Chapter 2
Although she wasn't the kind of person to become easily mortified- she was now. Especially with her chest bunched up against the Thin Man's sternum.
Your slipping again, Dylan thought, how is it that he snuck up on me
without hearing him? He was breathing hard and his eyes were
bloodshot. Looking down at her again it was almost like that day on
the rooftop.
She stepped back quickly, anything to lessen the contact between
them. The Thin Man leaned forward as she moved, her back suddenly
hitting the dead end she'd forgotten about. He was staring fixedly into her eyes. Not in that strange way he had earlier-she was starting to decipher his looks. No, this was definitely an "I'm about to kiss you
like on the roof" kind of looks and her heart thumped. But her stomach also plunged as she remembered how his rapier had suddenly erupted from his chest. She closed her eyes to the memory and put her hands on the cool dry cement behind her.
He raised his arms and planted them on each side of her; a small cage,
with her as Tweety. That fine aquiline nose, so sharp; I wonder if
anyone told him that his nose is like his rapier she thought distractedly. His cold blue eyes open, he lowered his head; his kiss, slow and dry, feeling the texture of her lips.
The butterflies in her stomach glided into her heart; newfound
reserve weakening. She slipped her tongue inside his cool mouth and
felt a sigh escape him. He responded by grabbing her hips and
deepening his kiss, as her hands grasped his shoulders. Her fingers
lightly skimmed the surface of his suit, her fingertips tingling
slightly as they ran over the fine textured fabric, grabbing his lower
arms.
...her right hand froze in a tight squeeze on his wet left forearm.
Dylan's eyes popped open to find the Thin Man already looking at her,
his eyes wide.
Dylan immediately let go of his arm as the Thin Man simultaneously
jerked it away and took a step back. She looked down at her bloodied
hand. My God, she thought, his arm must be drenched in the stuff.
"What happened back there? Why did you kill those men? Especially,
that other one, that way? Are you involved with the case that I'm
working on? Do you have information for me?" With each question, the Thin Man took a step back. "Look, look, Anthony!"
With the sound of his given name from the orphanage, he stopped and
gave her a surprised look. Ah, there we go, she thought, it's amazing
how having someone's name can give you an advantage. "Listen to me,"
she reached her hand out as if to calm him, "I'm sorry about all the
questions, but I can't help you if..."
He was backing away again and suddenly turned on his heel and ran down
the tunnel. "Shit! Anthony!!!" Dylan ran after him and emerged from
the dead end. Hearing receding footsteps from the left of the
corridor, she raced after him. Ok, what's wrong with this picture?
He just killed a bunch of thugs without a second thought and now he was running away from me of all people!
Slowing down, she realized she lost the direction the footsteps were running in. A loud clang reverberated for a few unnerving seconds until silence.
She was annoyed. Annoyed that the Thin Man couldn't trust her. Annoyed that she was now probably a mile underground and couldn't find her way out. Annoyed that she'll be going back to the agency empty handed.
Damn! She looked around, dread filling her as she'd have to re-trace her steps back from where they came. She steeled herself for what she might find when she'd pass by those bodies.
Who were those guys? And what the hell happened up in that office?
She had more questions to answer now than when she started out
this morning; just great.
I want answers. Tomorrow I find out the connection between the Thin Man and this case. I want answers and I want to know how he survived that fall from the roof. Dylan knew that she would have to start at the orphanage again. She debated whether it would be official or not. Perhaps if she did a little B&E, she could find the records the nuns kept on him.
Walking back out the way she came, she started to run. She slowed a
little as the sight ahead came into clearer view. The yellow light
cast from the flickering fluorescents lent the already macabre scene a
surrealness. Just a lot of dark wet stuff pooled here and
there and-and lots of bits and pieces. Jesus! It was all she could
think as she looked around. Those men were- had- been men, now just bits and pieces.
Understanding that this could be her one opportunity for a good lead,
she reached into her denim jacket and pulled out a pen and a plastic
bag. Originally, she had planned on using the bag to protect any
important files she found upstairs and the pen to take notes.
