The Hammer Commission Page 16

“It shouldn’t take too long.”

  Mark nodded and went and told the kids to go wait in the car, he’d be out in a little while.

  “That’s quite a lot of kids you have there.”

  “Well their mother’s aren’t big on Church; I can only get them to come in a few times a year.”

  “Yes so many people don’t have faith anymore.” Father Gregory sighed.

  “Oh they have faith; they just don’t care much for crowds. To be honest I don’t care much for them either, but I like going to mass. One of the few normal things left in the world it seems these days.”

  “So my Son, how did you know there was a vampire here?”

  “I came across a young woman who had escaped an attack out in the country. She had fled the city in a terror and wrecked her car not far from my place.”

  “Why did you kill it?”

  “What was I supposed to do? Leave it alone? I lost eight of my buddies to one of those things, I’m sure it had already killed more than a few here.”

  “Well why didn’t you go to the police?”

  Mark laughed, “I got a medical discharge from the army for ‘combat related stress’ after I told them some kind of monster had wiped out the squad. The police would have thought I was crazy.

  “And if they had tried to take it on? They would have all been killed.”

  “Well there are agencies that do deal with these kinds of things, but you’re right. Odds are that the police would have laughed at you and more people would have died.”

  “So why are you here then?” Mark was curious now.

  “To find out if you might wish to work for one of those agencies. We could use a man like you.”

  “Uhhh, I don’t think so Father.”

  “Why not? You’re a good Catholic, like you said, you’re not evil, and you’re not afraid to deal with these kinds of things.”

  “My past isn’t exactly free of sin father.”

  “Well no one’s is my son.”

  “It’s worse than that.”

  “Oh? How is that?”

  “Those are all my children,” Mark said embarrassed.

  Father Gregory paused a moment, “I suspected as much. A group marriage?”

  “We’re not really married, they just sort of pass me around and take care of me and the children, and well, I give them children and make sure everyone is safe, protected, and fed.”

  “I see.”

  “It’s complicated, but I love them and they love me. Yeah it’s probably wrong but it’s what they wanted and they pretty much saved my life, so I owe them.” Mark shrugged, “So you can see that I’m not someone you would want.”

  “Concubines, while frowned upon are not exactly all that unheard of my son. These things were common in days of old, but they still occur from time to time.” Father Gregory handed Mark a card. “This has the local parish number on it; I’ll be here for another week or so. Please call me, you do seem troubled and maybe I can help ease your mind, I have seen many of these monsters myself, I understand what you went through.”

  Mark took the card and thought about that. He also wondered what this Father would say if he knew that the man he was talking to was also a monster.

  % % % % %

  “Thinking about your friend?” Judith asked.

  “Yeah, the first time we met I thought he was just a crazy old guy. Then I was afraid he might find out what I was.”

  “What happened when he did?”

  “He was concerned for my spiritual wellbeing. Apparently there have been werecreatures in the church before, not as priests or such, but as followers. As long as they control themselves and don’t kill or bite people they’re accepted, but they’re expected to keep a very low profile.”

  “Well you were bit, did that cause any problems?”

  “A little, Father Gregory was upset with Helena, the one who bit me, but she told him flat out that she wasn’t going to let me die. So in the end they sort of reached a stalemate over the whole issue and just let it drop.”

  “What about our friend Rafael?”

  “That one is a bit dicey.” Mark admitted. “He’s not evil, but by his nature he tends to sin quite a bit. But he also tends to do a lot of good to try and make up for the sins that he does. So they’re kind of undecided about him and because he’s considered a monster and not a devil or a demon he’s not high on their priority list.”

  “So who deals with the Monsters then?”

  “Different government agencies, depending on the situation. We only deal with those situations when we stumble across them, or by request.”

  “Does that include Vampires?”

  “Vamps are a special situation, because they are always evil, and are affected by holy items.”

  “And werecreatures?”

  “Weres have a bad reputation, mainly because of one of the werewolf clans that dominated central Europe for a good many years. They were a pretty vicious bunch, and that’s where all the bad stories come from. These days all weres stay hidden as much as possible, and if they find out someone has gone rogue, they’ll hunt them down.”

  “Really?” Judith said surprised.

  “Think about it, people find out there’s a vicious werewolf or werecat in the area? They’re not just going to be happy with killing one; they’re going to kill every last one they can find. So it’s a matter of survival.”

  “Sounds rough.”

  “It is. A thousand years ago werecreatures were at the top of the food chain, and pretty much indestructible. Now? Now they’re just looking to survive, and hopefully someday come out of the shadows and gain acceptance.”

  Mark laughed then, “Of course I’m rather biased! So, have I satisfied all your questions?”

  “For now. So what is Father Flores like?”

  “I’d rather not say.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t like him, so anything I say will prejudice you. So keep an open mind.”

  “Anything else I need to know?”

  “Don’t eat the Thai food unless you have an iron constitution.”

  “Oh? Why’s that?”

  “The chef’s a native, and he makes it really hot.”

  “I’ll try to remember and try that.”

  “It’s your funeral.”

  “We’ll see. I happen to love Thai!”

