Throw Away The Key

5. Location, Location, Location

"Where are you going?" Barry asks and both Roddy and Holly are immediately looking back at Monroe, asking the same question with their eyes.

Monroe sighs and figures its time to give them a straight answer. "I know what took Nick from his house but I don't know where they took him afterwards." The kids are looking at him like he holds the fountain of knowledge in his hands and he has no choice but to continue. "Nick was taken by Nachtkrapp."

Roddy immediately bristles and Barry growls low in his throat. Holly's eyes flash darkly and there's a hint of red in them. "Filthy birds," she snarls and her teeth are just a little bit sharper than they were previously.

"Easy guys," Monroe says, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. "We'll find Nick first and we'll deal with the Nachtkrapp later. I'm going to check out a few places around town that are not exactly kid friendly which is why I don't want any of you coming with me. The people I'm going to see are dangerous and I want you all to stay as far away from them as possible, alright?"

None of the kids look very happy about Monroe's decision but they know better than to question him. They all want the same thing: to find Nick. If that means delving into some less than respectable places during their search then they're all willing to take that risk.

"Good. Everyone knows what we're doing right?" At the wave of nods, Monroe continues. "Okay, if you find anything, anything at all, I want you to call me immediately. Don't try to handle it yourselves," he emphasized again with a look at Barry and Holly. "And don't try to get into anything you can't get out of." He glances at Roddy as he says this before pushing away from the table. "We will find Nick but we need to do this correctly, understand? If we don't then he's going to be even worse off than before."

That dark bit of knowledge sinks in pretty quickly and the teenagers nod somberly. After their acknowledgement, they all stand and follow Monroe to the door, stepping out into the cold morning and walking down the sidewalk. Once they reach the mailbox, Holly and Barry walk across the street and disappear into the trees. Roddy turns right and makes his way back toward town, hands dug deep in his pockets and shoulders squared in determination. Monroe watches them all go before pulling the keys out of his pocket and walking over to his car. He was going to find Nick if he had to search every drug den and gang hideout in Portland.

________________

Monroe gets the call shortly after 2 o'clock and he nearly flinches as his cell phone vibrates incessantly against his hip. He's standing behind a barber shop in downtown Portland, or at least it's painted to look like a barber shop. The shop doubles as a store front and a meeting place for a well known criminal organization that trolls the back alleys of the city. They're well known throughout the city though Monroe is pretty sure not many people know the gang is composed of entirely non-human members. He'd met the boss once and it had been one of the most awkward and terrifying moments of his life. The man had come to him to fix a clock for his mother and had paid Monroe very well to keep his silence. There was no issue there, Monroe is pretty sure no one would believe him even if he did say anything. One of the most well known crime bosses in the city coming to his house to get an antique clock fixed for his mother? Yeah, that's believable.

The man, Lorenzo, had been pleased with his work and had very calmly told Monroe before he left that if he ever needed anyone "taken care of", to come find him at the Barber Shop downtown and that his problem would be resolved very quickly. He'd also made it very clear that now that he knew where Monroe lived, it wouldn't be hard to find him again. The message had been clear: don't fuck up and we won't have a problem. Monroe had gone down the hardware store very shortly after Lorenzo left and bought two more deadbolts for his front door.