Former LEPrecon captain Holly Short jumped as the jangling of her telephone broke the heavy silence in her recently acquired office. Actually, office wasn't really the word for it. It was more like closet with a label on the door that read: Holly Short, P.I. The name Foaly flashed on her phone's caller ID and Holly rolled her eyes. He just wouldn't give up on the idea of her rejoining the LEP. Even if Commander Sool would allow her to rejoin, she wouldn't. Not as long at the evil man was in charge. Finally she couldn't take the incessant ringing and scooped the phone off the receiver.
"I've already told you, Foaly; I will not rejoin the LEP." She sighed angrily as she said this, anticipating Foaly's all too familiar argument about how the People needed her and that she could serve them much better as a member of the LEP, which, of course, wasn't true.
"Well that's good," a familiar voice drawled, a voice that sent angry tremors coursing through her petite body, "Because the LEP would never accept you back. Not after everything you've done."
"Commander Sool," Holly greeted him coolly, choosing to ignore his jibe at the murder charge that had been brought against not too long ago. Just knowing he was still bitter about her being set free, due to the fact that she was innocent, was satisfaction enough for the moment. "Hello to you, too. Why are you using Foaly's phone?"
"Not that it any of your concern, civilian, but the centaur has been suspended, without pay, pending an investigation into his illegal aid during a secret mission fourteen months ago. It involved the Mud Man, Artemis Fowl. Perhaps you know what I'm talking about?"
Holly remained silent. It was her fault that Foaly had been suspended. After all, hadn't she been the one who had convinced him to help herself and Artemis during their break in at the Spiro Needle.
She could just imagine his smug smirk at having finally taken Foaly down a peg. He was, after all, loyal to both Holly and her deceased Commander and Sool's enemy, Julius Root. Sool continued, barely containing his delight. "Just as I thought. I've also discovered through my investigation of the Operations Room that several pieces of LEP equipment have gone missing. Since the centaur failed to report the items missing, as he undoubtedly would in his paranoia, I must assume Foaly himself gave the equipment away. I was merely checking in on Mister Foaly's frequent contacts to discover this person's identity and imagine my surprise when I saw your number listed rather often."
"So?" Holly asked, struggling to keep her voice level. "Is talking to an old friend a crime now? If it is, you guys really have a lot of time on your hands over there."
"Miss Short, I am a police commander. I command your respect even if I am no longer you're superior officer. Now drop the innocent act. Do you know anything about the centaur's whereabouts? He is wanted by the Council for questioning."
Holly nearly dropped the phone. "What do you mean his whereabouts? Foaly's missing?"
"Yes, Miss Short, he is. Stop playing dumb. I know that you know where he is. This will be much easier if you just tell me so we can find him and get this matter cleared up."
"That's a great plan, Commander, except I don't know where Foaly is. And even if I did, not even you would be foolish enough to think I'd tell you. Good day," she concluded, replacing the phone on the hook. It was moments like this that she wished she had enough money for a video phone, but she was working on a case by case salary now and all that money was split with Mulch, her partner in crime-solving. Needless to say, a video phone was more than a little out of reach. It was too bad. She would have paid what little spending money she had to see Sool's face just before she terminated the call. Frond knows she needed a good laugh after the past month. Holly shook herself. There was no time to wallow in self pity. She had done enough of that lately, anyway. Right now, her top priority was to find Foaly. Holly leapt to her feet, ready for action, but flopped back into her chair just as quickly as she realized that it wouldn't be that simple. Usually Foaly found her mark for her and then she had full set of LEP gear to help her get him. Not this time. She needed a plan. A good one. She needed Artemis Fowl. Again.
-x-
Artemis Fowl the Second was generally not someone you wanted for an enemy, just as it used to be with his father, Artemis Fowl the First. Of course, that was before his kidnapping by the Russian mafia and his subsequent rescue by the elf, Holly Short. Nowadays, Artemis Senior was dead set on his family going straight, which put a wrinkle in Artemis's scheming. Not an overly large one, but it was a big enough problem to warrant constant attention. Artemis Junior had to be aware at all times in order to keep his father from discovering his more shady exploits. At the moment, however, he was involved in a perfectly legitimate venture (who said everything he did had to be criminal?). That was why Butler stood by his side, rather than his sister, Juliet. Ever since his extremely near brush with death six months previously, Butler had slowed considerably. It was through no fault of his own. He had just been doing his job of protecting the Principal when he took a bullet at point blank range, shielding Artemis from harm. Though Artemis's quick thinking had saved Butler's life until Holly Short had arrived and healed him, there had been some complications. Kevlar fibers were now embedded in his lungs, making it difficult for the man once known as one of the most dangerous people alive to climb the stairs without getting winded, let alone battle various hired musclemen and mercenaries. Juliet accompanied Artemis in potentially dangerous situations. Artemis, however, was anticipating no danger at this particular meeting and therefore had asked Butler to come along. The manservant still had unusually fast reaction times, bolstered by the fairy magic, making sure he was still a formidable enemy when he needed to be.
