A Kink in the Tail

Chapter 16 - Knowing when to stop.

"Ben..."  Lewis said his name in a way that made him feel like he was twelve.  "Ben, why are you here?"  He could have sworn he saw his eyes flicker with specks of silver.  The man was seriously scary.

Cyrus opened the glove box and tapped the envelope.  "I completed your request.  I'll send you a list of where it all goes."

He was avoiding the question and Lewis knew it.  "Arm?"  

"No.  Mid tibia to be exact.  A break that is hard to set and heal, needing a great deal of rehab, will probably result in a limp."  Lewis smiled at the detailed breakdown of the injury he'd inflicted.  Too bad Ben was a human, he would have liked such an efficient agent on his team.

"Thank you.  I don't like to repeat myself, Ben.  Why are you here?"   Tick Tick Tick Cyrus ran out of options.

"I thought I might be able to help. I was curious."  Cyrus was embarrassed at his lack of professionalism in the face of the supremely efficient and terrifying Mr. Lewis.  "What are you doing with Rizzo and Brenn? "  

"They'll be fine."  Lewis decided he trusted the human.  "Fischer and Rizzo went to Thanos knowing the odds were against them.   Rizzo said that Fischer negotiated with his brother to let them go.  Surprisingly his brother agreed.  It's the end of it."  

Lewis was resigned to the fact that this was the best outcome possible.  He could see from the human's face that he didn't agree.

"My real name is Cyrus by the way."  He had no idea why he told him that, maybe because he suddenly felt deflated.  He was unaccountably disappointed with Lewis.  It was the deep, sour kind of disappointment that he normally reserved for his father.  It wasn't good enough.  He loathed losing as much as he hated loose ends and having a target die on his watch was both.

"Goodbye, Ben....Cyrus.  Go home. The case is over."  Lewis said quietly but firmly.  "Go home."

Cyrus watched Lewis pull out his phone and tap in a number, probably his boss again.  Would the guy on the other end of the phone be as pissed off as him?  Lewis disappeared around the corner.  He started the car and found himself going around the block, once, twice.  Cyrus just couldn't let go of it.

He parked in the spot Lewis had vacated and stared at the building.  The lights were on. Flat 3 was on the top floor.  Normally, he was a law-abiding person but there were times when Cyrus felt it was necessary to cross the line.   It was one of those times.   He took out his phone, and reread the case history.  A couple of things popped out at him.  One, the building's fire alarm has a monitoring system, which sends a message to the local fire and police department.  Two, flat 4 has been vacant for the last 6 months while it's being renovated.

Cyrus pulled out another Mars bar and started chomping on it  "You can never know too much and no detail is too small"  he mumbled to himself between mouthfuls.  It was one of his father's favourite lines.  Maybe his father did teach him something useful after all.

.....

He couldn't stand hearing the noises that were coming from somewhere beside him any longer.  He was uncomfortable, in pain and it added another layer of torture. He knew it was the human Shaun, he could smell him, his blood.  Constantine tried to force his eyes to open.

All he could make out was that they were on a bed, he was on his side bound with a collar and pelt trap. Lewis had refused to listen to him and then the next minute he'd been tied up and dragged off.    The last image he had of Fischer as he left the apartment flashed into his mind.  He growled, he had failed to protect him, as a bound wolf there was no bigger disgrace.