  13

  “Reporting as ordered Father,” Mark said walking into Father Flores office. “Allow me to introduce Judith Keen, our newest member.” He couldn’t help but notice the look of shock and surprise, followed by what looked like a brief flash of disappointment when Father Flores looked up from his desk and saw him standing there.

  “What? Where?” Father Flores looked momentarily flustered, and then composed himself. “We had reports of a rather nasty car crash from the German Federal Police, who recovered a bunch of torn clothes and your wallet! You were presumed dead! What were you doing in Germany?”

  “The car I was using got stolen,” Mark said lying rather easily. He was curious as to what Father Flores’ response to that would be. “Did they catch the guys that did it? Any chance of getting my wallet or my things back?”

  “You weren’t in the car?” Father Flores looked shocked; Mark found that to be rather strange.

  “I just said it was stolen. I had been hoping to take a nice leisurely drive back here, show Judith some of the sights; she loves to drive by the way. I thought a car would be a lot easier on my wounds than one of those small airplane seats. But well,” he shrugged. “It got stolen. My fault really.”

  Father Flores looked very disappointed, “Talk to Marilyn about your things,” he sighed still looking just a bit disappointed. Then he looked at Judith who was smiling rather brightly at him.

  “Father Flores,” she said, giving a little curtsey and then shaking his hand when he extended it. “It’s so nice to finally meet you!”

  “The pleasure is all mine Judith. I’m sorry to hear what you’ve
been through; Mark should have known better and just taken an airplane here.”

  “Oh it was no big deal; just a spot of bad luck is all. I’ve heard so much about you, I’ve been very interested in finally meeting you!”

  “Oh I’m sure I can imagine just what Mister Levin had to say,” Father Flores said giving Mark a nasty look.

  “Oh I’m an old enough girl to know jealously when I hear it Father,” Judith said turning on the charm. “You’re really rather handsome as well.”

  Mark would swear that Father Flores actually looked embarrassed for a moment.

  “Come Judith, have a seat, let’s talk a while. Go over setting up your training now that you’re here.” Father Flores looked up at Mark, “You can go talk to Marilyn about your things, you’re excused.”

  Mark nodded surprised and left the room, it only occurred to him then that Judith really was showing a lot of cleavage, and had been bending over quite a bit there. She was almost throwing herself at Father Flores, and the good father seemed to be rather interested.

  He didn’t know if he should laugh or be insulted. What was she up to?

  “Do you know he tried to blame me for the car getting stolen,” He heard her say as he closed the door behind him. “How was I to know to lock the doors, I thought France was supposed to be a nice safe place.”

  The closed door cut off Father Flores reply thankfully.

  “Did he really think I was dead?” Mark asked Marilyn who handed him a plastic bag with what looked like a bunch of shredded clothes. He guessed his wallet was in there somewhere.

  “I don’t know, he hadn’t ordered a memorial service yet, but then again I’m not sure he was making any plans to.”

  “Well at least he didn’t dance a jig,” Mark sighed.

  “Only because you didn’t leave a grave for him to dance one on,” Marilyn said with a wink. “Really now Mark, how in the world do you always manage to get him so mad at you?”

  Mark shrugged, “I really don’t know, there’s always been something about him that just rubs me the wrong way. He makes my hair want to stand on end.”

  “Oh come on now Mark! He’s such a sweet man, how can you say that?”

  “I just hope he doesn’t try to jump my new partner’s bones.”

  “Mark, he’s a priest! You should know better than that. Unless of course you’re jealous?”

  Mark blinked, “huh?”

  “She is rather attractive, have you been setting your own sights on her?”

  “She’s my partner Marilyn; also she’s not exactly my type.”

  “What, you have a problem with dark skin?” Marilyn looked at him a little crossly.

  “No, I have a problem with someone who is going to get me killed. She’s bad luck personified. Read her record sometime, she goes through partners like Jake went through girlfriends.”

  “Oh don’t be so negative Mark!”

  He shrugged, “Let me know what room she gets set up in so I can find her before dinner time. Otherwise I’m going to get a nice hot shower and take a long nap.”

  “It’s not even lunch time yet Mark.”

  “Hmm, I missed breakfast, maybe I’ll eat first. Thank you Marilyn.”

  “You’re welcome.” She said and smiled at him. Mark sometimes wondered if she had a thing for him. Of course he also sometimes wondered if the ‘good Father Flores’ was dipping his wick in that particular well.

  Judith wasn't in her room come dinner time, so he went down to the dinning room by himself and was a bit surprised to see her there with Father Flores. She was most definitely kissing up to him alright.

  He smiled and said hello to the both of them as he went by, served himself at the buffet and then tracked down Brother Stevens and asked if he could join him.

  "Sure thing Mark, pull up a chair. Rumor was we almost lost you there."

  Mark nodded setting his plate down as he sat. "Had a couple of bad days."

  "Well there sure have been enough of those going around. Right now you're the only active field agent we have left. Joseph and Gregg are gone, Mike's retired and David has pretty much disappeared."

  Mark looked up at Stevens, "Disappeared? I heard he took a leave of absence."

  "Yeah well, he took it and walked out the door of the hospital and hasn't been heard from or seen since. They've got Interpol trying to track him down, they're afraid he might be dead, or worse yet suicidal."

