《One Armed Hunter》


 The initial case

    "Man, it''s 2 in the morning, what could possibly be so important that requires you to wake me up?"


    Keith somehow managed to mutter those words somewhat properly even while still half-asleep. Obviously annoyed by the call at this hour, he repeated himself to know what was up without slurring this time.


    "Chief Oliver asked me to call you up, the only detective he trusts, on this case that just came up." said the voice on the phone.


    "Alright, give me like, 30 minutes and I''ll drop by."


    He stayed in bed for about 5 minutes, sighing and rethinking his decision. Couldn''t this wait until morning? What was SO important that would need him to get out of bed? Without really thinking about it any further, he got up and jumped in a freezing shower to wake up properly. Looking at himself in the mirror before heading out. "I''m gonna have to shave that but I don''t exactly have the time for that right now." Keith was slightly above average height and pretty broad for his size. His facial hair was somehow always unkempt and rough-looking, but he took pride in it, saying it''s basically one of his best features.


    Driving down to the location, he listened to the radio, hoping that somehow that new case would be breaking news, but as he found out, nothing came out of it, only regular music and one late night talk show.


    "I guess that''s to be expected if it''s something big, wouldn''t want to scare anyone up at this hour would we..."


    The place he ended up going to seemed like a normal house at first glance. "If that''s what you can call a house anyway, what a shithole this neighborhood is. Can''t believe I''m out here in the middle of the night"


    Keith slowly walked up the pathway that lead to the front door, surprised at the lack of police presence for something that was deemed so important. Things were suddenly a bit more suspicious. He stood still near the front door, listening carefully for any noise coming from the house. He reached down to his hip only to realize he forgot his gun in his car. "Shit." He thought to himself.


    "I''ll just go back to my car and call up the chief directly because there sure as hell ain''t anyone nearby."


    As Keith turned around and started walking down the path, he heard the door slowly creak open behind him, prompting him immediately to duck behind the small brick wall along the driveway. After a minute or so passed, he peeked over to look at the door, only to see faint figure with long hair and a glint of metal zooming by to hit the ground near him.


    "Ah shit oh fuck, I don''t have anything to defend myself with. Whatever is in there is definitely out of arms reach and not happy to see me."Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    He looked down to what had hit the ground right next to him, which was, without a doubt, a blade. Dangerously sharp. Without thinking, he picked it up and threw it directly at the presence in the doorstep. Unsurprisingly, it didn''t exactly land anywhere near it. The figure, as it got distracted by the thrown blade, didn''t see Keith running for his car.


    "I''m about 99% sure that throw was terrible but hey at least I made it right?" He thought.


    Trying to be a bit stealthy as to not attract unwanted attention, he very slowly opened his car door and grabbed his gun. With a swift motion, he aimed his firearm at the front door, only to realize it was now closed. Not about to let this go to waste, he dialed his superior''s number.


    "Keith? Is that you? Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?" Oliver asked, obviously confused.


    This confirmed what Keith was thinking, it wasn''t actually anything the police was involved in, yet anyway.


    "Oh uh... Sorry about that sir, I received a call earlier about something you wanted me to investigate, I guess? Anyway, when I got there I got greeted by a mighty fine dagger if I do say so myself. Most likely from some launcher if I had to guess. Nobody throws that hard"


    Whatever that was, it sure wasn''t happy that someone showed up.


    "Okay, but I never asked you to investigate anything son. Look, we''ll see in the morning when you come into the office, but for now, I need my beauty sleep."


    Oliver hung up, Keith sighed. This was one hell of a setup if that was one. He looked at his call logs to see a number he didn''t recognize.


    "Just who called me earlier?"


    After a few hours passed, at the station, explaining everything that just happened to his boss.


    "Alright, so you''re saying you got a call from someone at 2 in the morning, and it told you to go down to this building?" Oliver asked.


    "That''s pretty much it. I figured something was off when there wasn''t any patrol car nearby, but to think that I would get attacked from someone inside that house was totally unexpected. I was hoping you could run this number that called me into the system and see if it finds anything."


