The look on Chase’s face was priceless. Sebastian looked up at the young man, one of the Bash Industries recruiters and inner city folks that Sebastian wanted nothing to do with. The young man looked familiar.
“Liam?” Chase said, his gravelly voice loud enough to be heard across the street.
“Hi, Mr. Chalmers,” Liam said awkwardly. Clearly they knew each other.
“What are you– how are you–?” Chase stuttered.
Sebastian stood to his full height, shaking the recruiter Liam’s hand. Sebastian remembered Liam Landon’s name from when Chase had confronted him in his office. “Liam, lovely to meet you. I was hoping for a private conversation, but we have company.”
Liam gazed at Sebastian like he was looking at the bright sea after days spent in a dark ship. “Nice to meet you sir. You’ve helped me and my mom so much.”
“Don’t mention it.” Sebastian felt annoyed. He didn’t like gratitude from peasants. “Thanks for meeting with me in these circumstances. I need a favor.”
“Anything,” said Liam, while Chase stood by.
“Stop recruiting,” Sebastian suggested, the thrill of an impossible request creeping up his neck. “Tell your friends in Garland Grove, and the rest of the suburbs, that there’s no more work with Bash Industries. Consider it an honorable discharge, without all the honors.”
“Absolutely!” Liam nodded, but his eyes said otherwise. They held that haunted exhaustion that Sebastian used to see when he looked in the mirror.
“Wait a second,” Chase said, and it was like the tie between Sebastian and Liam was broken. “You’re firing him? You can’t do that. This is the only way that these kids make money to provide for their families.”
Sebastian rounded on Chase. “I thought this is what you wanted! No more headaches, no more insomnia and vertigo. Kids running amok in the streets.”
“I didn’t ask for this!”
“Are you bored, detective? Do you want more kids to arrest?”
Chase flew into a rage. “You can’t wave money in front of kids and rip it away,” said Chase. “It’s cruel.”
“What do you think, Liam?” Sebastian said. The teenager was turning his head back and forth between them like a tennis match.
“What?” asked Liam.
“You’ve worked yourself to the bone. You deserve a vacation! Enjoy your childhood while it lasts, Liam, because once you grow up, you’ll end up like Detective Chalmers… a workaholic with no wife, kids, or moral compass.”
The words had barely left Sebastian’s mouth when pain exploded across his nose and eyes. He couldn’t see. His hands jumped to his face, and the world moved in slow motion. Liam’s dark eyes went wide, and Chase’s blue ones were filled with icy flames, a gigantic smirk across his face. Sebastian felt his nose. Bright, sticky blood got caught in his fingers, collecting in the divots of skin. He moaned and tried to shake away the dizzy feeling that came with getting punched, his world upended.
Sebastian thrust out the fedora full of change. “Here’s your compensation, kid. Never fear, I was going to give you and your friends paid time off.”
“Wait, really?”
“Scram.”
Liam clearly didn’t want to leave, but his connection to Sebastian made it impossible to ignore the command. He took the fedora and ran. Sebastian pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, dabbing at his nose. It was sore and the blood kept flowing. Sebastian noticed that the detective had spilled coffee all over the ground. Serves him right.
But Chase didn’t leave. He stood there, breathing heavily, like he’d just run a marathon.
“I’m busy,” Sebastian repeated for the second time today.
“Okay,” Chase said. He nodded to himself, like he was convinced he had done the right thing, but hesitated. As Sebastian dabbed at his nose, Chase sat next to him on the curb. For several moments, they were silent.
Then a cherry-red luxury car meandered down the street, screeching to a stop. The driver rolled down the window. Her blonde hair spilled against the red paint, and her golden octagonal sunglasses glinted in the icy sunlight. Smooth jazz music wafted out of the vehicle.
“Alright, boys?” asked January, and Sebastian slipped into her car without a second thought.