A Story Begins Now

By Jane Carver

  With swift strides, Gambrel walked to town and gathered a few pieces of equipment he needed to set the trap for Haggin. Pessios and Canfanto waited nearby for him.

Though Walys wasn’t with Handid/Haggin when Linden died, Gambrel would lure both in and eliminate them. The alley he chose ran deep, and the only light in the narrow passage shone during the middle of the day. Gambrel planned to spring the trap near moon rise the following day.

Because he didn’t want to involve his two friends in justice breaking, he did not tell them his plan. Pessios probably suspected. With comrades, one took the good as well as the bad. The man was a superior fighter and communicated with Canfanto mentally, but he was as stubborn as Gambrel. Pessios seemed determined to follow him into this last encounter. The former enforcer had other plans for the two. That way, they would be safe and well away from the action.

When Gambrel joined Pessios at the dock, Canfanto was gone. “Off to guard the Unseen in case Haggin or Walys leave,” Pessios informed him. Gambrel nodded but said nothing else. He kept his mind carefully calm with innocuous thoughts so the other man would not pick up on his intentions.

Back on board the Fenix, he left Pessios and entered his cabin. Though it was early eventide, Vangee sat at the table where plates of food and clear-cuts of wine waited.

“I thought you might be home soon.” She carried his coat to the hanger before standing on tiptoes for a kiss. One led to several others. However, Gambrel’s mind was focused on his plans, and even his mate’s kisses did not impinge on them.

“Come and join me for a meal. It’s your favorite.” She playfully pulled him to the table. Though genial, she did not try to cozy him out of his mood.

Little conversation of deep meaning past between the two while they ate. Her day spent with Merlo and several Cabrillans. A funny story about Effie and Thacton. She questioned him but only about what he saw in Cabrilla as he went about business for the captain. With a sigh, he pushed back his plate, still half filled.

“Vangee,” he shoved his chair far enough to pull her on to his lap. When she sat in his embrace, he wrapped large arms around her and held her. Silence. One heart to another. Would this be their last even? Despite the fact she told him to do what he must, in times ahead she would find it hard to remember she gave him permission to kill a man. A sick despair ate at his soul over leaving her and the fleet. Never again would he put another in jeopardy for the harm he did.

“’Brel, you’re hurting me.” She winced until he released the pressure of his embrace.

“Sorry, love. Sometimes I must hold you and remember you love me.” He stroked her cheek while sadness welled in his heart. “You are more precious to me than life.” He cocked his head to one side and smiled. “I wonder what our child would look like?” His mind wandered to the future when he was gone.

“I know how we can find out.” Vangee whispered as she slipped her hand inside his shirt and rubbed one nipple until the dark pebbles rose hard and large. “Perhaps not this eventide but in the near future.” With a soft sigh, she leaned against his chest and sought his mouth.

Desperation brought the two together that dark rise. Time on Cabrilla was drawing to a close, and both knew it. Gambrel had a job to finish. He wanted peace and comfort in his mate’s arms. Vangee sensed his desire to create a new life. Her life force that night shone around them as they made love far into the dark’s time.

* * * *

Gastrojan strolled down the ship’s plank ahead of Gambrel the next morning rise. When the smaller man turned left, Gambrel paused. Where were Pharlie or Lycol? Nowhere on deck. Had the two men gone ahead? Gastrojan strolled down the pier toward the other Ancadian ships anchored for repair. Was he going to the Unseen? Disquiet entered Gambrel’s soul. A prickly sensation nagged the back of his neck beneath his tight braid of dark hair.

Did Gastrojan and his cronies work for Haggin? He dismissed the idea. No evidence of any joining in the records he read or from talking to Pessios, Canfanto or Jacon pointed to such. Working together wasn’t impossible so much as improbable.

Before the morning light rose above the ship’s rail, Pessios and Canfanto volunteered to monitor the Unseen. The fleet would leave this world in two days, the trap sprung that eventide. Gambrel planned to distract his friends with another errand when the time for revenge came.

“Has Gastrojan shown up?” The first thing Gambrel said in greeting Pessios. The man stood at a window on the second floor of a warehouse across from the Unseen.

“No sign of him. Are you expecting one of those three here?” Pessios briefly lost his focus. The Lazzardian mentally asked Canfanto if he saw Gastrojan, Pharlie or Lycol. Canfanto observed the ship from a closer hiding place.

