Side Story #1 - Colt - Page 13

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Bohwanox gave a curt laugh. 'Is it so strange for me to be wondering about my servant's mindset? It's important, isn't it?'

Colt said nothing.

'I'm just as new to this whole reaper-servant thing as you are, remember. If we can come to a better understanding of one another, I think that would be of benefit to both of us, don't you?'

Colt squinted. 'Weren't you the one who said you preferred a business-like relationship between the two of us?'

'It was actually YOU who said you wanted that. I merely said I was fine with it.'

'Either way, are you trying to tell me you've changed your mind?'

'Not at all. Understanding your business partner is just as important as understanding your friends and family. Hell, it might be even MORE important.'

Again, Colt elected to say nothing.

'What, are you afraid I'll tell someone that you enjoy seeing justice done? Oh, my, how scandalous. What will the girls down at the beauty parlor think?'

'I don't have a problem talking about it. I just don't see the point. It's irrelevant.'

'Given the current circumstances, it seems quite relevant to me.'

'You know what else seems relevant? Your wavering neutrality.'

'It's not wavering. I'm still perfectly neutral.'

'Sure about that?' said Colt.

'Yes.'

'But since you have a servant, you're no longer protected by the Old Law, isn't that right?'

'Technically, yes, but the Old Law existed before aberrations. Such beings call the viability of the Old Law into question.'

This was a conversation they'd had before, months ago. Colt didn't feel like reiterating it any further. He already knew that Boh was worried about running into more of those psychotic fuckers. It was rather odd to think about, though. Aberrations were responsible both for his death and for his subsequent revival.

'So are you saying that even if we find this killer, you don't want me to do anything about it?'

It was Boh's turn to fall silent.

Colt eyed the reaper there, hovering adjacent the driver's side window as the car sped down the moonlit service road. He considered prodding the reaper for an answer, but he decided to wait instead.

'It just depends,' Boh finally said. 'Ideally, we'll be able to find an elegant solution.'

'Ideally, the fuckin' cops will find the killer all on their own and never bother me at all.'

They soon arrived back at the cabin, and Colt brought the kids in and prepared them for bed. Thankfully, they were already asleep and so didn't make a fuss. He stayed up a while longer and talked to Bohwanox, mostly reviewing the case as they both understood it thus far.

There were four suspects provided to them by Rex's departed soul: the prisoner Keith Hopper, the cop Leonard Pink, the niece Janet Beaumont, and the still-mysterious Robert Plenty. Additionally, there were at least three more persons of interest: the nephew Jason Margot, the mother Nina Margot, and the still-unnamed ex-wife.

And given all the evidence at the crime scene, it seemed likely that the murder had been premeditated. There seemed to be a degree of caution in the killer's methodology. It would've been difficult for a lone woman to rig up Rex's body like that, but Colt wasn't prepared to rule it out yet.

At length, Colt decided that he should get some sleep. Bohwanox offered to knock him out, but Colt refused, reminding the reaper that the twins would essentially be left unattended if he was out too coldly.

Sure enough, the kids woke up in the middle of the night. They weren't crying, but they were up and about, which was perhaps worse. Colt changed their diapers, gave them some warm water to drink, played with them for a bit, then put them back to bed. They didn't want to cooperate, so he had to be stern, and they soon settled down.

In the morning, once the kids were fed and the chores were done, Colt was faced with the decision of what next step to take with the investigation. Bohwanox departed before dawn to go observe Keith Hopper in his prison cell, as well as the capital cops again. Colt didn't expect to see the reaper again today.

Truthfully, he wanted to just stay home. While he did have a few leads to go on, it wasn't like he could just go around town asking questions. More than anything, he needed to avoid drawing suspicion from the townsfolk. If any of them began to suspect he was investigating their sheriff's death, it would lead to a world of questions and problems that he really did not want to deal with.

So what was the best course of action here, then?

He struggled with that question all morning. He couldn't conduct this investigation like a cop. He had to think outside standard procedures and protocols.

Shit.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt like this case could take a very long time. If the capital cops weren't able to solve it within the next few days, then the odds of them ever doing so dropped significantly, especially in a big city like Lagoroc.

It had to be said, however, that the odds of them solving it within the next few days, statistically speaking, were actually pretty good. In Colt's experience, "solving" cases wasn't usually the problem. The problem was gathering up enough evidence to prove the killer had done it in a court of law--or, in some instances, gathering up enough evidence to convince a chicken shit prosecutor to take the case to trial.

Colt had known a few of those. It was hard tell if a lawyer was scared or just corrupt. Colt suspected that the corrupt ones had a tendency to act scared in order to help conceal their corruption, but either way, the end result was basically the same. Lowlifes going free.

That was the entire reason why he had started taking the law into his own hands back in Brighton. Pure frustration, built up over years of watching justice not done.

At first, it had been surprisingly easy. Just some punks who got what was coming to them. Easily concealed among all the other criminal activity and no one to miss them. Even their own mothers usually weren't that upset.

