The Deadly (Part 3 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 14- Peanut Butter Waffles

Aldrich:

She smiled. It started out small in the library, barely a curve of her lips that seemed terribly out of practice, but it was a smile nonetheless. Over the course of the night, it grew larger and larger. I was wrong before. Allegra could smile well enough, and it was completely disarming when she did. Not just because it was so out of character for her, but because it changed her whole face. Most of the time she seemed so sad, and it somehow made her look younger, like someone who hadn't been aged beyond her years by the things she'd seen.

Somehow, her smile reminded me of someone else I knew, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Allegra was less guarded when she wasn't around other people. Maybe that didn't apply to her team, but sitting in the conference room all night made it very apparent. After the diner, she explained what we would be walking into, that this party wasn't exactly going to be anything like I was used to. Based on what they had scouted before, it was a free for all of drugs, sex, and alchohol. Since the party would be coming up in the next week, we went straight back to the conference room as the hours ticked away, the two of us trying to figure out exactly who would be there and what our best method was to sneak in.

That's how Christopher found us before the sun rose the next morning, both of us half asleep in our chairs and with a pile of papers in front of us that listed out the usual party guests that we tried to identify.

"Hey boss," Chris looked confusedly at us. "I couldn't find you in your room, were we supposed to start earlier today?"

I shook my head, yawning, "No. We were running with an idea from last night and we just got a little carried away. What has you up this early?"

"Nova. I'm worried that she has a stomach bug or something, she came to get me and said wasn't feeling well this morning."

That immediately woke me up. "I could call the doctor. He's not in the building today because he had vacation time, but I can see if he's around."

Allegra's worn out voice piped up, "Nyoka should be awake by now, she'd be happy to help. She's got medical training with that stuff."

Chris seemed almost surprised, and I could see why. Allegra was hunched over in her chair, her usual ramrod straight posture breaking down in exhaustion. Over the last few days it had been clear that she wasn't sleeping well based on the bags under her eyes and her general manor, but now she looked half dead. I almost felt guilty, I should have insisted that we both get some sleep and not pressed this matter so far. This look for her was a far cry from her normal professional affect, and it was obvious to both Chris and I.

"Thank you," Chris nodded. "I'll check with her when she wakes up."

"We should probably catch an hour of sleep or so," I suggested. "We can push the daily meeting back."

Allegra ran her hands through her disheveled hair and sighed. "I suppose you're right-"

She suddenly sat straight and leaned back in her chair, looking out the doors to the hallway like she heard someone coming. She muttered, "Perfect timing."

It seemed as though Phoenix didn't notice Chris or myself at first, she just saw Allegra and started talking before she was even in the room completely. Breathlessly, she shook her head, "Have you seen Christopher? Nova said she wasn't feeling-"

It was then that I realized Phoenix was carrying Nova, who was curled high on her waist on the opposite side of her body so that we hadn't seen her at first. Phoenix seemed to notice us at the same time, turning to Christopher who still watched her warily. I couldn't blame him for being incredibly protective of Nova, but Phoenix seemed like she knew how to be around children, and Nova obviously liked her greatly to be clinging onto the red headed woman like that.