A Master of Deceit

His stomach tied itself in knots as he sat at the dark, mahogany desk. His heart raced almost as fast as the thoughts in his mind. The crimson walls of his office may as well be the flames of hell closing in on him, his desk the tomb in which he was trapped, the portrait behind him the very specter of the devil some to claim his soul. More than once he caught himself jerking his eyes to the side when he thought one of the shadows in the room had moved. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to try and calm himself. He tried to think reassuring thoughts, but they were all pushed aside by one sentence: "What if something goes wrong?"

His name is Remiel Samael Blaz, a young man of only twenty with short, neatly trimmed brown hair and haunting, bright, light blue eyes that seemed to shimmer with a soft light and could look through a person to their very soul, or so someone had told him once. Despite his youth Remiel was the sole owner of Shield Corporation. Never heard of it? Don't be surprised, not many have.

Shield Corp. didn't manufacture or sell any products, deal in real estate or any import and exports. What it did was buy and operate the businesses that did. To date Shield Corp. owned and operated the top three hundred and seventy nine Fortune 500 companies. Naturally this wasn't public knowledge and no amount of snooping or espionage would turn up the company's name, or, more importantly, Remiel's name. It may be more cloak and dagger than most people would like, but Remiel had his reasons for his anonymity.

Once, twice, three times, his eyes scanned over page after page. Several papers lay strewn all over his desk, each with line after line of information, damning evidence of his scheming and his deeds. Again and again he read the pages, scrutinized every detail, searching for anything that might have been overlooked. But what good would it have been if he did? It was already too late to cancel the plan. The money was wired, the officials bribed, the package moved. All he could do now was wait and hope everything went exactly according to plan.

Remiel took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to get himself to relax. "This is not helping my anxiety," Remiel mumbled to himself. He knew that brooding over these papers would do no good for him or the plan, but he couldn't help it. This plan meant so much to him, so much for the people he took under his guardianship. Sighing in defeat Remiel pushed himself away from his desk and rose to his feet. Perhaps stretching his legs would help clear his mind. He turned from his desk and walked across the oak floor to the sole window in the room. Through it he could see the large expanse that made up his estate. A white, paved road lead out for roughly a hundred yards before connecting to another road at a 'Y' intersection with a large fountain in the middle that led to another building before going on for another mile to a large gate connected to a wall that ran for most of the land he owned.

His front yard was clear with lush green grass and many beautiful gardens that added a nice appeal to the property with color and life. He turned his gaze from the gardens to the massive construction that lay a short walk across the yard. It was an eight story 'U' shaped mansion that had an astounding one hundred and ten thousand square feet per floor. On the outside it looked like an old castle, the walls on the outside being stone, but the inside was completely modern. Why did he need such a massive building? He didn't, it had been commissioned by his father when he was still young and took over a hundred workers two years to build.

Seeing no use for the mansion himself, he instead turned it into an apartment building for the people who worked at the estate, even though the roughly five hundred people living there barely took up the first four floors, and that with the first floor being renovated to act as a social gathering place, as well as turned the space created by the 'U' into a small park area for them.

Remiel preferred to hire recent immigrants, and not for reasons you may think. Some like to hire people of similar backgrounds for cheap labor they can exploit without worry of legal repercussions. For Remiel it was because they were driven, hardworking people who needed a hand to get up on their feet. Now he didn't hire immigrants exclusively, several of the families living and working here were from all corners of America and had fallen on hard times. One would think bringing so many different kinds of people together would breed tension among the occupants, and at first there was. Soon though they turned into a happy, healthy community that accepted and embraced one another, something that pleased Remiel to no end. As much as he brought them here to help them get on their feet, he did have another motive for bringing people from so many walks of life together.

Despite his reasons for their being here, he had come to cherish them as though they were his own family. He knew each by name as well as their stories, their likes and dislikes and even their goals in life. Sometimes a perfect memory came in handy.

But as much as he adored his extended family, living in the large mansion with them could at times be difficult, so he had another mansion built a short walk away from it. This one was three floors with twenty two thousand square feet per floor. It was designed to look similar to the old mansion, but instead of being shaped like a 'U' it was simply rectangular, the sides being three times as long as it was wide at the front and back. The first floor consisted of a large foyer where he could greet and dazzle guests as well as a large kitchen and a large ball room style room in the back where he could conduct meetings with his employees and those who ran his many companies.

