22 - Caomhnóir – Manny

 

Three hours later dinner, study hour, and Hamlin had come and gone. Gebhard was on his way to the airport and the boys were planted in front of the television watching a movie. While they did, Manny checked to make certain that the house was locked up and that they’d tidied their rooms.

 

When he reached the stairs leading to the fifth floor he paused. He thought he heard voices coming from above him, which made not sense as all the boys were accounted for and Mr. Shadrick lived alone up there.

 

Probably just the TV, was his first thought, but he was curious to find out if that was so. Quietly, he climbed the stairs, stopping on the landing outside what had once been Cerdic’s very private and well-secured domain.

 

Inching forward, he pressed his ear to the door, trying to decipher the words of what sounded like an angry discussion between two men. One voice he recognized as Mr. Shadrick’s. It took a long minute to figure out who the other one belonged to. Then shock registered on his face as he backed slowly away. “Impossible,” he whispered softly.

 

Without thinking of anything but what he’d heard, he turned and raced down the stairs. When he hit the first floor he pulled up short, trying to calm his racing emotions. He had to get the boys to bed before anything else. Then he needed to call Alasdair.

 

Half an hour later, with the boys in their rooms and hopefully settled for the night, he sat in his room, staring at his cell phone. Finally he flipped it open and dialed. Alasdair answered on the first ring.

 

They talked for a few brief moments, Manny telling the commandant what he’d heard. At first Alasdair was doubtful, but it didn’t take Manny long to convince him that they had to talk face to face. “I can get away from here mid-morning while the boys are in class,” he said and they set a time and place to meet.

 

 

21 - Caomhnóir – Manny

 

 

“Why is it that every time Manny comes in to work you’re with him?” Gebhard asked the next evening when the two young men showed up together.

 

“Blame the puppy,” Hamlin replied. “I leave him at Manny’s place so I have to be there before he leaves. I just tag along after that.”

 

“Well if you’re going to keep doing that I suggest you get a key from Manny tonight, because he’s going to have to stay here for a while. I need to go out of town for a few days on personal business.”

 

“Gee, give a guy some notice why don’t you,” Manny grumbled.

 

“I just did. Eight hours notice. Luckily you’ve got things here as well as there. Look, I’m sorry. If I’d known earlier I’d have given you a head’s up. But I just found out myself.”

 

“No problem I guess. When will you be back?”

 

“It shouldn’t take more than three days. Then I’ll give you a couple of days off in exchange.”

 

“That works.” Manny took a key off his keyring, handing it to Hamlin. “Do you mind going out and getting this copied?”

 

“Not at all. I’ll be back ASAP.” Hamlin pocketed it, chuckling to himself as it rested against the one he already had, and left.

 

“You two have become good friends I gather,” Gebhard said moments later.

 

Manny shrugged. “We were before Cerdic sent him to London. We’ve just renewed it now that he’s back.”

 

“Do you miss him?” Gebhard asked suddenly.

 

“Cerdic? Yeah I guess.”

 

“He was a good man,” Gebhard said quietly. “Taking all you boys in like that.”

 

“Well you and Mr. Shadrick are continuing that, so that makes you good men too.”

 

Gebhard gave him a slight smile. “We own the house now and part of the conditions of that are to house the boys until they turn eighteen. As long as we’re doing that we decided to fill any vacancies with more kids.”

 

“Which will become a never ending cycle I suspect,” Manny said.

 

“Maybe. Who knows? Speaking of cycles, it’s almost dinner time so let’s get the boys down here.”

 

“What time do you leave?” Manny asked as they headed upstairs.

 

“I’m taking the red-eye at eleven. Then you’re on your own until Mr. Shadrick comes on duty in the morning.” 

Come meet 'An Honorable Thief'!

 An Honorable Thief

https://www.jms-books.com/edward-kendrick-c-224_229/an-honorable-thief-p-4807.html

 

https://www.amazon.com/Honorable-Thief-Edward-Kendrick-ebook/dp/B0CFPBTBJN

 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1143956058?ean=9781685505325

 

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/an-honorable-thief-1 

 

GENRE: Gay Mystery Romance
LENGTH: 50,711 words
RATING:

Ash Logan is a freelance computer consultant ... and a professional thief. A thief with honor, he believes, as he only retrieves items that have been stole from someone, returning them to the original owners.

He is also a loner, almost a prerequisite all things considered. He has second thoughts about that when he meets Mark Goode and they become friends with benefits. When Mark figures out Ash is a thief, he claims to be one as well. After some consideration, Ash agrees to take him along on his next job -- retrieving a stolen statuette.

When Mark betrays him by taking the statuette from him at gun point, Ash vows to get even. It will take all his skills as both a computer expert and a thief, but he has time and incentive, especially when he finds out who Mark really is -- Pete Dixon.

