Failing Upward

Chapter 23 (part 3): In My Life

His answer was to painfully dig the .32's muzzle under my chin. He punctuated it by banging my head into the ceiling a couple of times then bringing my eyes dead with his. Toby jumped up and chomped down on Moran's arm, shaking his head and ripping the flesh in his arm. Despite the blood and Toby's foaming jaws, he refused to release me. He must not be able to feel a thing.

"Who the fuck are you?!" he shouted above the thunder.

"Someone you don't want to fuck with!" I spat. "And you can tell that fucking utopian Community that you work for to kiss my ass!"

For the second time, confusion flooded his face. Good.

"How do you know about the Community?! How the fuck do you know my name?!"

"Put the gun down, you degenerate waste of space, and we might answer you," Sherlock said.

Moran frowned. Not an answer. I mimicked Sherlock's words, but in the same tone a pastor would say 'speak now or forever hold your peace.' I already knew the answer. By the way he his eyes were flickering, he knew I understood I wasn't ignorant of his intentions. Only one way out.

"If he won't put it down, just shoot him," I said.

Sherlock's eyes widened a fraction before answering. "Yes, John. At the count of three. One, two..."

Judging by Moran's reaction, I was dead on that he'd believe us. The gun under my chin slowly dropped, and Toby tugged to help as I grabbed the gun away.

"Mr. Watson, I'll tell you what you want. I want you to drive, and your insufferable friend here to shut the hell up— he's a real dickhead," he said.

"You don't get to tell him to shut up even if he is a dickhead. That's what I like about him," I said, as I transferred his gun to his temple. Toby wagged his tail in approval.

I was getting pretty damn sick of being called Mr. Watson today.

"Get in the back seat. Sherlock, you drive."

"Yes, John, we need to have a chat with Mr. Moran."

Sherlock pushed the passenger seat forward, and I pushed Moran inside while Sherlock circled around to the driver's side. Toby sat on one side of Moran while I sat on the other. I gathered he wasn't much different than the Moran we'd met. His eyes the same emotionless pits. Mind still stuck on the Community as the center of his universe. With a bit of luck, he wouldn't be as fanatical about the place as the Moran in the other universe. If he was, that would be a major obstacle since Moran had a shit-load of misplaced trust in the organization. If we could get to this Moran, maybe he'd tell us what we were up against in this universe.

As Sherlock got behind the wheel, he watched Moran in the rearview mirror. I held my gun on him, but it was purely precautionary. Toby snarling in his ear seemed to bother him. Wonderful to see that something did other than Sherlock's mouth.

"Where is Moriarty?" Sherlock asked as he turned the ignition, then put the car in reverse.

"I told you, he needs to shut up," Moran said to me.

"I gave up trying to control Sherlock's mouth a long time ago. Just tell us where Moriarty is and what he up to with the Community."

"How in hell do you know me!" Moran hissed. "How do you know Moriarty?"

"We've met before," I said.

"Fuck you. We've never met."

"Yes, we have," Sherlock said. "The Community is still hiding important details from you, but I'm sure even in that pea-sized brain of yours that you must know that. That is why blindly following instructions makes no sense. You're more of a faithful lapdog than Toby here. He has a mind of his own. But your loyalty is misplaced. Don't you wonder why the Community wants John? Not for the reasons you've been lead to believe, I'm sure."