The Broker

6. On High Ground

November 17th, 2019

Roanoke, Virginia

Inin Residence

Kaden had taken care of Tolik's body, making sure that Yana didn't have to see any more of the remains. She had arranged a small funeral, to which only she and Kaden were invited. They lowered Tolik's body into the ground, and Yana hadn't wanted to talk to Kaden after that, despite him saying that he would find her brother's killers. There wasn't much to be said. Kaden had known Tolik since he was eight years old, but only befriended him four years since their first meeting day. The boy had been a reminder for Kaden, all those years ago. That what he was doing was wrong.

Kaden hadn't been home in a couple of days. Between Tolik, and worrying about Yana, he didn't have time to go home. Let alone grieve. He hadn't talked to Tolik much before he died, they had grown distant lately. But he had still cared for him like a brother. And now that he was gone...Kaden hadn't known what to do with himself. He took Yana home to her mother, where he deemed it the safest for her to be. Then, with a heavy heart, he had driven back home. What greeted him, Kaden had not expected.

He pulled up to his driveway, where his tire barely missed a large pool of blood. He slowly got out, recalling the events that took place just a few days before. Kaden took a deep breath and examined the blood. It wasn't fresh. And there were scratch marks and footprints covered in red that led back to the road. As if someone had been dragged. Kaden's heartbeat sped up. What had happened to Amaraya? He remembered dragging her out of the car, but in his blind rage and panic towards Yana, he didn't remember much else.

Did something happen to her while he was gone? Or...had he done that? Kaden shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He took out his cell, and opened Amaraya's number. Are you okay? He typed, and sent the message.

No one replied.

__________

Days passed, which stretched into a week. Before Kaden knew it, it had been a whole two weeks since the incident. He worried for Amaraya, and he worried for Yana. Kaden was no closer to finding who had killed Tolik, and Amaraya still hadn't replied to his message. He even tried calling, twice, both calls went straight to voicemail, the mailbox of which was not set up. Kaden paced around the house, occasionally going out to relieve his stress on activities which were a tad more than illegal.

On a Saturday evening, when Kaden had just come home from his outings, and was washing the blood off his clothes, the phone rang. He all but stumbled over himself, quickly drying his hands and grabbing the line. Putting it on speaker, he continued to wash off.

"Hello? Who's this?" Kaden asked, his words tired, his hands busy scrubbing the blood off of his left cheek.

"Mr. Inin, you bastard. What did you do to my client?" The familiar static of the Broker's voice called out through the speaker. Kaden sighed, grabbing a towel.

"I didn't do anything to your client. What are you talking about?" He dried off, and removed his shirt.

"Bullshit, Mr. Inin. Amaraya contacted me a week ago demanding I give her someone else to work with her. So, I ask again. What did you do?" The Broker was beginning to sound impatient. Kaden didn't reply. He couldn't remember what he had done, and he doubted that the Broker wanted to hear his doubts. "Kaden, dammit. I do not hire you to beat up my clients."

Kaden paused. Beat up? He hadn't beaten anyone up. What was the Broker talking about? He moved closer to where his phone was laying on the counter. "I didn't beat anyone up. I don't know what she told you, but that's what I remember."