What happens next is complicated and may change both their lives, if they can survive a crooked art collector who wants Pete dead.

EXCERPT:

With the art gallery's security system taken care of, Ash used his electronic pick to open the door and then slid into the hallway, staying in the small area behind the overhead camera's vision. He gave a nod to let Mark know to join him. Then, after taking a few moments to time the camera's movements, Ash moved quickly to unlock the office door, slipped into the room, and closed it. He used his scanner to search for any hidden cameras which would record anyone who entered the room and store the information on discs to be looked at later. Not finding any, he texted Mark to join him. Moments later, Mark did.

Why here, not the storeroom? Mark texted.

Ash pointed to a standing safe in the far corner of the room before texting, As valuable as the statuette is, that's the logical place to keep it. If I'm wrong, then we play seek and find in the other room.

Going to the safe, Ash studied it before taking the tools he needed from his backpack. It took him a frustratingly long time to open the safe but it was worth it. If he'd been a normal thief he'd have thought he hit the jackpot as there was a cashbox full of fifties and hundreds, and another larger one with jewelry that he knew from his research was going to be part of an upcoming exhibit.

Ignoring the boxes, he picked up a small package wrapped in brown paper. Using the knife he carried in the quick-release forearm sheath, he cut the paper and found cotton batting. He removed it and silently sighed with relief when he saw the statuette. Wrapping the batting around it again, he put it into his backpack, sheathed his knife then turned to Mark and gestured toward the door while texting, Don't worry about being seen. They won't get here in time.

Mark nodded and opened the door. Within seconds they were through it and the gallery's rear door. No alarms sounded, but Ash knew there were silent ones. It wouldn't be long before the cops and probably men from the security company showed up.

"Don't unmask until we get to the end of the alley," Ash said before he headed toward the street. They pulled off their masks when they reached it, and from there made it to where they'd parked with no problem.

Then, as Ash started around his car, he heard Mark say, "I'll take the statuette now, if you don't mind." Ash turned to find Mark right behind him, holding a gun.

"What the hell!" Ash spat out.

Mark shrugged. "I was hired by a collector who is very interested in getting his hands on the statuette. He considered using you to do the job until he learned that you only steal items that were stolen from someone else and that you always return them to their original owners. At that point, he was approached by the man who owns the gallery about buying the statuette; however he didn't like the price Harkins was asking. That's where I came into the picture." He smiled, adding, "I don't have your scruples, so to speak," as he held out his hand. "Please give it to me. I like you, so I really don't want to shoot you unless it's absolutely necessary."

Ash considered trying to grab the gun, but thought better of it. Mark might well carry out his threat and Ash wasn't big on getting shot if he could avoid it. "Here, you son-of-a-bitch," he said, thrusting the wrapped statuette at Mark.

"Now your knife, please."

"Why the hell ...?" Ash debated but only for a second before giving it to him.

"Thank you. It was fun while it lasted but as they say, all good things must come to an end." Mark used the knife to slash the car's front tire then tossed it on the ground under the car. "Tell the lady who owned this I'm sorry. Not that I am but it might make her feel better." He winked, and then with one swift move smashed the butt of the gun against Ash's temple.

The last thing Ash remembered as he hit the ground was the sound of Mark's footsteps as he walked away.

 

 

20 - Caomhnóir – Manny

 

“I got it,” Manny declared the moment he walked into the loft.

 

“Without getting caught I take it. What’s it say?”

 

“That Gebhard has a reason to be stressed, but it has nothing to do with me. In the three years I’ve known him, I never realized that he was married.”

 

Hamlin nodded. “I knew, though I think it was a marriage in name only.”

 

“Well it’s not going to be that much longer. The letter was from her lawyer. She’s filing for divorce.”

 

“Damn, poor man.”

 

“Yeah, I agree. So now we’re back to square one again.”

 

“Not a particularly logical conclusion,” Hamlin said, “because he could still be the one who set you up somehow, but I suspect you’re probably right. That leaves Mr. Shadrick or one of the boys saying something out of turn.”

 

Manny sighed. “I hope it’s not one of the kids.”

 

“If it was then it was unintentional; maybe someone asking where you were and them telling him or her without thinking. Though that begs the question of how telling that person you were heading south led to your being found in that specific city and hotel.”

 

“That holds true for anyone who knew, especially as I never travel using my own name.”

 

“How many IDs do you have?” Hamlin asked, quirking an eyebrow.

 

“Several.”

 

“But all with your real age, right? You couldn’t claim to be say twenty-five or even probably twenty-one.”

