Caleb paid the driver and tipped him a C note over.
"Have a goodnight sir."
"You too Biru."
The cab driver smiled; his fare tonight was not typical; he'd asked his name and smiled as he made sure he pronounced it correctly. The man had sat quite most of the ride, but he put off a pleasant air and when he spoke to Biru he spoke to him, not at him.
Most fares seemed to think cabbies were beneath them, especially that he, himself wore a turban. This man spoke to him as a friend when he did speak. Said he had met a few Sikh in his travels they are respected warriors. He even knew Biru meant 'courage'. Yes, this man was not his typical fare. He must tell his wife of this man.
Caleb entered his front door and punched in his alarm code, grabbing a bottle of water from the counter and headed to the lavatory to relieve himself. He noted the color of his urine frowning, they had kept him from drinking for too long. He drained the bottle as he drained himself.
Grabbing another bottle and dropping the consumed one in one of the recycle bins, he headed into the garage. Opening the upright freezer in the far corner he removed a box of frozen fish sticks. How anyone could indulge in such a disaster as a fish stick was beyond him. He'd ate much worse of course, but those days were behind him. Prying open the sealed box he slid out an envelope.
Caleb took the box into the kitchen dumping the fish into the trash and the box into another recycle bin. Tearing open the envelope a piece of paper inside read, 'The house has been swept for listening devices. She is expecting your call.' He smiled at the thought of the fish box, Kassandra's running joke that he did not get laid enough.
Back in the garage, Caleb stood in front of an old Michelob bar mirror staring at his reflection. A few seconds of biometrical reading, a couple of audible clicks and the locker that held his yard tools swung open revealing a twelve by twelve room. In the room two weapon lockers, equipment lockers, shelves of ammunition, some of the ammunition no one outside the team had seen, and a desk with secure and armored laptop. Sliding a desk drawer open Caleb retrieved one of the four cell phones inside and powered it on just as the locker swung back sealing him in. Three seconds later small red led lights in the ceiling came on. The shredder under the desk whined as he fed it Kassandra's note.
He dialed the number from memory. "How can I help you a familiar voice came on the line?"
"Bravo, Alpha, Lima, Lima, Oscar, Oscar, November, Sierra."
"She's expecting you sweetie. Been a long time, stop bye sometime."
Caleb smiled; he knew Julie's voice. She'd been with the president since she'd been governor and one of the five living people who knew about Caleb's previous history.
"Hey honey, how are you?"
"I'm fine Madam President."
Laughter, "come now Caleb; we've been through too much for you to not call me Sharon."
"I know ma'am. How's Katherine?"
"She is fine, adjusted well. She asks almost every day if I've spoken with you. I... We owe you everything Caleb."
"No Sharon, I owe you. Your predecessor left me for almost two years, you rescued me."
"If I had known about you sooner, I would have made arrangements to have you released Caleb."
"I know."
"Imagine my surprise when my daughter had been kidnapped in Russia by vampires. The shock was hard to believe they even existed. Surrounded by our nation's finest men and women in uniform, covert operations, Secret Service, DHS, FBI, Marshals, DDS the damn CIA, everything and not one person knowing what to do. Just suggested the story be she was currently on a private vacation."
"I sat crying at Camp David with Steven, when Julie sent Kassandra knocking on my door. She knew one man, a man left from a team. A man who had handled these situations before. Problem was, he'd taken out a witch, who just happened to be wife of a senior KGB agent. You were alive and my only hope."
"I know Sharon, but the ones you had to release to set me free..."
"You killed them all eight weeks later. No harm done. As I said to you the day you killed the vampires and returned her to me, there is nothing I won't do for you."
"You do too much Sharon."
"Bullshit, I do not enough."
Caleb laughed, "Imagine the sound bite of you saying bullshit on CNN."
She laughed, "imagine if they knew a lot, like for ten years our country had a group of men who hunted the things in scary stories for real, or that book had a lot of truthful elements in it."
"Thank you for making me write it."
"No, thank you, I know it's sold as fiction, I could never openly tell the story, but this way there are people out there who know. Rather they think it's real or not they know some of what you've done."
"Plus it allows you to funnel me way too much money,' Caleb chuckled.
"Well... so..., Sharon laughed. Caleb did not. What's on your mind doll you are never overly talkative but even for you, you're quite."
"The man they brought me in about, something is off with it."
"You mean why they singled you out?"
"No they are grasping at straws; I can't exactly explain. I just saw two photos, but he looked dry."
"Dry?"
"Sharon the man looked dry, like firewood. Dried out, devoid of fluids."
"Oh my? What could do that to a man? Vampire?"
"No I've seen that. Maybe prolonged exposure to sun, maybe intense heat. I mean a man living in the city plenty of water available..."
"You want me to get you a federal badge and credentials?"
Caleb laughed again. No. I'm retired till you put me to work for you.
"Hopefully the day I need you to do something like that again never arises. But if you change your mind... Any and all traces of the team is gone now as you requested. Large insurance policies that had been 'misplaced' were paid to the families."
"I know and thank you. I did offer my assistance as an observer".
"You should just ask her out Caleb."
"Who?"
"Let's see, tall, athletic, long raven-haired beauty with full pouty lips, quite busty for her frame, round butt... I believe her name is Detective Mendez."
Caleb laughed; "I see Kassandra still talks a lot."
"Kassandra loves you. You have no idea what it done to her the day she lost your team... And you. She came to me in pieces, had been for almost two years, but she came with a plan to free you. The team never will be again, but I will always have her as an advisor to make sure you are ok. Even after I have left office there is a large shell company for her to keep you and her safe."
"We were set up. Me in Russia and the others in Italy all hit at the same time, they knew we were coming."
