You Should Have Cared
Chapter Fourteen
Only a few hours had passed since Matt had given you the cipher, and already the plan was in motion. L's voice was playing in your ear, informing you of the possible eventualities and alterations that might emerge due to the unpredictability of human desperation.
You were walking swiftly towards the room Isiah had been placed in, trying not to let the eeriness of the empty halls affect you. There were only two of you left inside the investigative headquarters and it felt strange for the usual hub of activity to be deserted. However, you drew comfort from the presence of the earpiece. "I'm nearly there," you murmured quietly into the microphone on your collar.
"You're on surveillance," L confirmed, his placid voice unchanged by the nearing event.
'It's nice to know someone's calm about this. Maybe he'd be a little more concerned if it was himself playing this role,' you thought to yourself, releasing an angry sigh.
You finally reached Isiah's holding room, and took a breath before you unlocked the door. It would begin as soon as you entered, and you had to make sure you were prepared for anything.
Opening the door, you slipped quietly inside. An uninhabited space met your eyes and you dialed quickly before bringing your cell phone up to your ear. "Andre?" you asked, bringing a small amount of panic and excitement into your voice.
"Ahiru? What is it? Did Isiah finally decide to talk?" Andre questioned, sounding immediately alert.
You pitched your voice higher and replied hastily, "Yes, he's told me everything! You have to get here right away! He said there's a special book he uses and he keeps it hidden. I think if I keep pressing him, he'll tell me where it is! Hurry!"
Not allowing him time to respond, you disconnected the call and sat down to wait for Andre's arrival. The sound of hurried footsteps soon reached your ears, and you marveled at how quickly the investigator could move when given the motivation.
L briefly took you again through the next phase, and you placed your hand on the handle of the door. "He's outside. Go," were L's last words before you pulled the door open and left the room. A somewhat disheveled Andre quickly headed straight towards you and you couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated as he drew himself to his full height in front of you.
"Ah, Andre! I got the location out of him! If we go now, I think we'd be able to…oh wait, maybe we should call the others?"
You held your breath in suspense. This was an integral part of the plan. Andre's decision here could either make or break the entire event.
"No, we can call and tell them the good news in the morning. I don't want to disturb them when they've been working so hard. We can locate this book ourselves," Andre coerced, smoothly.
"Ah, yeah you're right. Okay, let's go now then," you agreed, already walking impatiently towards the exit.
You had seen his eyes light up with the triumph of successfully convincing you, and had to repress a shiver at the poorly concealed malice showing through his professional mask. You stopped as you realised that the investigation leader was not following you. "Andre?" you voiced, confusion evident on your face.
"Hang on, Ahiru. Stay right there. There's something I need to do before we head off," Andre said, giving you a small apologetic smile before turning and heading down the hall.
You allowed yourself a small smile as he disappeared from view. So far, everything was progressing exactly to plan. L truly was a master strategist.
Static crackled quietly into your ear before L's voice cut in. "He's trying to find Isiah's admittance of the location on the surveillance tapes. The audio will not have picked up the location. The hacking and coded loop of your fake conversation with Isiah will be enough to convince him of the reliability of your story. He's taken the surveillance tapes of his arrival and pulled something from a drawer in a black pouch. He's coming back now."
Your eyebrows quirked at L's information. A black pouch? That couldn't be anything good…
Footsteps came towards you and you looked to see Andre reappear at the end of the corridor. He reached you and nodded solemnly, "Alright. Let's head off."
You nodded in return and the second phase of the operation commenced.
"He said all he had to do was write the name of the family and the age of the member he wanted to kill, and it would just somehow happen," you said, animatedly.
You were sitting on the passenger's side of Andre's car. You had been refusing to admit the final location to Andre, and although frustrated, Andre had composed himself enough to suggest that you direct as it was needed. He had of course, insisted on driving straight to the book's location, completely unaware that L had summoned the entirety of the investigative team there. Andre was finally going to be exposed.
"I see. That's such a simple way to take a life," the man commented, excitement creeping steadily into his voice.
His face turned away and in your peripheral vision, you saw his cheeks lift in a smile. His mask was still slipping. It was falling so quickly now that it was becoming hard to convince him of your obliviousness. Anyone could have seen Andre's intentions by now.
"So, tell me what else he told you about the book," Andre pressed, no longer attempting to sound nonchalant.
The desire for power was showing through the cracks, and you half expected him to start muttering and cackling to himself in glee. "Well…he said that the book never ran out of pages and would only work for its owner," you said, watching for his reaction.
Anger suddenly ran across his face, and he looked towards you, "And that owner currently is?"
"Isiah," you confirmed.
The car fell into silence and atmosphere began to grow tense. It was obvious that Andre was deep in thought about your last revelation. He was probably still outraged that you hadn't admitted the book's location, and now this new information wasn't improving the situation.
'I hope you were right about this, L,' you thought to yourself, praying that he would get you through this safely.
Suddenly, the car began to slow and you noticed with a jolt of alarm that you had pulled into a deserted alleyway lit only by the headlights of the car.
All of a sudden, the cracked mask broke into shards and fell completely.
"Well…I wish it didn't have to come to this, but I've been left with no other choice. I'm not as stupid as you thought. I'm not going to allow you and that bag-eyed detective steal my way to glory," Andre said, and your stomach plunged as it was revealed what Andre had been hiding in the black pouch by his side.
The cold metal pressed against your skin, and you swallowed thickly at the sight of the handgun against your head. "Tell me how to take possession of the book!" Andre demanded, flicking off the safety and pressing harder so the barrel pushed painfully against your skull.
"I-I don't know! He didn't tell me!" you stammered out, fighting to keep your cool in this dangerous turn of events.
"You're lying! I can see it! Tell me the truth or I won't fail to fire a few warning shots," Andre growled out, menacingly.
You could tell his threats would be carried out, and by warning, he meant in the knees so you wouldn't be able to escape. Adrenaline was pumping through you, and your brain was screaming at you to flee, to run and escape from this before you were killed.
"Ahiru…calm down," came the sudden serious voice in your ear, "Stall him. We're only 3 minutes and 27 seconds away."
Those words were all you needed to let go of your panic and compose yourself once again for the task ahead. L was coming to save you; you didn't have anything to worry about as long as you kept talking. Taking a short breath, you quickly planned out your words.
"Alright…I'll tell you all I know," you cried out, faking the terror you had felt only moments earlier, "To gain ownership of the book, you have to say 'I take this power from you and claim it in my own name' in front of the last person who owned it."
"Good. You're doing well. Now, I have other questions for you to answer. Where is the location of this book?" Andre crooned, pleased with your surrender.
You hesitated at his next question. If you admitted the location, would you then be rendering yourself useless to him?
Rage flashed through his face at your reluctance and he drew the gun back to slam it into the side of your head. Although it was quite lightweight, the force behind it was enough to snap your head to the opposite side and you resisted the urge to rub your face to relieve some of the lingering pain. You know there would be an ugly purple bruise there tomorrow.
"You better tell me. Next time I won't be so nice," Andre spat out, shoving the gun back against the sore skin just behind your cheekbone.
"Tell him the location, Ahiru. We're 1 minute and 6 seconds away now. Just keep talking," L murmured into your ear, causing a warm feeling of relief to spread through you.
"112 Waterfront Avenue," you almost whispered to the traitorous policeman at your side.
A laugh reached your ears and you looked over in horror. The man next to you had thrown his head back and was releasing a laugh that chilled your bones. As he finished, a smirk replaced his gleeful grin and he said to you something that froze you to your core.
"Thank you for your services, Ahiru. You are no longer needed."
And with that, he pulled the trigger.