Sage's Obsession

~02

My lungs were begging for air as I ran to a stop in front of Inspector Pandey's office. The office was a small rented room above a corner shop. If it were not for the sign above reading 'Pandey Law' one probably wouldn't even know it was there. From where I stood on the footpath you could see the curtains sealed shut but taking in account that it was dark out a light was visible shining through them. Good, at least he had not fallen asleep on me.

He was one of my fathers close friends and that was the sole reason I trusted him with investigating my parents murder. That and because he was the only investigator I could afford without having to file for bankruptcy. Nonetheless, I believe he was doing a good job even though I have yet to find any information about the murder. Hopefully that will change today.

I entered through the back door that was left slightly ajar, Inspector Pandey must've left it open for me, without a second thought I walked in. my gut instincts were almost warning me that something was wrong. I nearly expected someone to jump out from behind the wooden door and also try to kill me. Instead a little black cat came from around the corner. It seemed like a stray. As I bent down to try and pet the cat it started hissing at me so I jumped back up. I tried not to take it to heart, I didn't look that threatening or ugly did I?

Shaking my head I sauntered up the stairs and towards Inspector Pandey's office attempting to shake off the nerves building in me.

Right as I walked in the office I realised that I indeed should have listened to my gut feeling. The smell of smoke was heavy in the air, it was utterly rancid and made my throat crawl with disgust. My head was pounding. I hadn't eaten all day and the smell was making me nauseous. Smoke is the one thing I definitely could not tolerate. It made me want to gag, even out in the street if someone was smoking next to me i would just not breathe until i was far away enough from them. I also knew for a fact that, having known Inspector Pandey since I was a child, he too had stopped smoking, which is what worried me.

I felt my body go on alert and my hand flew to the knife in my pocket on instinct. The reason Inspector Pandey didn't smoke had something to do with his ex wife. Now that I think about it, the many times that I have been here his office usually smelt like pasta and coffee.

Someone else had to be here.

Keeping my hand on my pocket knife I cautiously opened the door to his office and peered inside. I could only make out the man's shadow, he was manspreading comfortably while smoking on the sofa. The ash falling from his cigarette was burning into the leather sofa (Inspector Pandey's favourite sofa as he once told me) causing the stench. The audacity of this man. He placed his elbows above his thighs and clasped his hands leaning forward, slowly bringing his intense gaze towards me.

I nearly flinched at the sudden attention. It's like everyone around me was trying to mimic Chucky. Stuffing both hands in my pocket in order to hide the knife from the man I sauntered inside carelessly, abruptly stopping mid walk.

Now that there was light pouring into the room I could make out another reason for the smell, Inspector Pandey was laying in his own puddle of blood. Fuck. His skin was so pale that his veins were apparent and eyes stuck open in frozen fear. I swallowed down the sudden sympathy that had evoked seeing his lifeless body. I might have listened to Chulbul Pandey's long rants about his ex wife but I never cared about him. Or so I tried to tell myself. I stood there motionless for what seemed like an hour, my eyes fixated on the Inspectors dead body. Then I processed what I was actually seeing. Shit. i had two options now; run or try and keep my cool. Both of which could lead to me lying besides my dear Inspector. So, I chose the latter internally, praying that it would increase my chance of survival. No sudden movements, that's how preys survived around their predators. Although I believe he already saw me.

I finally mustered up the courage to glance at the guy sitting on the sofa. The man only smirked for a moment before he returned to smoking the remains of his cigarette. Immediately I recognised him.

Chulbul Pandey was only used as bait. But he was not meant to die. I knew Killian had some sort of unknown rivalry with the Pandey brothers, but he was not meant to die. I got here too late.

I tried to ignore the unease settling in my stomach from the remorse of being responsible for someone's death.

And on top of that, being face to face with him suddenly made me breathless. It was agonising that I was so close to my parent's potential murderer but couldn't do anything because I hadn't yet gotten evidence. I didn't think it through hard enough when I said that I was going to find the evidence myself. Now that the potential murderer was in front of me I didn't know what to do anymore.

So, I did what I do best. What you might ask?
Pretend. Pretend that I knew what on earth I was doing. Pretend that I actually had the courage to confront a cold-blooded murderer. Pretend that I actually planned any of this out.

"Killian Salvatore?" I asked, titling my head while feigning innocence. He must have realised he had been tricked because his eyes darkened with anger and nostrils flared momentarily before he put up a cold facade once again. If I had blinked I would've missed the satisfying reaction he let slip. I walked over to sit down right across from him and manspreaded identically to him.

"No, Pablo Escobar '', he deadpanned. His cliche sarcasm triggered an eye roll out of me. He definitely read sassy Louis 1D fanfics while growing up.

"Apologies, I don't know how to act since It's my first time meeting an admirer of mine. I heard you were desperate to see me." He continued after seeing my dissatisfied face, raising his eyebrow in a mocking manner. This was humiliating. I clenched my jaw stopping myself from saying something irrational, I was not letting my target get an upper hand on me.

But hot fury spread in my veins fogging my mind in anger. I impulsively stalked towards him and tilted my head to hold eye contact with him. "Seems like you were keeping tabs on me but I'm glad you have two working pairs of ears because apparently your legs don't work that well. I mean it took you 5 months to show up" I sneered angrily.

I briskly took my knife out from my pocket pressing it to his throat. I was pissed that he knew all this time but still made me chase after him. He probably had fun watching while I was sweating my balls off. And the fact he makes money from potentially trafficking humans and thinks I'll admire someone like him.

Once again my lack of preparation failed me. Killian without hesitating took hold of the hand that was gripping the knife and slammed me into the wall beside the sofa. He took my momentary angry zoning out to his advantage. My left hand with the knife came against my own throat, controlled by a much stronger hand. He tutted at me like I was an insolent child and leaned in close to say "I'll let this slide but using your parents death as an excuse to act like a rebellious toddler is embarrassing."

A sharp pain spread across my chest at the reminder and it left me off guard. The cold feeling of the metal on my skin sent unpleasant shivers up my spine. Someone cleared their throat abruptly and I gained my resolve, Killian only held up his hand in approval and kept his menacing gaze on me.

"Sir, you have a meeting in 15 minutes" the buff bodyguard timidly informed him. He released me since he seemed content from getting a reaction out of me. I took this chance to clock him in the jaw so brutally that his head snapped back. Automatically his dogs surrounded me with guns, the clicking sound of them removing their safety echoed. The adrenaline pumping in my heart kept me unbothered and cocky.

Killian only clenched his jaw but kept his face expressionless and slammed an envelope of paper on Inspector Pandey's desk before storming out. Motioning towards his guards and they swiftly lowered their guns and followed after him like brainwashed sheep.

Realisation dawned on me that I didn't demand any answers to my questions. Shit i didn't even ask any questions. I felt my stomach churn with regret. I was letting my emotions control me, after their death I had become mentally weak.

Maybe he is right. I was acting like a rebellious toddler.

Inhaling a deep trembling breath I mentally prepared myself for what was to come next.
I opened the envelope and frowned at the contents. This isn't what I wanted nor needed.