 

“True, but since passenger lists are inaccessible unless you’ve got very high clearance, and I doubt they list height, weight and age, tracking me that way would have been a no-go.”

 

“Okay, let’s try another track. How long between when you told them you were on your way south and when you actually left?”

 

“Two days. I got this place when I first got back to the States, but I hadn’t had time to do more than move in when an urgent assignment came up. That took three weeks and then I had the one down south to deal with. But I needed a couple of days to myself. I stopped by the house of course, that’s when I said something about heading south.” Manny shook his head. “I was pissed when I found out you’d vanished without a trace, so I came back here and threw myself into painting that wall and all. It took my mind off of things.”

 

Hamlin looked at the wall and smiled. “So something positive came out of my running away.”

 

“True. That and you coming back again.” Manny gave him a fast hug, and then got back to the subject at hand. “As far as I know, no one knew about this place back then.”

 

“But,” Hamlin pointed out, “if it was Mr. Shadrick or Gebhard who wanted you dead they could have followed you easily enough. So, as far as that goes, could someone who might have been watching the house in hopes that you’d return.”

 

“Which means my telling them where I was headed would have been a moot point.”

 

“Unless it gave Gebhard or Mr. Shadrick the idea that killing you somewhere else would throw any suspicion away from them. All someone would have had to do was follow you from here to the airport. If they got lucky they might even have been on the plane with you.”

 

Manny frowned. “So we’re back to who, and working with that scenario it couldn’t have been Gebhard or Mr. Shadrick.”

 

“I suppose not. We’d have a real conspiracy theory if it was because they’d have to have an accomplice.”

 

“Not beyond the realm of possibility. I wish to hell that I knew how much they knew about what Cerdic was doing. We know he turned physical punishments over to Gebhard, but did Gebhard know what we did to merit them, or was he just told to work us ‘til we dropped.”

 

“Good question. How are we going to find out?”

 

“Hell if I know, but if I don’t want someone gunning for me again I’d better, and quick.”

 

 

19 - Caomhnóir – Manny

 

 

“I want to know what was in that letter,” Manny said an hour later, when Hamlin told him what Jakie had said.

 

“You’re the B&E expert,” Hamlin pointed out.

 

“I thought you were too.”

 

Hesitating, Hamlin shook his head. “I can do it and have, but once I got sent to London I sort of lost the knack because there I worked more like I’ve heard Rick did.”

 

“More like, how?” Manny asked, knowing what the reply would be, and not certain he wanted to hear it.

 

“Seducing the people I had to get information from,” Hamlin said, not looking away. “And before you get pissy about that, it generally was in name only, not actually bedding them; pretty words for the ladies, ego boosting for the men, playing them until I found the items I needed.”

 

“All right, I understand that. And I’ve got no right to got upset, I’m hardly a virgin, not after five hundred years.”

 

Hamlin chuckled softly as he pulled Manny to him. “I would have been very worried, and shocked, if you had been. Although the idea of being your first holds a certain appeal.”

 

“Mijn liefde, if that had been the case you probably wouldn’t have survived our first night together.”

 

“I almost didn’t,” Hamlin replied with studied seriousness. “Hell, I almost didn’t survive this morning.”

 

Manny rolled his eyes. “Uh huh. Seems to me you were doing more than all right from what I remember. And if we keep this up I’m going to want to drag you into my room here and have my way with you again, which would not be a good idea.”

 

“It would also make me late for work, something I can’t afford to be.”

 

“I told you—“

 

Hamlin put his hand over Manny’s mouth. “And I told you, I’m not going to be a kept man. It’s not much of a job, but it gives me a feeling that I’m contributing, not leeching off of you. So drop it.”

 

Removing Hamlin’s hand, Manny said, “It’s dropped. I promise. Now kiss me because I have the feeling I’d better show up to monitor study time or there will be hell to pay later.”

 

“With pleasure.” Hamlin kissed his quite thoroughly before giving him a light shove in the direction of the door. “I’ll see you in the morning. And please, be careful if you’re going to try to find that letter. If it’s even still around.”

 

“I will be. Ik hou van je.”

 

“Love you too,” Hamlin replied softly, watching him leave.   

18 - Caomhnóir – Manny

 

 

“Where’s Romper?” one of the boys asked as Manny and Hamlin came into the living room.

 

“I left him at Manny’s place, where hopefully he’s behaving,” Hamlin replied.

 

Gebhard looked up from what he was doing, frowning slightly. “You’re here again?”

 

“I don’t go to work for another two hours. I’d rather kill time here than walking the streets.”

 

“What are you doing again? I forgot.”

 

“Sure you did,” Manny muttered softly as he went to check on the boys who were out on the terrace.

 

“I work at a pizza place midtown.”