That may have been a bit much for so few rooms on the first floor, but the size was necessary for his plans with the second floor. He did not live in the mansion alone, a handful of the families had special needs or children with conditions that made getting about in the other mansion difficult. Here they could be better cared for and not be disturbed by their neighbors, as well as make the mansion seem a little less lonely.

The second floor was designed to be split down the center with hallways further dissecting it. One hallway was given to each family, Remiel had one of his own that was off-limits to everyone unless invited. Finally the third floor was his pride and joy, a library.  He added the library because of his love for reading and history, and many members of his family had taken to using it as well.

Losing himself in thoughts of his family brought a small smile to his face. Everything he did, he did for them. No, that wasn't right. They benefited from his actions, but he did it for himself. He needed them, he needed them more than he would ever admit, even to himself. Unfortunately his moment of peace and serenity was short lived as a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Enter," he said in a calm, detached voice. He turned as the door to his office opened and in walked a tall man with short trimmed hair covered by a grey beret and sharp green eyes. He was dressed in a fine murky grey camouflage shirt and pants with black leather shoes. Hanging on his back from a strap was a fully automatic AR-15 and strapped to his right thigh was a jet black Glock 9mm pistol. Remiel's smile returned, though less pronounced. The man's name was Matthew Fields, a former sniper in the Army Rangers now turned Remiel's bodyguard and chief of his security force.

"How are you today, Mathew?" Matthew's face remained stoic and void of all emotion.

"I'm fine sir," he replied, his voice empty. "I just received word from the gate that the G.o.H has arrived." The joy Remiel had felt from his friend's presence quickly disappeared from Remiel's face, leaving a cold, stoney mask in its place as he quickly began walking to the door.

"They are thirty minutes early," he said to Matthew as the bodyguard stepped aside to let him through then fell into line behind him. "What is the status of the package?"

"Not due to arrive for another ten minutes, sir," Matthew replied. Damn! This was exactly the kind of thing that Remiel had been worried about. So much had depended on the timing, and the early arrival of the G.o.H could potentially ruin the entire plan. Remiel had to figure out how to salvage what he could.

 "How are the remaining preparations coming along?"

"Jensen reported that they finished ten minutes ago and are currently positioning everyone for when the G.o.H steps into position." Good ole Jensen, Remiel could always depend on him to get whatever he needed done. And at times he felt like Jensen and Matthew were the only things he could depend on. After a short walk through the maroon hallway that belonged to Remiel they came to the foyer. It was large room shaped like a circle. In the front were mainly large windows that showed the splendor of the small garden in front of his mansion. The walls were the same maroon as those in his study, but what was different was the white marble floor that was polished to a shine. In the back were two arched staircases with black marble stairs and white marble railing that led up to a small platform above the door leading to the remainder of the first floor, then another small set of stairs led from the platform to the second floor. Remiel and Matthew stopped on that small platform where Remiel proceeded to make sure his black blazer and pants were neat.

"Do I look presentable, Mathew?" he asked. He looked over to his bodyguard and saw the man look him up and down.

 "Looks fine to me, sir," he answered before adding, "but I don't know much about getups like that." Remiel decided to use that statement to poke a little fun at the older man.

"Indeed," Remiel said with a small smirk as he began to descend to the foyer. "If you knew how to dress like me you would not have as much trouble with the fairer sex as you do." For the first time that day, Remiel heard Matthew snicker.

"And what would you know about the 'fairer sex', Rem?" Mathew joked. "You've never even had a girl before."

"What are you talking about, Mathew?" Remiel asked, feigning hurt at his words. "Have you not seen all those pretty girls that throw themselves at me?" That made the ex-soldier chuckle.

"Oh, I've seen 'em," Matthew laughed. "It's a good thing you're rich, Rem, because you wouldn't get by on looks." That got Remiel laughing with him.

 "Still, I am doing better than you, my friend. You have neither charm nor wealth."

"Not my fault my boss is cheap." That got them both laughing. Finally they came to the center of the foyer, a beautiful mural of the sun rising over the horizon painting the sky pink and orange, but halfway across the sky turned to night, dotted with stars and the moon as well. Though calling it a sunrise would be incorrect. Some said it was a sunrise, while others thought it was a sunset. When Remiel commissioned it he merely requested the twilight hour, where the day and night began to share the sky. As the mural was made from pieces of marble as well it was fairly expensive, but after Remiel saw how beautiful it was he immediately doubled what he was paying the artist. The expense however was well worth it as twilight held a special meaning Remiel. He and Matthew walked over and stood where they would be at the peak of the sun. It was a shame they had to walk on such a fine piece of art, but it took up a sizeable portion of the floor in the foyer. Though the staff took special care in maintaining it, which was saying a lot. Soon a black car pulled up to the front of the mansion.

