The Son and the Sparrow

Chapter Thirty Six(v3)

Chapter Thirty Six

Joanna and Leon circled a map of the city, Joanna marking off random buildings while Leon watched her. A strand of raven hair fell into her vision, and she moved it with a delicate polished finger. She wore a tank top that clung to her body like a pale skin. The neck of it scooped low. Leon blushed and looked away. But not before his mind flashed to a distant yet vivid past. He swallowed.

Joanna gave Leon a sideways glance, and Leon automatically blushed again. He wondered if she caught him. He struggled to keep his face a blank stone. She offered him a small sly smile, then addressed him.

"Cale lives here." She informed him, pointing to a spot. Leon recognized it as one of the less wealthy neighborhoods. "But this isn't where he's keeping Daniel."

Leon didn't care where Cale lived. His goal was to kill Cale, and retrieve Daniel. Cale couldn't tell Leon where Daniel was hiding while dead, and he wasn't fond of the idea of torture. He had resorted to torture far too many times. He didn't want to drift back to that again. "Then where is he keeping Daniel?"

"I don't know yet." Joanna informed him. "There're a few places that he could be. If you want, we could check them out together. We might come across something interesting."

Leon wasn't keen on the idea. They wouldn't know what exactly what they would be walking into. Last time that happened he strolled right into Dante's lair. Yet, did they have enough time to figure out exactly where Daniel was? Did Cale know where Leon was hiding? Could he figure out how to get past Philip's security system? And what would happen then? Leon sighed.

Leon's phone vibrated in his pocket. Leon's brows furrowed. Who could be calling him? Everyone was here, in the house. He checked it, and groaned. He knew this would be coming. It was only a matter of time after they found the boy. Should he answer it? He didn't think they knew where he was. He should just break the thing under a hammer so they couldn't track him and be done with it. But then what would happen? Would he see his face on the news? Would hiding condemn him? Maybe it was just smarter to play along. He was innocent. There was no way they could pin him for this. Besides, there was probably still a part of Houston that supported Leon. Maybe he could ease that part out.

He parted the phone in the middle and lifted it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Mr. Arthur?"

For some reason hearing Houston's voice relieved Leon a fraction. "I think we've been through enough together for you to call me Leon." He replied. "Don't you think?"

Houston seemed displeased with Leon's words. It put them on the same team, a team Houston clearly didn't want to be on. "Mr. Arthur," he said, ignoring Leon's request, "have you seen the news?"

Leon knew where this was going. "Yes, I have." He said.

"Then you know your neighbor is dead."

"Yes."

"And that he was murdered."

Leon nodded, forgetting that Houston couldn't see it.

Houston paused, waiting for Leon's reply, then continued. "I think you know where I'm heading with this."

"I didn't kill him." Leon insisted.

"Then you'd be willing to come in for an interview." Leon could sense the smugness in Houston's voice.

Leon clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. They were only working on a hunch. They couldn't arrest him for that. "We do it on my terms." He growled.