Welcome to Heaven’s Mercenaries, the third and final installment of Power Couple!

So many questions we need answers to, and we’re about to have them answered in this first part of the final season. So, let’s get started!

PRESENT DAY

The old man stepped out of the jet and breathed the air in. Forty-plus years was too long a time to have been banished from one’s own homeland. He looked around and took in the scenery around the airport. So much had changed, but some things would never get that memo.

He went slowly down each step of the stairs and knelt down to kiss the ground right after and said, “Home sweet home.”

A black limousine pulled up to the plane. Two women stepped out and walked gracefully over to the old man. One of the women took his briefcase as they began to walk over to the car.

“Welcome home, Mr. G.”

“Thank you, Jenny. Is everything in place?”

“Yes, Mr. G. We put the last piece in place a few hours ago.”

“Excellent, Jenny. And on your end, Winifred?”

“Everything is ready on my end, Mr. G. The mansion’s still in excellent shape and out of the public eye. It’s quite shocking that that was not the previous base of operations for the other guy.”

“Yes, Winifred. The other guy and I always differed in taste. What’s the situation with the case?”

“You know how our boys think, Mr. G. The case has gone nowhere since the last update months ago.”

The old man slowly took in a deep breath, and then exhaled. “Well then, I suppose it’s time for a shakeup, girls. Let’s get this party started.”

*****

Katherine Benton was on her knees in silent prayer in her room. She’d been asleep a few hours earlier but had woken up with a sudden urge to pray. At first, it wasn’t clear who the subject of the prayer was, but then it became clear about three hours in.

“Keep him safe, Lord. He may have walked away from his calling, but He is still your beloved. For the sake of the sacrifices of his father, for the sake of my prayers, please keep him safe. Keep him sound. Protect him, Lord. Keep him-”

Katherine felt a force shut her mouth, and she continued to rock back and forth, humming the tune to ‘Abide With Me.” Not many seconds went by when she fell into a trance, and for the next few minutes she was dead to the world. It took another ten minutes for her to snap out of it, and she immediately picked up the notebook in her bedside drawer to record what she’d seen.

Right after she’d written it all down, she sent a text message to an unknown number. “The divine is in agreement. All clear to proceed.”

She put the phone down and said her final words of prayer for the night: “Bring him home.”

*****

The morning shift at the police station was the worst one to be on sometimes. There was always some level of foolishness to expect from the druggies and the drunks on the streets, which made for entertaining viewing whenever they were brought in and booked. This was not a typical day, however. It had been quiet all morning, as though everyone in the city had suddenly understood what proper behaviour is. Either that, or the boys on the road were making excellent money with their ‘unofficial fines,’ their ‘something for the boys.’

The two men at the front counter had been chatting away their boredom when an immaculately dressed gentleman came in. He had on a gray, three-piece, double-breasted suit with brown shoes and the perfect tie. The hat he had on made him look like a movie character.

“Good morning, gentlemen. I’d like to speak with Inspector Julius Kpodo, please.”

******

Julius Kpodo was reclined at his desk, massaging his temples. It didn’t help that there was some pandemonium in the bullpen outside his office, but he knew better than to concern himself with it. The officers in this branch tended to be a little loud sometimes for reasons only god knew. He liked his new office, but having to move on account of the old police station being blown to bits meant feeling like a guest in one’s own home.

He liked the silence of his old spot, and he also appreciated the privacy. Now he was in a place where he didn’t trust anyone except his secretary because he didn’t know any of them. It was a tough thing to have to rebuild one’s entire case in the middle of this madness; pieces of information had gone missing.

It had been months since the escapes of both prime suspects in the Glazer case. He had squeezed everything he could out of Goosman without the need for torture, but he still didn’t have enough. The detective map on the cork board to his right now had even more question marks than names and answers, and his time was beginning to run out. At the start of the case, he had every politician offering damn near their whole staff and a private army to help him. Now, they were breathing fiery warnings of impatience down his neck. He was quite sure that his saving grace was the fact that literally no other officer wanted the case, but it was only a matter of time before some poor soul would have it foisted upon them after it was yanked from him, along with his job.

Meanwhile, Mary, his secretary, was busily working on a document when someone walked over to her. “Miss Mary, this man here says he would like to see Inspector Kpodo.”

Mary continued with her typing while she asked, “Does he have an appointment?”

“I do not, Miss Mary, but I’m quite certain the inspector is expecting me.”

“What is your-” Mary looked up from the computer while she began the question and was stopped in her tracks by who she saw. She turned to the officer who had come with the man.

“Officer, you may go. I’ll take it from here.”

******

The sound of the intercom snapped Julius back to reality. “Yes, Mary?”

“Inspector, please I have a visitor here for you.”

“Mary, you know I’m not accepting any unscheduled meetings today.”

“Inspector, I believe you’d want to make an exception for this one.”

That piqued Julius’ interest. Mary almost never made that kind of suggestion. “Alright, send them in.”

The next face he saw had him in shock. The man was immaculately dressed in a three-piece, double-breasted grey suit with spotless brown shoes and the perfect tie. He oozed calm and charm and did not at all seem like the dead man he was supposed to be. He definitely looked the part, but how could it be?

He spoke so calmly and enunciated each word like it was English class.

“Good afternoon, Officer Julius Kpodo. My name is Marcus Malcolm Glazer. There are some who know me by the name, ‘Kane Glazer.’ I understand you’re looking for me.”

Just as we thought! Kane Glazer is still alive! And he’s finally back! Oh boy, oh boy!