"Do you think they suspect anything?"

"They have to think something is up," Matthew answered and then smirked, "but they have no clue what's about to happen." Remiel smiled as well.

"Excellent." A thought suddenly came to Remiel. "Did anyone think to close the shutters in the ballroom?" Matthew's eyes went wide, a sign he had overlooked it as well. Remiel inwardly cursed himself, such a small detail would ruin any chance they had at surprising the G.o.H.

"I'll close them and be right back."

"No," Remiel said as the bodyguard turned to leave. "Close them and get into position with the others. If you suddenly come back and tell me you finished the task I sent you to do it may just tip our hand and let them know something is afoot." Matthew looked like he was going to say something but Remiel cut him off. "What kind of danger could a father, mother and a child pose to me?" Matthew smirked again.

"Mr. Flores is a big guy, and his wife has a hell of a temper. And don't forget, Sophie isn't a child anymore. She's a woman now, and all women are dangerous." Remiel chuckled a little at that, but Matthew said no more and went to do Remiel's bidding. The sound of a car door shutting brought Remiel's attention back to the front door and the guests he was about to be entertaining. First in walked Maria Flores, a woman of thirty six with sun-kissed skin, beautiful long black hair that came down to the middle of her back and gorgeous green eyes that shined brighter than any emerald Remiel had ever seen. She wore a simple yet pretty light blue blouse, matching pants, and a nice pair of black dress shoes. Right behind her came her husband, Juan Flores. Juan was a large man, standing at over six foot, with large bulging arms from the back-breaking work he did. His hair was short and a very dark brown color, while his eyes were a deep blue. He wore a nice white shirt tucked into a pair of black dress pants, as well as black work boots, the man refused to wear anything else no matter the occasion.

Then finally came Sophie, Juan and Maria's fourteen, no, fifteen year old daughter. She was the mirror image of her mother in all ways save her eyes, those dazzling sapphires came from her father. She wore a beautiful, long blue dress that, in conjunction with her shy smile, seemed to make her absolutely shine. Remiel smiled warmly at them and walked over to greet them.

"Hola Señor Flores," he said as he held out his hand to the large man. Juan smiled warmly and grasped Remiel with his own, massive, hand, and proceeded to crush it, though not intentionally.

"Hola Mr. Blaz," he answered in a thick mexican accent. Remiel continued to smile at the man, but his hand felt like it was being crushed.

"How are you today, my friend?" Remiel asked as Juan released the vice-like grip on his hand, much to the relief of Remiel's bones. It was unbelievable how strong he was.

"I'm well, sir," he replied.

" 'Mr. Blaz'? 'Sir'?" Remiel asked with an amused look. "Come now Juan, we have known one another for five years now, I would think we would be on a first name basis by now." Juan looked stricken, strange for a grown man of thirty nine to make that face at someone almost half his age. Sophie and Maria giggled a little at him.

"But you're the boss," he said. Remiel cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Are you working right now?" he asked.

"N-No." Remiel clasped the larger man on the shoulder.

"Then we are not employer and employee, but friends and neighbors." The larger man still seemed unsure of himself, but nodded his head and Remiel gave him a warm smile. Juan was a good man, hardworking, dependable and kind to a fault. Turning his attention to Maria Remiel thought he would have a little fun. Feigning shock he said, "Why, Juan, you never told me you had two daughters!" Maria rolled her eyes while Juan and Sophie bit back their laughter. "And what is your name, miss?" Remiel asked as he held his hand out for hers and bowed slightly.

"You missed your chance by twenty years, Rem," Maria said as she good naturedly shoved him in the shoulder. She then leaned over and loving ran her hand down her husband's large arm. "Besides, I like a man with muscles." Ouch. Sophie and Juan were now giving it their all to not laugh at Remiel's expense. Remiel feigned hurt and recoiled from her statement.

"How you wound me, Maria," he said in a pained voice. She merely rolled her eyes and hit him in the shoulder, not so good naturedly, but Remiel laughed it off, the two gigglers joining in with him. "Ah, unrequited attraction aside, how are you today Maria?" Maria smiled at his poor, yet flattering, jokes.

"I'm doing well, Rem," a small gleam appeared in her eyes, "but there is a certain young boy that doesn't seem to realize that I'm taken." Boy? Once again, ouch. Not wanting for Maria to get the final say in the conversation, Remiel decided to go with it.

