Deathstalker 06 - Deathstalker Legacy

to desanctify it with the spilled blood of innocents. These people might well be mad enough to vote out of office the city Council that allowed it to happen. So the Council leaned on the peacekeepers, and they leaned on Angelo Bellini; to come to the Cathedral and work a miracle. One more time ...
    He spotted the officer in charge over by the flapping crime scene tapes sealing off the Cathedral, and he hurried over to join him. Captain Jakobs was a large and imposing figure inside his long uniform coat, but he looked almost desperately at Angelo as he approached. It wasn't just the pressure from Above either.
    Angelo could tell. He caught the way the Captain looked at the Cathedral, and his stomach lurched.
    Something had gone wrong. Something had gone very wrong. He nodded to the Captain, trying to keep his face impassive. He offered Jakobs his cup of coffee, and the Captain grimaced.
    "I've already drunk as much of that shit as I can stand. Did Dispatch give you a sitrep?"
    "Just the basics," said Angelo.
    "Then you don't know. You're not the first negotiator we called. Hendricks went in just over an hour ago."
    Angelo frowned. "Hendricks is a good man. What happened?"
    "They killed him. And then they asked for you, by name. Saw you on the news last week. The Dent Twins case. They're planning something in there . . . You don't have to do this, Bellini."
    "Yes I do. It's my job."
    "All right," said Jakobs. "This is what we know. There are three devils in there, holding two priests and a party of five visiting nuns hostage. Far as we can tell, this wasn't in the original plan. The devils only intended to do some property damage, a little casual blasphemy. Make a name for themselves . . .
    They're not even real Hellfire Club; just teenage wannabes. The priests turned up unexpectedly, to give the visiting nuns a tour of the Cathedral. The devils panicked and ran for it. Just happened to be a peacekeeper walking by, right outside the front door. He challenged the devils, and they took a shot at him and ran back inside. Barricaded the door. Peacekeeper called it in, and it all just escalated from there.
    "I really thought Hendricks could talk them down. No one had been hurt. Now he's dead, and the devils demanded you and a free passage out, or they'll start sending out body parts. You wearing body armor?"
    "Of course."
    "Force shield?"
    "On my wrist. They'll make me take it off, but that's what it's there for. Makes them feel more secure if they think they're calling the shots. And no hidden weapons. That's not how I do things. No comm taps, either. They always spot them."
    Jakobs shook his head angrily. "And just what the hell are we supposed to do, if you get into trouble?
    All three of the devils have guns, though God knows why. Hendricks gave me the exact same routine, and he's dead."
    "I'll just have to talk faster," said Angelo. "What's the official line? Are they going to get free passage out of here?"
    "No," Jakobs said flatly. "We can't allow the Hellfire Club to gain a victory here, even if they are just wannabes. Word from Above is, we have to send a message. Save the priests and nuns if you can, but if all else fails, we go in guns blazing, and the God-botherers will have to take their chances. It's a hard bloody world sometimes. You ready?"
    "Ready as I'll ever be. Do you have comm contact with the devils?"
    "No. They're too paranoid for that. They shout their messages through the front doors."
    "So I just walk in, and hope they don't shoot me on sight?"
    "Pretty much, yes. Don't you just love this job?"
    Angelo laughed softly. "Hell, I joined for the great social life and the fantastic pension plan. Didn't you?"
    He walked off through the rain without waiting for an answer. He stepped carefully over the crime scene tapes and headed for the front doors of the Cathedral, his hands held well out from his sides to show they were empty. No one shot at him. He stopped before the two doors. They were standing slightly ajar.
    Angelo raised his voice over the roar of the driving rain.
    'You asked for me. I'm Angelo Bellini; hostage negotiator. I'm unarmed. Shall I come in?"
    One of the doors swung inwards, and a devil poked his head out. Typical cheap backstreet body shop job. Brick red skin, two stubby horns on the forehead. The goatee beard was just patchy enough to be real. Angelo put the devil's age at about nineteen. The devil looked quickly past Angelo, making sure the peacekeepers were all staying well back,