The Hunt - Ch. 7 (Love, Again Side Story, Patreon Exclusive) (Patreon)

Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four / Chapter Five / Chapter Six 

Chapter Seven – What We Feel Is Irrelevant

“Do you think we should wait for him to get out of the house to go look for Florence?”

“I’d say, yeah.” Billy was sure the detective was asking questions so that they could pass the time. Neither of them was in the mood to sleep.

“Am I the only one feeling like he’s playing with us?”

“It’s easy to get paranoid under the circumstances.”

“Even his house has cold eyes.”

Billy snorted. “Do you want to scare me, detective? You didn’t buy my ghost story.”

They lay in bed, both keeping their eyes on the ceiling, still undressed. The sense of familiarity between them held, and the faint smell of sex made it real. It looked like no one was in the mood to take a shower and get to sleep just yet.

“It’s just the famous gut instinct. Do you have it?” Robert replied with another question.

“I’d like to think so. What does your gut instinct tell you?”

“That he somehow knows we’re on to him.”

“That might be just paranoia.”

Robert turned toward him, but Billy resisted the urge to do the same. “Would it be that far-fetched?”

He paused for a moment before replying. “Not entirely. He’s a man of means, Mr. X. God knows what he could be thinking right now.”

“That’s what I’m thinking. He pulled her out. It cannot be because of the goodness of his heart. He doesn’t have one, to begin with.”

“That’s true, but, at this point, his prisoner’s wellbeing must be his number one priority. If Florence was scared --”

“She must have been. I cannot imagine a girl her age, trapped in there … She must have been out of her mind.”

“Not that much, I believe.”

“What do you mean?”

Billy had nothing to hide. “I don’t think the earring we found was dropped by accident.”

“What makes you think that?”

“It was right in the middle of the bed. It wasn’t on the floor, or anywhere else it could have landed. It was as if it screamed at us to find it.”

Robert appeared to consider the theory. “I can’t deny the possibility. In that case, we have an unexpected ally in her. I hope she’s not doing anything rash to annoy that bastard, though, if that’s the case.”

“Her mother thinks she would make a fantastic actress,” Billy said as he remembered the conversation he had had with the girl’s parents. As per his usual MO, he had asked them everything they could tell him about her.

“Still, she’s just a child.”

“Yes, and we need to save her.”

“I hate that we have to wait until he leaves the place again.” Robert rolled on his back. “I’d go there right now.”

“I understand and, trust me, I feel the same. What we feel, however, is irrelevant. We need our heads on our shoulders, where they belong.”

“Right. Then I’ll let you hit the shower first.”

“Sure. Don’t fall asleep before I get back.”

“Not a chance.”

***

It was hard to believe that he had slept through the night without waking once after the last night’s events. And he felt well-rested. A slight sensation of guilt began to creep in. He wasn’t on vacation, for crying out loud or to get his rocks off with his partner.

“We need to get going,” Billy announced and pointed at his wrist.

Robert could swear that the young PI was able to wake up from the deepest slumber if one of his many gadgets started as much as let out a beep.

He was about to grab his jacket when his phone rang. He frowned as he looked at the caller ID. “That’s my captain,” he let Billy know.

A small nod was the only reply he got.

“Yes, captain?” Robert never wanted to sound harsh on purpose, but that was just his voice.

He frowned as his superior began talking and still did when he cut off the conversation.

“What is it?” Billy asked.

“The Clarks were contacted this morning. They are willing to pay the ransom and will head over to the drop point in several hours.”

“It cannot be.” Billy’s flat denial echoed his own beliefs.

“It sure can,” he said, despite that. “They got instructed to come along, and the amount of money they were asked is not even that high.”

“That’s just the ransom dance he’s staging.”

“I know,” Robert replied and pursed his lips. “It’s what I think, too, but my captain requires my services back to base.”

“Just like that?”

“She ordered me to follow the Clarks from a safe distance.”

“There is no safe distance. It’s Mr. X we’re talking about.”

“Doesn’t he sound like some evil cartoon character when we say his name like that?”

“Robert, don’t deflect. You know I’m right.”

“Don’t I?” Robert pinched the bridge of his nose. “But my captain knows me well. She told me she wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t follow her orders.”

“Ah, so you’ve disappointed her before.”

“I guess you could say that.”

Billy rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, now, that’s a bummer. I was finally getting used to having a partner. You know, sleeping back to back with someone is not that bad.”

“Come with me.” It was more like a knee jerk reaction to say those words, but they came to him like the most natural thing in the world.

“To the drop point? You know that’s not real.”

“There’s a chance it could be. Maybe Mr. X finally had a change of heart.”

“Now that’s only hope talking through your mouth. Spit it out and trust your gut, detective.”

