For two years, Maitho had worked alone.
In the beginning, it hadn't been easy completing the jobs on his own. The one month deadline would place a constant pressure on his mind until the moment the victim was saved. Maitho couldn't remember having a decent, home-cooked meal for the first five months of this new life. He had to live off microwave foods and store-bought snacks, managing to reduce his weight but increase his stress levels with all the junk he was consuming. As the months went by, the jobs got more challenging, as though an invisible hand was playing a game with his life and was amping up the difficulty settings. Back then, he had often wished he could have someone giving him a helping hand. A partner, if possible.
As time went by, Maitho got used to being a lone wolf. Right now, it seemed Bevan was looking to form a team. The idea was tempting, but Maitho wasn't about to trust a stranger. Not on a night where he had a close encounter with a dangerous man. For all intents and purposes, Bevan might be working for Cray senior, pretending to show the white flag while holding a dagger behind his back. Since Jonathan Cray knew about how Maitho operated, it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that Bevan might have the details about his life as well. Using the information to his advantage, Bevan might have created a fictional story about himself to closely match Maitho's situation.
Am I simply getting paranoid? Maitho hoped not.
"What's wrong with a team of three?" said Maitho, pinching a small amount of the muffin on his table with his free hand and popping it into his mouth. His other hand was still placed in his pocket, holding the stainless steel knife.
"Nothing at all," said Bevan, grabbing a piece of muffin without permission. He chewed on the muffin quickly while waving his hand in slow circles in front of his face, as though he wanted to say something urgently, but was too distracted by the sweet flavors invading his taste buds. He finally swallowed, licking his lips. "But four is better than three isn't it? There is strength in numbers. And we could complete jobs faster."
A couple of tables away, Maitho noticed a man collecting his things to leave the cafe. That meant that the only other customers who would still remain in the cafe were a couple enjoying their drinks while engaged with their smartphones. Thankfully, they were on the other side of the cafe. Maitho couldn't see the barista anywhere. The cafe felt more empty and he didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
"So where are the other two?" said Maitho.
After Bevan had made his introductions when he first walked up to Maitho's table, he had drawn a chair opposite Maitho and launched into a brief introduction about his "team." There were three members in the team and they have been assisting each other to accomplish their missions. They had been working together for a little more than a year. When the jobs began to turn more dangerous and the team had to put their lives on the line a few times too many, Bevan had suggested that they include a fourth member. The other two members of the team had rejected the idea, but Bevan had insisted.
On paper, the idea of joining a team sounded good and it was tempting enough to be considered. However, there was the question about trust.
Maitho realized that if continued to sit in the position he was in, then Bevan might get suspicious. He slipped the knife into his sleeve and placed his hand casually on the table.
"Are you ready to join the team?" said Bevan with a look of eagerness.
"I am ready to meet the team."
Bevan nodded his head a few times, as though he was trying to confirm something to himself. "That's fair. That is absolutely fair. In fact, I should thought of that before. How could I expect you to join us when you have met only one of us?"
Maitho hadn't realized this earlier, but now that he paid more attention to Bevan's words, he noticed a Scottish accent slipping through the well-developed American accent. Perhaps the man was raised far from home, but had some connections to his Scottish roots.
Bevan slipped out his smartphone and typed a quick message. Once done, he placed the phone on the table and gave a smile to Maitho. "They should be here any moment. Want me to get you something else?"
Maitho shook his head slightly. "I'm fine."
Less than a minute later, during which time Bevan drummed his fingers on the table while pretending to admire the decor of the cafe, two women entered the room. They were both young, and would probably be around Bevan's age. One of them, a woman with curly deep-red hair that flowed till her shoulder blades, looked over at Maitho's table and frowned. She and her companion walked over to them, drawing chairs as they passed by an empty table. She positioned herself away from Bevan, but further away from Maitho. The other woman, who had close-cropped copper hair, leaned against the wall behind the curly redhead.
Bevan looked at both women with a schoolboy-like joy for a few seconds, as though he was trying to evaluate whether it was safe to continue talking. When neither of the women gave him any response – they were staring intently at Maitho, who stared back without reservation – Bevan cleared his throat and slapped his thighs. "So, I think we could all do with a small introduction. Name, age, and favorite hobby. I'll go first. My name is-"
Before he could proceed any further, he was cut short by the woman with the curls. "Let's cut to the chase. What's your ability? We'll see if you are useful to us."
Maitho didn't react, even though he was tired and in no mood for another confrontation, whether it was physical or verbal. He stared back at the woman and mentally counted backwards from five. "There's the door. You can leave anytime."
"Great idea. You might probably be dead weight."
The woman stood up to leave but Bevan quickly raised his hand to stall her. "What she meant was that we are very careful in our evaluation methods." He looked at her with pleading eyes and, when he received no supportive response, he turned to Maitho. "Please everyone. Let's take a quick moment to collect ourselves."
After a few seconds of contemplation, the woman sat back down on the seat. She pulled the chair slightly closer to the table and placed her hands under the table. Maitho noticed that the short-haired woman was standing with her hands clasped behind her back.
