Fraudulent Death, Draft 01, CH 26 (Patreon)

“What is it with you people and restaurants?” Trembor grumbled to himself as they entered the well-appointed establishment.

“Would you rather we take you in a seedy back alley?” the hyena asked.

“At least there would be no doubt as to what kind of organization you are.” He followed the hyena, with the fox trailing behind them, past the tables with sweet-smelling meats. He hadn’t had candied meat in years, and Trembor fought not to salivate. Lyria had a recipe he kept promising himself he’d try to replicate. He was sure he could win Marlot over to bake meats with those.

Maybe he could take Marlot here as a last meal together.

A beaded curtain led to a private dining room when Maoma sat eating a confection Trembor didn’t recognize. She bit into it and the surface cracked, letting juices flow that she hurried to lick with a chuckle.

“Forgive me,” she said as she cleaned her muzzle with a towel from a stack on a warming plate. “I haven’t eaten here in a few months and I didn’t think they would convince you to come this quickly.” She indicated the chair opposite her.

“I prefer getting things I don’t like out of the way as quickly as I can.” He sat and did his best not to make out what was on her plate. Large insects, he thought. He hadn’t expected it to be something restaurant prepared, since it was only a minority of species who ate them. Jaxca ordered his from an out of country provider.

“Really?” she gave him a knowing smile. “Then this refusal to accept my proposition is because you enjoy the position it places you in?”

“No. That’s a moral objection to having anything to do with criminals like you.”

She smiled. “I’ve told you before, Mister Goldenmane, we are a business, like so many others. The fact the government thinks the services we provide shouldn’t be allowed doesn’t change the fact that there’s a demand for them.”

“One you manufactured,” Trembor said flatly.

“Really? I’d be curious to know how you think we created the market we operate in. After all, we didn’t create the products we sell, nature did. We simply found ways to streamline the supply chain from production to customer.”

“You’re really going to try to convince me the facts there are plants with addictive properties in nature justifies you addicting people to them?”

“Someone has to provide a needed product. If not us…” she smiled. “Well. That’s not what we’re here to discuss, is it?”

“You forced me here, so you can talk about whatever you want.”

“Would you like one?” she indicated her plate. “Cracked roach. Very good. They’re dipped in melted sugar.” She paused. “I’m not certain how familiar with baking you are, or in this case candy making, this is closer to that than outright baking.”

“I thought you know everything about me? And no, I’ll pass, thank you.”

“I don’t know everything about you, Mister Goldenmane. No one can know everything about someone else, no matter how close they are. I simply know what I need to know about you to ensure our conversations are productive.”

“Seems to me productive would mean I’ve agreed to work for you, which I won’t.”

She shrugged and ate another of the candied insects, giggling as the sugary shell cracked and she had to hurry to eat it before the inside dripped all over her muzzle. She looked like a young female in that moment. And if not for the history between the two of them, Trembor might find it endearing—which might be the point, he realized.

She wiped her muzzle clean. “Tell me, how is your family doing?”

Trembor tensed. “If you have—”

She eyed him. “You tell me. If one of them had been attacked, they would come to you, wouldn’t they? Even in your current situation, you’re still your family’s confident. Has anyone come to you with such problems? Like maybe one of your sisters?”

Trembor ground his teeth to keep from roaring. It wouldn’t scare that mole, and he shouldn’t be surprised they knew Dania had visited. After all, they’d demonstrated they could follow him with him knowing about it. Watching his house was simple comparatively.

Except Dania hadn’t mentioned any attacks. She’d brought him meat, they’d talk about her work, which was in jeopardy because she’d lost a few technicians. He glared at the mole.

“You ate Dania’s assistants,” he growled.

“I?” Maoma chuckled. “Please, do I look like someone how eats.” She motioned to him with a waving finger. “People? I had employees eat them.”

Trembor stood and planted his hands on the table, leaning on them. “If you do anything to hurt my sister, I am going to—”

“Please sit down, Mister Goldenmane.” She fixed her eyes on him and any amusement was gone. They were cold, calculating. The eyes of someone who did the intimidating, the received it. “I promised you I wouldn’t touch your family. And I haven’t. You never said anything about the people around your family. Isn’t it interesting how interconnected we all are? How one person becoming someone’s meal can make another’s work more difficult to do? Despite all the system society puts in place to maintain productivity, it does seem to break down someone on the individual level, doesn’t it? Especially among professionals. It’s not as easy to replace a skilled technician as it is a factory worker.”

