Chapter 2
Ian entered the room and quickly began clicking pictures of the crime scene. He took multiple shots of the bed and gouges in its post.
He stopped for a moment. Something felt off.
He walked over to the window. The curtains fluttered into his face. Ian thought for a moment. Had the window been open when he’d came in before? He couldn’t remember if it had. He parted the curtain and looked across the back yard. He didn’t see anything out there. He turned and scanned the room. Nothing seemed out of place. Although he wasn’t sure he would be able to tell if it was. He shrugged. Why would someone break into a crime scene. He was being paranoid. He closed the window and went back to work.
He snapped a few more picks. He wanted to be done and get home. He had a date with a new stack of comics. He finished up and left, closing the door behind him.
It was only when he left that the closet door creaked open. Xander scanned the room before he exited. That had been close. He walked back over to the bed and took another breath. Someone else’s scent was there, but Xander couldn’t place it. He knew he’d smelt it before, but no one came to mind.
He made his exit through the window and took the same route out of the yard as he had in. He moved through the neighbor’s yard and over the back fence without incident. He took the back ally to the street and headed back to his car. When he reached the black sedan his phone began buzzing in his pocket. He flipped it open.
“Yeah.”
“Where are you?” The voice on the other end snapped.
“I’m looking into the boy’s disappearance.”
The voice on the other end clicked his tongue. “He wants you back. He wants to speak with you.”
Xander could tell there was an unsaid “Right now!” at the end. “I’ll be there in fifteen.”
“Ten.” The click on the other end didn’t leave any argument.
“I guess I’ll be there in ten.” Xander said to the disconnected line.
It took Xander fifteen minutes to reach the tall downtown office building. He was going to catch it for that, but what choice did he have with the evening traffic. He walked through the large front doors and through the lobby. He glimpsed two security guards, one on each side of the lobby.
He could clearly hear the one on the right say “He’s hear.” to his lapel.
He pressed the button to the elevator and waited. He could probably take the stairs and reach his destination in less time, but he figured he was already in trouble. The elevator door dinged and slid open and he stepped inside. He hit the button to the top floor and the doors slid shut. The elevator jumped and headed up.
When the door dinged again and opened, Xander was met with two more security guards. Both stood at the end of the hall, one on either side of the large oak doors. He walked toward them, noticing that both men were one’s he didn’t recognize. He thought that odd considering the security detail was usually men that his boss trusted. It seemed odd for them to be changed up. One of the security guards opened the door, so Xander could pass through without stopping.
He stepped inside to a spacious office. A large desk sat on the opposite side of the office. Two comfortable chairs sat in front of it for guests. Three more lined the wall for additional company. There was a large window behind it, with a great view of the city. Xander watched a pigeon land on the ledge outside. Xander walked up to the desk and stared at the back of the high backed leather office chair. Xander had to admit these digs were swanky.
“You found something at the boys home.” It wasn’t a question. The voice didn’t offer Xander a seat or give him the courtesy of turning around.
“Killian was there.”
This brought the chair around. The man behind the desk looked like your typical business man. He was a little shorter than Xander. Dressed in a fine pinstripe suit. Something very expensive Xander bet. He had short cropped hair and a goatee, both flecked with grey. Both hair and goatee were neatly trimmed, probably trimmed within the last couple of days.
“Are you sure?” The man said.
“You know the history between Killian and myself. I’d know his scent anywhere.”
“Yes I do.” The man stood up and turned toward the window, his back to Xander. “It was that history that lead to your current position.”
It was a cheap shot. Xander didn’t expect anything else from the man. As much as he wanted to say something, Xander kept quiet about the comment.
“Killian is a mercenary without affiliation. Do you want me to find out who hired him?”
The man scoffed. “You are forgetting your position. I want you to find the boy and do what you do best.” He looked over his shoulder at Xander to emphasize the insult. “Protect.”
Xander grit his teeth, but again kept quite. “Yes sir.”
The man excused Xander with a wave of his hand. Xander was more than happy to take his leave. He turned and exited the office.
He hit the button to the elevator at the end of the hall. The doors opened and he stepped inside again. He caught the smug smile of one of the security guard at the end of the hall before the door closed.
If he found Killian, he’d find the boy. Chances are that would also lead him to find out who Killian was working for. He knew why the boy had been abducted. What he could give someone with the wrong ambition was immense. Killian had ambition, but not the kind that would lead him to a ruling position. Killian was working for someone, Xander was sure of that.
Jenny dropped the handset of the telephone back on the receiver. She had been able to track down the social worker with ease. It was getting the information that was the problem.
It wasn’t that Mrs. Dobson hadn’t been forthcoming with it, she just didn’t have much to give. The boy, Sam, had been found about a year ago The boy had obviously been living on the street for, no one knew, how long. He was malnourished and sick, but somehow living. He was taken to an orphanage once he got well and then to the Smith’s home. He had been there for a year.
In the time since the boy was found there were many looking to find where Sam had come from. There was nothing. He seemed to have appeared from nowhere, and now, may have disappeared just as quickly. Jenny promised that she would find him. That was the one thing she was good at. She didn’t give up.
There was something to go on though. Mrs. Dobson had mentioned that a few weeks ago a man had inquired about adopting a child. Mrs. Dobson remembered him giving her the creeps. Those were her exact words.
The man was average enough. Average height, with slick backed hair and a nice suit. What she remembered creeping her out was the fact that the man never removed his sunglasses. Mrs. Dobson said that she could tell a lot from people’s eyes. The eyes expressed love or anger. She had never been able to see the man’s, so that disconcerted her. She also remembered his speech pattern being very different. His speech was long and drawn out. He made sure to enunciate everything. Much like that agent in that movie about being in a computer she added. It was a very good description. The man definitely made an impression on Mrs. Dobson.
Once they began looking through children, Mrs. Dobson said that the man had taken great interest in Sam. He wanted to know everything about him, which wasn’t a bad thing Mrs. Dobson had said, if it weren’t for the fact that all the interest was placed on Sam’s time on the street.
He wanted to know all that he could. Where he was found. If he’d mentioned anything about his life previous to being found. If he’d mentioned his parents names. That had made Mrs. Dobson very uneasy. The man had been very agitated when Mrs. Dobson couldn’t supply that information.
He got even more irritated when Mrs. Dobson couldn’t release the information on where Sam was staying.
Mrs. Dobson also found it strange when the man asked for a glass of water and when Mrs. Dobson returned with it the man quickly left and said he’d be in touch. Jenny was sure that the man had used it as an excuse to look through Mrs. Dobson’s files. It seemed to Jenny that, as observant as Mrs. Dobson was, she hadn’t been very bright.
The best information yet was that Mrs. Dobson got a name from the man.. The man went by Killian.
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