Taralom called me down this afternoon, with sufficient urgency that I left a training session with Orison and Ophell. I arrived just in time to see Alex slamming back against a wall, his collar clutched in the fists of a man much larger than he is.
I didn’t bother at first trying to understand the situation. Landing directly behind the man, I spread my wings to their full extent. “Let him go,” I growled.
The man did so, taking a step off to the side as he did—trying to avoid me without realizing that was his aim. It was Dan Howell, who doubles as Mr. Hill’s assistant and bodyguard.
“Bet you think you’re real smart, kid,” he said, glaring at Alex. “But if you were smart, you wouldn’t have come at me.”
He took another step towards Alex, but I put myself between them, and he stopped again, satisfying himself with an angry glower.
Alex straightened up and brushed off his shirt. He was a bit shaky, but not hurt—thanks to Taralom, I had arrived only moments after the encounter had begun. “I believe my message only said that I wanted to talk to you. If there was anything implying a threat in it, I’m sorry, but I think you must have read it wrong.”
“It just so happens that I know what you’ve been up to,” Dan replied. “I was there when you set Warren up—pretty neat trick right there. And my buddy Grant told me that some little weasel has been blackmailing him.” Dan’s fists tightened up again. “I promised him I’d pound the twerp if I ever found him. Three guesses who I thought of first.”
“If you have to pound me, go ahead,” Alex said coolly. “Think I’m not used to getting my ass kicked? But once you’ve done that, I still have a couple things I want to talk to you about.”
I wasn’t at all as resigned to violence as Alex was and sent out another wave of antagonism to keep Dan at a distance. I was getting a sense of what had happened—Alex learned a bit of information about Dan last week, ironically from the same Grant that Dan was so eager to champion. He has been hesitating to use it, knowing Dan’s closeness to the head of the organization as well as his association with Warren, but apparently the potential rewards have outweighed the risk in his mind.
“You wanna talk, let’s talk,” Dan said. “I happen to know the boss is free right now—let’s give him a call.” He pulled out his phone suggestively.
“Sure,” Alex said, smiling. “Don’t forget to tell him about all the money I’ve put back into the organization for him, and that if he wants the names of everyone who’s been stealing from him, I have all the information gathered and ready in a safe place.” He brushed off his shoulders. “You think he’ll buy me a car for all the initiative I’ve been taking?”
Dan bared his teeth, but he couldn’t deny the truth. Aside from some mild deception in funneling the money through Miranda’s account, Alex has not, in fact, stolen so much as a dime from Mr. Hill. All of his actions could be painted as loyalty to the organization—and as I’ve said before, Alex is an excellent liar.
“Oh, and you should know,” he went on as Dan continued to hold the phone out like a gun, “your name is in that file.”
“Now you’re just fucking lying,” Dan said, though he shoved the phone back into his pocket. “I’ve never taken any money from Hill.”
“No, but there was that delightful evening with Maddie last fall.”
Dan’s chest went cold. He tried to hide it, but Alex had seen the flicker of fear across his face, and his confidence steadied.
“Aw, shit,” he murmured to himself. “Hill’s daughter is off-limits to all of us. What would he have to say if he knew about the game—and your apartment afterwards?”
Dan sprang forward, and I only just managed to misdirect him so that his fist struck the wall beside Alex’s head rather than square in Alex’s face. Alex didn’t flinch and met Dan’s gaze directly.
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” Dan hissed.
“Please don’t mistake me for an amateur, I’ve seen all the movies,” Alex said tiredly. “All this information is already stamped and waiting for the mailman. If I’m not alive to go and get it, Hill finds out anyway.”
I gave Dan a shove, and he stumbled backwards, curses still guttering out from between his teeth. He was caught, though, and he knew it. “Fine,” he said at last. “What the fuck do you want? Money? I’ll give you everything I’ve got if it’ll get you the fuck out of my life.”
“I think I’m good, thanks,” Alex said. “Got a few alternate revenue streams coming in. No, what I want from you is information. Hill’s schedule, what he does with his time, and what he gets other people to do for him. When you can, I’d like to know ahead of time, but I’ll settle for reports after the fact if that’s all you can do.”
“You want me to spy on the boss,” Dan said flatly.
“I’d like be kept informed,” Alex said with a smile.
I could see why he was doing this—information about the movements of his enemy would be invaluable to help him protect himself and the others—but I’m uneasy about it. It would be easy enough for Dan to misdirect him if he so chose. I can see that Dan is not as frightened by Alex’s information as the others are, or at least that his anger gives him some defense against the fear. For now, he will cooperate, as shown by the fact that he gave Alex Hill’s schedule for the day right then and there, but how long will that last?
Taralom is wary, too. He has promised to keep an eye on Dan, to try and forestall any attempts at retaliation. But we are both certain that Dan also will be watching Alex from now on. His quest has become all the more dangerous, and there is sure to be more need for our protection in days to come.