Fraudulent Death, Draft 01, CH 47 (Patreon)

Trembor looked at his hands. They were clean; he knew that. He hadn’t done what he was accused of, but it was still his fault, so somehow he felt there should be blood on his hands, under his claws.

* * * * *

“Trembor Goldenmane, you are under arrest for the unclaimed death of Bolifen Goldenmane.”

* * * * *

This was a setup.

The simple fact he was in a precinct instead of the Revenue Bureau processing center told him that. Maoma had wanted him to work for her in part because she didn’t have any RI.

Bo was still dead.

He raised his head, looked at the bars of the cage he sat in.

“I’m sorry,” Derimak said, sitting in the cage opposite his. “I thought he was going to cooperate, then they slap me with conspiracy to defraud the system as your accomplice.”

Trembor nodded. He’d been an idiot to think he could take them on. He should have ended his life the moment they’d made their offer. Removed any incentive for them to hurt his family. Or at least ensure he wouldn’t be around to see it happen.

“Are you okay?”

“My brother’s dead, Derimak.” Trembor couldn’t keep the harshness out of his voice. Death happened. But they were lions, as high in the food chain as it got. On some level, he believed death was something that happened to others, to prey. Not to his brother.

She didn’t reply.

The door to the section opened and closed, then boots on the tiled floor. A jackal in enforcer uniform came into view, stopped, and leaned against Derimak’s cage, looking at Trembor.

“The great Goldenmane, finally brought down to our level.”

Trembor studied the male, looking for anything that would indicate who he was. “Do I know you?”

“No, but I know of you. Trembor Goldenmane, the male who was too good for us. Who left us to work for the government.”

Trembor leaned to the side to look at the hyena in the other cage. “What is he talking about?”

She shrugged. “The ease you had at making friends and getting suspects to talk made you something of a star among us. You know how Captain Fugera tried to have you stay with the enforcers. The stories of your exploits didn’t diminish after you left.”

“Okay, and what does that have to do with his animosity?”

“Do you know what it’s like to always be compared to you?” the jackal snarled. “Goldenmane could have gotten him to talk five minutes sooner. Goldenmane would have convinced her to surrender without having to lay a hand on her. Goldenmane would have thrown a better party!”

“Sure,” Derimak said in derision, “blame Trembor for working for criminals.”

The jackal snorted. “That had nothing to do with him, I needed the money, they offered. No, making sure the golden lion ended up in a cage, that was just an unforeseen benefit.”

“It won’t stick,” Trembor said. “Unclaimed deaths fall under the purview of the revenue bureau. I shouldn’t even be in here. The fact enforcers arrested me instead of an RI will not help you.”

“Oh, I guess they didn’t tell you. This isn’t an unclaimed death. We have three witnesses ready to testify that this is only the most recent death in a string you committed.”

“Making me a hunter still doesn’t allow you to arrest me. It’s still unclaimed deaths, it’s still the revenue bureau’s job.”

The jackal grinned. “Not unless we can show those deaths were targeted to open positions within certain organizations so you could place your people there.”

Trembor frowned, then growled. “You’re going to make me take the blame for things the people you work for did?”

“The crimes are there and you’ve made yourself an easy target, with killing your brother. Why wouldn’t they take advantage of it and shift the focus off them? You’ve made it clear you aren’t going to work with them, so this lets them remove you, and make their lives easier at the same time. Win-win.”

“You’re being rather free with the information,” Derimak said, and the jackal jumped with a scream, revealing she’d snuck up behind him until she was at the bars.

“How do you move so silently?” the jackal demanded.

She gave him a toothy grin. “Hyenas have to sneak around to steal other people’s food. We’re born sneakers.”

“Well, don’t do it again, it’s freaky.”

Trembor chuckled. “She’s right. The cages are monitored. Aren’t you worried about something listening in on you admitting this is all a setup?”

The jackal shrugged and tried to regain his composure. “Do you think I’m the only one in this precinct who works for them? A friend of mine is on monitor duty. It’s making sure this isn’t recorded.”

Trembor looked at Derimak, who let her arms hand out the bars casually. She nodded to the jackal. “He’s the only one who was sloppy enough I knew about, but I figured there would be others. Once I’m out of here, I’ll find out who’s on monitor duty and get them to talk.”

“You think you’re getting out of this?” the jackal asked, sounding amused. “You’re his accomplice.”

“And accomplices can betray their boss to get on the good side of the enforcers, everyone knows that.” She smiled at Trembor. “You’re not going to hold it against me are you, boss?”

Trembor shrugged, amused at how worried the jackal was growing. “Of course not. Everyone knows hyenas can’t be trusted. It’s my own fault for thinking you’d be different. You do what you need to do to get out of this and make sure no one can hurt people I care about.” He bared his teeth at the jackal. “You think about that when you rejoice at me being sent to a caging complex or the rest of my life.”

The jackal looked from Trembor to Derimak and hurried out.

Trembor sighed and slumped back. “Do you know what happened? He told me more about it than anyone else, and it’s not really useful.”

She shook her head. “I’d heard your brother was found dead, but before I could do anything I was put in here. They confiscated my pad before I could warn you.”

“So you have no idea what’s happening with Bo’s sons?”

“They weren’t mentioned in anything I heard, but standard procedures will be for child services to be called and arrangements to be made. If your family gets pulled into this, I don’t know what’s going to happen to them.”

Trembor ground his teeth. That was one thing he needed to keep in mind, those criminals could still make his family’s lives impossible. He cursed.

“I’m sorry,” Derimak said.

“This isn’t your fault. I brought this on myself. I’m just pissed that the blood’s doing to splash on others now.”

“It’s not over, you have friends in the enforcers, they won’t let this happen.”

Trembor nodded. Except that all those criminals needed to do was let Flattooth back on the case and there was nothing anyone could be done. She’d see that as final justification, and Trembor suspected that she wouldn’t be interested in looking for evidence this was a setup.