He got up and started walking out. “Hey. Kenya. The doctor told me you have... quite a bad cut, huh?”
“It hurts. A lot.”
“Yeah, that's what happens when you clean a wound. But I don't want you getting an infection, son. Anyway. Our... friend called. Asked if you had delivered the message.”
“N-no, I... Shit. I never got the chance.”
“Well, he also said, since you seemed so... willing to get involved in this –his words, not mine–, that he wants you in.”
Kenya stopped dead in his tracks. “What... does that...”
“First, you need comms. Proper comms, I mean.” The Captain handed him an earpiece. “Put it as deep in as you can, 'cause if it falls... you're in trouble.”
The young man fumbled around with the earpiece for a moment, trying to get it as deep as he could. He froze when he heard a beep and the earpiece came to life. “Why, hello there, Kenya. Remember our deal?” That voice. Shit.
He cursed under his breath before answering a polite, if quite cold, “Yes.”
“Son, I can hear everything you say. Anyway. I need you to do something for me.”
“Oh-okay.” Kenya tried hard to steady himself – crying like a boy never helped anyone. But shit, was it hard to stop himself from running home and curling up in a ball and just cry himself to sleep.
“Well, it's quite simple. Go to Mr. Petrov's house, sneak in, find any comms device, and take it out. As for how to find said devices, there's a detector in the car, don't worry.”
Shit. No. “I... look, I can't...”
“Boy. I won't repeat myself. Oh, one last thing. That message. I've also left some... instructions in a sports bag, in the driver's seat.”
The earpiece beeped again, and went quiet. Kenya was frozen in place. This was too much for him. Having to look the other way was bad enough but... never mind what the man said, this was trespassing and was, in fact, breaking the law. Shit. He hadn't signed up for this.
The Captain grabbed his shoulder, trying to comfort him. “Hey. It's okay, son. Don't fuss over it, 'cause there's just no other way with that man, okay?” He hugged the young man. Damned son of a bitch, always doing the same. Yet, what could he do? Nothing. That had been crystal clear since the day he met Andrei. He shuddered just to think of him. “Son, you want me to go with you?”
“But... this is... no, no, I can't ask you to...”
“It's okay, son. It's... not the first time I've had to... get my own hands dirty. One more won't change anything. And I'd rather be there than risk you messing it up.” The Captain started walking to the car when his own earpiece beeped.
“Captain. I thought you had your own orders?”
The captain cursed loudly to himself before replying. “Look, the kid is a wreck. You send him alone, chances are he'll mess this up.”
“I thought that wasn't your problem, Captain.”
The captain sighed out loud. “You seriously can't be asking me to do this.”
Soft laughter echoed from the earpiece. “As a matter of fact, I am. The kid is not your problem. The men who Mr. Petrov has talked to, are. Don't mess that one up, or you know what happens.” Beep. Dead silence.
The Captain cursed again, before realizing Kenya was staring at him, shocked to hear him swear like that. Everyone thought he was a well-mannered man. And if he had to be honest, he was. Except when that son of a bitch called him. Then he could be easily mistaken for a sailor.
He took a deep breath before addressing the young man. “Look, I don't know what you've heard, but I can't go with you, I have some other business to attend. I'm sorry.” And he got into the building again, leaving Kenya alone with his thoughts.
The officer rocked back and forth for a moment. He couldn't do this. He'd go to the Captain and resign. Yeah. That was it. He had just got past the main doors when his earpiece beeped again. “Go to the car, see what's in there, at least.”
Kenya had made up his mind, and was totally going to stand up to it. “Look, I'm not doing any of this. I'm going to go ahead and resign. Then...”
“Then nothing changes.” The voice was sharp, threatening, even. “I'm not your Captain, I couldn't care less about what you do with your life. Now, go to the car, and see what I left for you in there. I'm sure you want to know what's at stake for you.”
Shit. This all was too much for Kenya. He paused for a second, but turned around and went to the car. On the passenger's seat, there was a black sports bag. He fumbled around with the zip tie, not actually wanting to open it, terrified as to what could be inside. He'd seen enough movies to imagine a gory head, hopefully from an animal. That would have suited the man, too, he thought.
He was deeply relieved as he saw a bucket of paint. Well, it was... bad, but vandalism was better than... whatever you could call leaving a head as a message. He froze when he saw the note on the lid.
Write on the bedroom wall.
“Today, same hour, same place.”
And somewhere else, “I KNOW”
Make a big mess, will you?
There was an arrow pointing to the back. Totally unneeded, it was obvious this was photographic paper. The young man didn't want to know what was on the other side. But he had to... He turned the note around, and almost had a heart attack as he saw the photo. He and his sister. He recognized the photo. She had it in a frame by the TV in her living room.