He felt that Billy was right. But wasn’t his judgment clouded by what had happened last night? A chance for the ransom to be real was there, and he needed to be present so that he could sniff Mr. X’s trail. If he just remained there, with his partner, he risked angering his captain and losing the chance of following that bastard. After the drop, Mr. X could just take off without returning to his home base for who knew how long.

“I’ll have to go. But, you know what? As soon as I get whiff of where the scumbag is heading, I’ll contact you. We should chase him together.”

Billy shook his head. “I thought you believed in gut instincts and all that, detective.”

“Well, I’m not completely sure about it, in this case. I cannot ignore the chance presented to us. He could be taking Florence to the drop point as we speak. He’s gone already, as your sensor tells you.”

“If that’s how you feel.”

“It’s not about how I feel. It’s what I think. There’s a difference. And I hope you’re not getting pissed at me.”

When Billy looked at him, he had a plastic smile plastered on his face. “Pissed at you? Why would I? It was a nice partnership while it lasted. No hard feelings, right?”

Robert stared at the offered hand for a moment and then took it and shook it. “Let’s not talk like we’d never meet again.”

“I’m not exactly the type to meet for coffee.”

“Then maybe you’re the type to meet for another case.”

Billy laughed, but it wasn’t his usual laugh. This one was guarded. “Sure. Why not?”

“What are you going to do? Stick to the original plan?” Robert didn’t want to give Billy any ideas, but he knew his soon to be ex-partner didn’t care about others’ opinions when a plan took roots in his brain.

“I don’t mind scouting the perimeter while the master’s away. It might be enlightening.”

“Make sure not to get too envious of Mr. X’s toys.”

“Like that will happen. Good luck, detective. I don’t agree with you on this one, but I hope you’re right, and Florence will be with her parents by tonight.”

Robert nodded. There were many other things he wanted to say, like telling Billy to take care, or asking him about that ghost story again, but the moment was gone, like others before. The moment he stepped foot out of the lodge, the chances were he might not see Billy for a decade, or at all.

And the feeling in his gut was still there, and it was confusing like hell.

***

“Ned?”

Robert was deep in his thoughts, so he missed being called insistently by a familiar voice. He was about to get into his car when he realized that he was the one supposed to answer to that name.

Andy and Tyler walked toward him. “Where is Matt? Are you going on a small trip by yourself?”

“Um, not exactly. I’ve been called to work.”

“From your honeymoon? Wait, didn’t you say you were an accountant or something like that? What could be so important?”

Robert wasn’t in the mood to make small talk with people who were in an actual partnership, unlike him. “It’s a small firm. And they depend on me. They misplaced some documents. And Matt understands. He does.”

“Ah, don’t worry. We’ll keep him company while you’re away. Are you coming back?”

“No, I don’t think so.” There was no point in lying. “But you guys have fun. It was nice meeting you.”

“Sure,” Andy said hesitantly. “I’ll make sure Matt has our numbers. Maybe we’ll see each other again.”

“Of course, why not?” Robert felt more and more pressured to get out of there. Ned’s clothes were getting too tight for him all of a sudden.

“Don’t be a stranger,” Andy managed to squeeze in before Robert got into his car.

He ignited the engine. The captain was calling him again, which meant that he had to hurry.

***

Things were as they had used to be, with him on his own, working a case. Spending a few days with the detective couldn’t warrant any feelings of nostalgia, Billy tried to tell himself. His gut instinct was intact, thank heavens, and he didn’t have a captain to report to.

So he needed to move instead of moping around because the detective had chosen his job over him. Was that even a choice to begin with?

No, not at all. Robert was doing his job, and so was he.

And they would never see each other again.

“Back to the task at hand,” Billy said to himself, as he prepared the kit for the plan he had in mind.

He wished Robert’s captain was right. If that were the case, he would have a little talk with his gut instinct, nonetheless. Right now, it told him that he needed to hurry until Mr. X had a mind to return to his home base.

The drop point scenario put in motion by Mr. X was a ruse. Billy was willing to bet that the bastard would even walk out on that money, and it was all planned. That was the reason why he had asked for a modest amount.

He could have told that to the detective, but there was no point to dally on what-ifs. Robert had made up his mind the moment he had heard his captain speaking. And that was the kind of thing one didn’t go against. For the detective, his career was his life. Whether there were higher principles he abided by, Billy couldn’t tell.

They hadn’t known each other that long.

He zipped up and walked out of the lodge.

“Hey, Matt,” Andy and Tyler welcomed him the moment he was outside. “Where are you going, all dressed up like a cat burglar?”

Billy offered the couple a bright smile. “I’m taking a little trip around. You know, to get to know the surroundings well.”

“Are things okay with you and Ned?” Andy looked worried.

“Yeah, yeah, sure, why wouldn’t they be?”

“We saw him leaving.”

