Series of Death, Draft 02, CH 43 (Patreon)

“I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stretch this,” the female on the other end of the call told Trembor. “The judge who’s been assigned to the case is hard on anyone he feels is wasting his time; and with how solid the evidence is…”

“What do you mean, solid? Have you questioned why someone would call in a body when it’s lying on a prep table? Look, I need time. I was expecting this to take weeks before the case was even brought up to the courts.” He shut the system. “I’m doing my own investigation into this. I can prove he didn’t do it, I just need the time.”

“Mister Goldenmane, I am doing everything I can. I am informing you how things are proceeding out of courtesy, not requirement. The chances the accused will be eaten before the case is heard has been mentioned as a reason to accelerate the start. I understand he’s been under guard due to at least one attempt on his life.”

Trembor rubbed his face. Now they were using the fact he’d arranged protection for his brother to cut down how long he had to find the evidence? “There hasn’t been any attempt as far as I know.”

She sighed. “I will do my best to ensure we go through all the evidence, but even the why someone would call in a body on a preparation table won’t be much of a detraction against all the rest of the evidence that’s been accumulated. Whatever you are investigating that can exonerate your brother, you need to provide it soon.”

“All right.” Trembor went over what he had, what he planned on doing. Unfortunately, the largest variable was out of his control. “Try to get me three days. I should be able to have something conclusive by then.” He disconnected. “Fuck!”

The lawyer was doing a favor for his father, so Trembor couldn’t make demands. And she was good, according to Torim. If she said the evidence against Bo was solid, would proving that a criminal group was behind this be enough?

What could he do to ensure the meeting he wanted took place sooner? Pay that bar another visit? Find out if Barkon had even passed along his message? Maybe talking with the bear would be more productive. He was higher on the chain. Follow the wolf back to where ever the rest were hiding out?

He left his office to the chaos of shift change; enforcers coming and going, voices loud, greetings exchanged. Those he passed wished him a good evening, as if he was one to them again. Some asked after Bo, some reassured him they didn’t believe the accusations. He mostly ignored all of them. He’d been one of them. He knew that for as genuine as they were in what they said. If one of them sat in an interrogation room with his brother. They would use every trick they knew to get him to admit guilt.

It had been an aspect of the work Trembor hadn’t cared for. The law was too murky on how an enforcer would get a confession.

Outside he tightened his jacket against the cold and cursed, first the cold and then the wolf leaning against his car. He searched their surrounding. There was no way that gray would be so stupid as to try something in the parking of the enforcer precinct, but another thing he’d learned in his time as an enforcer was that good judgment went down the more thugs there were.

The wolf stepped away from the car and limped in his direction, hands at his side, relaxed. “I’m not here to cause trouble.”

“The only person who might end up in trouble here is you,” Trembor replied. Derimak slowed her walk and looked in his direction. Trembor shook his head, and she resumed heading to her car. “What do you want?”

“To tell you they’re willing to see you.”

Something was finally going his way. Hopefully, it would be soon. “When?”

The wolf nodded to the street where a silver luxury car idled. “Now.”

Now? Was Jasber even set up?

“Well?” the wolf demanded.

“I need to grab something from my car.”

“You really want to make her wait? After you were fucking insistent this happen as soon as possible?”

“My car’s right there. It won’t be a delay.” He walked past the wolf and took out his pad, sending the bison a message. It’s happening now. Leaving the precincts in their car.

He opened the door and reached into the holder between the seat and grabbed the pack there. His pad buzzed. Delay them. I’m not ready.

Can’t. He replied. He used it to lock his car and shut it down.

The wolf grabbed the pack of nip sticks out of his hand and opened it, examining the virgin tips. “I didn’t think you were the type.”

Trembor snatched and pocketed them. “Got to deal with the stress somehow.”

“Don’t light those in the car. The stench is never going to go away.”

“Don’t worry.” Jasber had wanted him to keep the pack on his person at all times, so the smell would permeate into his clothing and make it more credible, but he wasn’t getting a reputation as a nip user in the precinct. They’d never stop trying to help him quit.

The wolf opened the silver car’s back door and motioned for Trembor to get in. Once closed, and Trembor suspected locked so he couldn’t open it from the inside, the wolf sat in the passenger seat and motioned to the massive bull behind the wheel to drive.