 

Gebhard just nodded, his attention now on Manny. “Get them in here for dinner,” he called out. “And by the way, you’re late.”

 

“My fault,” Hamlin said before it could become an issue. “Or Romper’s to be exact. He wanted to mark every tree on the way from my place to Manny’s. I lost track of time while he did.”

 

Gebhard’s eyebrows went up, but he made no comment on that as he pushed away from the desk to help Manny shepherd the boys out of the room into the kitchen for dinner.

 

Jakie managed to avoid following, without them being aware. He came over to Hamlin, looking up at him. “He’s been real grumpy the last couple of days.”

 

Hamlin smile wryly. “I’ve noticed.”

 

“I don’t think he likes you and Manny, well, you know.”

 

“What makes him think we’re more than just friends?” Hamlin asked quietly.

 

Jakie grinned. “I knew it.”

 

“Oh boy, I walked into that, didn’t I?”

 

“Umm humm, big time. But still, that could be the reason he’s always on Manny’s ass. I think someone ratted you out.”

 

“Why?”

 

Jakie shrugged. “He doesn’t know I know, but he got a letter, like special delivery. It was after that that he started being so pissy.”

 

“Must have been some letter.”

 

“I don’t know. He stuffed it in his pocket and later it was gone.”

 

“Don’t tell me, you tried to get it.”

 

“Okay, I won’t tell you,” Jakie said with a grin. “But yeah, I did.” He jumped when he heard Gebhard shout for him to get into the kitchen if he wanted dinner, and hurried off.

17 - Caomhnóir – Manny

 

“Manny, wake up, you’re having a bad dream.” Hamlin gathered his lover into his arms to still him.

 

It took Manny a moment to realize where he was. Then he sighed in relief as the nightmare dissipated. “Sorry,” he muttered. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

 

“It’s all right. It’s about time for us to get up anyway. I have a dog to walk, and you’ve got things to do, too.”

 

After a glance at the clock, Manny frowned. “It’s that late already? Shit. Why are you still here?”

 

“Excuse me? I live here now in case you’ve forgotten. Okay, so it’s only been for one day, but still—“

 

“My bad. Damn, I’m loosing it, I swear.”

 

Hamlin kissed the nape of Manny’s neck, and then when Manny turned in his arms, he planted one on his mouth before saying, “You’re stressed, not loosing it.”

 

“The stress you took care of this morning.” Manny smiled as he returned the kiss.

 

“Just the physical, not the mental. I wish to hell you knew which one of them—“

 

“I don’t even know if it was one of them. I could be barking up the wrong tree. And speaking of barking, there’s a puppy that’ll be doing that or worse if we don’t get moving.”

 

“Our lives are ruled by a dog,” Hamlin grumbled as he sat up and got out of bed.

 

“Could be worse, it could be a gryphon. Come to think about it, it is.”

 

Hamlin shot him a puzzled look as he headed to the bathroom. “Gryphon?”

 

“Oh, yeah, something I forgot to mention,” Manny said as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. “Mijn commandant here in the city is a gryphon. And my other one is a Witte Wieven.” He laughed at the look on Hamlin’s face. “I’ll explain later.”

 

“You better,” Hamlin growled as he closed the bathroom door.

 

An hour later, Hamlin was looking at Manny in disbelief as they rode the subway downtown to the Village. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

 

“Very. All commandants are shape-shifting mythical creatures.” He stopped when he realized the woman next to him had heard him. “And that’s the idea behind the book,” he continued as if that’s what he and Hamlin had been talking about.

 

Hamlin caught on immediately. “Do it right and it could be a best seller. Supernatural stuff is popular now.”

 

“That’s what I’m hoping, me and my agent.”

 

“Well you’re not going to have an agent if we miss our stop and you miss your appointment,” Hamlin said pointedly as they approached their station.

 

“True.” Manny jumped to his feet, quickly followed by Hamlin. “Thanks,” he said softly, his words almost overwhelmed by the screech of the train coming to a stop.

 

“Any time, mijn liefde.”

 

Manny grinned. “You’re learning my language.”

 

“Two words are hardly learning,” Hamlin retorted as they stepped onto the platform.

 

“But it’s a start.”

 

16 - Caomhnóir – Manny

 

“An interesting idea, and it took a human to see it.”

 

Manny nodded, turning from the window to look at Alasdair. “A special human, in case you haven’t gathered that already.”

 

“I have. It is written on your face. Not that I approve, but I know there is nothing I can do to stop this. Does Sofietje know?”

 

“Yes. I think she feels the way you do, that there’s not a damned thing she can really do about it either.”

 

Alasdair chuckled. “Those could be famous last words, but I doubt that they are. You may be under our command and expected to do as we order, but we understand the heart, and its need for love. Just be very certain that he knows that one wrong word could be the end of you, and possibly him as well.”