*********
The pen was being used for a more gruesome task now: shifting around bits and pieces; lifting jackets to look for wallets. Dylan worked
methodically; looking for id's and anything else that might be
interesting. Of the remains, she could only determine that four were
originally men. What happened to the other two? She knew that the
Thin Man must have killed all of them. He didn't seem the kind who'd not be thorough. The back of her neck prickled a little at this thought.
Whatever these guys wanted, the Thin Man wasn't giving it up easily.
Was this a job that had gone bad for him? Had he backed out on
something? Renege on a deal? Who did he do business with in the past?
She turned to move to the other side of the corridor, noting that a
faint burnt scent lingered in the air. In the shadows, on the wall,
she could see a faint, dark and round outline. Stooping down, she ran
her index finger across part of it. Soot. Riiiight. So he immolated
them on the spot? It was the only explanation that she could come up
with; given the strange way in which he had killed the man upstairs,
she found it easy to accept the fact that the Thin Man may have burnt
these two to a crisp.
Sometimes the impossible is a lot easier to accept than coming up with
some crazy rationale. She stood up and wiped her finger on her jacket. Her right hand was still caked with dried blood, but she hadn't dared to wipe them on her pants. Especially since she had borrowed them from Alex.
Her baggie filled with id's and some personal effects from the
remains; she turned to leave. Her eye caught a glint of something on
the ground near the soot mark.
Covered in grime, it looked like it had been dropped into the corner.
It had almost escaped her notice, had it not been for the small
pendant attached. Picking up the necklace with her hand, she held it
up to look at properly.
It looked silver and had an amazingly delicate design for both the
chain and the pendant. The kind of necklace a woman might wear
though, not some thug. It was beautiful but strange looking, with the chain in the shape of a snake. Its head biting its tail to form the clasp; the pendant, a tiny ball.
Great, more questions, Dylan thought grumpily. She put the necklace
in her pocket and headed upstairs. Tomorrow she would have a long
talk with everyone at the agency. She wanted to get to the bottom of
this case quickly. With the Thin Man involved like this, it made her
uneasy.
Although she wasn't the kind of person to become easily mortified- she was now. Especially with her chest bunched up against the Thin Man's sternum.
Your slipping again, Dylan thought, how is it that he snuck up on me
without hearing him? He was breathing hard and his eyes were
bloodshot. Looking down at her again it was almost like that day on
the rooftop.
She stepped back quickly, anything to lessen the contact between
them. The Thin Man leaned forward as she moved, her back suddenly
hitting the dead end she'd forgotten about. He was staring fixedly into her eyes. Not in that strange way he had earlier-she was starting to decipher his looks. No, this was definitely an "I'm about to kiss you
like on the roof" kind of looks and her heart thumped. But her stomach also plunged as she remembered how his rapier had suddenly erupted from his chest. She closed her eyes to the memory and put her hands on the cool dry cement behind her.
He raised his arms and planted them on each side of her; a small cage,
with her as Tweety. That fine aquiline nose, so sharp; I wonder if
anyone told him that his nose is like his rapier she thought distractedly. His cold blue eyes open, he lowered his head; his kiss, slow and dry, feeling the texture of her lips.
The butterflies in her stomach glided into her heart; newfound
reserve weakening. She slipped her tongue inside his cool mouth and
felt a sigh escape him. He responded by grabbing her hips and
deepening his kiss, as her hands grasped his shoulders. Her fingers
lightly skimmed the surface of his suit, her fingertips tingling
slightly as they ran over the fine textured fabric, grabbing his lower
arms.
...her right hand froze in a tight squeeze on his wet left forearm.
Dylan's eyes popped open to find the Thin Man already looking at her,
his eyes wide.
Dylan immediately let go of his arm as the Thin Man simultaneously
jerked it away and took a step back. She looked down at her bloodied
hand. My God, she thought, his arm must be drenched in the stuff.
"What happened back there? Why did you kill those men? Especially,
that other one, that way? Are you involved with the case that I'm
working on? Do you have information for me?" With each question, the Thin Man took a step back. "Look, look, Anthony!"
