***
Across the city, in an older home privately set back off the road, a tall lanky man burst through the door, yelling as he hit the middle of the foyer, “Roderic!”
Brody jumped when Roderic’s assistant, Catherine, appeared in the foyer. Many nooks and crannies littered the main floor of Roderic’s house, making it easy for people to appear unexpectedly.
“He’s upstairs on the phone.” Catherine observed Brody pace back and forth across the foyer. She hated the little puke, and his uncouth language, but he was easy to manipulate, “What is the problem, Brody?”
Brody wondered if he should tell her or wait for Roderic. Why the hell hadn’t Caleb answered his phone? He had to tell someone, or he was going to burst.
“I got more info from one of my contacts.” Brody felt childish under Catherine’s gaze, though she was pleasant enough.
“What?” she questioned.
“Something the bosses need to know, so I should wait.”
“You’re so impatient;” Catherine muttered, “just contact Caleb.”
“I tried, lots of times; I can’t get an answer, so here I am. They need this info, it’s major.”
Catherine glared at him, wishing she could strangle the young man, but suppressed the desire. She needed to know what was going on; it might be information she could use to her advantage.
“What do I need to hear?” Roderic asked from behind, making Brody jump at the sound of his voice.
“Dude, I wish you would make some noise when you walk up behind me.” Brody huffed as his heartbeat settled back to its normal rhythm.
Roderic gave an “I don’t have time for this” look, to halt Brody’s long winded way through a report. “Brody, you have something I need to know?” Roderic pushed. He had way too many things going on for this, “Brody,” he urged once again.
“Oh yeah, I just got some info you need to know.”
Roderic waited but Brody still said silent, as he bounced up and down, “Brody am I going to have to drag this information out of you, or are you going to tell me?”
“Chill dude, I’m about to give you the low down.”
Roderic scrubbed his face, showing his frustration, “Call me dude one more time, and you’ll be sorry,” he threatened. “Information, NOW!”
Brody took a couple steps back, getting out of Roderic’s way, just in case. “Something bad is headed Sanctuary’s way.”
“Brody, this is old news. You told us as much two weeks ago.”
“No d ... Roderic, it’s going down tonight.” Brody shifted his weight from foot to foot, and gushed out, “One of my contacts said some vamp-demon faction is about to do a throw down on Sanctuary tonight.”
“And you’re positive about this?” Roderic asked.
“How often am I wrong?” Brody asked, holding up his hand, stopping Roderic from answering. “Don’t answer that, but I’m not wrong on this. It’s going down tonight, I’m sure.”
Roderic nodded, and turned to Catherine, “Get ahold of Caleb and Alexander, I want them here ASAP. We need to discuss what we are going to do to minimize the damages, including the legalities that I’m sure will ensue.” Catherine nodded, pulling her cell phone, disappearing within the house. Roderic turned back to Brody, “You, outside Sanctuary; now. Keep us informed,” Roderic ordered.
Brody nodded as he turned to leave, a smile creasing his face, and a spring in his step the only sign of how pumped he was at the opportunity to fight with his friends. “Brody, this is serious, so don’t get cocky, and do something that would piss us off,” Roderic warned him.
“Straight and narrow,” Brody promised.
Catherine stepped back into the foyer, hearing Brody’s bike race away. “They’ll be here within the hour.”
“Thank you, Catherine.”
She nodded and asked, “Are you sure you can you trust Brody’s information? He’s so scattered brain, he could do something that could cause problems again.” Roderic’s frown was all the answer she needed, and she kept her mouth shut.