 

“I think he does, but I’ll make quite sure he understands.’

 

“Is there any chance that he’s the one who revealed where you were going when you went after that Scriostóir?”

 

Manny bristled for a moment, and then calmed. He knew it was a logical if unwelcome question. “No. When I left after Cerdic's and Godric’s deaths it was to report in to Sofietje. By the time I came back Hamlin was gone, so there’s no way he could have known.”

 

“Very good. Now, to take up this idea of his. There are two possibilities that I can think of. One, the Scriostóir was intent on sending you a message that he was not amused by what you did.”

 

With a shake of his head, Manny indicated he disagreed. “This was a Scriostóir I was dealing with. He would have come after me himself, to make certain I never bothered him or any of his kind ever again.”

 

“Quite probably. Therefore, the other choice is that you have made an enemy, or enemies, who are human and have no idea what you are.”

 

“And I suppose those could be legion, after all the work I did for Cerdic.”

 

“Or it could be one or two men who don’t believe the story about the fire.”

 

“Gebhard and Mr. Shadrick.” Manny nodded. “I guess they could have been behind the shooting.”

 

“Find out, boy.”

 

“Yes, mijn commandant,” Manny replied.

 

15 - Caomhnóir – Manny

 

 

“I sort of figured out that you’re the reason Cerdic’s gone. Have you killed humans, too, or just these…Scriostóir things?” Hamlin asked.

 

“Only Scriostóir. I haven’t killed a human since I died. Given what I do, I’m not all that certain that I could.”

 

“That would be sort of counter-productive I guess, all things considered. Unless of course they were trying to kill you.”

 

“Which some have, but since I’m immortal I let them do their worst and then, within a couple of days, I’m back to normal again.”

 

Hamlin’s mind was spinning, question after question coming and going in a flash, each one as important as the one before. “What if—if they left you for dead? And if you appear dead, what if they decided to bury your body, or worse yet you got sent to the morgue?”

 

Manny laughed. “You have quite the morbid turn of mind, mijn liefde. Those are a couple of lovely thoughts…not. Luckily no one has tried either. Of course when it comes to the morgue, I’d be healing and frankly up and out of there before someone took a scalpel to me.”

 

“Mijn liefde?”

 

“My love,” Manny replied quietly. “If that’s… Well, you are my love. I suppose the question is, am I still yours?”

 

“I think I answered that one already. You are.” Hamlin glanced away suddenly and winced.

 

Following his gaze, Manny shook his head. “Good thing those were old shoes, though where he found them is anyone’s guess.”

 

“Trust me, if it’s chewable Romper will find it.” When he stood, intending to rescue the shoes, he suddenly found himself pulled onto Manny’s lap. “Umm, the shoes,” he muttered.

 

“Damn the shoes. They’re keeping him quiet and out of worse trouble,” was Manny’s response as he cupped Hamlin’s jaw in one hand, stroking his thumb over his soft lips. “He can mangle them while we…tangle… with each other.”

 

“Tangling is good.”

 

“More than.” Manny pressed his lips to Hamlin’s for the start of a kiss that rapidly turned it several more. “Tangling…is…great,” he whispered between them. “When it’s…you that…I’m tangling with.”

 

Hamlin might have replied, if he could have, but Manny took that option away as he deepened the last kiss while lifting him into his arms to take him across the room to his bed.

14 - Caomhnóir – Manny

 

 

“As I said, the daggers are the only way to kill us, and if ritual words are spoken at the same moment we are truly dead and redeemed.” Manny paused, and then added, “Well, I suppose if you cut off our heads that might kill us too, but that’s not what’s bothering me right now. While I was gone I had an assignment to stop another Scriostóir’s schemes. I did, but it seems he found out that it was me. He sent someone after me and I got shot, twice, in places that would have killed me if I were a human.”

 

Hamlin shook his head. “From what you’ve been saying, that makes not sense at all.”

 

“Exactly. And now I’m wondering why he did that, or if he’s actually the one who set it up. Something I’ll have to take up with mijn commandant.”

 

“Commandant, that sounds very military.”

 

“I suppose it does, but then this is a war,” Manny replied seriously, “One that I’ve been a part of since I died.”

 

There was a long silence, then, each man wrapped in his own thoughts. Manny kept his eyes on Hamlin, longing to know what was going on inside his head but afraid to ask. Then Hamlin looked back at him and he saw a small smile curving his lips up.

 

“This is absolutely, totally, the weirdest, off-the-wall story I’ve ever heard.” Hamlin saw the sadness in Manny’s eyes before his face closed down. “Hang on, I’m not finished,” he said softly. “In spite of that I believe it. All of it. I can’t say that it’s easy to accept, and I still have enough questions to keep you busy answering them for the next week I suspect, but Manny, I do believe you.”