* * * * *

The car stopped in a neighborhood he wasn’t familiar with. He hadn’t bothered trying to keep track of where they were going. He had his pad, once this was over, to make his way back to his car. The wolf exited and opened the door. Trembor stepped out and looked around.

The feel of the area was lower-middle productivity; old buildings, but well maintained. Apartments over stores. This would be an older part of the city. The pedestrians were a mix of prey and predator, but they all had the same wariness that came with the knowledge they could be someone better off than them’s next meal.

He was possibly the reason they were uncomfortable right now.

The wolf motioned to the business before them, a restaurant called Sweet Tastes. The words were with flowing and artisanal lines that gave them a foreign feel. Inside, the atmosphere was calm; with large tables set far apart, each able to seat at least eight diners. A family restaurant. When he was young, they had been where special occasions were celebrated.

They walked through to the furthest table where a mole sat with three pads before her. Standing behind her were two of the largest tigers Trembor had ever seen, each in impeccable black suits. She wore a gray one.

She ran a finger at the bottom of one of the pads as Barkan pulled out a chair for him.

“Not yet,” she said, not looking up from her typing. “Ling.”

“I already checked him,” the wolf said. But he stepped away as the tiger approached.

The tiger patted Trembor down, took out the pad, turned it on, and was prompted for an entry code. Trembor noticed the indicator saying he had messages waiting. He really hoped one of them said Jasber had managed to get in range. He took the wallet and looked through it, then placed it back. The ID wallet the tiger was more careful of, studying the Registered ID card, but also put it back. Trembor didn’t know what they could do if they stole it, but considering what he knew of Marlot’s skills, if one of them got within the Revenue system, it would be chaos.

The tiger pulled the pack of nip and opened it. Unlike the wolf, he kept it at arm’s length as he examined it. Even unlit, those things stank. Canines weren’t as affected, but Trembor had felt sick that first-time Jasber had handed it to him. He didn’t have as severe a reaction after four days of keeping the thing within reach, but he couldn’t wait to be done. The tiger bared his teeth as Trembor had it put it back in the lion’s jacket. He sniffed him before pulling away.

Trembor was now an addict in the tiger’s eyes. Someone who didn’t take care of himself, no willpower. The fact he didn’t entirely stank only meant he still had ways to go before he became very affordable, if utterly unpalatable.

The tiger whispered something in the mole’s ear before taking his place next to his twin.

Her disgusted expression was exactly why he wouldn’t let the precinct know he had them. It was also why Jasber had insisted on using a pack of nips.

“Now you can sit, Mister Goldenmane,” she said without looking up. “But please do not light up. This is a respectable establishment.” Now she looked up. “If you are someone who relies on those to relieve stress, might I suggest you abandon this little endeavor. You don’t have the temperament to do business with us.”

“I’m not here to do business,” Trembor stated as he sat.

Her small mouth curled into a smile. “You are here, therefore, you want to do business.”

Trembor tried to look her in the eyes, but he couldn’t find them among the fur on her face. Moles had eyes, didn’t they? They weren’t a species he’d encountered often. “I’m here for answers and to negotiate on my brother’s behalf. Nothing more.”

“And you said you didn’t intend to do business with us.” She smiled at him. At least her face pointed in his direction.

“Are you the person in charge, or just someone they won’t mind having eaten?”

“You won’t eat me, Mister Goldenmane. Note if you care about your brother. And for the purpose of this discussion, yes, I am the person in charge. I have the authority to enforce whatever business we conduct.”

“But you have a boss,” he stated.

“Everyone does,” she replied flatly, “it’s the way our society is built.”

“What if they don’t agree with whatever we decide?”

“Then I wouldn’t be the one you would be talking with. Your brother was made my responsibility, with everything that entails.” She typed on the pad to her left and ran a finger at the bottom. “He has accrued quite the debt.”

“Is that why you framed him?”

She canted her head, then typed without ever looking away from him. Despite himself, Trembor was beginning to feel uncomfortable under that non-stare. “Ah, yes,” she said after running a finger at the bottom of the pad. “We didn’t do this.”

Trembor snorted and rolled his eyes so he could look away from her. “You expect me to believe that? You’re criminals. My brother can’t pay you, so you destroy him. That’s how you work.”

