Aeon Paradox

Chapter Six: Two Two Four

Sentinel Archer Quinn gazed at his partner as she drove at high speed, weaving dangerously through the evening traffic.

Blue intelligent eyes focused on the road, expression sour. This struck him as odd. His partner of eight years was not the type to wear their tension so visibly. Sentinel Lola Llewellyn, the stunning platinum jewel of the agency was efficient and serious. She was always formidable, but more compassionate and patient than most of them.

"Legs, care to tell me why were are driving so dangerously?"

"Don't call me that. No one understands the reference but you."

"Fact remains. It's a two-two-four. The Matriarch will have despatched Kimmel and Yang along with Hurley and Jones, not to mention a foundation backup force. Whats the rush?"

"We have to get there before they do."

His brow furrowed. A two-two four was a potentially sensitive trafficking situation with minors. They were, sadly, not an uncommon occurrence in their profession. Though more often than not it was teenage sensitive gangs recruiting members and not something that nefarious. But her urgency made him think otherwise. What did she know he did not?

"Care to divulge here?"

"You could just read the dispatch."

"You know I have. Tip off of suspicious movements on Gunnery road near the outskirts of Windsor. Most likely Molokov involvement from what intelligence has concluded. Again, what's the rush?"

"I have a bad feeling."

Vague, but okay. He knew better than to push further. The answer would be the same. She had an uncanny ability to know where their priorities should lay and the information he needed to know.

"Is this one of your gut feelings, or are you just seeing something I'm not?"

Her fingers twisted tightly around the steering wheel as they hit the highway, the road clear as she pressed down on the accelerator. "Both."

"Llewellyn, you need to be a little more forthright with me here. Should I be ready for something more dangerous than our usual fare? The Molokovs won't send the direct family out this way. It will all be contractors or cousins, if it is Molokov at all. They won't be any more trouble than most. I can guarantee it."

Silence followed.

It was not like her to be so tight-lipped. Often she was telling him exactly what to do. Her intuitive abilities were incredibly useful in their work and what made them such a successful partnership.

"You really can't feel it?" Her tone held a level of frustration.

"Feel what?"

"That something is off."

"It would help if I knew what that something was?"

She sighed, "For a man of your stature and training, it baffles me how unattuned you are at times." She broke her concentration on the road to hold his gaze for a moment. "Just be ready. We may have to act quickly. You can feel it in the air. I don't like this. It's unnatural"

Archer nodded slowly as she turned her attention back to the road. He had never seen her this serious about anything before, but he trusted her. If she had cause to say these things, then he would do what was required to perform at peak and with the utmost care.

Windsor was one of the new suburban developments on the edge of the city. A mix of rural meets urban. It was one of the newer housing development estates that had popped up in what had once been endless fields of old pine forest reserve.