 

“That doesn’t mean you’re going to stick around though.”

 

“Don’t go putting words in my mouth, because I didn’t say that, and unless you want me to get out of your life now I intend to be with you for as long as you wish.” He reached across the space that separated them, taking one of Manny’s hands in his. “If you just want me as a friend, I can accept that, but I want more. I want what we had before. All of it.”

 

Manny looked down at their intertwined hands for a moment then raised his eyes. “You’re certain? It won’t be easy.”

 

“You mean ten years from now, or twenty, when people look at us and think I’m robbing the cradle?” Hamlin replied, grinning.

 

“That too.” Manny chuckled softly. “But all of it. Starting with the fact that I’m the one who killed Cerdic, and I’ve killed others before him.”

13 - Caomhnóir – Manny

 

 

“So you accept the possibility that I am what I say?”

 

Hamlin nodded slowly. “The proof is in the picture, Manny, although why no one else has figured things out is the question.”

 

“Two reasons, first I don’t knowingly let my picture be taken. Second, I never stay in the same place for too long.”

 

“Wait a minute, you’ve been here for over three years.”

 

“Special situation. I was undercover, passing on information about what Cerdic was doing to my superiors so they could counteract his machinations.”

 

“That’s what you do, try to stop trouble from happening? What was Cerdic, some sort of terrorist? I’m pretty certain he used the information I got for him to cause people problems.” Hamlin wondered if he looked as confused as he felt.

 

“Not just specific people, humanity in general. He was a Scriostóir, a Destroyer. They’re created, for lack of a better word, to eradicate humankind, or more specifically to cause humans to destroy each other.”

 

“Angels! That’s what you are, isn’t it? He was a fallen angel and you’re—whatever the opposite of that is.”

 

Manny laughed. “Sorry, trust me none of us are angels, good or bad. All of us died while committing a mortal sin or a great evil. We arrived in what is called the Vale of the Dead Sinners where we were given a choice, to spent eternity suffering for what we had done, or become what we are now.”

 

“So, you got to choose whether to be one of these Guardians or Destroyers?”

 

“Actually, no. I guess that decision is made by some higher—force. We only get to decide which is worse, eternal suffering or eternal life.”

 

“There’s no out clause?” By now Hamlin was totally fascinated by the whole concept. 

 

Manny smile ruefully. “One.” He pulled a dagger from where it was sheathed at the back of his waistband. “Only one of these can kill us. We all carry one, Caomhnóir or Scriostóir.” He stopped suddenly, a deep frown on his face.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Tapping a knuckle on his lips, Manny debated the wisdom of telling him. But he’d already come this far. Hamlin might as well know everything.

12 - Caomhnóir – Manny

 

 

“Now I see where you got the idea for what you’re doing on Jakie’s wall,” Hamlin said once they were in Manny’s loft. He looked around for somewhere safe for Romper to be and then told him to sit and stay before asking, “Whose place is this by the way?”

 

“Mine.” Manny crossed to the kitchen area, saying as he did, “Make yourself comfortable while I get coffee started. Unless you want something stronger.”

 

“Coffee’s fine. And since when can you afford a place like this?”

 

“That’s part of the answer to your question, so if you don’t mind I’ll wait ‘til we’re settled before telling you.”

 

He came over a couple of minutes later to where Hamlin sat stiffly upright in a chair. Handing him one of the cups of coffee he was carrying, he said, “If I remember right, you take it black,” as he sat down in the chair facing Hamlin’s. Putting his cup down on the side table after taking a drink, he leaned back, looking at Hamlin. “This is going to take some suspension of disbelief, but I have the feeling you’re half way to doing that already.” 

 

Hamlin smiled slightly. “More than half way I think.”

 

“Might as well start with the obvious then, no I haven’t changed at all in the past three years. Well, physically that is. I’ve looked the way I do now for the last almost five hundred years.”

 

“Damn,” Hamlin whispered.

 

“Damned is more like it, although given what I do I consider it more like doing eternal penance.”

 

“How, I mean, what—? You’re not a ghost. Or at least if you are you’re not like any that I’ve ever heard of.”

 

“Nope, not a ghost. There’s a word for me and others of my kind. It’s Caomhnóir, which is Gaelic for Guardian. Why Gaelic? No clue. After all I’m Dutch so why aren’t I called a Gardiaan or a Voogd? Okay, I’m rattling here, aren’t I? But I’m nervous and, quite honestly afraid.”

 

“Afraid that I won’t believe you, or that I will?”

