THE WATCHMAN

Bigger Problems

Sergio Angel was furious as he came down from the helicopter. He had just lost his biggest asset in his quest. Antonio De Castillo was yet to tell him, how he went to the Land of the Fates, and be had lost him.

"How did this happen? How did we lose him?" He furiously asked his agents, who didn't dare to reply, because of the grave consequences a wrong reply could cause.

Sergio Angel had a reputation for being a ruthless man with a mysterious past. His childhood and early adulthood were not well documented by the league. He just showed up a few years ago with a wealth of knowledge and info that the League of Watchmen couldn't ignore.

He was a strict man, who didn't usually give much away. And didn't take nicely to failure.

They landed in the League of Watchmens' headquarters in Bucharest and where Antonio Jr. was being held.

Sergio Angel headed straight for the chambers where the boy was being kept. When he arrived there, he found the young child playing with a mysterious aged man and woman.

"Welcome Sergio, we've been waiting for you," said the Old man. He was a tall, fully bearded man, in his early sixties. His hair was all grey, including his beards and he looked very fit for a man of that age. He looked awfully familiar to Sergio Angel but he couldn't place where he had seen him before. The woman who ignored Sergio Angels' presence was still playing the child, also had grey hair and.

Sergio Angel noticed the signet on their chests. They were the Lords of the League!

Lords were the highest rank in both the leagues of Watchmen and Timekeepers. This rank was only passed down through bloodlines or in the case where there was child one to pass it on to, the Oraha would consult the Fates to know the next family among the Barons to inherit the title.

The position had been a controversy for so many years now. As the Oraha claimed that the Fates had not selected any family to take the seat.

Rui Murillo and Selena Murillo had disappeared over 20 years ago, along with their son, and had never been found since.

"Lord and Dutchess Murillo?" Sergio Angel asked, a look of confusion mixed with shock splattered across his face.

The old man nodded. "How? Where have you been all these years?" Sergio asked as he bowed himself to the ground

"Never mind that Baron, we are here now, and we have come to clean up the mess you and your fellow Barons have made." The old woman interrupted

"Oh dearie, don't be so hard on him, it wasn't entirely his fault. Or was it?" Lord Murillo said while looking directly at Sergio Angel.

"No Sir, it wasn't! I... I can explain.." Sergio Angel replied. He was not sure what they were referring to but was visibly trembling, not knowing what his fate might be.

"No need to be scared Sergio," Lord Murillo said in a calm time. "Nothing will happen to you, at least not yet!"

***********************************************

Susan successfully mounted Antonio on Mi Fuegos' back before she mounted herself. They flew straight to the underground location, not going back to the Manor, knowing that its security had been compromised. At the location, they were given a rapturous welcome by jubilant Timekeepers who had returned from the battle themselves.

The mood quickly changed as everyone saw the look on Susan's face. Antonio was rushed into the house and doctors were brought in to attend to his wounds. His recovery would take a while, because of the extent of damage that was done to him.

Susan also set out to contact the Oraha, but all her efforts were futile as he was being guarded by the League. Also weighing on her mind was the fact that her baby had been kidn*pped along with the mysterious disappearance of Jorge's body.

How was she going to tell Antonio that his best friend was dead?

Even in his sedated state, she could hear him calling out his best friend's name and his sons' names at intervals. And she knew that once he was conscious she would have to tell him. But first, she needed to find out a way to reach the Oraha.

After several days of trying to reach out to the Oraha without success, she decided to take matters into her own hands and rescue her baby boy. But first, she would have to make sure that Antonio was okay.

After a few days Antonio was able to sit up and talk well, and with these improvements came the moment she had long dreaded. She had been avoiding him all this while, even though he had made several requests to see her. She always told the doctors to lie about her absence, all in the name of searching for Antonio Jr.

"Where have you been all these days? A furious Antonio asked. "I have been calling for you and also receive the reply that you're not around, what about Jorge? I haven't seen him since I got back and no one is saying anything!" Antonio continued.

Susan could barely lift her head to look at Antonio's face. Tears trickled down her face as she said "I'm sorry babe, but Jorge is dead".

"Jorge is what?" Antonio asked "You must be kidding me! Where and when did this happen? And you didn't tell me?" Antonio was trembling all over, tears streamed down his face. Susan could see he was broken by the news

"Noooooooo!" He screamed... "Not Jorge, not now bro," she said as he shed more tears.

"How could you let him die? How could you let them take him?" Antonio asked in tears and he broke down in her arms.

"It happened before I could do anything, and before we got back, his body was nowhere to be found!" She replied through little sobs.

"We have lost everything!" She said through sobs. "Our friend, Our son, the Oraha, everything!

Antonio cried for hours. He and Susan laid there the whole day and night.

The next day, he refused to eat or take medications. He wouldn't even talk to Susan. He ignored all her pleas as he continued to mourn his dead friend.

Susan began to get frustrated, so she went j to his room one night.

"Antonio! You cannot continue like this!" She said in a stern voice. "We all loved Jorge and we will do everything to avenge his murder but you cannot inspire the men this way. Even the Timekeepers are scared to go into battle again because we were sold out by someone when we came to rescue you".

"You are the only one the men will follow right now! So you better get up and get better! If not Jorge's death would have been for nothing!" She said and began to walk out of his presence.