“The living can always pay back what they owe. The dead cannot. This killing of a cub doesn’t reinforce our hold on him, it gives him a way out. Only the sick and the desperate would do such a thing. Tell me, which one is your brother?”

Trembor was on his feet, hands slamming against the table. “Bo didn’t do this and you fucking know it!”

She raised a hand to stop the tigers from moving. “Language, please,” she said calmly. “There might be cubs here.” The tiger leaned in and whispered. “Well, there still could have been. So please do watch what you say, Mister Goldenmane.”

Trembor forced himself to sit and calm down. He wasn’t here to start a fight. He needed to play for time. The longer he stayed here, the better the odds were he’d get what he was after if Jasber kept to her side of things.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “What is it going to take for you to stop this? As you said, with my brother dead, you aren’t getting anything from him.”

“If by ‘this’ you mean the court case, I’m afraid you weren’t listening to me.”

“Then shouldn’t you be doing all you can to make sure my brother goes free?”

She faced him. “I considered it, but the expenses required to ensure a case like this is resolved without backlash are too high. Your brother already can’t repay what he owes, adding to that would simply make him more desperate.” She paused. “Unless you are looking to take his debt on?”

“No,” he stated. Silencing the part of himself clamoring to do anything to save his brother, even catch these people’s flees. Becoming indentured to them wouldn’t free Bo, it would just put more of his family at risk, he suspected.

Now, Trembor because to understand what their goals could be in setting up his brother. They wanted Trembor. Possibly simply to keep him from looking into their activities. But possibly for his contact within the enforcers, how he could access the Revenue system. If he added his extended family to this, there was someone related to the Goldenmane within just about every level of government, and in other countries. Not to say the businesses his family owned.

Those were more reasons not to agree. He’d stick to the plan. Get his evidence, free Bo, and tear these people apart. He glared at her and felt stupid. Could she even see him? Maybe he should wait for one of the tigers to tell her? “You aren’t getting your claws into me or my family.”

She nodded. “Then I’m curious as to why you came. You have to have known this could go no other way. If this is because you are angry at what is happening to your brother, the legal system is who you would aim it at. I would be happy to help you with that. It is what traps him.”

Trembor let out a slow breath. He couldn’t stretch this any further without tipping his hand. He stood. “I came here to try and get you to see reason. To stop this abuse of our system just to punish my brother. I wanted to avoid a war between us.”

“You should be careful what you say, Mister Goldenmane. Words have repercussions.”

“I’m going to destroy you,” he stated.

Her raised hand stopped the tigers again. She studied him, and this time he thought he could make out the beady little things that were her eyes. She chuckled, and Trembor’s hackles went up. “Mister Goldenmane, if you go to war with me, I will leave a crater in this city. One large enough every member of your very large family will be buried in. Do keep that in mind the next time you consider making threats against me.”

Her, not her organization. All her threats were based on what she believed she could do by herself. Trembor fought between fear that someone believed they had that kind of power and rage that she was threatening his family.

He was here to help Bo, he reminded himself. Dying here wouldn’t help his brother, even if he killed her and the tigers. The only way he helped Bo was by walking out of this restaurant. Which had to be now, otherwise he might not be able to control himself.

“So you aren’t going to be reasonable?” he snarled. Yep, he had to leave; he’d intended to make that a polite question.

“I’m not the one being unreasonable here,” she replied.

“Then we’re done,” he stated.

“Indeed we are,” she replied calmly. “I’ll have Barkon drive you back.”

Trembor glared at the wolf, and his lips pulled away from his teeth without meaning to. Barkon stepped well out of reach.

“You want him dead that badly?” Trembor demanded.

She considered the question long enough the wolf looked at her, eyes growing wider. “No, he’s still a good investment.”

“Then I’m going to walk.” He turned and left the restaurant. Storming away; glaring at anyone who even glanced his way. Telling himself they weren’t involved in his problems didn’t help. They were cheap and if he lashed out at one of them, he’d be able to afford the body without problems.

After the fourth block, he took out his pad and unlocked it. A dozen messages from Jasber waited. He ignored them. I’m out. He sent her. Tell me you got what I need.

The reply was long in coming, Tomorrow morning, was the response. My brother needs to go through everything. With it was an address.

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