"Ugh…" Ryo slowly opened his eyes. His head was pounding. He tried to sit up but found that his hands were tightly bound behind his back. He took a look around the room but there was nothing more than a few old chairs and a crate of come kind. It was small, cramped in a way, despite the lack of furniture. This is bad. Really bad. I don't have a clue where I am and there's no telling what happened to Bikky and Carol. He struggled feebly against the rope but it was tied well and his body was still weak.
"Oh good. You're awake." Ryo jumped slightly. He hadn't heard anyone walk into the room. "I'm very sorry about all this." the man said as he walked to where Ryo could see him and helping him into a sitting position. "My men don't really seem to understand the meaning of 'gentle.' But don't worry. The one who hit you has been punished." Ryo stared hard at the man, though he made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He was younger than he would have thought by the way he spoke, only in his late twenties. His dark hair was short and well kept. The white shirt and tie he wore seemed impeccable and the dark dress pants were perfectly pressed. He seemed like any perfectly normal businessman until you saw his eyes. They were ice blue and hard as nails. Cold and ruthless. The eyes of a killer. Ryo shuddered but those eyes held him in place.
"What do you want?" Ryo asked shakily. "What did you do to Bikky? If you hurt him I swear…"
"You ask a lot of questions and make a lot of threats for someone in your predicament." the man said, cutting Ryo short. "However, the boy is fine. We left him at the apartment. I didn't really want to hurt him but he got in the way. As for what I want, I think you already know the answer to that. At least you should. I like to keep things even, but the game seems a little one-sided at the moment. It's two to one in favor of you and your friends. But I'll soon remedy that." He smiled maliciously at the confused blonde. "Don't worry Ryo. Nothing will happen tonight. I'll put you through a living hell before I kill you." He leaned close to Ryo, making the detective exceedingly uncomfortable. "And just so you know, the name's Thomas." With that, he walked out of the room, leaving Ryo alone with his thoughts.
"Two to one? What does he mean by that?" Ryo muttered to himself. He couldn't quite figure out how this 'scoring system' was set up. Maybe he means that we put 2 of his men in jail… No that can't be right. Wait! He said he was going to kill me to even the score. That means we killed two of his men. Suddenly, his mind clicked. He had seen those eyes before. Twice in fact. Once outside the restaurant that day. And once behind a gun 4 months earlier. The same man who killed Dee. The third suspect that they had never caught. This was the leader of a dangerous gang of murderers. Thomas Anderson.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Ryo was alone for quite some time before anyone returned. It was a young man, barely 19 years old if even that, with bright intelligent eyes and unruly brown hair. He held a tray of food in one hand and a gun in the other. The boy put the food down in front of Ryo and untied his hands, doing his best to keep the gun leveled at Ryo's chest. Ryo stared at the food but didn't touch it. He didn't feel very hungry.
"Eat." the young man said simply. "You need all the strength you can manage." His tone was kind but carried a hint of suppressed authority. Ryo sighed and picked timidly at the unappetizing food. It looked like something scraped off the road but it tasted alright. "So what's it like?" Ryo looked up at the boy questioningly. "Being a cop, I mean." He glanced up at the door and lowered his voice a bit. "When I was little, I always wanted to be one." Ryo smiled, taking a small sip of the water on the tray.
"It's alright, I suppose." he replied, keeping his voice down as well. "The pay is good and most of the people are nice enough. It's a little stressful at times and you see a lot of things that most people never want to think about. Murder, suicides, parents who leave their little girls on the street to sell themselves for rent money. It's not always fun and games. You're always looking over your shoulder, waiting to jump in front of a bullet for your friends." His eyes went misty for a moment but he shook his head and looked up. "What changed your mind about being a cop? You don't really seem like someone who really wants to hurt people."
"My old man was never around. I had to take care of my mom and two sisters by myself. I never had a chance to go to school cause I was working all the time. We barely scraped by for so long. Then I met the boss. He convinced me that he could help me get back into school and get money to support the family too. It was little stuff at first. A few scams here or there. But I figured out pretty quick that I had gotten in over my head. I told him I wanted out, but he threatened to kill my little sister. I'd do anything to get out of here and put that sick bastard behind bars, but everyone I love would be dead in 2 minutes flat." He sighed, helplessly. "I've been here for 3 years now. My sisters are on the street and my mom's sick. And I can't do a damn thing about it." Ryo stared in shock.
"What's your name?"
"Michael."
"Alright, Michael. I think we can help each other out. It's very dangerous but I have an idea that can get us both out of here. All I need you to do is get the location of this place to Berkeley Rose at the police station. Tell him that I'm here and alive. Tell him anything you can that will help him out. And…" Michael stood abruptly and snatched the tray from in front of Ryo. He walked behind Ryo and grabbed his hands.
"I've got breakfast duty in two days." He whispered as he tied the rope around Ryo's wrists. "We're doing something that night. I'll do some snooping and figure out what it is and talk to your friend. I'll get you out of here as soon as I can. And one more thing. Be careful of the boss. He's not exactly your ordinary psycho, but that's all I can tell you." He stood, shoving Ryo onto his side and sneering at him before walking out the door. Ryo sighed but he knew his night wasn't over yet. Someone was still in the room.
"Hello again, Ryo." Thomas said mockingly as he stood over him. "Do you like games?" Ryo didn't answer. "I know I do. I love games." He jerked Ryo to his feet. "In fact, why don't we play a little game right now. I think you'll enjoy it." He snickered at the stubborn blonde as he stared at the floor. He wanted a challenge. "Oh come now, Ryo. It'll be fun. You'll see. But we can't play here." He pulled hard on Ryo's arm, making him stumble sideways and nearly hit the wall. Ryo tried to pull away but he had a very strong grip on his arm. I really don't think I'm going to like this game…particularly after what Michael told me… The boss yanked him out the door and they disappeared down the hallway.