Dangerous Liaisons ( An original Story)

Chapter 27: Into the arms of a monster

"There's still this other group , looking downtown and in the Bronx. There's still hope she could be there.., right? Right?", Dubois asks with a hint of desperation in his voice.
Pablo sighs, setting down his half empty cup of coffee, his 5th today, as he turns to the desperate father.
"Jonathan...we are doing everything we can. Dont you see? If she's not there then we'll search somewhere else. Meanwhile you need to calm yourself.", Pablo says while tiredly rubbing his forehead.
"Calm myself?! CALM MYSELF?!?!", Dubois yells while jumping out of his chair and slamming his fist down onto Pablos office desk,"how can i stay calm, when my daughter, MY BLIND DAUGHTER, is god-knows-where, suffering?!"
Its silent for a second. Pablo didnt answer, he didnt know the answer to that question. He knew that he would have reacted the same way if he had to take Dubois place.
"How am i supposed to stay calm, while your killer friend, Liam, who promised he would find her, does nothing?!", Dubois now asks more calm this time his voice fading into a whisper at the end,"they are friends for Christ's sake. Why doesnt he do anything?"
Pablo sighs. "I dont know, Jonathan. I dont know.", he replys.
It was the truth. Its been three months since Cecilia vanished, three months in which Rushmore tried to contact his partner, who seemed to be MIA. Three months in which Pablo had organized several groups of contract killers, all of them Liam's former colleques, to search every inch of this country to find her and that bastard who got her. He sighs again, for the hundredth time this week.
It also has been three months since he had last set an eye on Liam. That boy had gone back to his old ways again, if not worse. Pablo knew that if his self from the past, could hear him now, he would get smacked upside the head, because just a year ago he wanted Liam to stay exactly like he was, and not change because of a mere girl. But now....now he was afraid of what Liam could do. Of what he would do.
Pablo had tried calling him several times, but he either got voicemail, or a curt answer like 'im busy old man' which forced him to give up and stop calling him. Instead, he had now hired another group of spys to help Pablo track him down before Liam would start jeopardizing this rescue mission.

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Tired.

Thats what Liam would describe his state of mind at the current moment.
He was tired. Not only physically, but emotionally aswell.
Hunting down a Gangster boss, who on top didnt really wanted to he found was exhausting, indeed, especially if you have been at it for the last couple of months.
All he managed to archive by now was to get the name of that bastard.

Giorgio Moriarty.

Just the mere thought about that guy made Liams blood boil. But Liam learned long ago, to channel that anger into his investigations.
It made him go back to his old habits, but he didn't mind really.
He promised himself, that he would find Cecilia, whatever the cost.
And if he had to become the merciless, cold killer he had been a year ago, to get her back, then so be it.
Liam had spend three months, searching for any clues on that bastards whereabouts. He'd been investigating, interrogating every single person, who had contact with Moriarty. Mostly businessmen, who were interessted in his 'products', women with questionable backgrounds and pathetic policmen who let everything slide that Moriarty did in return for a small 'adventure' with Moriartys 'products'. Liam would torture those poor souls even, but they either really didnt know where he was, or were just stubborn, which lead Liam to do the only thing possible.

Kill them.

"Okay the question isnt really that hard, is it?", Liam asks, fake astonished, while sitting down on the chair opposite of the weeping woman.
The woman just shakes her head, sobbing.
"Good. Now tell me, i wont ask you a third time...", Liam says ripping the tape off her mouth leaving a red spot developing all over her mouth,"where.is.Moriarty?"
The woman starts coughing, and wheezing unable to answer.
Liam waits patiently, cleaning his knuckles from the blood, appearing lost in thought.
After the woman had calmed down, his head snaps up.
"So?", he finally asks, standing up from his chair and walking around her while twirling a knife in his hand.
"I-i really dont know. I s-swear i told y-you everything i-i know...p-please...", she whimpers bowing her head.
Liam scrunches up his nose.
Again, nothing.
"Well...that is unfortunate...", he sighs before throwing the knife out of his hand, burying it into the womans head.
The now lifeless body falls to the side with a loud 'thump' which Liam shrugged off, pulling the knife out of the womans forehead.
He turns his back to her proceeding to clean his weapon on the sleeve of his jacket while humming a familiar melody.