"Really, Butler, you would think that a man of Ryan's caliber would be prompt." Artemis fanned his face slightly, trying to dissuade the beads of sweat forming under his skin from popping out. That would be most unprofessional and bad for his custom made Armani suit. The man they were waiting for was fifteen minutes late and Artemis was growing testier by the second. He was vaguely reminded of a similar scene a little over a year and a half ago. Then, he had been waiting to be taken to a disgraced fairy, in hopes of gaining access to her Book, a sort of fairy bible. That had been the start of a long and tumultuous journey. But now, Artemis was a different person. He had matured from a devious, scheming boy genius into a devious and scheming but slightly nicer teenage genius, thanks in large part to the influence of the People and the friends he had made among them. At the thought of the People, Artemis's mind wandered to Holly, wondering how she was doing. They had been in contact since her resignation from the LEP, but their conversations had been short and far between and mainly consisted of Holly asking his opinion and advice with her cases. He had agreed to work for her in a consulting capacity from time to time. Perhaps when he arrived back at the Fowl Manor, he would call her on the communicator she had given him. Just as Artemis was about open his mouth and tell Butler of this idea, he felt a strong hand clamp down on his neck, forcing him under the table. Instinctively, Artemis kept quiet, realizing that Butler must have senses some sort of danger. Not even a bullet could take away from the hyper-awareness and sixth sense for danger that Butler had developed.
Seconds later, something whizzed above the table and Artemis tensed. They were under attack. He found himself wishing Juliet were by his side, or rather, the old Butler. It wasn't only for his sake that he wished this. It was for Butler's, as well. The manservant mightn't be able to handle the situation and could end up falling into harm's way again. And this time, Holly most likely wouldn't arrive in time to heal him. Gunfire sounded above, slightly muffled by the table, but obviously still near. And then an explosion sounded and the gunfire ceased, followed by a heavy silence. Artemis had been well taught by Butler to never leave his hiding space during a firefight unless Butler came and got him. Even if that particular rule hadn't been pounded into his brain, Artemis wouldn't have looked. He wasn't dumb, for one. Far from it, in fact. And two, he was afraid of what he might find. So he waited with bated breath until a familiar, giant sized reached under and pulled him out.
"I can't say I was expecting that, although I suppose I should have been…" Artemis trailed off as he realized his manservant wasn't listening. "Butler? What does it say?" he asked, nodding towards the business card clutched in Butler's hand.
"It says: 'Artemis the Hunter, get ready to give up your name. I'm hunting you.'" Butler looked up at his employer, waiting for an explanation.
Artemis's eyes opened wide, understanding the meaning of the phrase immediately. Butler, however, hadn't accompanied himself, Juliet, and the fairies Holly and Mulch Diggums on the Spiro job. Otherwise, he would have gotten the meaning as well. "That's very similar to what I said to Jon Spiro right before he was arrested. I suppose he's behind this. Or rather, his henchmen are." Wrinkling his nose with distaste, Artemis attempted to dust off his soiled suit. "I think we should head back home. I have a feeling I'll need to speak with Holly about this.
-x-
Britva lifted pressed a button on his cell phone while pointing in the direction he wanted his chauffeur to drive. He always conducted phone calls in a moving vehicle. It made it harder to triangulate the signal.
"Yes?" he answered irritably, having seen Kamar's name on his caller ID. Britva was still extremely angry with Kamar after Artemis Fowl's escape several months previously and he suspected that Kamar had something to do with the ransom money going missing, though he couldn't see how the man could have arranged it. But with any luck, they would soon exact their revenge on the Irlandskii and his snot-nosed genius of a son. No one cheated him and got away with it. At least not without several of their body parts missing.
"It's done, Brit –" Kamar started.
"Don't use my name!" Britva screamed.
"Sorry, Brit – sir."
Britva sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I trust they found the card? Or did you mess that up, as well?"
"No, they found it all right. And they bought it, hook, line, and sinker," Kamar assured his temperamental boss.
"Good. You've done something right for once. I'll have to be sure and thank Mr. Blunt for that valuable piece of information when he is released from prison. Before I have him killed, that is." Loose ends were very dangerous in this line of work and Arno Blunt, Jon Spiro's bodyguard, was a big one. Nevertheless, the bit about 'Artemis the Hunter' had proved a rather useful tidbit in throwing Fowl's suspicion off Britva's outfit for a while. It had taken some threatening as Blunt claimed to have gone straight after seeing some sort of ghost, but eventually the mercenary had sung like a canary. Or as much as he could without teeth. Young Artemis Fowl had made himself a number of dangerous enemies in his few short years in the business and now it was coming back to haunt him. He wouldn't escape this time. That much was certain, Britva told himself as he hung up the phone, a rare smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He was going to enjoy this sweet revenge.