EL Ch. 8

Enjoy!! :).


As Bo ran as fast as his little legs could carry him through the streets of New York, one thought kept recurring in his head:

How did they find him?

A.T., or S.T. as he demanded Bo call him when they were around this area, was not going to be happy. The fact that those low-life gang members were involved was bad enough, but that stupid police officer? Even a second-rate policeman like him would sense something wrong with Top Cat's—or, Dave's—story. (Everyone's name was being changed nowadays. S.T. even called Bo "Agent X" just to spice things up.)

Such a shame, too, S.T.'s plan would have been foolproof. It got Top Cat out of the picture without S.T. having to do something he didn't want to.

And when S.T. did something he didn't want to do, there was usually mutual agreement by all parties involved.

By the time Bo reached the hotel he and S.T. were staying at, he had rejected every possible conversation starter he'd come up with. Bad ideas still swarmed his brain as he slowly opened the door to Room 33.

S.T. sat at the window, staring across the river while he smoked a cigar and counted a wad of cash.

"Hey, A.T.," Bo said lightly to start the conversation. Before he could continue, S.T. cut him off.

"Ay, Bo, 'member that name you're supposed ta call me?"

"Right, sorry, S.T., slipped my mind…"

"No harm done, jest try ta remember next time, kay, Agent X? Now whatcha wanna tell me?"

"Uh…well…hehe…just wanted to ask…do you know if 'Dave' is supposed to be…somewhere?"

"Like where?"

"Somewhere other than New Jersey?"

"Well I haven't talked to him in a while…got real busy with some of my deals, ya know?"

"Yeah, but are you—"

"I gotta tell ya, Bo, TC's old turf is rich! What I did a year ago has gotta be one of the best moves I ever made. If old TC had swallowed his stupid so-called 'pride' and done what I'm doing now, he and his gang coulda been livin' large."

"Uh, yeah, boss, I guess…"

"Personally, I think the reason he didn't start doin' my deals is cuz he couldn't think of it first. TC never could handle it when I was better at him than somethin'. Which, by the way, was always."

"Yeah, boss…"

"I mean, remember when we came here for the first time? The first thought I had when I saw him was 'That's the leader over here?' I knew then I'd have no trouble toppling him off his pretentious throne. Even if it did take a couple a years."

"Yeah, I know, but—"

"And his gang was easy to befriend. They turned on him as fast they could."

"Well, actually, S.T., that's not true. Just because they were friends with you…for a little bit…doesn't mean they turned on TC…"

"What? 'Course they did. Brain helped him pack, for heaven's sake!"

"Yeah, but it's not like they could have stopped TC from leaving, if he was going to. And it's Brain you're talking about."

"I'll give you that."

"Actually, S.T., I thought TC's gang was pretty…uh…loyal…"

At that, S.T. slipped out his cigar, put his money on a nearby table, and turned around. The happy, joking tones he had used at the start of the conversation completely faded from his voice.

"Bo, what are you getting at?"

"He's here. With them. They know," he blurted. How else was he supposed to say something like that?

"What?"

" I don't know why and I don't know how, but he's here and they've found him."

"You're talking about Dave, right? As in Top Cat?"

Bo nodded, now unable to speak. This could ruin S.T.'s entire plan. Heck, his entire life, since it pretty much revolved around his new empire here in New York.

S.T.'s facial expression, unfortunately for Bo, was unreadable. Bo couldn't get any emotion from his tone of voice, either.

"By 'they', you mean…his old gang, right?"

"Yeah."

"No one else?"

"That stupid police officer."

"Dribble?"

"Yeah, well, Dibble…"

S.T.'s face fell into that blank, unreadable expression again. Revenge and a tinge of regret laced his voice.

"You know what we're gonna have to do now, right, Agent X?"

Bo had an idea, but he shook his head anyway.

"What we should have done a year ago."

That couldn't be good.


A/N: This chapter holds some pretty major clues as to who the villain of the story is. Unfortunately, you need to have seen a certain episode of Top Cat to really get it. But if you haven't seen said episode, don't fret, everything will be explained in later chapters. (Although it is a good episode, so if you somehow find out which episode I'm talking about, feel free to watch it.) So, hope I haven't given anything away...or, at least, something I didn't MEAN to give away...

Review please? Id appreciate it!! :).