First things first. Colinaude was not about to let the matter of a potential Neville-Cad tryst sit in the air, not when he might have already felt the effects of it. Before Ratbeard and before the noon rendezvous eavesdropping on Cad himself, Colinaude had one other individual he wanted to see. His name was Random Red.
The thought that the Vinny Vegases might have been working under orders from this new alliance brought Colinaude back to his morning capture, and the strange development that saw his captors trying so hard to avoid him. He’d assumed one thing at the time, that they were posers who couldn’t live up to their image, and while that might still be the case, there was another explanation now. The extended period where he’d been left alone might have seen them conferencing with Neville, Cad, or a go-between, and the resulting reason why they didn’t touch him when they finally did arrive in the same room might have been under orders. Someone else had been planning to fry his fish, and his subsequent escape proved to be an obstacle in the planning of being worked around.
And those plans might still be underway. The surest way to find out whether any of this was true, or at least the surest way to start, was in having a little conversation with Red, who Colinaude presently had tied up against a chair. “Familiar, isn’t it?” he remarked. Red said nothing, but not because he was gagged, as Colinaude had been. Silence seemed to be a code with these guys, like they were a junior Mafia. They should have such ambitions.
“Now, I’d like you to feel comfortable,” he continued. “I’m not going to ‘beat’ anything out of you. That isn’t my style. I’m a super hero. It’d probably be wrong of me. But you will feel free to tell me anything you know, anything you think you might know, or indulge any names of people who might know something themselves. It’s in your best interests.
“I won’t claim to know how you got away this morning, but I assure you, it won’t happen again. The poor old woman you tried to have finance your latest thrill will be available for immediate processing details down at the station. She’s in good hands as we, as I, speak, so you needn’t worry abut that. She won’t be meeting any unfortunate ends to foul up my glorious plans. Have you been processed before? You haven’t, have you? It’s fun, it really is. I can give you personal testimony if you like, if you’re a little intimidated by, if you’ll excuse the pun, the process. It’s a walk in the park. Ever see a park before? I’m not talking a skateboard park, but a real, bench-and-trees-and-dogs-walking-owners park. It even has grass. Do you like grass?
“Somehow I bet you do,” Colinaude said. Red wasn’t flinching; his eyes were still narrow beads. “I could give you the whole it’s-not-a-threat-it’s-a-promise deal, but I’m not sure how much that would really accomplish. You’re a hardened thug, aren’t you Red? None of this is phasing you, is it? You’d probably welcome a good beating, wouldn’t you? Would you like one? Would you like to prove how tough you are, how much you can take and not be phased by it? I’d bet that you’d love that. You’re probably disgusted with me right now. Why am I not beating you? Am I some kind of wuss? Did I really just use the word wuss?
“Yes, I suppose I did. That probably makes me an ideal candidate for re-education, courtesy of Vinny Vegas. He likes to say that sort of thing, doesn’t he? He likes to say he’s going to show you a whole new game, doesn’t he? Well, I’m game. Bring him on. Bring all of you on. Show me what you’ve got. Let me see if I could hold my own against you, all of you. I’ll even give you the advantage, tie myself to a chair and let you hold me captive.
“What do you say to that? Oh wait, come to think of it, that does seem like a familiar scenario, like something I just recently experienced. How did that turn out? I don’t remember. Did you prove yourself? I’m pretty sure you were there, right? Tell me, did I look as defenseless as an old lady? Was I fair game? It wasn’t even broad daylight out. You must have gotten me good. You even had the numbers advantage. The rest of those guys, they might have been there just as back up, is what I’m assuming. They probably wanted you to get your revenge. You got it, right? You got me good, right? My only regret? That I didn’t get to see it. It must have been great. You must have really taught me a lesson.