“Canfanto reports none of the three in sight.” Pessios and Gambrel switched places at the window. “These men bother you?”

“They might be involved with Haggin.” He shrugged. “There is no logical reason to think so.” Once again, he rubbed the back of his neck, a sure sign of trouble as far as he was concerned.

The three watched the ship carefully, but neither Haggin nor Walys left. Several men and women strolled the dock near the Unseen but none the trio recognized.

Well past nooning, Gambrel told Pessios to send Canfanto back to the Fenix. “He will be in a better position to observe Gastrojan when he returns. They may have returned already. He can report anything unusual.” Pessios decided to stretch his legs so left to speak to Canfanto in person.

The silence of the room pressed in on Gambrel once his friend was gone. Still air felt like so much hot dust on his tongue. Cold-bloodedness usually attended him when he sought the end of a manhunt. Not so today. Bile threatened to choke him when he thought of the letter and token he left for Vangee. He would not return to the Fenix.

Send Pessios on a mission of seemed importance then swing into action, lure Haggin into his trap, and kill the worthless bastard. Lindan’s revenge completed. Walys, Haggin’s second-in-command, would fall as well, and that pleased him. Twelve months earlier a ratty little snitch said the man died. The comments of Walys’ death were exaggerated then but not for long.

Pessios climbed the steps with a heavy tread. “So you are aware I’m coming, friend Gambrel. From the way you’ve been acting, you might forget it’s me, shot first then ask who.” Pessios slapped him on the back. “By then, it would be too late for me.”

The lack of air movement and the heat in the upper warehouse room compounded the headache between Gambrel’s eyes. The two men took up positions on either side of the large windows. Marking time before a mission stretched long, but patience served a purpose. He could wait.

* * * *

“Gambrel!” Pessios didn’t take his eyes off the dock beneath the window as he tried to wake his partner. Pessios thumped Gambrel’s arm to get his attention.

A snort and a few blinks and he awoke. Haggin and Walys rounded the corner of the last warehouse.

“I must follow. Stay and wait for their return. If I do not show up right afterwards, come search for me on the far side of Cabrilla.” That much information he shared with Pessios. If his friend stayed, the trap could be sprung sooner than planned.

In a flurry of leather coat, Gambrel headed for the stairs only to be stopped by an impervious command.

“Wait!” For a minute, he thought Pessios about to argue, but one look convinced him there was another more important reason to hesitate. “There’s something wrong on board the Fenix.” Pessios stood still, silently communicating with Canfanto. “People are missing. Some are tied up and…” The Lazzardian paused as if he didn’t understand what his friend said. “Others have been knocked mindless. One woman is dead.” Pessios frowned. “Her death is most horrible. Chiffro?”

Confusion clouded his narrow face. “Why was the lady Chiffro beaten so badly she died? She clutches a scrap of paper, and Canfanto says deep cuts mark her neck like a chain was torn away.” He shook his head. “This makes no sense.”

A growl, low and menacing, rumbled through the room. “This makes a great deal of sense.” Gambrel’s guttural voice sounded harsh in the quiet. One hand passed over his face. Resignation changed to fire-hot hatred.

“I gave a letter and a token—a ring on a chain—to Chiffro. Both were to be delivered to Vangee after full dark. Someone watched. Knew my intent. I feel Gastrojan’s hand in this death. Others suffer as well, you say?”

“Yes, and some are missing.”

“Who?” Gambrel knew the answer before his friend spoke.

“Jacon, Domas, Flustos and Herion. Effie and Thacton.” Pessios paused to catch a breath on a near sob. “Dara and…” He hung his head.

“And Vangee.” Gambrel finished. “All those dear to me. The only reason you and Canfanto were not taken is because you were not there.”

A decision must be made. Return to the ship and track those responsible? Or follow Haggin? “Haggin left about the same time the attackers struck the Fenix?” Pessios nodded. “They were aboard the Unseen, but…” In an instance, Gambrel recalled the encounter between Walys and the local justice breakers. “Haggin hired men to abduct those from the Fenix. I witnessed the meeting but heard not what they planned.”

“Come. We must return and search for evidence of Haggin’s plan.”

“Gambrel, I follow Haggin. Canfanto will relay any information I discover.” A hard clasp of the arms and the two men separated.

*****

Have you checked out The Sergeant and the Knight at Amazon yet? My latest work is a romantasy–part fantasy/part romance. I think you’ll enjoy the read. Let me know!