He paced around his office, gripping Chase’s business card and waiting for Janelle to get the Corver City Police Department on the phone. After a few minutes which felt like a few years to Sebastian, Janelle’s voice crackled over the intercom.
“I have Corver City Police Chief Damien Dart on line one”
Sebastian snatched up the phone on his desk, not even caring that his eagerness would be clear to whoever was on the other end. Usually, when Janelle would tell him he had a call, Sebastian would let the person sit on the phone for a minute or two, the more important the caller the longer they waited. This was his way of telling them that no matter how big and busy they thought they were, he was bigger and busier. But this was an exceptional situation because Sebastian wanted Chase dealt with immediately.
“Chef Dart, I have a problem with one of your detectives” Sebastian barked into the phone, cutting right to the chase, if you will.
“One of my detectives? Can’t be. They all know which side their bread is buttered on” Police Chief Damien Dart had been in Sebastian’s pocket for years, since the very moment he had arrived in Corver City, but Sebastian had rarely needed to reach out because for the most part the police stayed in their lane and minded their business.
“I thought the same thing, but it appears one of them has forgotten, or prefers his bread unbuttered”
Chief Dart chuckled darkly. “Let me guess. Chase?”
Sebastian gripped the business card more tightly in his fist, “Bingo”
“Yeah, he’s been a thorn in my side for years, he’s hung up on something that happened to his old man centuries ago. I’ll talk to him” Chief Dart promised.
There were no questions about what Chase had done or said to upset Sebastian so much, and this wasn’t surprising to Sebastian because it didn’t matter. There was a very clear-cut and well-known hierarchy in Corver City, and Sebastian was at the top of the food chain. He was honestly outraged that anyone in the police department would have any interest in him at all, considering some of the really dirty deeds that were happening out there every single day. It was true, he was up to no good, but it wasn’t like he was imposing harsh sentences of manual labor on entire communities like January Fields, the imposing CEO of Goliath, an enormous online retailer who promised next-day delivery anywhere in Corver City. He wasn’t testing dangerous chemicals on people who had no idea they were being experimented on, like Jack Kent of DarkWinds Pharmaceuticals.
“Sounds like you’ve already talked to him, maybe he needs more than a conversation” Sebastian pouted into the phone, throwing himself back into his desk chair and spinning around lazily.
“He’s a good detective, it’s better he stays here where we can keep an eye on him. If I fire him, he’s a wild card” Chief Dart responded.
“I wasn’t talking about firing him” Sebastian muttered, glaring at the business card in his hand.
“What was that, sir?” Chief Dart asked.
“Nothing. Make sure you take care of it” Sebastian hung up the phone.
As soon as the call was disconnected two darkly clad figures stepped out of the shadows which had gathered in the corners of his office as the sun outside dipped below the horizon. Their sudden appearance caused Sebastian to yelp in a very unmanly way, and reach for the button on the intercom to call for help.
One of the figures was in front of him in the space of a split second, and the intercom was crushed to pieces. Sebastian had not seen the figure move, or smash their fist into the intercom, yet both of those things had happened, laughing in the face of the law of physics. The figure placed a gloved finger on Sebastian’s lip, causing the now terrified CEO to whimper.
“What do you want?” Sebastian asked in a small voice, wishing he could loosen his silk tie and remove his perfectly tailored jacket which now felt like a straitjacket.
The figure who had not moved now stepped forward and in unison they both lowered their hoods, revealing two young men with hair that was so blonde it was almost white. They couldn’t have been a day over twenty-two, yet something told Sebastian that their looks were deceiving. This instinct was solidified when the two men began to speak in unison, robotically and impassively.
“Triumphia has sent the Malum to collect on your promises, Sebastian”
Sebastian’s heart dropped into the cold puddle that had formed in his stomach. He had been running so far for so long that he had truly convinced himself that he was safe. He had built a fortress around his home and around his mind, he had created an army of indentured degenerates so that he could have everything and anything he ever wanted. Sebastian had more money than he could spend in ten lifetimes, but with the empire of Triumphia, he had long ago written checks that he was unwilling and unable to cash and his past had finally caught up with him.