir, you know that...”

“Of course I know. I'm the director of the Secret Service.” The director cut him off. “I saw the video footage of the recording and also the footage of the female FBI agent telling everything to the anomaly.”

“There's footage of that?” The supervisor asked.

“On our own equipment, too.” The director said. “It's quite dramatic and quite real.”

“Sir, we can't just let this go. He's a criminal and...”

“That's not your decision to make.” The director said and cut him off again.

“Did you read the note?” The supervisor asked and the director nodded. “You know this isn't over.”

“We'll deal with it when he tries to fulfill his warning.” The director said. “Until then... drop it.”

“Yes, sir.” The supervisor left the office with even more disillusionment than he had entered with.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!