    Keith yawned while the chief was doing his thing. "I don''t really have much to go on with, from the impact the knife had, it''s very likely that we''re dealing with someone that has at least a launcher mounted on their arm, or maybe even just a straight up prosthetic arm beefed up with cybernetics. I wonder, I really do."


    Oliver cleared his throat, bringing Keith back from his sea of thoughts.


    "Yep, this number does come from the house you were at this morning. I don''t know what it means son. You might have a secret admirer."


    Keith scoffed, got up and walked through the office door. "I''ll be going back to sleep if you don''t mind, tell me what our next course of action should be, because I definitely want to see the bottom of this. I want to tell that person that throwing knives is a big no-no."


    "And maybe I''ll have to pay a visit to the doctor. Because the way I see it, my reflexes implant might be fucky, considering I almost got a free haircut earlier. I wonder if they missed on purpose. Nah, that would be stupid. Would only lead to an investigation against them. Who sets up someone and doesn''t actually go through with the deed?"


    The more he pondered, the more questions he had for himself.


    "Bah, I''ll just think about it after I''ve had some sleep." He said to himself, not noticing the woman standing nearby and glaring at him.

 The initial meeting

    "Not even gonna drop by and say hi?"


    Keith sighed, knowing all too well someone was eavesdropping during the conversation. "Sorry, I didn''t see you there, maybe you should try to intercept me while standing on a stool or something." He said, chuckling.


    Catherine, or Kate as her close friends call her, was his partner on a few occasions. Well-versed in everything cyber related, she spent most of her time in her office researching things or explaining to other people. She wasn''t very tall, a bit under average height for women, but what she lacked in height made-up in character. She has long brown hair, and almost only wears sweaters, which hid her small frame and make it seem like she was slightly larger, unless the situation calls for something else. Surprisingly, the only alterations she had made to her body were simply to her left hand. Some accident she refuses to give details of, claiming it to be too embarrassing. Considering it was only her thumb and index finger, it led to many questions and bets as to what truly happened.


    "But Nicholas drove all the way to the precinct when he heard the news earlier", pleaded Catherine, staring down Keith with puppy eyes, borderline faking tears. He sighed, even deeper this time, and reluctantly agreed to follow her into her office. "I''ll at least make you coffee so just go sit down next to Nick, I''ll be back in like 2 minutes."


    Keith entered the room, a dimly lit office, with mostly monitors, all plastered on the same side of the room, lighting up the rest of the furniture with their glow. The blinds are always shut for some reason, which is a real safety hazard if it''s your first time in this room. "How long are you gonna stand in the doorway my guy?", said a voice coming from the other side of the room. Carefully threading around the room, making sure to not trip on many of the poorly managed cables littering the floor on almost every single square inch, Keith made his way to the only uncluttered table and sat down.


    "Hey Keith, it''s good to see you man! Haven''t seen you since the celebratory party we had after the last big case!" Nick said gleefully.


    Nick was another good friend. They used to go to school together many years ago, becoming what people could call "Bros". He would be very scary if you didn''t know that he just likes laughing, being very tall and broad with laugh lines that do prove he likes to have a good time. He had his signature slicked back hairdo that never left his head since he left college, somehow he could still rock it. He worked mainly as part of a private security firm, but on his downtime he liked to help around his mother''s restaurant. His entire right arm up to the clavicle was replaced by one of the finest piece of art, if you could call it that. A top-of-the-line, special alloy arm, that replaced what he lost during a conflict a few years back.


    "You''re right, it''s been a while since we last saw each other. I planned on calling you in these upcoming days before this whole thing dragged me into its mess. How''s the wife?" Keith asked while craning his neck backwards to stare at the ceiling.


    "She''s been better, but nothing''s gonna stop that woman, you know that as well as me!" Nick exclaimed while chuckling. Getting sick wasn''t that rare of an occurance, obviously, but sometimes, regular medicine just won''t cut it. Need something stronger, usually more expensive. Keith straightened out once Catherine approached the table, holding hot cups of coffee that he really needed right now.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Thanks for that. You know, you''d make a really good housewife. I mean I say that but it only applies if you brew coffee for me." Keith let out with a shit-eating grin.


