Dashing devil 5 bold beg.., p.16
Dashing Devil 5: Bold Beginnings, page 16
“You okay, girly?”
Royce’s gruff voice shook Raev out of her stupor, as she found herself still staring at Boyd’s side-profile through the open door as he stopped before Davis’s desk. She couldn’t see his expression, but she was sure the seasoned Director was staring at Boyd with a similarly stupefied awe.
“Yeah,” Raev replied, turning to their somewhat scruffy but damn good at his job Handler.
Raev had never had a good experience with a Handler, but apparently this one had seen Boyd through some hard times. He truly seemed to care for her demon, and all of them by extension.
“Why do you ask?”
Royce chuckled. “Just seems like all of you get a bit tongue-tied whenever Boyd so much as glances your way.”
Silvie let out one of her sweet giggles. “Well, have you seen his eyes?”
“Yeah, they’re gold now… so?” Royce asked, looking confused. “I’ll give you they look almost normal now, if damn near ready to glow in the dark. I gotta admit I liked the old ones better, more fierce looking.”
“It’s more the confidence he’s gained than the change in appearance,” Raev admitted, tapping a finger against her chin as she figured out how best to put it.
“The kid already had more confidence than was good for him,” Royce groused, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Not the confidence you are thinking of,” Raev waved the comment away with her hand. “From what I’ve heard and seen, Boyd has never lacked confidence when it comes to planning or how to act in any given moment. It’s more confidence in his own appearance.”
“It’s soooo delicious,” Silvie commented, wiggling where she floated in the air. “It’s been growing in him for weeks, but he really jumped forward yesterday.”
“In part, it was that final block he had around Hope being lifted,” Mindy added her two credits. “The change in his eyes and losing a few inches so that he loomed less over everyone helped a little, but he would have reached this point soon anyway. His ready acceptance of his horns becoming more prominent made that pretty clear.”
“Let me get this straight… because the kid thinks he looks good now, he looks better to all of you?” Royce asked. The man’s wry amusement was clear in his tone.
“More or less.” Mindy shrugged.
“Think of it this way…” Raev had finally figured out a decent analogy Royce might understand. “It's like when that girl-next-door who you know is hot suddenly gets contacts, ditches the glasses, and now has the confidence you thought she always should have had—but she isn't any less humble and approachable than before.”
Royce snorted and shook his head. "If you say so girly... I just wish you'd all stop catching flies and clamming up when those 'golden-eyes' turn your way. We need all of ya to be sharp, ya hear?"
Silvie rolled her eyes. “It won’t be a problem Royce, we’re all professionals here.”
“Right… Right…” their Handler snarked, “You all only look like a bunch of horny school girls whenever the kid pays you any attention. I’m sure you’re all maintaining professional thoughts and staying sharp beneath that clever disguise.”
Raev rolled her eyes in support of her silver haired lover but inwardly admitted that Royce was right. If they wanted Davis to sign off on their mission, then they needed to look like they were ready to conduct a reconnaissance and raid—versus appearing ready to jump into the Big Guy’s bed and keep him there for the next month.
She scanned the others, seeing the team all set their gazes and shoulders in displays of similar determination. “We’ve got this Royce, thanks,” Raev replied for them.
“Not a problem, girly, just doing my job.” Royce chuckled. “I had to have a similar talk with Boyd about going soft every time Silvie looked his way in meetings back in the day. He was still being all stoic at the time, so it was actually pretty funny to watch.” He rolled his eyes. “But it totally ruined the image he was swinging for back when we first tried to get him out with Silvie in the…”
Royce trailed off. “I’ll have to tell you about it later. I think they are about ready for us.” He nodded through the open office door.
“Kuh-he,” Mindy’s laugh made Raev want to hear the remembered story from Boyd’s past even more. She made a mental note to remind him about it later.