But over time, he supposed, he must've gotten sloppy. Allowed an obvious enough pattern to form. And that was when that bastard Joseph Rofal took an interest in him. And rather than simply expose him or try to have him killed, Rofal sought to use him, because apparently his "work" had impressed.

Arrogant fucker.

Colt shook his head, not wanting to dwell on the past. It was over and done. Rofal was dead, and the world was a better place for it. He needed to focus on the present.

And as much as it pained him to admit, he supposed his best course of action now was to check out the local daycare. While he didn't want to leave his kids there, the place was run by the dead sheriff's mother, Nina Margot. The twins would provide a good excuse for his visit.

By midday, he gathered them up again and headed into Orden again.

The Orderly Orden Daycare was a peculiar building, taller and slimmer than the residential housing all around it--a little tower in its own right. Colt figured that it probably wasn't originally meant to be a daycare, but he also couldn't imagine what its intended purpose might've been.

The front door was locked.

Were they closed?

There was a pretty good chance of that, considering the manager's son had just died. There should have been two employees who worked here, though. Where were they?

Instead of just leaving right away, Colt decided to return to his car and just observe the area for a while.

It was pretty quiet, and after a time, it began to feel like another stakeout. At length, however, he saw some people approaching.

Yeah. There was Nina, a little old woman full of wrinkles, frazzled brown hair, and large bags under her eyes. Her two employees, Isaiah Marsh and Susan Rock, were following close behind her, and they all seemed to be discussing something. They unlocked the door and entered the building together.

Maybe they'd been out for lunch?

Colt gave it some time, wanting to let them settle in, then gathered the kids up again and went inside.

The teenage Susan noticed him immediately, but she didn't get up from her corner chair--or even bother to move at all. She just looked at him vacantly, not saying anything, perhaps because Nina and Isaiah were talking so loudly in the back room that Susan probably would've had to shout to be heard.

"I'm done talking about this, Isaiah!"

"You might be, but I'm not! Not until I've at least gotten my last paycheck! And now you're telling me--!"

"This is NOT the time to be pestering me about money!"

"I get that! And I'm sorry! But I've got bills! They're threatening me with eviction! And my medication! You know how I--!"

"I don't fucking care! Quit, if you want!"

"Nina, don't say that!"

"Why not?! It's not like you ever DO anything around here, anyway! You think I need your help to run this place! I don't! Get out! And don't ever come back!"

The door to the next room swung violently open, and Isaiah came stomping out with more force than Colt would've expected from an old-timer like him. The elderly man didn't even spare him a look as he stormed past and threw open the outer door with similar fury.

Colt just stood there in front of the empty reception desk, looking around. It certainly wasn't the most comfortable-looking place. The off-white tiles on the floor probably could've done with a good mopping, and the baby blue paint on the walls was cracking and full of water stains near the ceiling. And considering what he'd just listened to, Colt's intention to never let his kids stay here was growing more potent by the second.

Still, he tried to give Susan a nice smile.

She did not return to it.

Nina entered from the back room and stopped dead in her tracks when she laid eyes on him. "H-hello," she said unsteadily. "Welcome... to Orderly Orden Daycare..."

If awkwardness were poisonous, they would've all been dead. "This a bad time?" said Colt.

Nina opened her mouth, then apparently thought better of her answer and closed it again.

"Yes," said Susan flatly from her corner. "It is."

"Ah--" Nina threw the girl a hard look, then gave Colt a smile. "Please, ah--don't mind her. We'd be happy to--"

"A member of her family just died," said Susan, still expressionless. "She's grieving."

Nina glared at her again. "Why did you have to--? You stupid--"

"I'm very sorry to hear that," said Colt with as much empathy as he could muster.

Nina turned to him, surprised again. Now that he was getting a better look at her face, the streaks in her makeup made it clear that she'd been crying.

"I know what that's like," Colt offered her, taking a couple steps away from the door, still with both of the kids in his arms. "I couldn't help overhearing your argument with that guy who just left."

"Ah--uh--yes, I'm sorry about that..." The old woman's uncertainty was obvious. She was trying to decide if she should ask him to leave or not.

"No need to apologize at all," said Colt. "And given what I just learned, that guy sounded like a real insensitive prick."

"Ah--he's, uh--"

"Do you have anyone to talk to?" said Colt. "For me, that was an important problem. Didn't have anyone. I actually ended up just talking to a complete stranger in the park for hours. Sweet old fellow, turned out." Colt decided to set the twins down in the row of chairs on Susan's side of the room.

"That's, um, I--uh, I don't--"

Colt sat down next to the kids, holding them in place so that they didn't start running around. "If you want someone to listen, I honestly don't mind. In fact, after the kindness I received, I almost feel like I need to. That is, if you'd be willing to grant me such an honor."

The old woman was just staring at him.

As was Susan. "What're you, some kind of psycho?"

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