    "Keep dreaming loverboy, you know you''re not my type, Mister Scruffy." Kate replied, amused.


    "What are you on about? His scruffy detective look is obviously how he gets all the ladies!" said Nick while laughing. They continued to sip on their drinks while silence slowly filled up the room, with a pinch of awkwardness creeping up on the trio.


    "Errr... Anyways... I was thinking of dropping by to your office later since I had a few questions concerning some arm modifications. I''m not really well-versed into the whole cybernetics field since I rarely have to dabble in those, but in this case it might be useful. Arm launcher thingies, you know the ones. Give me the deets."


    Kate stood up and walked over to one of the workstations. A few minutes passed until she cleared her throat, bringing attention back to her from their small talk. She rotated the chair to face the men, while still looking at her datapad.


    "Arm Mounted Propulsion Cannon. Sounds scary, I know. It was advertised as a toy, basically just helping to throw balls faster and further. Mostly used by teens and young athletes to play around or train. There''s a few modifications that you can apply to it, regulating power and size of the things you can throw, calibration, essentially. Then there was unofficial mods. Cranked up the power to 11, made it way too powerful, could easily hurt people. You could argue that the base model could also hurt, but it doesn''t come close. Not lethal, obviously, but you could probably still break a few ribs if you aimed at someone." Kate explained while still drinking coffee.


    "Okay so far I understand that part, but I wasn''t shot by a baseball or whatever it is they can fling with those." Keith said, slightly confused.


    "I wasn''t done, if you let me finish you might''ve had your answer, Mister." Catherine replied, visibly annoyed. "There was a prototype version that was in the works but it was scrapped for being too dangerous. They tried to weaponize that unofficial modification, you see. Except the arm couldn''t support the stress that the contraption generated. When it worked, it worked very well, being able to punch through a variety of materials with deadly force. It didn''t see much use, obviously, because of the downside, which consists of overusing it could very simply snap your arm off, and you wouldn''t wanna pay to get it fixed every time now would you?"


    Nick shuddered, "man imagine cleaning up blood with your only remaining arm." he said jokingly but visibly disturbed.


    "That''s why it was only mounted on fake, cyber arms." Kate reassured. "I''ve heard of a way to suppress the downside, without needing bigger and beefier arms, of course. It''s something I don''t really have much info on, buddy of mine knows a guy that knows a guy that knows a guy that might have some juicy intel on that project. Something about being custom-made and whatnot, wanna pay him a visit?"


    A few minutes of pondering passed, while she kept reading whatever was on the pad. Nicholas got up and grabbed the empty mugs to put them away.


    "Where and when?" Keith asked, curious.


    "How does tonight sound? Just make sure you wear something nice and I''ll take you there." Kate answered.


    "Sounds good to me. I''ll just think of it as a date." replied Keith jokingly. "But first I really gotta get some sleep, I''m gonna pass out on this dirty floor if this keeps up any longer. Can you give me a ride Nick? I don''t wanna drive in case I do something stupid." Nick simply nodded and both of them headed out of the office, waving goodbye without looking back.

 The initial date

    The distinct buzzing of the cellphone ringing awoke Keith from his slumber. Slowly trying to answer the phone proved to be a difficult task, but he managed to do it before it fell on voicemail. Silence. Nothing came out of the receiver. He double checked to make sure that, yes indeed, he picked up the call. The number didn''t seem familiar at all.


    "Hello? Is anyone on the line or am I just going crazy?" He asked. Hanging up, he sighed and rolled back to look at the clock. "Almost time for the date... I should get prepared." He muttered to himself.