Billy stopped for a second. “Yeah, he has a thing he needs to deal with.”

Tyler placed a hand on his shoulder. “Are you all right, honey? You don’t look too happy.”

Billy sighed and, this time, smiled apologetically. “Well, it is, I mean it was our honeymoon.”

Andy and Tyler exchanged a knowing look. “Just as we thought. Ned tried to get away from us when we questioned him. Really, I’ve never seen anyone running so fast when asked uncomfortable questions.”

Running, huh? Billy felt a tiny bit pissed at Robert now. Not that he was some teenager thinking he had found the love of his life after having the hottest sex in –

No, he wouldn’t go there. But he couldn’t help thinking that it hadn’t been just the captain calling that had made Robert leave in such a hurry.

Well, that called for a rule from that moment onward. He would never, ever, sleep with anyone working on a case with him. Ever again. It was bad thinking and hurt the case.

“Thank you for worrying, guys.” Billy hugged both Andy and Tyler shortly. “But you don’t have to do that. We’re cool, Ned and I.”

“You shouldn’t be cool, but in love,” Andy pointed out.

“We are,” Billy insisted.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather spend the day with us? We don’t mind.”

“Ah, I wouldn’t do that to you, guys. I’m not going to ruin your honeymoon, now that mine is ruined. And please, don’t say another word. I know you guys are awesome and have the kindest hearts. I just need to take a walk around, get in touch with nature, and put my thoughts in order.”

“All right, if you say so. But don’t forget that you can always change your mind,” Andy added and hugged him.

“Sure. I might want to ruin dinner for you,” Billy promised.

He walked away from Andy and Tyler with a heavy heart. What the hell, now? There was no real honeymoon, and nothing had been ruined. Why was he getting into his character this much?

What he needed right now was a clear head. He would think of the plan and nothing else. Not the detective, nor his kisses, nor his rough hands, large and warm.

He needed to think of the plan. The key was to repeat that as many times as necessary to drill it into the bumpkin he suddenly had sitting on his shoulders.

***

As he moved through the forest, he couldn’t shake off a feeling of loneliness. That had never been an issue for him before. He thrived on seeing to things on his own terms, without reporting to anyone. Nonetheless, he found himself looking over his shoulder and feeling disappointed that there was no one there to have his back.

It was bad enough that he was walking in, all blind. He hadn’t risked getting too close before when he was just monitoring Mr. X’s home base, but now there was no room for looking back. He advanced carefully until he was in the immediate proximity of the house.

It loomed in the back, and Billy took a moment to look at it from his vantage point. “Even his house has cold eyes.” He shook his head as he remembered Robert’s words. The way his own voice sounded as he said them made a small chill course down his back.

Pegging the detective as the poetic type had no room there. Indeed, the house windows appeared to look at him, watching him as he moved forward.

He pulled the cap over his head. Cat burglar was a good description for his getup. Without a sound, he pushed himself up on the stone wall, and in less than two seconds, he was on the other side.

He didn’t move and didn’t breathe for ten seconds straight. The place appeared less protected than he had believed. That couldn’t be. Somewhere, a surveillance system had to be in place. The trick was to get inside without being seen or triggering some alarm he couldn’t hear.

The following steps were taken with extreme caution. He managed to scout the surroundings with his sensors until he reached the wall, but nothing came back. Could it be that Mr. X thought no one would ever dare to invade his property?

Billy could sense a sinking sensation in his gut. When things were too simple … they weren’t supposed to be. He slinked along the wall until he reached a low window. Ah, finally, the sensor caught something. The windows must have been rigged to trigger an alarm if anyone wanted to get in without the owner’s knowledge.

For a moment, he looked around. It made sense in a way. Mr. X didn’t have to care about protecting the yard since there was nothing in there that could be stolen. So, he had chosen to install a security system that only protected the house.

So far, so good. Billy set to work and began disabling the alarm remotely. Years of working as a hacker finally paid off. Working was a way of saying. He had used to be a criminal, but that was something Robert and other good men, like Mason and Rhys, didn’t need to know about him.

It was more comfortable and, yes, cowardly, to play it that way. Good people always praised him for his abilities, but would they think the same about him if they knew the truth?

He pushed the window up and slid inside, making sure not to make a sound. The house was dark even in the middle of the day, so his eyes needed a bit of time to adjust. He blinked a few times, and the objects around came into focus as distinctive shapes.

It was a large house, and he needed to be thorough. But how long did he have? He doubted Mr. X would linger around the drop point. Even if he didn’t go there to pick up the money, he would check on the Clarks from a distance so that he could gauge their level of desperation.

Caution never left him, and he wouldn’t give up on it now. He continued his slow inspection, scouting each room for hidden cameras and electronics that would turn the place into a war zone and him into a prisoner, or worse.