With the sound of his given name from the orphanage, he stopped and
gave her a surprised look. Ah, there we go, she thought, it's amazing
how having someone's name can give you an advantage. "Listen to me,"
she reached her hand out as if to calm him, "I'm sorry about all the
questions, but I can't help you if..."
He was backing away again and suddenly turned on his heel and ran down
the tunnel. "Shit! Anthony!!!" Dylan ran after him and emerged from
the dead end. Hearing receding footsteps from the left of the
corridor, she raced after him. Ok, what's wrong with this picture?
He just killed a bunch of thugs without a second thought and now he was running away from me of all people!
Slowing down, she realized she lost the direction the footsteps were running in. A loud clang reverberated for a few unnerving seconds until silence.
She was annoyed. Annoyed that the Thin Man couldn't trust her. Annoyed that she was now probably a mile underground and couldn't find her way out. Annoyed that she'll be going back to the agency empty handed.
Damn! She looked around, dread filling her as she'd have to re-trace her steps back from where they came. She steeled herself for what she might find when she'd pass by those bodies.
Who were those guys? And what the hell happened up in that office?
She had more questions to answer now than when she started out
this morning; just great.
I want answers. Tomorrow I find out the connection between the Thin Man and this case. I want answers and I want to know how he survived that fall from the roof. Dylan knew that she would have to start at the orphanage again. She debated whether it would be official or not. Perhaps if she did a little B&E, she could find the records the nuns kept on him.
Walking back out the way she came, she started to run. She slowed a
little as the sight ahead came into clearer view. The yellow light
cast from the flickering fluorescents lent the already macabre scene a
surrealness. Just a lot of dark wet stuff pooled here and
there and-and lots of bits and pieces. Jesus! It was all she could
think as she looked around. Those men were- had- been men, now just bits and pieces.
Understanding that this could be her one opportunity for a good lead,
she reached into her denim jacket and pulled out a pen and a plastic
bag. Originally, she had planned on using the bag to protect any
important files she found upstairs and the pen to take notes.
*********
The pen was being used for a more gruesome task now: shifting around bits and pieces; lifting jackets to look for wallets. Dylan worked
methodically; looking for id's and anything else that might be
interesting. Of the remains, she could only determine that four were
originally men. What happened to the other two? She knew that the
Thin Man must have killed all of them. He didn't seem the kind who'd not be thorough. The back of her neck prickled a little at this thought.
Whatever these guys wanted, the Thin Man wasn't giving it up easily.
Was this a job that had gone bad for him? Had he backed out on
something? Renege on a deal? Who did he do business with in the past?
She turned to move to the other side of the corridor, noting that a
faint burnt scent lingered in the air. In the shadows, on the wall,
she could see a faint, dark and round outline. Stooping down, she ran
her index finger across part of it. Soot. Riiiight. So he immolated
them on the spot? It was the only explanation that she could come up
with; given the strange way in which he had killed the man upstairs,
she found it easy to accept the fact that the Thin Man may have burnt
these two to a crisp.
Sometimes the impossible is a lot easier to accept than coming up with
some crazy rationale. She stood up and wiped her finger on her jacket. Her right hand was still caked with dried blood, but she hadn't dared to wipe them on her pants. Especially since she had borrowed them from Alex.
Her baggie filled with id's and some personal effects from the
remains; she turned to leave. Her eye caught a glint of something on
the ground near the soot mark.
Covered in grime, it looked like it had been dropped into the corner.
It had almost escaped her notice, had it not been for the small
pendant attached. Picking up the necklace with her hand, she held it
up to look at properly.
It looked silver and had an amazingly delicate design for both the
chain and the pendant. The kind of necklace a woman might wear
though, not some thug. It was beautiful but strange looking, with the chain in the shape of a snake. Its head biting its tail to form the clasp; the pendant, a tiny ball.
Great, more questions, Dylan thought grumpily. She put the necklace
in her pocket and headed upstairs. Tomorrow she would have a long
talk with everyone at the agency. She wanted to get to the bottom of
this case quickly. With the Thin Man involved like this, it made her
uneasy.