The Second Layer

Chapter 10: Ryan

Chapter 10: Ryan

It was late when Ryan pulled up to the restaurant, but he'd called ahead to make sure it was alright, so there wouldn't be a problem. When he'd first been trying to figure out who the most likely source was to have information on the guy he was looking for, Rake had been his first choice because Rake knew more about the streets than anyone Ryan knew. But Rake's mention of people who spoke about the Whitmore warehouse incident disappearing had left him the impression that not only might there be more beings out there like the guy who'd killed Anne, but they might be far more organized than he thought. And if they were that organized and intent on covering their tracks, the street wasn't where Ryan should be searching for them. Which had led him here.

Slipping out of his car, Ryan made his way around to the back door of the restaurant, where he knocked three times, and then simply waited. The restaurant was in one of the better parts of the city, but the darkness still gave the alley around him a menacing feel. Luckily it wasn't long before the door opened and a man peered out at him. "Detective Lydon?" the man asked, and when Ryan nodded the man beckoned him inside. "Mr. Carenzo is waiting for you."

Vincent Carenzo was one of the biggest criminal figures in the city. From what Ryan had heard, he believed himself to be a man of honor, and held the men who worked for him to a strict code. They didn't go around killing needlessly. They even tried to avoid harming people when possible. But that was just what Ryan had heard. So far the police had never managed to actually pin anything on Carenzo.

About a year back a gang with a grudge against Carenzo had killed his niece's boyfriend, had threatened to kill Carenzo's niece as well. Ryan had been assigned to the case, and had caught the guy who'd done it. He might not've been able to implicate the whole gang, but at least he'd gotten the guy who'd pulled the trigger. Rumor was Carenzo's guys had meted out justice to some of the other members of the gang, but Ryan didn't know how much of it was actually true. Since then Ryan and Vincent had been, while not quite friends, at least close acquaintances. Since Ryan was a homicide detective, he'd never been one of the cops trying to nail the guy, so it didn't interfere with his judgment. He had made it clear to Vincent though, that if the cops ever got anything on him, Ryan wasn't going to stand in their way. Vincent hadn't had a problem with that.

The man he was following led him through a room and into an office of sorts, where Vincent was waiting, seated at a desk. The moment he entered Vincent rose to his feet and extended his hand, which Ryan shook. Vincent offered a quick nod to the man, who backed out of the room as Vincent re-seated himself. Carefully Ryan dropped into the chair across the desk from him.

"I heard about your fiancee, Ryan. I'm truly sorry. It's a tragedy, what happened. If there's anything I can do to help, let me know," Vincent told him.

"Actually, that's why I'm here. I want the man who killed her, Vincent. I have to find him, and I think you can help me," Ryan replied.

"Tell me how," Vincent offered, spreading his hands slightly apart.

"Have you ever heard of someone, or a group of people, calling themselves freaks? And I don't mean your run-of-the-mill school kids using it as an insult. I mean dangerous people using it as some kind of title," Ryan said.

Immediately Vincent's expression went hard. "Where did you hear that word? Did the man who killed your fiancee call himself that?"

"I heard it from another source. When I told him about the things I saw this man do, he told me about a similar person he'd heard of who'd called himself a freak," Ryan informed him. "So you have heard of it before, then?"

"Ryan, listen to me very carefully. If the man you're looking for is a freak, then you need to drop this case, and you need to walk away from it now. Yes, your fiancee might be gone, and I can understand just how horrible a thing it can be to lose someone you love. But it won't do you any good to throw your life after hers. And that's what will happen if you pursue this. If you go chasing a freak, you will end up dead," Vincent stated firmly.

For a moment Ryan hesitated. There were a lot of things he wanted to say, a lot he wanted to ask. But the question that finally pushed its way to the forefront of his brain was one that had been eating at him since that night. "What are they?"

"Not human. Not anymore. They might have once been human, I honestly don't know. But if they were, they left their humanity behind a long time ago. As for what they are now, I wish I knew. What I can tell you is that these people scare the shit out of even me. Their speed, their strength is... Beyond explanation. Beyond belief. The vast majority of the people who work for me know nothing about them, and I prefer it that way. People who learn too much about them have a tendency to either vanish or turn up dead. They are willing to kill to protect their secret Ryan, and if a freak decides they want you dead it's not a question of if you'll die, only when," Vincent told him.

"So if they're so willing to kill to hide what they are, why aren't you dead? You seem to know enough about them," Ryan said.

There was a long pause as Vincent studied him before finally speaking. "What I'm about to say is off the record. I'm serious Ryan, I want you to swear to me that it stays between us, permanently, or I'm not talking."

Ryan didn't have to consider long before giving his answer. "You have my word, what you say will remain between us. I won't tell anyone else in the Department."

Vincent just nodded, taking a deep breath before talking. "They leave me alive because I supply them. Guns, drugs, whatever they want. I get an order for something, and I get it for them. They pay well, but it's important that you know that I don't do it for the money. In fact I wouldn't work with them at all, if I felt I had a choice. But for you to come this far hunting them means that you saw what the one who killed your fiancee could do. You know what they're capable of. So you know why I'm scared of them. And if I refuse them, I'm no longer of any use to them. There's no longer a reason for them to let me live at all. And if I have to choose between going against my principals by working for them, or death. I'm going to take the choice that keeps me alive."

"Alright, so how do I find them?" Ryan asked.

"Ryan, you need to seriously re-think this. I wasn't joking, they will kill you. They won't hesitate, and these are the kind of people who aren't going to feel bad about it, afterwards. If you value your life Ryan, then please. Just walk away from this and forget you ever heard the word freak," Vincent replied.

"I don't care if my life is on the line. I have to find the guy who killed Anne. And the rest of these freaks are my only link to finding him. So I am going to find them, and through them I am going to find him. I'll die trying if I have to, but nothing is going to stop me. Nothing," Ryan answered forcefully. "Now, how do I find them?"

Once more Vincent paused for a long while, before finally just closing his eyes. "Alright, if you're certain I can't change your mind. There's one freak in particular I deal with a lot. All I have to do is tell him that you're looking for freaks. After that, you won't have to find them. They'll find you."