 

Manny gave a small shrug of one shoulder. “Both. If you don’t believe then you’ll think I’m totally insane and walk away. If you do, then you’ll leave because the idea of being stuck with an immortal is more than you can handle.”

 

“I can’t argue with the logic of either option, but just so you know, I don’t think you’re insane.”

11 - Caomhnóir – Manny

  

It didn’t take more than a second for Manny to figure out that something had radically changed between him and Hamlin, at least as far as Hamlin was concerned. For a moment he wished the boys weren’t there, and then he was glad that they were. They made it easier for him to stay where he was, rather than crossing to Hamlin and saying something that might push the man further away than he seemed to be already.

 

As the silence lengthened, broken only by the gleeful interplay between the boys and the puppy, Manny turned away and started to work again. He heard Hamlin tell them he’d be back in a while, after he’d seen the rest of the crew, and then Jakie was beside him again, asking questions about how to get the effect he wanted on one section of the wall.

 

An hour later, Manny called a halt to the work for the day. “Dinner time,” he explained, “and then your studies.”

 

The boys protested but it was just a formality. They knew the rules and after cleaning up they vanished downstairs. Not feeling very sociable at the moment, and knowing Gebhard would be eating with the boys anyway, Manny started down to his room on the second floor. When he got to the hall he saw Hamlin leaning against the wall outside his door. Instinctively, Manny started to turn away; not wanting what he suspected was going to be a confrontation with Hamlin.

 

“Wait. We have to talk. Or, I guess I have to. No, we have to,” Hamlin said.

 

“I suppose we do.” Manny continued down the hall, opening his door and then standing back to let Hamlin go in first. “Where’s the dog?” he asked as he closed the door behind them.

 

“I left him with the boys, and warned them they were not to feed him table scraps unless they wanted to clean up after him later,” Hamlin replied with a small smile.

 

Manny merely nodded as he took a seat on the sofa at one side of the room. Then he said, a bit tersely because he was worried about what was to come, “So, talk.”

 

With a sigh, Hamlin sat in the chair cattycorner from the sofa. There was a long pause while he tried to gather his thoughts. Finally, knowing the words would sound crazy but still, somehow, believing he was asking the right question, he said, “What are you?”

 

Not quite certain how to reply, Manny went for the obvious, “A counselor here, thanks to Gebhard and Mr. Shadrick.”

 

Hamlin shook his head. “I mean—" He stopped, pulling his wallet from his pocket, taking out the picture. He handed it to Manny. “I took this three years ago.”

 

Manny looked at it and then back at Hamlin. “Sort of incriminating in its own way, isn’t it?”

 

“When you consider you haven’t changed one iota since it was taken, yes.”

 

Manny ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t talk here. Not when the kids could burst in any time. They don’t seem to get that this is my space and should be at least semi-private.”

 

“Then where?”

 

“Let’s get the puppy and I’ll let Gebhard know I’ll be gone for a while. Then I’ll take you to a place where we won’t be interrupted.”

10 - Caomhnóir – Manny

 

 

“It smells like a chemical factory in here,” Hamlin muttered under his breath as he entered the house. Tightening his hold on Romper’s leash, he paused at the stairs leading up to the living room, trying to figure out why the place smelled the way it did.

 

“Well now, return the conquering hero,” Gebhard said, stepping from the gym into the entryway. “And you can blame the stink on Manny. He’s teaching Jakie how to do graffiti.”

 

“Manny’s back?”

 

“He is. Has been for over a week now. We hired him on as a counselor for the boys.”

 

“Oh,” Hamlin said softly, at a loss for words at the moment.

 

“So who’s your friend?” Gebhard asked, bending to scratch behind Romper’s ears.

 

Hamlin told him, explaining that he’d gotten him while he was out west. “Actually, he found me,” he added. “Someone dumped his on the beach. We sort of adopted each other.”

 

“Well, I guess as long as he behaves you can take him upstairs with you.”

 

“He will,” Hamlin told him as he started up the stairs, the puppy bounding ahead of him.

 

It didn’t take long to figure out where to go next. The smell and the sound of voices led him up to the third floor and Jakie’s room. Hamlin paused at the open door, watching in fascination as Manny showed Jakie how to do the next section of what it seemed was going to be a large mural on one wall. A second boy, Hamlin figured it had to be Jakie’s roommate, was drawing outlines further down the wall, consulting a sketchpad as he did. It wasn’t until Romper started yipping to get free of the leash that any of them noticed they had an audience.

 

Jakie immediately set down the can he was holding and dashed over, first greeting Hamlin with an “You’re back!” and then scooping up Romper, laughing when the puppy began washing his face with its tongue.

 

When the second boy came over to get his share of Romper’s attention, Jakie introduced him as Sandy, which given the color of the boy’s hair seemed like a natural nickname to Hamlin.