"Sold you out? How do you mean? I thought the operation was a success?" Antonio asked, stopping her in her stride as she made to exit the room.

"It was only a success because of a stroke of good fortune, due to a dangerous gamble I took and it also cost us the lives of many men," Susan replied in a sad tone as she turned back and walked towards his bed

"We have camped a distance away from the Council Estate when I had the idea to return and try to fly Mi Fuego down to the estate to increase our odds, I knew this may have cost my life, but it was something I had to try if I wanted to get you back. Luckily enough for me, he allowed me to fly him, but not before killing a few agents who came to the Manor in our absence."

"It seems like someone knew about our plans and wanted to take advantage of it, if not for a stroke of luck. Even at that, we lost so many men because of this act of betrayal!" Susan said

"Do not worry dear, we would get through this and find who that person is. We just need to be careful about who we feed and receive information from, from now on". Antonio said as he tightened his embrace on her.

Suddenly the room door flung open...

*******************************************************

Lord Murillo stood at the balcony, staring into the distance. "How many Barons can we reach this moment?" He asked Sergio Angel and Julio, both of whom stood behind him.

"We cannot ascertain that at the moment my Lord, we do not know who and who are still alive, as most of them are still in hiding following the attack on the Council. Even the Oraha is incommunicado" Sergio Angel replied.

"We would have to assume the worst has happened," Lord Murillo said to everyone's amazement as they all knew that most of the Barons escaped unhurt. But they dared not challenge the Lord's decision.

"An ally of mine will be flying in from Ghana. Her name is Tina Gyang. She's a skilled Watchman and also a tracer. Wherever these betrayers have hidden, we will find them. She will be coming with her team, so please render them all the assistance you can". Lord Murillo concluded.

"You're dismissed!" he said.

"You wait behind!" He said, gesturing in Julio's direction.

Sergio Angel's face broke into a frown. "What would he want to discuss with a subordinate that he would not say in my presence?" he thought to himself.

"I have a special assignment for you. I need you to find me, Antonio De Castillo and Susan Boyle". Lord Murillo said as he turned to Julio.

"B... But Sir, that's exactly the same assignment you just gave Baron Sergio as well as the incoming Tina Gyang!"

"I know about your problems with the Council. and you know I can make them disappear. I can restore you to your place and even higher. You know I have that power right?" Lord Murillo asked. "Yes, I do Sir" Julio replied as he nodded.

"Yes it's the same assignment, but yours is a little different. Sergio Angel wants to capture Antonio De Castillo and Susan Boyle. But you, my boy, will kill them before he's able to do that!" Lord Murillo said in an icy tone.

"Sir, did you say kill them? But why" he asked in a low tone, amazed but trying not to sound rebellious".

"Come closer".Lord Murillo beckoned to him. Julio drew closer and Lord Murillo whispered something into his ears. Julio's eyes widened in shock as he listened to Lord Murillo's words.

When Lord Murillo was done, he sat down as Julio stepped back into his position.

"If you're not okay with the assignment you have been given, you might as well return to your normal assigned duties. But know that the little information you just gathered, if not well processed can lead to an untimely and painful death.

Julio understood a threat when he heard one. He wasn't really given a choice. He had just heard something only a few living persons knew about, and there was no backing out now.

**************************************************

Antonio was still weak, though he could move around, the trauma he had gone through was so much that he still had nightmares of Sergio Angel coming into his cell.

One day he while having dinner with Susan, he asked her. "I couldn't help but notice, something between you and that Baron. There was just something the way you spoke to yourselves. It was like you knew yourselves from before.

Susan swallowed hard and drank some water. She wasn't expecting that.

"Ye... Yes, it's true... I know him from way back" She replied reluctantly and continued eating

"Okay?.... Is that all there is to it? Who is he? And why were you so surprised to see him?" Antonio asked with more urgency in his voice. "Are you hiding something?

"No I'm not!" she retorted...

"Then speak!" he said sternly

"His name is..... Mr..... Mr. Gio!" She said while looking down into her plate of food.

"Wait!... Mr. Gio? As in the Gio was the short form of Sergio? Are you telling me Sergio Angel is my late best friend's father?" he asked, in hope that what he just asked wasn't true.

"Yes, Anton... Mr. Gio is Sergio Angel!" She replied still looking into her plate of food.

Antonio slumped back into his chair in shock. He wasn't sure he could take any more surprises.

"Why didn't you tell me anything since?" He asked Susan. "Because I too only just found out that Sergio Angel and Mr. Gio are the same person when you referred to him as Sergio Angel. I was waiting for the right time to disclose it to you. I'm as shocked as you are Anton. She said.

"But Jorge said he killed Sergio Angel! How could this be? Was Jorge lying to me all this while? Jorge! I wish you were here, I'm sure there would be a reasonable explanation for this". Antonio said.

"We will get to the bottom of this baby". Susan said reassuringly.

They both finished their meals and went to bed together. But Antonio could not get any sleep. He kept thinking of what he just heard that night. And a possibility of being betrayed by his best friend.

He saw the blood, he saw the gun. Jorge had killed someone that day! Sergio Angel's death was a publicly known fact. But even his eyes didn't deceive him. He had seen Sergio Angel in the flesh and knew there must be a logical explanation why he was still alive.

The only problem was that the only person who could give that explanation, Jorgio Moreno. Was dead!