    Putting both of his legs on the ground, he sat still for a few minutes gathering his thoughts. He''s been on the force for a while now, and yet this is the first time he''s been left truly dumbfounded by what happened. If this truly was some sort of set-up, the question is, why and who would want something out of him. He slowly got up and walked to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat and something to drink before hopping in the shower. The rain hitting the windows of his apartment usually helped him gather his thoughts, but truth be told, he was surprisingly too excited to keep his mind clear.


    "Alright, let''s just get cleaned and pick a decent enough outfit!" He exclaimed, hyping himself up.


    A nice and hot shower helped him properly wake up from his middle-of-the-day nap. He stood in front of the mirror, pondering whether or not to clean up his facial hair a bit. It wouldn''t hurt for this one time, and he would look a bit more presentable to Catherine. Deciding to trim most of it, to not be clean-shaven, he winked at himself and stepped out to pick an outfit. A nice dark suit that hasn''t seen enough use has been chosen.


    "Man, I remember wearing this like, twice at most. Let''s squeeze some more money''s worth out of you buddy." He said to himself. His phone rings once again. Slightly irked, he answers the call. "Hello?"


    "Hey! I hope you haven''t forgotten about our little thing you called a date, right?" Asked a female voice.


    "Of course not Kate, I''ve just finished preparing everything, how long until you come pick me up?" He inquired.


    "I''d say about 10 minutes tops. Don''t make me wait." She says as she hung up.


    "Yes ma''am." Keith said as he tossed his phone on his bed. Not knowing what could happen, he decided to carry his weapon on the inside of his suit. "This may be a date, but there''s also going to be dealings with shady individuals, so who knows." He thought to himself.


    Standing in the lobby of his apartment complex, twiddling his thumbs, he received a text message. Pulling out his phone, he doesn''t recognize the sender, and the contents of the message are what you could call, a bit worrying.


    I''m sorry I left you in the middle of our little dance, but maybe this way you''ll chase after me, my prince.


    "This only could be about what happened last night," he thought. He had some many questions, and none of them feel like they''re going to be answered. He quickly typed out "Who is this?" and pressed send. A few minutes passed and no reply. He looked up and saw Catherine''s car pulling up in front of his building. He stood up, put his phone in his pocket and ran out under the rain to quickly hop in the car.


    "Wow, you almost look like a prince in that outfit, looking all clean and neat. You could almost sweep me off my feet and I wouldn''t object." said Kate, laughing lightly.


    "I... uh... yeah?" He said in a daze.


    "Is something wrong? Did you forget to go the toilet before getting in or do I just not look good enough to be a princess?" She said, feigning being hurt.


    "No, I''m sorry. This is gonna sound weird but, did you just text me?" He asked regaining his composure.


    "I didn''t. Why?" She asked, curious.


    "Oh... Nevermind, don''t worry about it, maybe I was just lost in thought and got confused for a second."


    "Oooookaaayyy." She replied as she started driving. A few minutes passed of driving in the eerily empty streets. Usually you''d see at least a few people scattered about, but they''re probably hiding from the rain. Kate cleared her throat and started speaking, "The guy we''re meeting goes by the name Vince. Don''t know if it''s actually his real name, or a just a nickname. I tend to not ask questions that would get me looked into while dealing with these kind of fellas."Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    "Vince. Got it. Anything else worth knowing? What do you have on this guy?" He asked.


    "Well, for starters I know he does some shady black market kinda deals, I probably know enough to get him arrested honestly, but he''s a good guy and doesn''t actually like violence." She informed him. "I don''t think he''s gonna have any problems with us as long as you don''t try to rough him up for whatever reason. The guy we''re after is basically hiding behind him, poor Vince has done nothing wrong."


    "Yeah, except for illegal trades." Keith retorted.


    "Look, I know it''s not exactly the most savory of individuals, but it is what it is, and that''s the only lead I have that COULD lead to something, so give both of us a break, will ya?" She said, mildly irritated.


    "You''re right, I''m sorry. Thanks for hooking me up." He apologized.


    More time passed as he looked outside of the passenger''s window. Neon signs above the late night stores, restaurants, bars and the like. Some of them not lit up properly, or just straight up busted. This neighborhood didn''t seem like the cleanest, probably part of the poor side of town.


