Kill Or Be Killed

Chapter Forty-Three

Scale number: 1

Six Months Later

The shrill sound of a phone ringing broke the silence, piercing through Kalayavan's distracted thoughts like a red hot blade. Anger accompanying the awareness as the distraction forced him to stop thinking about his Caterina. Who he hadn't seen in what felt like forever, not since he checked in on her through the cameras in one of his multiple safe houses. It had also been the last time he'd heard her angelic voice too; the real thing and not just what he imagined. Hearing the sweet nothings she moaned out as he filled her with the passion she deserved.

Kal was currently sitting on the edge of the latest mattress in the string of motels he'd been occupying. Slowly lifting his head, like he'd just been woken from a deep sleep, his eyes landed on the standard flip phone given to him by Slender. It was how he was given the latest lead in where Caterina might have been spotted. It might not have been a real dream, but at this point, losing himself in the memory of her was as close as he ever got to sleep anyway.

At least until he found her again, if he was ever able to track her down. Genuinely surprised by how well she'd hidden herself this time around.

Finally reaching for the Table issued cell, he answered it with only a quick look at the screen to check the caller ID. Whoever it was had a Zone coe, which meant they were below the Sector border and not likely Relevent in nature. Although he couldn't imagine who would be calling him from there, it wasn't a place he'd been since his Inisheashen. A difficult feat as weapons of curtain caliber were illegal to possess, for police as well let alone what appeared to be a civilian teenager.

That hadn't stopped him from using a broken plastic butter knife to stab his target in the side of the neck. He'd died within seconds when the object had been removed and disposed of. To the present day, no one would be able to find that man's body.

"What?" He asked in a voice raw from not being used too often. It should have been smooth like spreading cream cheese on his pet's perfectly ready bagel. Instead it was like someone had rubbed his vocal cords with sandpaper.

The extremely young female voice on the other end of the line was completely opposite, sharp and alert, cutting through his sleepy haze like a freshly sharpened guillotine. "Is this the tip line for that missing lady?"

"Listen kid," he pinched the bridge between his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh, "I don't have time for games." Hell, he shouldn't have been sitting there, not when he still had no clue where she could be. "Go to bed."

"Wait!" The girl called out, "I don't know about Cat, but Sue looks really close to that picture. Only her hair ain't light no more, and she looks like my mommy did before she died."

If he hadn't been taking the call seriously before, he was positively buzzing with energy now. Shooting to his feet, his fingers closed around the phone like it was a lifeline keeping him from drowning in a sea of hope. "Where? Where did you see her?" He demanded the answer from her before the girl had a chance to offer the information on her own.

She let out a deep breath through the earpiece of his end before starting, "Ummm, there is a girl I goes to schools with, and she let me use her computer because my Aunt Nelly says its the devils box. No worries, I know it ain't, daddy says she crazy. Anyhow, she showed me that website you's got, and on there there's a picture of this lady who is with my daddy. You know the one that talks about a reward for a lot of money if someone had any information leading to her being found? Well, I took a picture of her, does that count as information?"

Something squeezed in Kal's chest, a feeling that might have been a spark of relief, but with how young she sounded, he tried not to feed the flames into a roaring fire. "Yes. Yes. If it's her, just send the image and I'll wire the money anywhere you want." He hated how desperate he sounded, tacking on a quick more sobered, "If it's her."