Thursday April 11, 2019 – Dark Angel

8:00 am

We are working on the biggest takedown in the history of Eyes Only. I can’t believe how much Eyes Only has grown since it was conceived a year and a half ago. I had no idea that it would expand to include it’s own security force, with safe houses and contacts all over the city and country. The moment Eyes Only went on the air, the response was enormous. There is so much need out there. It’s almost overwhelming. Yet all the pieces have come together and we have been able to make some progress. We might be able to make a difference in this broken down world that we live in.

I did not expect to become the ‘Eyes’ in Eyes Only, but the longer I worked on the plan, the more I realized that I didn’t need to put anyone else at risk. Barely half a dozen people know who Eyes Only is, and it will remain that way. This project has consumed my life for the last year and a half. I live it, eat it, breathe it. I barely sleep. There is so much to do. I’ve never felt this passionate about anything. The responsibility is enormous, but the rewards are there. Sometimes, I feel like I don’t need anything but Eyes Only. I am willing to sacrifice anything for it, even my life. I can’t continue to allow the gangsters and the thugs to rule our world with impunity. Somebody has to fight them. Somebody has to do it.

We are currently protecting the key witness for Edgar Sonrisa’s murder indictment. Sonrisa is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Balkan War veterans. He has been diverting the supply of the drug, cortodiazapine, to the Canadian black market, while combat vets exposed to bio-war agents go untreated. Lauren Braganza was a manager in Sonrisa’s plant and she personally supervised the removal of the cortodiazapine. Her testimony will ensure Sonrisa’s indictment for multiple counts of murder.

The stakes are very high for Sonrisa. He has already killed Lauren’s husband, and would have no qualms killing her and her daughter to silence her. Peter and I have put together our tightest team ever. I have Lauren and her daughter, Sophy, here in my apartment. We considered placing them in a safe house, but the apartment is the most secure location. It is unknown to Sonrisa and has the added benefit of building security to supplement Peter and his team. Our location on the 24th floor also makes roof access less likely. If Sonrisa’s men can find us, they may be able to penetrate one of our layers of security, but I doubt they would be able to get all the way through to Lauren and Sophy. The riskiest moment will come in a few days when we transfer Lauren and Sophy into protective custody. We will have to choreograph it very carefully. With a little luck, we should be able to pull it off, as long as we keep a low profile on the day of the transfer.

10:00 am

I sent out the first of several Sonrisa Eyes Only broadcasts today. It’s time to increase the pressure on him. Lauren and Sophy are holding up fine. Lauren will be a good witness. Despite her concerns for Sophy’s safety, she wants to do this. We’re going to take that sonovabitch down.

It’s been very interesting seeing Lauren and Sophy together. They really have a bond. I haven’t felt that kind of connection since my parents died. It’s certainly not in my family today. The only thing that keeps us together is cold, hard cash. At least with the cash, I have the freedom to do what I want. In any case, in this line of work, it pays to be unattached. Wives and children need time and understanding and protection, things I can’t offer right now. I would be putting them at risk every day. It’s easier to stick with the shallow babes who don’t really care who they are with as long as he can provide a good meal, a night on the town, and a few hours of diversion. This week, it could be me. Next week, it could be any other guy. But the truth is, I haven’t even been able to get into that lately. I can’t even remember the last time I had a woman up here, probably last summer. I definitely don’t need a lightweight lovely to distract me right now. People are relying on me for their lives. If I am going to protect them, I need to focus.

3:00 pm

I made lunch for Lauren and Sophy today. Actually, Sophy and I made it together. When I told her we were going to make pizza, her eyes almost popped out. She has probably never had it before. The twentieth century fast food has become a post-Pulse luxury. We made the crust from scratch. I showed Sophy how to knead and roll out the dough. I even found her a chef’s hat in the back of the linen closet to make it all official. It was amusing watching her work, her nose and cheeks covered in flour. It took us two hours to make the pizza, but seeing the sparkle in her eyes as she ate it was worth it. She is a child and deserves every lighthearted diversion she can have.

Despite all the tension we are feeling right now, I’m glad to have Lauren and Sophy in my home. I don’t know why I let my guard down with them. It will be that much harder to have them go later. It’s usually so much easier to stay aloof. Dozens of good people just like them have come through here, or one of our safe houses, in the last year and a half. They are here for the blink of an eye. I barely have time to get to know them and their stories, and then they are gone again, starting new lives. I wish I could connect with some of them, but I know that it is tactically unsound. So I give them their new identities and let them go.

11:45 pm

I met a chimera tonight. Came in through a skylight via the roof. Female, very young, barely a woman, very intelligent, knows her art. Wicked attitude, cocky, sure of herself. Acid tongue to go with it. She was unfazed by the shotgun I pointed at her. Unbelievably strong, took out Peter with one hand. Amazingly agile, broke through a window and landed on her feet several storeys below. Incredibly beautiful. Incredibly beautiful.

I thought Sonrisa had sent her, but it turns out she is a thief. She was only here for a little personal enrichment. She was especially interested in the statue of Bast, the Egyptian goddess. Half cat, half woman. "The goddess who comprehends all goddesses, eye of Ra, protector, avenger, and destroyer, giver of life, who lives forever." They way this girl described her, it’s almost as if she feels a personal connection to her. She definitely has a catlike grace when she moves.

That statue was on a table in my office. She had to walk in behind me to get it. I didn’t even hear her. She even paused to hear my Eyes Only broadcast. It took brazen confidence to do that. And how did she gain access to the roof? It definitely wasn’t via the stairwells or the elevator. She would have had to go right through building security as well as avoid all the security cameras. It’s almost as if she dropped out of the sky, like some kind of dark angel. She certainly has the face of an angel, although her line of work is not exactly angelic.

I vaguely remember a file that came over the informant net a while ago, that described twelve children who were rumored to have escaped a covert government lab in Wyoming. They had been genetically enhanced and trained as soldiers. Her age and skills are certainly consistent with this report. Could she be one of these children?

Who is she? A girl? A thief? A cat burglar? A genetically engineered soldier? The most fascinating woman I have ever met? I don’t know. In any case, I have to find her. She knows about Eyes Only and she could seriously compromise our security.

I want to see this dark angel’s face again.

DARK ANGEL

Face of an angel
Moves of a cat
Tongue of acid
Strength of a soldier
Eyes of a woman

Logan Cale