Royal Pain

33

"I truly wish I could tell you that it is, but unfortunately I can't." His voice pulled my attention back to him, where he sat in his chair, rolling a pen between his fingertips.

I let out another breath, closing my eyes briefly to regain my composure.

"Where is he?" I nearly laughed at my own words. It's the question that I'd been asking myself for the past three years. Every other time it was without the expectation of an answer, but this time was different. This time I had a funny feeling that I was going to get an answer, but it wouldn't be one that I liked.

Vitale released a breath of his own, debating on how to answer me.

"Germany."

I'm sure my eyes were the size of golfballs as I stared at him. His answer made absolutely no sense to me.

My father didn't have ties in Germany. He had ties in Italy, the UK, mainly Spain, but never Germany. My mind was racing, trying desperately to put together the pieces that Vitale had just handed me, but alas I came up empty handed–for the millionth time.

"We have reason to believe that your father was captured by a rival company and forced to either become prisoner to them, or join their movement." He glanced down to the photo of my father between us before meeting my gaze once more. "...But, it's hard to believe that he's prisoner, if we're going to be honest."

I found my gaze lowering back down to the photo, like Vitale had just done only moments before. He was right. The way my fathers blue eyes were alight with amusement as he stood on the sidewalk of some street, wearing an expensive suit, it was hard to believe he was doing anything against his own free will.

A knock on the door interrupted my trance I was in, Vitale and I both whipped our attention to the large door behind me.

"Come in," Vitale's voice was even and controlled as he spoke to the person on the other side of the door.

The door swung open to reveal Kyle, his signature boyish grin was long gone and in its place was something of pure horror and a little bit of shock.

"What is it, Kyle? Tell me you didn't just interrupt our conversation to look like you've just shit your pants?" Vitale's eyes were intense and brooding.

Kyle let out a breath, his mouth moving as if he was attempting to start his sentence but nothing came out.

He cleared his throat loudly before speaking. "Tony is..." his words hung in the air, "Tony is dead."

Whatever I was expecting to come out of Kyle's mouth in that moment, I can assure you that was not it.

"What are you talking about Kyle?" Vitale was on his feet in a moment and approaching Kyle.

"He's fucking dead, Vitale!" Kyle snapped, his voice the most venomous I'd ever heard it. "He's in the surveillance room, his neck is sl–," Vitale shoved Kyle into the hall and slammed the shut behind him, the heavy oak effectively keeping me from hearing Kyle finish his sentence.

My eyes found the open manila folder that was displaying my father's picture, and in that moment I made a rash and idiotic decision that I'm surely going to regret later.

I shoved myself up out of my chair and ran to the door, yanking it open as quick as possible.

I caught sight of Vitale's black dress shoe rounding the corner to the right and bolted as quickly as I could down the long and seemingly never-ending hall.

As I rounded the corner, still running as fast as my legs could take me, I somehow managed to miscalculate that there could be, and definitely was, someone standing right there.