It's Just Business, Darling

Just A Little Too Far

It’s Just Business

Jayden McDowell

 

He stared down at her, smiling cruelly. “How does it feel to be on the other end, huh?” His foot made contact with her stomach. “Tell me! How does it feel? Huh, Kara?” he sneered as she lay limp on the ground, her eyes barely opened- partly from the fact that she was barely conscious, but also partially because they were swollen from the numerous punches they had encountered in the past twenty four hours.

“Huh!” The man delivered a devastating blow to her head and she felt the dizziness swim around her as the world blurred in and out of her vision. She could faintly see him bend down and barely felt his warm breath on her ear as he whispered, “Have fun in hell, sweetie.”

Little did the man know, she was already in hell.

***

Kara frowned and read over the paperwork again.

Chris Matheson. 48 years old. June 18th, 1965. Charged with fraud, first degree murder, drug-trafficking, and theft.

Her eyes scanned over the profile picture. Short black hair, crooked nose, thin lips. Oddly familiar.

“Find anything yet?” Philippe questioned, still focused on his own set of papers.

“No. This guy looks awfully creepy, though. Rather repulsing, actually.” She chuckled.

It was at that moment that Kara felt an accusing speck of curiosity peak in the back of her head as Philippe glared at her and told her it’s rude to insult people. As his nostrils flared, Kara inspected how similar he and the man looked. Philippe had dark black hair, although longer (reaching the tips of his ears and neatly combed aside), and slight, thin lips that always seemed to be pressed into a firm line.

“He really seems like a bad guy.” Kara had come to realize just how many creeps there were in this world working on all these cases, and it had done nothing but make her worry for the safety of her daughter Copeland. Of course, Kara never let her fear show as she was nervous to scare her little three year old.

“You ought to stop judging people by appearances. Some people aren’t as bad as they seem. They just… get angry sometimes, as all of us do.” He muttered.

Kara snorted, “Yeah, but the rest of us don’t murder three innocent girls off the street.”

A loud bang echoed through the room as Philippe slammed him fist onto his desk, “You have no right to judge him! You haven’t even met him!”

Kara  narrowed her eyes, confused by his reaction, and pressed him further, “Do you think it’s possible one of us has ever met him and not realized it was him?” She enjoyed the thrill of adrenaline that came with riling him up, although the eagerness to get information from him overwhelmed it. Kara was no longer scared of Philippe, she was more accusing of what he knew about this guy.

He seemed to know more than he should.

A low, bitter chuckle escaped as he calmed down, “I wouldn’t doubt it.” Their eyes connected and a shiver ran down Kara’s spine at the intense anger in them. Philippe never said this much… Hell, he hardly talked at all.

She had gone too far this time. She remained quiet as she realized this, and Kara could see in Philippe’s eyes that he knew this, too.

Kara was now a threat.

Her eyes returned to her papers in worry and she said, eager to get away from him, “Philippe, we might as well just call it quits for the day. We’re not getting anywhere. Let’s just get a good night’s worth of sleep and try again tomorrow.” Her voice shook. She shouldn’t be leaving as they hadn’t accomplished much but her nerves were peaking.