Bevan continued, as though he was afraid that any long stretches of silence could cause another verbal clash. "Meet the leader of this small group, Brigid Danann." There was a tone of awe in his voice.
Not awe, thought Maitho. Respect.
Silence.
"We are... erm... looking to expand our team," said Bevan.
"What do you know about me?" said Maitho.
"A lot," said Brigid.
"How do you have that information?"
"Why? Surprised that we can find out so much about someone? We are efficient Maitho."
"I have been on my own and done fairly well."
"Luck is not a special ability. Unless, it actually is your special ability. In which case, I can understand why you can get by with lack of skills or talents."
Maitho did not understand why the woman was goading him into open conflict. She does not want me to join her group. But why?
He looked at the short-haired woman leaning against the wall. "And you are?"
"None of your business," said Brigid.
The short-haired woman snickered, glad to join Brigid on her mission to antagonize the man sitting across the table.
"We are here as friends," said Bevan, attempting to bring a sense of amiability to the conversation. It was clear that this entire situation was his idea. The reaction of the remaining two members showed that they were against meeting Maitho and would do anything to jeopardize whatever plan Bevan had concocted.
"Friends, huh?" said Maitho, giving a half-smile.
Without warning, he pumped his hand into the air. The force of the movement pushed the knife out of his sleeve. Before it could fly out of reach, Maitho grabbed the handle of the stainless-steel cutlery and brought the point of the knife under Bevan's chin. All of this was done within a span of two seconds.
But while he had made his move, the two women had also made theirs. He saw a snub-nosed revolver pointed at him, the hand holding the weapon belonging to Brigid. The short-haired woman had brought her hands in front of her and held a short, but deadly, hunting knife. They both looked like they would like nothing better than to use the weapons.
Bevan was frozen in his seat, his hands held in a gesture of surrender as he looked at Maitho with an expression of shock. Whatever ideas he had formed for the meeting, they definitely did not include the situation from going so out of control.
"We are not friends," said Maitho. He placed the knife on the table, the handle pointed towards Bevan.
Brigid stood up from her seat, tucking the revolver in her jeans and pulling the shirt over it to conceal it. "And you are a waste of time."
"You came to me of your own decision. You wasted your own time Brigid."
"Amateurs. Your attempt to have the last word is your only victory I suppose."
Brigid headed for the door. The short-haired woman pushed herself off the wall and followed her leader. On the way, she turned around and while walking backwards, flipped the bird on both her hands at Maitho. Without breaking stride, she turned back to face the door. The two women exited the cafe, leaving Bevan staring hopelessly after them. He looked at the door for a few seconds, as though his team members would change their minds and reenter the cafe. When he saw no sign of their return, he turned around.
Bevan looked deflated, as though all the joy and confidence had been sucked out of him. Maitho felt for the young man. He seemed to have good intentions and despite the fact that he was still a stranger, there was no denying that he was putting his every attempt to bring his plan to fruition.
"Join your team Bevan," said Maitho. "After this encounter, I believe that there are more people like me out there. Maybe you might find someone."
"You are the descendant of Olofin-Orun, African God of Foresight, but most commonly known as the God of Skies, aren't you?" Bevan asked. He looked like someone making a last ditch effort to do something.
If anything, I applaud him for this persistence. Maitho gave a visible sigh, wondering if he should encourage the red-haired man. He decided that it wouldn't hurt to respond. After all, he could glean more information from Bevan.
"I am"
"My team, including me, are the descendants of Celtic gods. Unlike you, we did not start out on our own. I suppose it is because the three of us were all part of the same disaster that could have taken our lives. Did you meet Charon?"
"I did."
Bevon leaned forward in his chair, growing more eager to convince Maitho. The more the red-haired man talked, the faster the words flowed out of his mouth.
"There is something going on Maitho. Something that has us all on edge. We were on a job recently. It was supposed to be just like any other job. Get into the house, save the victim, and get out. Everything was going well until we were about to rescue the victim. He recognized us. The old man knew our names."
Maitho sat up straight in his chair, a sense of dread flooding his mind. "What did you say?"
Bevan must have misread Maitho's expression as a sign of interest, because he continued to speak, his voice increasing its fervor. "We didn't know what we could do. Suddenly, he had two people who looked like his bodyguards pointing automatic weapons as us. Fortunately, we left Epona outside to act as a scout. She caused a distraction and we ran for the door."
"Epona is the short-haired woman, I presume?"
Bevan nodded eagerly. "Yes. Without her help, I believe we would be lying on a marbled floor with enough bullet holes in our body to make us look like living Swiss cheese."
Maitho realized that he was holding his breath. He exhaled softly and without taking his eyes of Bevan, he asked the question that was on his mind ever since he heard of an old man and his two bodyguards, who also happened to be his children. "Was the old man's name Jonathan Cray?"
Bevan looked like someone had slapped his face. "How did you know that?"
"I think you need to call your team members back. And I mean, right now."413Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVhLJ98HI0R