 

Manny was the only one who remained where he was. He watched the boys, a slight smile on his face for a moment until he looked directly at Hamlin. The smile broadened, and then faded when Hamlin didn’t return it. “Welcome back,” he said quietly.

 

“Thanks,” was all that Hamlin said in reply. He wanted to say more, but something stopped him. Maybe the boys’ presence, maybe everything he’d been thinking about on the long journey home, maybe—He wasn’t certain, but any words he might have said died before they were spoken.

9 - Caomhnóir – Manny

 

 

“What’s wrong?” Manny asked a couple of nights later when he found Jakie slumped dejectedly in a chair in the study room.

 

“Things ain’t no fun any more now that Mr. Wyndham’s gone.”

 

Manny cocked an eyebrow as he sat down next to the boy. “Fun how?”

 

“You know, getting to go out and lift stuff for him. It was—" Jakie shrugged, “fun.”

 

“And illegal,” Manny pointed out.

 

“So? You stole stuff for him; the other guys did other things. What’s the difference?”

 

“There isn’t any difference. He had us doing things we shouldn’t have. Okay, if he’d left us where he found us, yeah we’d have been doing it anyway, but that doesn’t make it right.”

 

Jakie rolled his eyes. “So now suddenly you’re a preacher, telling me I done wrong and I should be glad it’s over now?”

 

“If you want to look at it that way, yes. But you’re a smart kid, your grades show that, plus you’re street smart on top of that. There should be something else you can find to do that’s fun and legal.”

 

“Yeah? Like what?”

 

Manny sighed. Then he had an idea. “I know you well enough to know you like to draw.”

 

“But I ain’t too good at it. Things always come out like, what’s that word for making people look like comics?”

 

“Caricatures. And that’s not a bad thing really if we channel it.”

 

“We what?”

 

“Jakie, you’re going to learn to wield a spray paint can.”

 

“Hey, cool, but ain’t that illegal too?”

 

“On a subway car, or a building, yeah. But not here. We start with your bedroom, assuming your roommate doesn’t have a cow.”

 

Jakie grinned. “He won’t or I take steps.”

 

“Jakie,” Manny growled. “He has to agree because he agrees, got that.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, okay. So I talk to him and then you show me how?”

 

“Talk to him, yes. Then you sit down and come up with some sketches that you both like. After that, then I show you the ropes.”

8 - Caomhnóir – Manny

 

 

Gebhard looked across the desk at Manny, while Mr. Shadrick sat in another chair, one leg crossed over his knee, listening.

 

“So,” Manny continued, “I’m really at loose ends now. I can get a job doing something menial, but—" He shrugged. “What I want to do is be here, helping out in some way. This place was my home for the last three years, and the kids are like family, the only real family I ever had. Does that sound stupid or something?”

 

“Not really,” Gebhard replied. “The problem is, what would we do with you?”

 

“One possibility,” Mr. Shadrick interjected. “Let him be a counselor. It would make our lives easier. He could watch the boys in the evenings, make certain they studied, did their chores, got to bed on time. That way you and I could have time for ourselves, which God knows we don’t now.”

 

Gebhard nodded. “Not a bad suggestion. Of course we couldn’t pay you much, Manny, but if we hired you, you could go back to living here. Since Mr. Shadrick has taken over Mr. Wyndham’s former quarters, his old room is vacant now.”

 

“So you’ll consider it?” Manny looked hopefully at both men.

 

Gebhard glanced at Mr. Shadrick, receiving a nod in return. “Tell you what; we’ll give it a month’s trial. If it seems to be working well then we’ll hire you on permanently.”

 

“Thank you,” Manny said, heaving a sigh of relief, not at all feigned. If this hadn’t worked he had been at a loss as to what other ploy to use to remain connected to the house and the boys. He needed the in, in order to find out if Gebhard had connections to the Scriostóir responsible for having him shot.

 

“You’re welcome. Where are your belongings? Do you need a ride somewhere to collect them?”

 

Manny snorted. “Belongings? Everything I own is in my backpack except what I left here, which has probably been doled out to the kids by now.”

 

“I should have known, and they have I’m afraid,” Gebhard replied with a smile. “Alright, let’s get you settled in and then we can let the boys know you’re back.”

 

An hour later, Manny was facing a room of excited teens. Five of them he knew already, two others were newcomers. Gebhard explained that, as there was room, he and Mr. Shadrick had decided to continue Cerdic’s good work and take in as many kids as could fit comfortably in the house. Manny had bitten back a snort of derision at that, wondering how either of the men could have missed exactly what Cerdic had had the boys doing. ‘There are none so blind--’ he decided as he was introduced to the newest residents.