***
Boyd came to a stop in front of Davis’s desk, standing in a slightly more relaxed version of his standard at attention stance in response to the Director’s informal greeting. If he was expected to act like a Hero at the moment, the Director would have addressed him as ‘Dashing Devil’ or the shorter ‘Devil’ that Boyd preferred.
Davis blinked slowly and then shook his head in a way that was rapidly becoming familiar to Boyd.
The women around him had all done it at some point since he’d enhanced Hope. The Bond told him that when they did it, it was to shake off the daze his new appearance laid over them. He could only assume it was the same with Davis.
“I understand you are here for two reasons,” the Director steepled his fingers before him after clearing his throat. “The first is to present an early-stage briefing for a mission, and the second is for me to hear Miss Baker’s testimony in relation to criminal charges against her former employer.”
“Yes, though I would like to address Miss Baker’s testimony first,” Boyd rumbled with a firm nod. “I would also like to specify that we are taking advantage of Clause seven, Article twelve, Section J of The Authority’s charter. That way, Daisy can present her testimony to you in person and you can enter it into record while keeping her identity completely confidential.”
It was the only way to testify against a criminal of any kind while maintaining anonymity.
Boyd glanced over his shoulder and found that Diasy’s seat against the interior wall put her in view. While she wasn’t sobbing, fearful tears ran down her face that she wiped away in jerky, frustrated motions.
“Royce advised me that she harbors a general fear of the Authority,” Davis said after a moment, pulling Boyd’s attention back to him.
“She does.” Boyd nodded his agreement.
Davis sighed, his shoulders slumping for just a moment before returning to their perfectly squared off norm. “Unfortunately, Miss Baker has good reason to fear the Authority—and likely has experiences and memories to reinforce that distrust. I was only able to get Glorith to what I would call safe for Changed about three years ago.”
He paused. “Have you Enhanced her yet, or are you still working on it?”
Boyd blinked at the sudden diversion from the conversation he’d expected. “What? No!”
“My apologies; I didn’t mean to insinuate anything. You just got a bit growly with me there, and the only time I’ve seen that is in relation to one of your women.” The Director gave him a knowing smirk.
Boyd grunted, not realizing he had gotten ‘growly’, as the Director put it—though he didn’t assign the same meaning to it. “I have no intention of enhancing Miss Baker,” Boyd assured the Director.
“Uh-huh.” While Davis’s words seemed to agree, his tone informed Boyd that he was skeptical. “Anyway, I have no problem hearing her testimony related to Mister Snell. I’m not sure if you were aware, but several tips related to a wide range of criminal activity recently came in regarding her former employer. Well, evidence more than tips. He’s been handed to us on a silver platter, but every bit of testimony will help.”
Davis’s blue gaze made it clear he didn’t really want his next question answered, though they both knew he had to ask it.
“I don’t suppose you have any idea where that tip might have come from?”
“I’m happy to hear the wheels of justice were already in motion,” Boyd replied with his most innocent smile, “but I can assure you that no member of The Devoted generated or sent any form of tip related to Lenny Snell to anyone.”
Boyd though it best to avoid lying when he could. Granny wasn’t officially a member of The Devoted—yet.
“Glad to hear it,” Davis said with a hint of wry amusement. “Alright, let’s bring Miss Baker in so she can get this over with and stop thinking that I’m going to order her sent to some deep dark hole if she sneezes wrong or something.” He sighed.
“I’ll let her decide if she would like you or your team present while she gives her testimony. After that, we’ll send her off with Laura and move on to this mission of yours.”
‘She won’t be able to ask for it, but Daisy would be more comfortable if everyone is present. She truly is convinced something terrible will happen to her if she messes up in front of Davis. She wouldn’t have come if she didn’t trust us to save her—if it comes to it. Specifically, she is counting on you to save her… which is pretty sweet, don’t you think?’ cooed the Mindy in his mind.
She was perpetually in various versions of lingerie at this point, but Boyd refused to let her distract him. Well, at least not to distract him to the point he lost his train of thought or couldn’t act on the information she gave him.