    "Are we there yet?" He teased.


    "If you want to walk, be my guest. We''ll be there shortly."


    The car finally turns into a parking lot in front of a bar called Duke''s. Except the k and the apostrophe aren''t lit up. Getting out of the car, Keith looked over to Catherine and lets out with a smile, "I wonder if, when the landlord comes, he wants to collect his dues."


    "What are you on abo-" Kate asked confused, as she turned around to face the building and notice that yes, indeed, the neon sign does spell out "Du e s"


    Without saying anything to amuse Keith, she took the lead and scurried over to the building, trying to avoid as much rain as possible. He followed before ruining his outfit and the both of them entered the building. The smell inside was peculiar, to say the least. It didn''t smell bad, but it didn''t smell good either. Still following her, he looked around the place to familiarize. It seemed to be a regular place that serves drinks. The actual bar was in the middle of the room, tended by a few bartenders. It was square shaped, having a few seats along the sides of it. The walls were lined up with booths. The far wall had a staircase leading up with a sign labelled "VIP" glowing near the first step.


    "I hope you ate before we left, because we''re not going to have anything in here." said Kate. "The company''s fine and all, but I don''t trust the chef anymore."


    "Did something happen?" asked Keith. He kept following her to a corner booth, waiting for an answer.


    "We arrived a bit early, but he should be here in only a few minutes." She said, ignoring his question.


    "Alright, sounds good to me." acknowledged Keith. "Although I have to say, you look quite good tonight. I didn''t have the occasion to see you properly in the car. I''m flattered you''d go this far for me." He said, cheekily.


    "What makes you think I dressed this way for you, and not just because I wanted to look good in this fine establishment?" She replied, tapping her nails on the table.


    Keith noticed that she even did her nails, which was a rare occurrence for her. Kate was by no means bad-looking, but her clothes held back her appearance. In front of him was someone completely different. Her long hair was tied up in a Dutch-style braid. She was wearing a crimson dress, which was even more out of character for her, as she is almost always dressed in comfy, loose clothing. His eyes slowly glanced over to her cleavage without even thinking and quickly looked away once he realized. That dress really made her curves easy to see compared to her usual apparel.


    "If you''re wondering why I don''t dress nicer in general, it''s just because I don''t like the attention it generates. Especially at work." She said, answering his question before he could even ask it. "But I will admit that once in a while, it can be flattering. Just don''t try to drill a hole through me with all your staring, please."


    "You''re right, sorry. You can''t blame me though." He replied, laughing it off.


    Keith took his phone out to see if any reply came, and to his surprise, there was.


    Who I am isn''t important right now. We''ll meet again. Until then, make sure you enjoy your date.


    As soon as he finished reading that, he slowly looked around to see if anyone in the room could''ve sent it. Realizing that there''s too many patrons and that even if someone looked at him, it probably would''ve been a coincidence. He put his phone back in his pocket, and noticed a man was walking up to their seats. The man extended his hand out to Keith.


    "Hello, I''m Vince. Miss Catherine told me that you had some questions regarding some cybernetics. I''m the man for the job!" He said while smiling.


    Keith shook his hand and motioned to him to take a seat. Vince shook his head.


    "I''m afraid we can''t talk here, too many ears. Wouldn''t want a cop to overhear us now would we?" He winked. "I can get us a nice and quiet corner in the VIP area, just give me a few minutes. Why don''t you order a drink in the meantime?" said Vince as he turned away.


    "How about it, Kate? Drinks aren''t food. Do you have anything against it?"


    "Not right now, maybe after." She said, flatly.


    Vince walked back towards the table, still smiling. "Let us go upstairs, shall we?"


    A few of the customers were outright staring at them. At first, Keith thought they were just looking at Catherine, but after paying attention, he realized they were actually looking straight at him.


    "Yeah, let''s go. Lead the way Vince." Keith said, keeping his cool, even though those looks could kill.


    His phone beeped. Looking at the text message, he raised an eyebrow.


