Paul gulped every pint of liquid in the cup.
"more" he said, Miguel fetched him some.
Fayth watched him drink it all up, before he exhaled a breath and closed his eyes.
As he did, Fayth's heart caught in her chest.
Then she saw the steady rise and fall of his chest.
It was the only evidence of him being alive other than that, he was completely motionless.
Miguel returned to his position in the shadows and flicked on a television set.
How is there any form of reception here she wondered.
She glared at him, wishing she had powers that would enable her gorge his eyes out without lifting a finger.
Dad what have you done this time..she groaned inwardly.
**********
Flint sat uncomfortably in a meeting with the chief and the commissioner of police.
He looked like a lamb about to be led to the slaughter.
The food and drink in front of him remained untouched, including his precious coffee.
He couldn't stomach anything and he had no intention of putting anything in his mouth.
The commissioner ate with much gusto, smearing butter on his bread generously before giving it a large bite.
Flint eyed him as he chewed,
Flint wished he would choke on it.
The chief ate, relaxed as well, without a single care in the world.
It made Flint feel as though they were in sync and were somehow mocking him.
After the chief had eaten to his fill, he cleared his throat and began. "there will be a press conference in three days Flint...a script has already been prepared in advance for you" he said, handing a sheet of paper to Flint.
He took it and quickly glanced through.
He couldn't believe his eyes.
These people were asking him to lie through his teeth, and a stupid lie at that!
The list of bullshit they'd written down was unbelievable, even a kindergartner would see through the damn thing.
He was apparently going to be somebody's scapegoat.
"is there a problem Flint?" asked the chief, studying Flint's expression of disbelief and mockery.
Flint wished again for the umpteenth time he'd taken the money and saved himself these troubles.
He shook his head clear of his thoughts and replied "My apologies sir...this can't be it .. can it?"
"can't be what"
"this" Flint replied, hitting his fingers on the paper.
"it doesn't make any sense.... anyone would figure it out...see through it"
"do you have a better idea?" asked the chief, brows raised.
Flint shut his mouth.
As much as he hated it, he had no idea how these damn things worked.
for family...for family... for kids... Flint kept reciting inwardly.
"as I said earlier, in three days... prepare yourself...it has to be believable... don't live any room for doubt..it's your business how you choose to go about it" the chief continued.
Flint just stared at him.
The man definitely had to be kidding! He was having a hard time convincing himself, let alone a stranger.
People weren't so gullible.
Nope, it wasn't because he knew the truth, it was just too dumb.
Flint noticed the commissioner hadn't uttered a word since he walked into the diner.
The man had just been busy stuffing his face as though the discussion was none of his business.
Made Flint wonder if it was the same man he'd known, who'd called him in on the entire thing in the first place, or someone who'd been programmed and assigned to look like him.
These people could do and undo. If it was, Flint knew he wouldn't be surprised... he'd seen enough so far.
"I suppose were done here" the Chief said, eyeing Flint.
It was Flint's obvious cue to get lost.
His part in today's discussions were over.
Flint took his leave.
He stood outside the diner's doors for a while, contemplating what to do next.
He didn't know which direction to head.
Going home was like hell itself, Shonda wouldn't even look at him since the children disappeared.
These days, she just kept on muttering prayers wherever she went.
Flint had been having nightmares, loosing sleep.
He couldn't even shut his eyes during the day.
He walked the streets for a while, no destination in mind, his thoughts to himself.
He hadn't heard from Miguel since their last conversation with the ultimatum, he had no idea how his children were doing.
When his legs were tired of being stressed out, he turned to head home.
Just as he rounded the corner of the cafe, he saw a convoy of cars roll through the streets and come to a halt in front of the cafe.
He saw a woman clad in a heavy fur jacket, face shielded by glasses step slowly out of one of the convoy vehicles.
The woman turned her head for a while as though to survey the environment then she adjusted her glasses and strutted into the cafe.
Flint wondered what it was all about.
His curiosity was getting the better of him, literally choking him out, but he wasn't stupid.
These kind of people brought an entourage of guards and security for stuff like this...for people like him...the curious bugs...to keep them out and ensure people like him stayed out.
He glared at the level of security... just who was this woman he wondered.
He crossed to the other side of the road and was greatful for his plain clothes.
He glanced as casually as he could as he walked past the cafe and could only see her side profile.
In this situation, he wasn't a sucker for attention...if he had a cloak of invisibility, he would have put it to good use.
Her glasses were still on, she sat across the two men.
He didn't let his eyes linger.
He turned his head back to the road and resumed walking.
He caught the bus and went home, his mind very much occupied with his thoughts.
**********
"his kids are at rendezvous boss" said Miguel into his reciever, few hours after he had jumped Flint's kids to make a full report to his bosses.
"good, proceed accordingly.... await further instructions" came the reply before the line went dead.
In the same breath Miguel dropped his call,the police chief called to relay his own report.
"he has agreed to it" the chief said incredulously.
Never in a million years, in his wildest dreams did he imagine Flint would turn his back on protect and serve to get his hands dirty.
Still puzzled, he didn't know when he began "how in the world did you..."
"I would mind my business if I were you chief" William cautioned, cutting the man's sentence short.
The call was on speaker, three of the five men in attendance.
William was still the errand boy if the other four, but they'd brought him in a little.
He was beginning to know a few things, to sit in calls, they now permitted him.
"you seem to be forgetting your place chief" Shaun added with a sneer that would have chilled the chief to the bone marrow if he were standing in Shaun's presence.
"my apologies sirs" the chief said quickly, realizing his slight.
His apology was ignored.
"be sure he doesn't back out last minute and everything proceeds as scheduled. Set up a meeting afterwards"
"of course sirs...yes sirs.. and about my..." he began but Shaun reached across the table and pulled out the chord.
"stupid idiot" he cursed rolling his eyes.
He knew the chief wanted to talk about money.
The bonus he'd been promised.
It wasn't like he wasn't going to be paid eventually for his marvelous dirty work, but he was too eager.
The fucker was ready to put his cock up for sale if it meant him earning a few bucks.
Those kind of people usually were trouble.
They were fast sellouts.
After they'd settled that order of business, they relaxed to discuss other issues.
The Topic of the Hart kids was no longer a thing.
Since the warehouse, there hadn't been any sightings of the children.
Even with their connections and their poking around, there was no trace.
They could find nothing.
It brought them unease and at the same time, brought them a measure of peace.
The documents they still hadn't gotten, The woman who was the main orchestrator of the entire business was still trying to find clues to no avail.
For the men though, the children could expose the entire matter, including whatever they had in their possession.
They hoped seriously they were probably dead somewhere or taken to one of those kid camps where they used kids for things.... things too horrible to mention.
Well if they were, their problems were partially solved.
Getting out of such places was purely a miracle and survival, slim.
Even if they eventually did, there wouldn't be any fight left in them.
In the end it was a win win...but there was no way to know for sure...
The three which eventually became five that evening, left the arrow in the middle of the night.