"Where is this rogue?" he asked, suddenly sounding heroic, puffing out his chest a little. "Juan and I shall teach him a lesson he shan't soon forget." Once more the gigglers resumed their merry giggling, and Maria just rolled her eyes.

"Sometimes I wonder about you, Rem."

"Ah, so you do think about me." The punch that followed his statement felt like it had come from Juan, but Maria was the one who was shaking the sting from her hand. Remiel just laughed and proceeded to rub his left shoulder. Damn that woman was strong! Juan and Sophie could no longer hold back their laughter as they erupted into a small fit of chuckles. Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Remiel turned his attention to Sophie. "Feliz Cumpleaños, Sophie." Recovering from her small laughing fit, Sophie did a small curtsey.

"Gracias Mr. Blaz," she said. She then did a little twirl in her dress. "Do you like my dress?"

"It is a pretty dress made beautiful by the young lady wearing it," he answered. Sophie beamed at his compliment, thrilled to be referred to as a young lady instead of young girl. "I must apologize, Sophie. It is your special day and yet here I am chatting with your parents and ignoring you." Sophie quickly shook her head and waved her hands in front of her.

"N-No, it's fine!" she gasped out. "It's not a problem."

"Nonsense," Remiel said while lightly shaking his head. "This is not just your birthday, but your quinceañera! Such rudeness cannot be allowed to stand!" Before Sophie or her parents could argue to the contrary Remiel continued. "Please, allow me to make up for it by inviting the three of you to my garden for a short while. A small meal and drinks on me." Sophie looked back to her parents who nodded and Maria decided to get in one more jab.

"You aren't cooking are you Rem?" she asked with a smirk. That again? Why couldn't people just let it go already? It was three years ago! Remiel shook his head and turned to lead them to the ballroom.

"You catch the stove on fire one time and no one will ever let you forget it," he replied, causing the family to laugh at him.

"You were making toast," Juan said between his booming laughs.

"French toast." That just made the family laugh harder. It wasn't his fault, really. How was he supposed to know that the cooking grease he was using was flammable? Yes, yes, keep laughing, my friends. In a few moments I will be the one laughing. "Yes, yes, I am a horrid chef who somehow was banished from his own kitchen." Remiel was still a little sore about that. After all, it was his kitchen! "Now, if you would please, follow me." Remiel turned away from the still laughing family and led them down the hallway that ran underneath the stairway to the second floor.

After passing the small elevator that also led to the second floor, some of the house's residents were disabled so Remiel had it added to make their lives a little easier, they came to the ballroom. It was a massive room that took up the majority of the first floor with its polished white marble floor and crimson curtains draping around each of the dozens of windows that lined the room. The only thing keeping the room from being perfectly rectangular was a large open counter near the back that showed the large kitchen inside that many restaurants would murder for. And in Remiel's case it was also no man's land, the forbidden garden. All because of some toast.

"Why are the shutters down?" Sophie asked. Remiel waved his hand as if to dismiss the question.

"Mike has been doing maintenance on them today."

"Oh." The shutters were designed to protect the windows from powerful storms, but were also designed to be bullet proof, nothing short of a mortar or RPG would even make a dent in them. He guided them to the back door and smiled to them.

"Come now, let us enjoy this beautiful day outside," he said as he opened the door and stood to hold the door open for the family. They thanked him for holding the door and stepped outside. Moments later he heard all three of them gasp before being cut off by a massive roar.

"Feliz Cumpleaños Sophie!" hundreds of voices shouted at once. A wicked grin came to Remiel's face.

Did I not say I would get the last laugh? he thought smugly. He walked out to join them and saw the stunned looks on their faces. Down from the stone patio was his personal garden, a large diamond shaped area made by hedgerows with a cobbled path surrounding a large fountain. Usually it was a peaceful place he could go to to read, but today it was packed with almost five hundred and fifty people, dozens of tables and his peaceful retreat inside the diamond was turned into a dance floor with a DJ stand and speakers all over it. He spared no expense for this party. The best food, entertainment, and of course presents, but he had another surprise as well. He walked over to the Flores and smiled evilly at them. "If you keep your mouths open like that you may end up swallowing a fly." They all turned to him in shock.

"Th-" Juan started, but couldn't finish. Before he knew it, Remiel was swept up into a huge hug from the burly man. Remiel's first reaction to the sudden hug was pain, lots and lots of pain. It felt like his spine was going to break in half.

"Juan," he gasped out. "Juan, I can't breath." The man laughed and set Remiel down, only to receive a hug from Maria and Sophie as well, pain-free, mostly.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Blaz," Maria choked out, tears of joy running down her face.