“Thank you, Director.” Boyd nodded. “If you could, skip asking her about our presence and just let her assume we should be in here with her, Mindy says it will be a comfort.”
“Very well, call them in,” Davis said with another nod and a wave towards the still open door.
Boyd turned and raised his voice just a little to call out, “Okay everyone, we’re ready for you.”
Chapter 17
“…so, after I figured out that I wasn’t going to be able to get a job as a waitress, and no one would hire me for anything else because I had no skills, and the official reason he fired me was insubordination… I wasn’t sure what to do.” Daisy struggled through her story.
Laura stood beside the petite woman, gently rubbing her shoulder in encouragement. The fairy’s wings had drooped, forming a half skirt of thin, translucent material filled with a shifting swirl of iridescent color behind her. The rest of the team was arrayed around her where she could see them when she turned her head to look—as she had several times.
Each time she looked, it was like she was afraid she would suddenly find herself alone. And each time she saw them there, she seemed to take comfort from their presence.
‘Specifically your presence,’ Mindy corrected Boyd’s thoughts.
He gave her a mental snort. ‘Daisy trusts that we won’t let anything bad happen to her because we wouldn’t let anything bad happen to anyone. Not if we could avoid it.’
‘Kuh-he,’ his gothic love laughed at his rejoinder. ‘Of course. No one here would let something bad happen to anyone if we could help it. But you are the one who saved her—both in that alley, and then from what she would have been forced to do if you had not popped up at just the right time to offer her a job. And no, she attributes all that to you and not to Silvie. Don’t forget that Silvie made it clear she wanted her to sleep with you. And you’ve made it clear that wasn’t your intent. You helped her get a job, and your offer of help was just that… with no strings attached. That made quite an impression on our little spitfire.’
Boyd didn’t respond, instead paying attention to the ongoing testimony.
Davis asked, “When you say you weren’t sure what to do, other than the position he offered you, what other options were you considering?”
Director Davis had proven why he had the job to Boyd several times over in the past, but this conversation further cemented it. He seemed to know exactly how to lead Daisy to say the most damning things about Snell—all without asking any questions which did so overtly. This was important, as a transcript both sides of the conversation would be entered as testimony.
“Well… I could only think of… of two options,” Daisy replied nervously, once again glancing around.
This time, Boyd did note the comfort that seemed to come when her eyes landed on him.
She took a deep breath, then turned back to face Director Davis. “I could either sell what limited possessions we had or borrow some money from my neighbor, before trying to move to another city. Otherwise, I’d have to take the job. But we didn’t have much and I couldn’t do that to Mrs. Smithers. I wasn’t really sure where to go, as so few cities would allow me to maintain custody over my brother since I’m Changed and Connor isn’t.”
“And how did you feel at the time?” Davis asked in the calm, patient, and understanding tone he had asked all of his questions in.
“Trapped,” Daisy admitted softly, her small hands clenched at her sides. “I felt like I had to take the job in his sleazy night club—though we all knew that the girls who danced there were expected to provide certain…” She scowled. “…certain services to the customers. I even started planning for it, how to make it safer. Turns out my brother saw me looking up birth control and he almost became a criminal so I wouldn’t have to, t-the little t-twerp.”
The normally bright spitfire of a woman ended her testimony with a sob.
“Thank you. I will now end the recording.” Davis tapped a button on the tablet in front of him. “Again, I want to thank you, Miss Baker. That is all we needed. With this, I will personally ensure that Mr. Snell faces justice for what he did to you and others like you.”
Boyd knew that he had needed her to say some variation of feeling like she trapped and that she had no other choice in order to apply the predatory recruiting tactics charge to Snell.
“Laura,” Davis continued, “you should still have access to that discretionary account I set up for your information gathering and dissemination work.”
Boyd filed away the fancy term for ‘spying’ for later use.