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"Sir... I think we found his....umm...working place.", one of Pablos spys says while Pablo shifts in his seat.
"Yeah...tell me everything..", Pablo demands standing up from his sitting position.
"Well...it is a rather large warehouse, in an isolated part outside of New York, almost completely covered in blood, both, recent and older..", the spy proceeds to say making Pablo groan and pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Anything else?", he asks tiredly.
Liam had now officialy gotten off the right track, this was worse than Pablo had expected.
Its silent for a long time on the other side of the line, only a loud screeching noise can be heared.
"Well... I think he's officially bonkers..", the spy states with an impressed undertone.
"Thats not for you to decide.", Pablo scolds,"what is it?"
"There are like piles and piles of dead bodies rotting in a seperate storage room...it fucking stinks! Ugh!", the spy groans.
Pablos eyes widen.
"Gracias ...you're free to go now..", Pablo breaths into the phone,"i know what to do."

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Liam lets out an exhausted sigh while kicking of his boots and falling onto his couch.
He looks around his apartment until one single thing falls into his line of view.

The tape.

It was just sitting there, at the coffetable, taunting him with its presence.
He leans forward, pressing the small button so that it would start playing the last message that was recorded.

..... I almost changed my mind....

..... You have no fault in this.....

.... Im so sorry....

Soon after the tape finished playing for the hundredth time it was immediately thrown against the wall nearby where it explodes into a thousand little plastic pieces as if it never existed in the first place.
Liam was breathing hard as he stares at the spot he had thrown the tape at.
His hands clenched into fists he lowers himself onto the couch again.

"What the hell are you doing boy?", another voice suddenly asks as Liam hears the door fall shut again.
Liam brushes his hands through his hair while tiredly looking up at Pablo, who was standing in the middle of the living room with a fearful expression plastered on his face.
"Im guessing you found my little...work of art?", Liam asks leaning back and smirking up at Pablo lazily.
"Oh you bet i did!", Pablo shouts,"what the hell has gotten into you?!"
Liam looks up at him questioningly.
"Nothing.", he answers slowly.
"Oh really? Nothing?!", Pablo asks as if Liam was crazy.
He looks next to him just to spot a weird old toy sitting on the shelf.
Pablo goes to touch it but stops when he hears a gunsafety being turned off.
"Put your hands off Mr. Kuddles. Right. Now.", Liam growls dangerously, standing now and pointing his gun at his mentor.
Pablo's eyes widen but he still puts his hands up as if surrendering.
Its silent for a long time, not one of them moving.
Pablo takes the time to look at Liam one more time.
He had bags under his eyes that were darker than the dirt outside. His skin was pale, and his eyes bloodshot.
He looked like hell.
Thats when suddenly a question popped into Pablos mind, a question he wanted to ask him for a long time now.
"Is she really worth it, Liam?", he asks quietly,"is she really worth it, even after she willingly went, despite your warnings?"
Its silent again, as Liam sinks back onto the couch, leaning his forehead onto the cold metal of his weapon, closing his eyes.
"Yes...yes she is.", he mutters, his voice hoarse from god-knows-what.
Pablos gaze softens.
"Well...then i dont think that your relationship with her could be called 'friendship', do you think?", Pablo asks, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
Liam doesnt move, he doesnt answer, just stays silent.
Pablo turns around ready to exit.
"I dont think that i ever dreamed of saying this, but...dont turn into the past..", he says opening the door and stepping out.
But before he closes the door behind him, he peeks his head in one more time.
"I know, you're just doing this to find her...but just imagine if you would find her tomorrow, or in a week. Do you think she would be happy to hear what you did to find her? Do you think she'll happily fall into, not yours but into the arms of a.... monster?", Pablo asks making Liams head shoot up,"think about it boy..."