“That’s exactly how it happened,” Colinaude said. Red was sweating now. His will might be breaking. That’s all Colinaude wanted to break. This was how he operated. Despite everything he was trying to deal with, this was the real Eidolon, the ideal figure and the ideal stance taken over a malcontent. There was another Colinaude who wanted to get out, but that was an inner struggle, something he had to overcome. He wouldn’t, he couldn’t let it emerge out in the open. He certainly wouldn’t let it happen with some punk kid too scared to give his own person the same kind of introspection. “Or was it? You’ll have to remind me. Go ahead. I’m listening, I really am.
“I already know what kind of pack you’re running with now. Maybe there’s a sad story behind Random Red. Is there? Do you have a sad story? Is there a troubled family history that might explain how you ended up this way? I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you aren’t the biggest family disgrace. Maybe your mom is. Maybe it’s your dad.” Now Red’s eyes were glowering. He was angry. Colinaude was pushing buttons, maybe the right ones, but he still hadn’t gotten a word out of the kid, with his wife-beater and pants pulled down past striped boxers. Colinaude had removed his custom cap, revealing poorly formed cornrows. Red was also as white as could be, and seemed to have a permanent sneer etched across his face. Maybe it looked defiant most other times and to most other people.
That’s not how it was looking right now. Colinaude almost felt sorry for him. Almost. “So what’ve you got? You don’t have to be shy. Vinny certainly wasn’t,” he concluded, and just as he’d thought, that was the tipping point. Red virtually screamed, he wailed his protest so loudly. He shook violently against the ropes, in the chair, as if he was being electrocuted. In a way he was. His whole life was flashing before his eyes.
“All right! All right,” he whined. “You want to know who set us on you? It was the agent, it was Neville. It was Neville. It was Neville…” Red was sobbing now. He had completely lost control. He continued to repeat the last line, as if it was all he could bear to focus on.
Colinaude untied the youth as this continued, but Red didn’t move to get up and run away. Instead, he collapsed downward, a helpless pile of shattered resolve, and probably a few more things. This was not a day that was going to leave him easily. There was nothing left for Colinaude to do here. He walked away, and the Eidolon in this moment was not the triumphant portrait most heroes looked in such a moment. His cape bellowed, almost as loudly as Random Red.
Only wind had resulted from the clouds Colinaude had glimpsed earlier, at least to this point. It whipped across Traverse with an unusual intensity, as if it was trying to make a statement. Colinaude had one answer on this day, to this point. A code had been broken; something etched in stone broken apart. If Neville had conspired against him with small-time hoodlums, might he also be involved with Cad? If he had crossed one line, did it really have to mean he’d crossed another? There might still be another explanation.
Couldn’t there? Colinaude’s mind was swimming. Cad should never have become this much of a problem, should never have been able to fall into this kind of opportunity. And if he’d indeed managed to snare Neville as a business partner, that immediately elevated his status. It would be like Colinaude being fortunate enough in his formative period running across Peter Cooley. An unexpected pooling of resources with untold results and boundless potential. If this was true, he was getting into a lot more trouble than he’d bargained for.
The more he didn’t want to think it possible, the more Colinaude thought it as likely. As inconspicuous as Neville had been trying to be, as was the routine, the agent had left enough cracks for Colinaude’s network to read from. While there had never been signs of such rogue behavior, Neville had been acting unconventionally since Day One. Until now, there was no indication as to how far this impulse might lead him. Did this mean he was corrupt, and had always been corrupt, or had be come across an opportunity he couldn’t pass up?
Likewise, until now Cad had always been a minor figure with less modest ambitions. He’d seized opportunities in the past to take small shares of larger scores, but had never been in a position to grab more. He’d never seemed that high a priority for anyone. This would be a substantial reward, enough to make him dangerous, enough to make him attractive to other criminals, and other heroes. Colinaude wasn’t going to let it get that far. He had both of him in his sights now, and was not going to squander his own opportunity. They weren’t going to make it easy for him, but that had never mattered in the past, and there was no reason to assume it would change now. He was on to them, and that was going to make all the difference.
No comments:
Post a Comment