"Enough of that now," Remiel told her with a smile. "All I did was finance this little party." He made a grand sweeping motion to everyone in the yard. "They are the ones who set it all up." Maria and Juan nodded and shouted their thanks to everyone in the yard, receiving a small applause. "Now, I believe it is customary for the father to escort the 'Guest of Honor' to the party?" Juan nodded and Sophie took his arm as he led her down the stairs. Remiel turned to Maria and offered a small bow. "May I be your escort, my lady?" Maria laughed softly.

"Just this once, Rem," she said and took Remiel's arm. They walked a few paces behind Juan and Sophie and the crowd parted slowly for them, dozens of warm, smiling faces repeating the birthday greeting for Sophie, and she just seemed to glow in all the attention. Finally they made it to the main table and were about to sit when Remiel held up his hand as Matthew appeared beside him and handed him a microphone before whispering something into his ear that caused him to smile.

"Juan, Maria, Sophie," he said in a warm, caring tone that carried even through the speakers. "It was five years ago the three of you arrived here and became a part of my family, and today we are all here to celebrate the coming of age for one of our own." The large crowd cheered and clapped at his words. "And just as I see you as members of my family I hope you see myself and everyone gathered here as family as well." Juan and Maria nodded their heads, tears beginning to form. "It brings me so much joy to know you feel as I do, but even though you have family here I know you have family back in Mexico that were unable to attend." The family looked downtrodden at that, but Remiel wasn't finished yet.

"Or rather, that used to be the case," he continued. The Flores gave him confused looks. "A young lady's quinceaňera is not just a special day for her, but her entire family, extended and blood." He pointed to the crowd and a small section of them parted and the Flores gasped in shock, tears streaming down their cheeks. Standing there in the middle of the crowd were more than a dozen of their family members straight from Mexico. The three of them wasted no time running around the table to embrace the loved ones they hadn't seen in five years. Again the crowd raised their voices in joy for the family. It was truly a heartwarming moment and Remiel gave them a few precious moments before handing the microphone back to Matthew and slowly walking towards the huddled mass. The moment he came within arms reach Juan seized him in another, more powerful, hug. Tears of joy streaked down his face as he tried to articulate his thanks. Remiel ignored the pain in his spine and patted the man on the shoulder. Once Juan finally set him down he motioned for all of them to gather around him.

"Juan I know family is very important to you, just  as it is to me," Remiel said with a bright smile, Juan nodding his head, "so I cannot in good conscience bring your family here for a party and then merely send them back to Mexico." The entire family's eyes went wide at his words. Remiel looked to all the members of the family with a warm smile. "So I took the liberty of pulling a few strings and bribing a few officials," as he said this a man in the same uniform as Matthew approached the family members and began handing them small booklets, new passports with the American seal on top. At first none of them were registering what was happening. "You are now all American citizens, and it would bring me no shortage of joy if you would live here and join our family."

A stunned silence washed over them, those who couldn't speak english asking those who could what had just happened while those who could brought hands over their mouths and fell to their knees, shocked. Finally one of them found their tongue and explained what Remiel had done for them. Many of them began weeping and jumping in joy and a few came to Remiel and took his hand, repeating their thanks over and over again.

Remiel turned to the crowd who was roaring and clapping their approval and shouted as loud as he could, "Why are you just standing there? Welcome our newest family members!" Several people broke free from the crowd and advanced on the newcomers shaking hands and welcoming them into the fold. Remiel was soon lost in a sea of bodies and took the opportunity to slip away from the press of bodies and back over to where Matthew was standing.

"You're not a bad person, Rem," he said in a serious tone. Remiel kept his mask in place, but answered honestly.

"You are correct my friend," Remiel answered with false joy in his voice. "For what I have done I no longer deserve to be called a person. I am a monster."

"Would a monster smuggle these people away from a village torn apart by the cartels and give them a new life?" Remiel had little fear of them being overheard with all the noise coming from the crowd in front of them but kept his voice low anyway.

"If he wanted to keep them from speaking of the package he smuggled with them." Matthew gave a low grunt at that.

"I know monsters, Rem. You're not one."

"Neither am I a 'good person' either. A good person would not put those he cares for in harm's way as I have. Now, I believe I should get everyone settled down so we may begin to eat before the food becomes cold." Remiel gave his friend one last smile before heading back into the throng of bodies, but he no longer felt the smile on his face nor the desire to party. But for the sake of his family he would gladly wear this mask.