Trembling with the effort not to jump over the table and eat her, Trembor sat. “I swear to you—”

“Please, don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she cut him off, tone flat. “It’s unbecoming of a male like you. The situation is simple. I’ve given you time to come to your senses. I’m still not going to force you. But you’re going to stop this downward spiral you seem determined to proceed with.”

Trembor blinked, anger washed away by the surprise.

“Did you think I wouldn’t realize what your visit to the precinct you work out of was about? Or visiting your cousin’s bar? The talks you’ve had with other of your friends? The distance you’re keeping with the wolf you love so much?”

“If you even think of touching him or anyone around him, you’ll find out how dangerous I can be.”

She smiled. “No need to worry. I’m already familiar with how far you’re willing to go for him. If you’ll remember, your brother was there when he stopped you from killing that hunter. Bo was rather hurt you did that for the wolf, rather than him. So I promise, Marlot Blackclaw and the people around him are perfectly safe from me. I want you working for me, Mister Goldenmane, not on a crusade to destroy me and mine.”

“Then leave my family out of this.”

Her eyes went wide. “I have, you know I haven’t touched any—”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it,” he snapped. His anger returning. “You’re going to leave them, their job, the people they depend on, alone.”

Her smile turned nasty. “That depends entirely on you.”

“You can’t force me to do anything,” Trembor said through clenched teeth.

“I’m telling you, Mister Goldenmane, that this isn’t going to end with your death. I will keep eating away at the support system of everyone in your family. I will destroy them without breaking my word to you. Without even twisting what I said. You won’t know what’s happening to them, since you’ll be dead, but I do promise you this. They are going to wish you had taken them with you.”

Trembor’s stared at her, utterly calm. He didn’t know how he could be this calm since a second before he’d been ready to explode, but now he was calmly evaluating the situation. It was her, his two minders, and how many others right outside the door? She was smart enough not to think she was safe in his presence.

And would her death ensure his family was safe? What had she set in place as insurance? He stood and his minders tensed. She motioned them down.

He nodded to her. “You’ve accomplished what you wanted,” he told her coldly. “You’ve made sure my downward spiral is over.”

“I’m glad I could convince you to come to your senses. Kold and Groniel will escort you back to your car.”

“Not unless you want them to be my next meal.” Trembor looked at her. “You’re off-limits. No one else. If one of your thugs comes close to me again. I will eat them. Do we understand each other?”

She smiled. “We will keep our distances so long as you maintain that joy of life you used to have.”

The smile he responded with couldn’t be anything pleasant, but she didn’t react to it. “Oh, you have no idea how I’m going to enjoy this life I have from now on.” He turned and exited.

Once outside, he didn’t deflate as he’d expected. Whatever state he was in continued as he called Cerek.

“Hey Bro, you okay? It’s not like you to call in the middle of the day.”

“I’m fine,” Trembor answered. “How about you?”

“I’m good. You know that.”

“How’s your job been?”

Cerek chuckled. “You know how it is in the advertising industry. Ups and downs. Artists are a fickle bunch.”

“So nothing out of the ordinary?”

“There’s a bug going around, but with winter coming and that cold snap of the last few days, it’s not surprising. It seems to be more virulent the usual, but they’ll get over it and our productivity is going to climb back. You’re starting to sound like mom.”

“Sorry, Dania’s had some bad luck at her job, lost a couple of technicians. I guess I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I appreciate that you worry, but I’m fine. I should be asking how you are. You seemed a little done last time I saw you.”

“I’m good, just the lawsuit. I’ll see you later.” He disconnected before Cerek could reply and had Bo’s number up before remembering he wouldn’t be reliable.

He called Elin, then Vex, Baytil, Fanea, Atilen, and Harezik, and the story was similar. Some difficulties at work because people around them were sick, or had lost a family member, or had gotten a better offer at another company. Nothing so grave they would mention it to him, but every working member of his family was having a bad few days.

If he wasn’t worried his parents would pick up on why he was calling, he’d check with them too, although he couldn’t see how Maoma could interfere with their retirement.

Once he was done with his calls, he had to admit she’d succeeded. He had no intention of killing himself anymore. No, he was going to make sure that his death was like a bomb exploding in the middle of her little organization and took as many of them as he could with him.

Now he just had to figure out how to do it without the mole realizing it.