    Don''t worry, no one is going to do anything. I''ll make sure of it.

 The first lead

    The atmosphere upstairs really was different. Once the door that led downstairs closed, it became eerily silent at first. The noise of the chatter and music coming from the common area didn''t get past the door, at all. A few seconds passed and Keith''s eyes adjusted to the dimly lit hallway. As his ears weren''t assaulted by the commotion anymore, he realized that there was some music playing, almost like elevator music. The walls were covered in doors, leading to rooms with a couch, something that seemed like a stripper pole, and a regular coffee table. Vince led them to one of the rooms further down the corridor, near the bathrooms and fire exit.


    "Please, take a seat. Feel free to take any drinks from the mini-fridge behind the couch." said Vince while closing the door behind him.


    "Ah, no thanks, we''ll pass for now. We''re only really here for business." replied Kate, "Maybe after all the boring talk we can have some fun."


    She sat on the edge of the couch, while Vince sat right in the middle, resting both of his arms across the back. Keith simply leaned back against the door with his arms crossed.


    "So, Keith, what are you looking for? Implants? New limbs? Life advice?" said Vince, smiling.


    "You know what we''re here for." said Kate before he could reply.


    "Yes yes, of course. I''m just lighting up the mood a bit." Vince straightened up and joined his hands together. "You want the special kind of stuff. Real underground illegal shit. I don''t really have anything of the like on me, or at all if I''m being honest. Someone catches you with any unregistered mods, even if it''s just lying there, in the back of your closet, you''re done. No questions asked. I wonder though, you don''t seem like the type of client that would ask for such... shady cybernetics."


    While being completely immobile, Keith replied, "It''s not for me. In fact I''m not really interested in buying. I just have a few questions concerning a certain model of the A.M.P.C., you know anyone that might supply the real deal?"


    "It''s not that he''s not interested," interjected Kate. "He''s just a bit nervous and doesn''t want to seem like an easy prey to such a ferocious salesman."


    "I see, I see!" laughed Vince. "I won''t bite you, don''t worry. I may or may not know. See, I happen to know that you''re quite an upright citizen. Being a cop and all. I don''t have anything against that, you know? I just don''t know if I can trust you. It is pretty sensible information, and I wouldn''t want to lose my job overnight."


    "Relax, we''re not here to dismantle any organizations. I just want to know who might''ve gotten a hold of said part. I already have my hands full with something else right now. I''ll turn a blind eye, if we do meet again afterwards, I''ll act as if nothing happened here. We don''t know each other, I have no idea what you do for a living. Complete strangers. Can''t be a bad deal for you, right?"


    Vince pondered over those words for a few moments, looked at his watch, and then in front of him. Then at his watch again, nervously.


    "I think I''ll go to the bathroom real quick, give it a few thoughts." mumbled Vince, standing up.


    "Take your time." replied Keith, stepping away from the door and sitting down next to Kate.


    "He seemed to be a tad uneasy." pointed out Kate. "You do anything to him? Stop scaring away our leads with your imposing stature."


    "I''m not that imposing, you''re just tiny compared to me."


    "Anyway, what do you think of him? He''s not that bad, right? Almost a decent fellow. We met by accident and he tried to sell me legs so that I''d be taller. He said it was a joke and that he''s sorry and all that, but I asked around and looked into him. I may or may not have blackmailed him, knowing that he does indeed partake in illegal activities."This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    "What I think of him is gonna be obvious in a few minutes." replied Keith, putting his hand up to his ear.


    Curious, she put her hand on her own ear, seeing if anything''s going on. Silence. She looked over to Keith, staring at her with an amused look on his face.


    "I changed the channel in the time we weren''t working together, sorry beauty, but I''m gonna have a solo listen before I share it with you."


    Catherine feigned being hurt and pouted, deciding to take a drink out of the fridge.


    "I''m telling you, they didn''t show up, what am I supposed to do now? It''s that stupid famous cop, you know he''s gonna sniff our asses out if we don''t get rid of him! Don''t you have any idea what we-"


    Keith''s attention was moved from eavesdropping, to his phone. He took it out and read the text message that just came in.


