Epilogue
Mission accomplished. Those words kept going through Gabby’s head as she walked towards the Agency. She and her client had helped defeat the traitor. She knew of the location of the Sword of the Legendary Hero and know it’s safe with the enemies of her client. She also knew that there were two other treasures and one was a jewel that should be in the city in any day now.
She thought back to her client. He was he fourth one, the only adult and only non-human one. Her previous clients were troubled teens. The first was a lonely bullied girl, the second was a young boy who bullied others and got in trouble at school and the third was a runaway girl who turned to prostitution. She helped turned all their lives around and they were much happier.
“I did ask for a challenge,” Gabby said as she placed her hands on the handle off the glass doors. And a challenge she got. A seven foot mutant turtle that also happen to be the leader of the city’s most notorious street gang did not appear to need much protection, but as Charlotte told her, and as she told Hun, looks can be deceiving.
Teresa was at her desk. Mouse brown hair was styled into to small twin buns and her coral colored lipstick matched the polish on her fingernails the she was tapping against the surface of her desk while she continued with her conversation.
“You are worried about your son?” Teresa asked as her free hand froze in mid tap. “No longer talks with you about school and you are certain he is sneaking out at night?” Her fingers found a notepad and a pen. “Okay you will be hearing from us shortly. Let me get your number.” She wrote down some information. “We will doo our best Mrs. Hardwin.”
“Possible job for one of us?” Gabby asked.
Teresa shook her head. “More fitting for one of us saintly types.”
“P.I. work.” Gabby nodded. “
“How is your latest assignment?”
“Interesting,” Gabby said. “I’m going to report to Charlotte.”
Charlotte’s office was at the top floor and the elevators were next to the gym and locker room. Sometimes Gabby could hear the grunts and impacts of those who were training when she went to report to her superior and sometimes she was the one who was brushing up on her savate and jiu jitsu. Today it was quiet.
The doors open and two men stepped out. Rags was shirtless with several bandages wrapped around his chest. His normally spiky hair was weighed down with sweat and he had an embarrassed expression on his face.
Raphael followed him. The taller of the two was wearing a shirt, but he was limping and his dirty blond hair was dripping with sweat. He also appeared to be embarrassed.
“Not going to shower today?” Gabby asked.
“The med chest in the locker room is out of pain killers,” Rags said. “There’s no Tylenol, no aspirin, no Advil, no ibuprofen, no nothing.”
“What happened?”
“Both are my fault,” Raphael said. “I accidentally scored a good kick.”
“Don’t blame your self,” Rag’s said. “My fault for not fully blocking. I got to keep up my focus, can’t afford to get sloppy.”
“My knee is my fault,” Raphael said. “I wasn’t looking where I was going and I rammed it into an open door.”
Gabby sighed. “I’m not surprised.” She pressed the button for the elevator.
“Yeah,” Rag’s chuckled. “We just need to restock the med chest, take a few ourselves and then shower.
“I hope you do it before you make everyone’s noses hurt,” Gabby teased.
“Hey,” Raphael blinked. “We don’t stink that bad.”
Gabby was still chuckling when she entered the elevator and rode up. She tried to keep an appearance of being cool and collected while on the job, but here at the Agency she allowed herself to laugh and enjoy herself. She was not afraid to act a bit immature and she wasn’t afraid to crumble into a ball and cry.
She could hear Remmy on his guitar as she passed by his room while he played “Behind Blue Eyes.” There were no sound coming from the other rooms and either they were on assignment, or perhaps just resting.
Charlotte was leaning back in her chair with her feet up while she was reading through an issue of Cosmo. Her dark hair was kept out of her eyes by a headband and she was wearing a Knicks shirt and pale blue jeans with colorful patches on the knees. With her youthful looks and laid back attitude she looked more like the daughter of the boss and owner instead of the owner herself.
“Good afternoon, Charlotte,” Gabby greeted.
“Oh,” Charlotte gasped. She sat up. “Sorry about that. I didn’t quite see you or hear you come in.”
“Either you were really distracted or I’m getting more stealthy.”
“Let’s hope you are getting more stealthy,” Charlotte said. She rummages around her stack of papers and pulled out a crisp large envelope. “Here is your payment.”
“Thank you,” Gabby said as she opened the letter. Inside was a check and a photo. She was more interested in the photo. The old black and white photo was filled with women in baseball uniforms. One woman in particular was circled.
“That’s your grandmother,” Charlotte said. “She was a professional baseball player.”
“My grandmother was a part of history,” Gabby said as she slipped the picture back into the envelope.
“I’m sorry that I don’t have a name at this time.”
“That’s okay,” Gabby said.
“I need you to still keep an eye on your client and protect him,” Charlotte said. “I will provide you with as much information as I can get.”
“Every little bit helps,” Gabby said.
Gabby held the letter close to her chest as she made her way to her own room. It was a single bedroom with an adjacent bathroom and was large enough for her to divide into two halves using a folding room divider, a tall dresser and a bookcase.
She stayed in her
living room half that contained a small entertainment center, a large chair,
and a desk where her laptop was resting. She opened one of the desk drawers and
pulled out a wooden box marked ‘memories’ and opened it. There were a few other
photos and notes inside. Gabby placed the picture of her grandmother inside.