Aside from being sunken in darkness at noon by the heavy curtains covering every window, the house looked unnaturally benign. Billy inspected a fully-functional kitchen, with neat appliances that sparkled clean, a living room with a large screen HDTV on one of the walls and a comfortable sofa in the middle, and then a bedroom that looked ideal for housing guests.

He opened a door and stopped. The stairs lost themselves in darkness. A house belonging to a bastard like that had to have a basement, and, sure thing, it looked ominous enough.

Billy considered his options. The scumbag had pulled Florence out of that dark place. Could it be that he had done that only to place her in another, just as dark? It sounded unlikely. Not entirely impossible, but definitely unlikely.

He closed the door to the basement and opted to go up the stairs to the first floor. The heavy rugs muffled his steps. There were three doors, one of them leading to a bathroom. He decided to open one of the other two.

The first thing that hit him was the harsh, blue light. The walls were white, and nothing adorned them. White tiles covered the floor.

And in the middle, in a transparent cage, a young girl stood crouched, one of her hands moving aimlessly over the floor in an attempt to draw something.

“Florence.”

Billy walked close to the glass. The girl didn’t move.

“Florence,” he called louder.

He knocked against the glass, but there was no reaction from her. Billy crouched and tried to get her attention again. It could be that she couldn’t hear a thing, but at least, she must have noticed the movement.

Could it be that she couldn’t see outside, either? In a way, that was even more terrifying than a musty basement.

His eyes moved along the smooth glass wall, and he noticed something. Of course. The bastard would prefer such means to keep his prisoner fed, at least. Billy pulled the stainless steel drawer and placed inside the earring. He pushed it back and waited.

Inside the cage, Florence’s hand wavered above the floor.

“Come on, Florence,” Billy whispered.

The girl stood up cautiously, her eyes darting around. It took her seconds that felt like years, to move toward the drawer. She stared inside, and then her face lit up. She grabbed the earring, held it high, and walked toward the wall, not where Billy stood, but close. She placed her empty hand on the glass and stared ahead, although it was evident she couldn’t see anything.

“Don’t worry. I’m getting you out of there,” Billy said, after shortly placing his hand over Florence’s open palm, the glass inert between them.

The next step was to find the lock on that cage and pick it. He doubted it would be easy, but he hadn’t been born to have it easy.

He checked the sensor that had to tell him whether Mr. X had returned or not. The wristband was silent.

There was something odd about it, though, Billy thought. He pressed the button, but nothing happened. Was the battery dead?

His gut was only fast enough to make him brace for impact. His head snapped as something hard connected with the back of his skull.

***

Robert was observing the perimeter through his binoculars. He pursed his lips as the Clarks climbed out of their car and walked, hand in hand, toward the drop point. They placed the suitcase inside the abandoned postal box and stood there.

He couldn’t see their faces even with the help of the equipment at hand. Yet, he knew what they could be thinking. And feeling.

“Robert, do you copy?”

“Ay, captain,” he replied. “Nothing happens.”

“We can’t expect it things to happen too fast.”

“Still, I don’t like this.”

“You’re not going to tell me your famous gut instinct says so.”

“I don’t have to, boss. It is what it is.”

“Just keep an eye on them. The instructions says that they need to wait until the girl is returned to them.”

And feel helpless and prey to the darkest thoughts. But that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was that bastard’s ability to plant the seed of hope inside these parents’ hearts.

He kept the binos glued to his face and continued to scout the area. It sounded like such a dumb move to make a drop by yourself if you were the kidnapper. But the captain had said that it wasn’t their job to question what went through the kidnapper’s head.

She was wrong. That was their job. They had to look and look at a criminal’s files until they could tell exactly what was going through that deranged brain.

His hands flexed, and his fingers brushed against the rubberized armor of the binoculars. Too bad he couldn’t be in two places at the same time. One part of him regretted that he hadn’t stayed with Billy.

His phone rang, buzzing quietly inside his coat. Since he had his captain in his ear, that made him frown. No one was supposed to call him.

He felt an unnatural stillness as he searched into his pocket. “Detective Stryker speaking.”

“Glad to make your acquaintance, detective.”

“Who’s this?” His mouth became dry.

“It doesn’t matter. I have something you want.”

The voice was cold but amused.

“Something?”

“Ah, a stickler for correctness. Apologies. Someone.”

“Florence,” he said in a heartbeat. Instinctively, he knew who that was.

“Accompanied by a bonus.”

For a moment, everything stopped. The hand holding the binos dropped. Robert blinked hard and tried to swallow the tennis ball in his throat. “What do you mean?” His voice was unnaturally calm.

“You’ll know when you get here. Come alone, detective. Don’t make me do something unpleasant. I’ll be waiting.”

The conversation ended with a click.

TBC

Next chapter