    You don''t have to thank me, I''m doing this for myself.


    He realized something was awry. He looked over at Kate, she was pouring herself a glass of whiskey. As she was about to start enjoying it, she stopped, frowned, and put the glass back down. She sat back and crossed her legs, turning to face Keith, who just realized that there was no transmission anymore. They both looked at eachother and understood that something wasn''t right. Keith stood back up and positioned himself next to the door, in case something or someone decided to crash the party. After a few minutes that seemed to feel like an eternity, someone knocked and slowly opened the door.


    "Helllloooo? I''m back, just making sure I''m not disturbing anything. You guys looked like you were out on a date so I''m just making sure I''m not walking in on anything." Vince said, while chuckling. "What were we talking about again? Ah yes, right, right. I''ll have to ask my suppliers to see if they could help you. It might cost ya, but since I''m uh, friends, with the missus here, I''ll try to get you a discount. How''s that sound?" he added, trying to look calm and collected.


    Keith slowly stepped away from the wall, cracking his knuckles. "Look, I couldn''t care less about your operation, all I want is info. I just had confirmation that something was supposed to happen, something that would get you rid of us. Not a bad plan, you know. Accepting an invitation from someone that blackmailed you, that way you can get rid of them if things went your way. Nobody would''ve noticed since, after all, these rooms are completely soundproof. I''ll have to commend the owner for the privacy of his VIPs. That aside, you must''ve heard from Catherine right here, that I would be here. Otherwise, how would you know my name in the first place if I didn''t even mention it? You also knew I was a cop from the get-go, which is a bold assumption to make in this part of town at this hour. Seems like you did your fair amount of research, and you must know that I never let go once I bite into something."


    Vince slowly stepped back, with a bead of sweat slowly crawling down his face. He suddenly unsheathed a sizeable pocket knife from under his blazer, pointing the knife at Keith, switching to Kate, back and forth while fumbling to find the doorknob behind his back.


    "Just calm down, friend. Sit down, have a drink." advised Kate, while admiring her nails, "It''s not like it''ll kill you, right?"


    He immediately turned around, trying to run away as he grabbed the handle, ready to swing the door open and sprint as fast as he could, but stopped completely once he heard a click and something press against his head.


    "It''s a real shame that civilians can''t carry firearms, wouldn''t you agree? On the other hand, the people enforcing the law can. I can assure you that after all of these... unfortunate events, that you''re not walking out of here a free man. We could''ve had a deal, you could''ve went on your merry way and nothing would''ve happened. I''m disappointed in you, Vince. Or should I call you Sebastian? You can lie to people, but you can''t hide things from me."


    "OKAY! OKAY! Look, I surrender, don''t hurt me, please!" he pleaded. Keith motioned at Kate to handcuff him, as he was afraid he would run away as soon as the weapon was withdrawn.


    "I''ll handle him, I have a few words to exchange with the owner before leaving this place. You can go ahead and go home, I''ll be fine. Just make sure you send a patrol car my way, yeah? Don''t want to walk with him all the way down to the station. I''ll have some questions for him in the morning."


    "Sounds good to me, I''ll bring this bottle for analysis since it''s spiked with a lethal amount of poison. Make sure you ask him who stocks these fridges, doubt it just appeared out of thin air." she replied, "Also, you''re not going to make me go back to my car in the rain, are you?"


    Keith laughed, took off his suit jacket and put it over her shoulders. "Now you''ll be fine. Just be careful, it might act a sail and carry you in the wind with how large it is compared to you."


    "One of these days you''re going to regret making fun of me, I swear!" Kate giggled. "Don''t rough him up too much, will ya?"


    "I can''t promise you, but I''ll try. Alright buddy, let''s go for a little stroll."


    Keith left the room, with Vince in front of him while Catherine stood there, her face buried in the collar of the jacket.


    "I see you still wear the same cologne after all this time..." she whispered.