"What is it, Kyle?" Felix asked, thumping his foot in agitation.
"Nothing, really. I just wanted to make sure that you'd come," Kyle replied, offering a glass of water. Felix looked at the older man with a mixture of shock and confusion. He'd rushed his meeting with Harper for what? This?
"Kyle, has anyone told you that you're crazy?" Felix shook his head in resignation. "You said that you'd let me in on what happened at Gino's. What's your theory?"
Putting down the glass of water that Felix had refused, Kyle paced the spacious kitchen at speed. More like a soldier on the march than a doctor, Kyle began his miniature presentation. "Does Gino's look like it has money just laying around?"
"Not any more than any other moderately successful restaurant, no," Felix answered, having asked himself this same question the day prior.
"Exactly!" Kyle yelled. "There's absolutely no reason for a bunch of thieves to select an Italian pastry shop, of all places, as their mark. It's especially confusing given that they chose to 'rob' Gino's in the day." Kyle laid his palms on the marble countertop of the kitchen island, standing directly across from Felix. "They were never there to rob the place, Felix."
Felix looked at Kyle and processed the idea. He'd asked the same questions and gone down the same rabbit holes, but he hadn't arrived at that conclusion. That was because if they weren't there to rob Gino's, what were they doing there? It made no sense to take such a risk to ultimately get forced into a hostage situation.
"So then, why?"
Kyle's eyes narrowed. "They were sending a message. I'd put all of my money on Gino having crossed someone very powerful, someone with the influence to send a squad of henchmen to murder someone in cold blood… in front of the entire world."
"Like the mafia?" Felix asked.
"That's one potential enemy, yes. However, there are other, even more shadowy organizations that lurk beneath the surface of this city. If you don't watch yourself, Felix, you'll get caught in that web faster than you can blink," Kyle warned. Felix was inclined to agree with the man. Though there was no real proof that Gino's death was a result of an assassination, it was the only conclusion that made sense.
"Who were they sending the message to?"
"That, I don't know. But I doubt it's the owners of pastry shops," Kyle tried a small joke to lighten the mood, but it didn't work. "Listen, Felix. I've read comic books my whole life. They're my guilty pleasure. I want superheroes as much as the next guy, but I don't want you to die because you bit off more than you could chew."
"Why do you care so much?" Everything Felix knew about Kyle contradicted the man's irrational fixation on helping him.
"I owe you my life. I don't know if that means anything to you, but it means everything to me. And if you're dead, I won't have anyone to repay," Kyle answered earnestly, his humor abating. He looked like he had just recalled a bad memory, and maybe he just did. That night in the alley was definitely traumatic, and even Felix had nightmares about it.
Felix didn't have anything to say in response. He knew that Kyle felt indebted to him, but it seemed like Kyle really meant it. He wanted to do something to protect Felix.
"If you don't trust me because of stranger danger and all that, I completely understand. I just need you to promise to be careful. If you ever need a place to stay or help or anything, though, I'll do everything I can," Kyle swore. Felix looked at him, open-mouthed. The doctor-detective kept surprising him.
"You really don't need to-"
"I want to."
And that was the end of that, at least to Kyle. He quickly changed topics. "You'll also need to be aware of superheroes around you. The more there are of you, the more likely you'll run into them. On the off chance that they're hostile, you need to know about them."
Felix flashed a knowing smile. "And is that the only reason I need to watch news clips about them?"
Kyle's shoulders slumped in a defeated gesture. "And they're cool, yes."
Felix laughed from his gut, his voice echoing throughout the massive apartment. Kyle certainly had the wealth that his position as a top doctor warranted. "How do you have so much free time, Kyle?" Felix asked. To keep up with the news, remain aware of the city around him, rest, and work in a hospital, Felix would have needed there to be 25 hours in a day.
"I'd say magic, but I'm really just good at time management," Kyle humble-bragged. Something about the word "time" got Felix to glance at his watch. His eyes widened and he looked up with the expression of a deer in headlights.
"About time management, I need to run. Thanks for the info, Kyle!" Felix called out, retreating out the apartment's heavy door.
"You've got my phone number!" Kyle yelled after him. Nodding back to the older man, Kyle sprinted to the elevator. He was going to be fifteen minutes late to boxing at the very least, and if there was anything Ivan hated more than "cheap knock-offs of REAL Russian cuisine," it was tardiness.
Oh, he was going to go home hurt tonight. At least he felt a little bit better about Kyle. Maybe he was just over-eager. If nothing else, Kyle seemed to know what he was talking about. Felix smiled. Maybe today hadn't been such a bad day, after all.
Then he pictured Ivan shark-grinning at him, and his smile was gone.