Chapter 28: City of Angels

The capital of Nicaorh, was Tenebren, the City of Angels. A barrier made of Mojo covered Tenebren. Nobody can enter the capital without identification. The barrier was made to keep spys out.

Vice-Admiral Rowland's chopper stopped just outside of Tenebren. The trio got down from the chopper and entered a military vehicle.

Raziel drove the vehicle to a gate outside of Tenebren. He presented their identification to the guards and they were allowed in.

Betty was sitting in the passenger seat beside Raziel and giving him directions towards Vice-Admiral Rowland's house. As they turned towards Niger Street, the place where the Vice-Admiral's house was located, Betty said to him, "Flying is forbidden in the capital whether by using helicopters or your powers."

The Vice-Admiral's house was located on 49, Niger Street in Red River District. The soldiers from the Red River Navy Base have their homes in this district.

Vice-Admiral Rowland rolled down his windows to breathe in some fresh air, "After you drop me off at my house, you'll go and resume your job at Central Tenebren police department.

"I rented an apartment for you on 16, Louis Edet Road. You'll find Louis Edet Road in Glawski. It's a suburb of Tenebren.

"You'll be paid monthly at your new job but I'm going to give you a thousand dollars every month starting from now.

"I have your account number so I'm going to send the money there before today runs out.

"If you have anything to report to me, you know where to find me."

They arrived in front of a large villa. It was a three story house and it was very large. It had a flower garden in front of it. The villa had no gate.

A couple of servants in ran towards the car to help the Vice-Admiral carry his loads.

Vice-Admiral Rowland nodded at one of the servants, "Raziel, hand over the car key to him."

Raziel gave the car key to the servant and he drove off. Vice-Admiral Rowland started to walk into his house.

Betty stayed behind. She handed Raziel some cash, "This five hundred dollars. You'll need it."

Raziel shook his head and refused, "I saw you the other day at Agnes's shop. You definitely need the money more than me."

Betty looked at him with pity, "Trust me, you'll wish to have taken this money. It's not too late."

But Raziel had already turned his back. He didn't want to owe her anything. He pulled his travelling bag along with him and left Red River District. He called a taxi then he realised he had no money to pay the cab man.

He was stuck. He had no idea where Central Tenebren Police Department was nor his new home in the suburb.

Dark clouds were looming in the sky with thunder booming every now and then. It was threatening to rain.

Before Raziel could give any more thought about what to do, it started raining heavily. He tried to hide in a bus park shed but the wind was blowing the rain towards him. In a few minutes he was already soaked with rain water. He was shivering alone under the shed.

A pink hummer jeep pulled up to the shed. The driver of the car opened the door to the passenger seat from the inside and shouted at him to get in. It was a woman's voice and it sounded familiar.

Raziel ran to the car and jumped inside. He was surprised to see Commander Carol at the wheel. He threw his travelling bag into the back seat and closed the door, "How did you know I was here?"

Commander Carol began driving into Red River District, "You're thinking too much. I left the navy base the same day we got there. I've been here since. I'm just returning from getting groceries.

"That's when I saw you in the bus shed just outside of Red River District."

Raziel was rubbing his hands together to generate some heat, "Where are we going?"

Commander Carol kept her eyes on the road, "My house of course. Do you have some place you need to be?"

Raziel replied, "No." He can't go anywhere in this rain. He will resume his job tomorrow. Hopefully a commander's house would have some heating system.

After a few minutes of driving, they arrived at the other end of Red River District. Commander Carol's house was just a three bedroom flat. There was nothing fancy about it. She drove the car into the garage and turned the ignition system off.

She carried her groceries with her and let herself into the house with Raziel behind her.

She pointed at the room beside the kitchen, "You should go in there and change your clothes. When you're done, go to the kitchen and cook rice for us to eat. I still have a pot of soup we can use to eat."

Raziel made no argument and went into the bedroom to remove his wet clothes. He came out five minutes later and went into the kitchen to cook rice.

He was surprised by the simplicity of her house. There was nothing expensive about it both inside and outside.