Death Cursed (Death Touched, Book One)

Chapter 20

They reached the bottom of the steps when three black sedans and a black heavy van drove up and parked at angles according to the sidewalk. Men and women in dark suits and shades leapt out and rushed past the group and into the apartment.

Peter's eyes flickered to Jack. "You were saying?" Jack frowned and narrowed his eyes, but didn't reply.

One of the agents, a woman an inch taller than Nena with long, flowing blond hair and a curvaceous body walked up to them. She wore black high-heeled shoes and a short black skirt that hugged her hips. Her black business coat and white blouse strained against the pressure from her large breasts. In her hand was a tablet.

The woman put her free hand on her hip and smiled at Jack. "Well, well, if it isn't my favorite agent."

"It must be a slow night in hell for you to be out here ordering your guys about yourself, Azazel," Jack mused.

"When I heard you were involved I couldn't resist, but you weren't leaving already, were you?" she wondered.

"And miss your boys sinking their claws into the heads of humans? You know me better than that," Jack returned.

She stepped up to him and pressed her ample bosom against his chest. Nena found herself glaring at their close interaction. "I'd like to know you even better, but for now-" her eyes flickered down to his coat pocket, "-I'd like to know what you have in your pocket."

A sly grin slipped onto Jack's lips. "Wouldn't you rather like to know what's in my pants?"

Azazel chuckled as she tapped the end of his nose with one long fingernail. "You're so cute when you flirt, but you're even cuter when you lie." She snatched the hard drive from his pocket and took a step back. "What's this?"

"Family pictures," he quipped.

Azazel turned away from him and raised the hard drive to her face as she took a couple of steps. "This wreaks of Corrupted." She glanced over her shoulder and smiled at Jack. "You weren't being naughty and taking evidence away from the scene without giving us a look, were you, Jack?"

He shrugged. "I thought I'd take it back to the Agency, but you and your boys were quicker than usual."

She grinned. "Only for you, Jack, and this special case, but since we're here let's take a look at this together, shall we?"

Azazel strode over to the van. Jack pursed his lips, but followed with his two companions behind him.

Nena sidled up beside Peter and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Who's she?"

"Azazel is second only to Scratch in the Agency, and is charged with leading the Erinnerung," he told her.

Azazel glanced over her shoulder and winked at the pair. "And I also make a mean Red Devil."

Nena narrowed her eyes at the other woman. "So you're a demon?"

Azazel laughed. "You humans never stop amusing me with your attitude toward us, even when you know we're the god guys."

"That's an oxymoron. . ." Nena mumbled as they reached the van.

One of the other agents stood at the rear and opened one of the doors. The left-hand wall was covered in computer screens, knobs, and dials. On the right was a workstation with a long desk, a few books and a laptop. In the middle sat two chairs on wheels that could roll to either side.

Azazel hopped in and took a seat on the chair in front of the laptop. She opened the lid and set the hard drive beside it, plugging the external into an outlet and the USB port of the laptop. Peter stepped up into the van and stood behind her, looking over her shoulder as she navigated to the recognized hard drive.

Azazel paused and glanced over her shoulder to glare at him. "Do you mind? It's cramped in here enough as it is."

"I do not mind," Peter replied.

She pursed her lips, but returned her attention to the screen. "It looks like part of the hard drive was damaged. I'm running a program to wade through the errors, but I doubt we can retrieve anything-"

"There," Peter spoke up as he pointed out something on the screen.

Azazel's eyes flickered to him, but leaned forward and squinted her eyes at what he pointed. "It's a folder." She clicked on the little icon, but nothing happened. The woman leaned back and shook her head. "Corrupted. Whatever was in there isn't going to be retrieved now."

"What about the name of the folder?" Jack asked the pair who had easy sight to the screen.

"The name is 'Project Endzeit,'" Peter told them.

Nena's eyebrows crashed down. That name sounded familiar.

Jack folded his arms over his chest and frowned at the hard road beneath him. "Damn it. Looks like our luck ran out."

Nena's eyes widened. Luck. She whipped her head up to Jack. "We have to get to Matt!"

He furrowed his brow. "Matt? The boy you know? Why?"

She pointed at the screen. "Because he's working on that code!"

Everyone perked up at that pronouncement. "You are certain?" Peter asked her.

She glanced around at the others. "Endzeit means 'end times,' right?"

Jack shrugged, but Peter nodded. "The German does translate to that."

"That's what Matt said his project translated to, and that it was German," she told them. She grabbed Jack's hand and gave a tug toward their car. "So we've got to go and warn him before something bad happens!"

Azazel stood and smiled at Jack. "My men and I can provide backup."

Jack grinned and shook his head as Peter hopped out of the van. "Sorry. This is a private party."

"We can help!" she insisted as the group reached their car.

"You're so cute when you lie!" he shouted before he slipped into the vehicle.

Peter stepped on the gas and burned rubber as they flew down the road. Azazel stepped down from the van and glared at their retreating tail lights.

The agent who stood near the van moved to stand behind her. "Shall we follow them?"

A sly smile slipped onto her lips as she shook her head. "No. We'd only get in his way."