“Why don’t you take Miss Baker down to the shopping levels while I talk with the rest of the team. A little retail therapy might help the young lady put this unpleasantness behind her—on me, of course.”
“What a lovely idea,” Laura replied warmly, giving the Director a grateful nod. She looked down at Daisy before she started guiding the petite woman back towards the door. “What do you say, Daiz… get you cleaned up a bit then hit the mall for an hour or so?”
“I guess,” Daisy replied a little sullenly, likely experiencing a mix of emotions because of the very uncomfortable situation.
“Daiz, huh?” Silvie muttered softly. Then, after a moment of consideration, she added with a firm shake of her head, “No, it doesn’t count.”
Evidently the search for an endearing nickname would continue.
The door closed behind the retreating pair with a quiet click, then Davis pressed something on his tablet and things changed in his office. Metal plates shot down to cover the floor-the-ceiling windows of his corner office, blocking out the breathtaking view of the city sprawled out beyond them. The lighting dimmed, becoming a ruddy red that completely changed the mood. Topping it off was a low humming sound that filled the room.
Boyd recognized it as the result of a broad-spectrum jammer meant to block out as many forms of eavesdropping as possible.
“Royce signaled that this mission directly involved the Ascended Coalition,” Davis explained the need for increased security.
His statement evidently served as an invitation for Boyd to explain what had happened, as he fell silent and gave the demonic Hero an expectant look. To be safe, Boyd held up a hand in a ‘just a moment’ gesture, flicked his Black Flame Vision on, and scanned the room.
Moving his head, albeit slowly, while using his Black Flame Vision was much more comfortable after Enhancing Hope. Silvie was her usual blinding silver, Raev her fiery red and emerald green, Tinker her bright copper, and Mindy a rich amethyst. Hope, inevitably, glowed with golden orbs.
She was almost as bright as Silvie. Like Boyd, his angel’s wings and hair gathered the energy her Powers harnessed. Unlike Boyd, she only collected colors similar to the golden orbs that made up her form and three cores.
The only other beings he had seen that absorbed all the colored orbs or cast a shadow the way he did were the now-deceased Last Dragon and her whelp.
Davis, like all unpowered, was made up of a loose mixture of colors, not nearly concentrated enough to be considered bright, while Royce was a dim bronze color. An instinct Boyd trusted told him that the dimness was a result of neglect. His handler had stopped using his Power decades ago. Other than those that, there was no sign of a Power at work in the room.
“Yes,” Boyd nodded as he stepped to the central spot before his desk that Daisy had vacated. He came to attention this time. “We have gained intelligence on the likely location of their next… gathering,” the word came out as a growl. “With your permission, we will run reconnaissance on the affair and, if we deem it safe to accomplish, perform a raid, rescue any victims present, and make as many arrests as possible.”
“Where?” Davis asked, leaning back in his chair and adopting a stern mask Boyd didn’t like the look of.
“Tinker, if you could,” Boyd nodded to his tiny inventor.
The tiny woman in a pink pants-suit, displaying only a little nervousness, trotted forward to place a tablet in front of the Director. It was preloaded with all of the information they had on the out-of-the-way venue and the expected guest list extrapolated from prior attendees who had no scheduled engagements Granny could detect that day. The guest list was literally an educated guess, but it would pay to give the Director as much information as possible.
After flipping through the bird's eye imagery and blueprints they could publicly access for the location and reaching the guest list, Davis set the tablet down. “I meant where did you gather the intelligence that led you to this location.”
“We were able to track an account that they use to purchase supplies and… entertainment,” Boyd kept most of the growl out of the disgusting word that time—only a little slipped through.
“We then used the delivery dates of several orders of perishable items to identify the likely date and location of the next event,” Tinker jumped in as Boyd visibly restrained his anger. “Of course,” she blurted out in a torrent of words, “it isn’t certain that this will be one of the events that feature criminal activity, which is why our plan includes a reconnaissance phase.”
