Captain

Sleeping Dogs Still Bite II (Knox)

"Capt...captain," Knox stuttered as he stared wide-eyed into Victor's face. His heart rate was elevating into the heavens. He hoped with every ounce of his being that Victor was insinuating something else and not what was blaring an insidious alarm in his head.

Victor stepped even impossibly closer, pressing him into the wall. The back of his head scrapped against the surface of it painfully as he tried to shrink away from the man's body but nothing could hide him from this right now. He was a cornered mouse staring into the eyes of an angry lion.

In short, whatever this was about, he was fucked.

"I swear to god, Knox, if I have to ask you one more time, I will shove a gun up your ass and splatter you against the wall," Victor hissed tightening his fist in his shirt. The neckline was squeezing around his throat. Knox thought he felt fear before, really, he thought those moments were the epitome of true paranoia running through his blood.

But it was nothing compared to this. He blinked rapidly.

He opened his mouth to respond but Victor's gaze was vicious. His eyes were fierce and his veins were protruding from his temples. It wasn't the usual Victor he knew. This was another man entirely and that scared him shitless.

"I...I don't know what you're talking about sir," Knox stuttered out. He lifted his two hands in surrender. He was sweating under his shirt and he was trembling in his boots.

He was sure he was on the verge of hyperventilating. Victor dragged him up and slammed him into the wall with just a flick of his wrist in his shirt. Knox felt the wind knock out of him. He felt the pain travel up his spine in a snap. He wanted to cower, run and hide but fuck.

"Oh so now you're playing the dumb card," The man said with spitefulness dripping from his tone.

"Sir, I assure you, I am not playing any card. I truly have no fuck...no idea what you're talking about,"

Silence ensued for a minute as Victor's eyes got meaner, darker, and even more outraged. They narrowed and Knox was astounded at the sheer rage presented on the man's face. He was sure that this was it for him. He was finally going to die by Victor Wallace's hands like he always knew he would but then, by some miracle, Victor dropped his hands from his neckline and stepped back finally giving him space to breathe.

The confusion set in before the realization that the large suffocating cage of the man's chest was gone because everything at that moment had happened rapidly, disorienting his perspective of the situation.

Victor took two paces back then turned to his desk. He walked towards it and leaned his hands on the edges to exhale. His shoulder blades rolled back and he breathed evenly as if he was trying to rein his anger in.

"Sir," Knox said as he looked around the room for a saviour. The man was a ticking time bomb and being in the same vicinity was suicide but the door was further away than he thought. But even if he wanted to escape, he didn't dare move from the wall. He stood there paralyzed because if he took one step forward, Victor would pull out a gun and feed him a bullet to the head.

"Lieutenant," The man blew out. He didn't budge from his hunched position on his desk. His head went back as he looked up to the ceiling. His eyes were closed as if he was asking god for patience.

"I will give you one more chance to come clean. Think of this as your penance, why are you doing this?"

Knox could feel his heart beat again like sirens in his ears. For the first time, he felt the sea calling to him from beyond the doors. He didn't even know why he could hear the waves move back and forth but he had probably gone insane from this high-stakes situation where it was life or death.