  "Huh, how hard would it be to track him down by his cell phone?" Mark asked thinking about the incident with the one in the car.

  "Tried it. He left his phone in the Hospital."

  "You already tried it?" Mark said surprised.

  "Yeah, Father Flores asked about it, heard that the guys in Interpol do it all the time. Not that hard really," Brother Stevens blushed then, "Well not that hard if you spent your youth in rather slightly disreputable circles."

  "Huh," Mark thought about that a moment. "Did he ask you to track anyone else?"

  "No, but I don't see why he'd need to now that he's seen me do it once. Remember he is the system architect and head programmer for the Abbey's mainframe."

  "Wonder where he finds that time," Mark sighed sarcastically.

  "You kidding? He loves doing that stuff," Brother Stevens replied obviously missing Mark's tone of voice. "He goes down there almost every night. It's like its his baby."

  "Goes down 'where'?"

  "Oh, most of the mainframe's core processing center is in the new sub-basement. Stuff draws a lot of power and they had to sink a well and dig a new room for it and the cooling system, so it would be up close to the water pump. Anyway, the main system consoles are in a room down there."

  "I thought you could program a computer from anywhere?"

  Brother Stevens nodded, "Yeah, but it's easier to do some things from the system console, it's hard wired into the system and if you make a mistake you won't lose your connection. Also no one goes down there at all, so there aren't any distractions."

  "Huh, didn't know that." Mark pondered all of that a moment. "Hey, can you show me how the cell phone tracking thing works?"

  "Yeah, sure. Come on down tomorrow before lunch and I'll show you the whole program."

  "Thanks!"

  The topic of discussion moved on to his new partner after that, unsurprisingly. A couple of other people joined them during the course of dinner as well and they caught Mark up on the local news. Mark was rather pleased to see that people's feelings were still thawing towards him in general now that he was actually talking to them and not having his former partner around monopolizing all the conversations.

  He'd never really realized before what a bad idea that had been. He ended up joining several of them in the local pub for a few hours after dinner and had a few beers.

  "Father Flores ever come down here at all?" He asked one of the guys later that night.

  "Nah, he's a bit to important for that," the Brother, Jacob was his name, replied.

  "Important, or self important?" Mark asked a little sarcastically, and realized that maybe he'd had enough alcohol for tonight.

  Jacob laughed, "You're not the only one who isn't so impressed with our wonderful leader," and he winked at Mark then. "You're just the only one who was ever dumb enough to tell him to his face!"

  Mark blushed, his face going rather hot at that point, but he couldn't help but join in the laughter, Brother Jacob was right after all. He took his leave not long after that and went back to the Abbey and his room. He was a bit surprised to find out that Father Flores actually wasn't all that popular.

  Of course when he got back to his room he was rather shocked to find Judith in his bed.

  "What in the world are you doing here?" He said loudly.

  "Waiting for you, obviously."

  "In my bed? Naked no less? Have you no shame woman?!"

  "Oh please, give it a rest. Lock the door and come to bed. I need something warm and furry to curl up with."

  "What, I'm a stuffed toy now
?" Mark said still a bit upset. "What about your new friend?"

  "Hey, you told me to kiss up to him. So I did. But that's part of why I'm here. He seriously creeps me out, and after spending the day around him, well I just don't exactly feel that safe all alone."

  Mark stood there staring at her for a moment.

  "That was an act?" He said after a minute. Alcohol did tend to affect his judgment.

  "Yes. Now get in here and I'll tell you what I learned."

  Mark nodded and made sure the door was bolted, he'd installed that item years ago just to make sure no one ever came in unexpected while he was in a 'furry' mood. He stripped off his clothes then and changing gave the room a quick inspection and climbed into bed.

  "What was that for?"

  "Just making sure no one left me any surprises. What are you going to say to Flores about this in the morning?"

  "Oh, I'll make up something that puts you in a bad light, don't worry about that!" Judith laughed, making Mark growl.

  "Oh give it a rest. He does hate you, you know. But you are far from the only one. I could hear it in his voice as he talked about other people. You just have the honor of being at the top of his list. You have to wonder how someone like him was able to become a priest."

  "Family," Mark grumbled.

  "Yeah, and he hates them too." Judith sighed as she curled up against him, putting her face in his chest fur again. "I had a big stuffed lion plush as a kid; you are hands down better than he ever was!"

  "Thanks I guess. So anything else?"

  "He's very receptive to attention from an attractive woman. I'm surprised he hasn't tried to get me in bed yet; I've met his type when I worked as a regular patrolman, he thinks the rules just don't apply to him. He thinks the cardinals are all fools and the Pope is a moron."

  "He said that?"

  "Not in so many words, but the contempt in his voice is there to hear."

  "He say anything about Miles?"

  "The other field agent? No, mostly he wanted to talk about himself and asked some questions about you. I'd say that he seemed rather disappointed that you survived Paris, he asked me quite a bit about that attack and your wounds. How serious they were, how long they took to heal. I made sure to tell him about Father Otto's cleansing of the wounds with holy water, and his blessing of them."