It took an hour to travel from Colorado to Montana. He hopped the gate leading into the centaur community and made his way to the address on his file. The mist was thick in the little gated community. Centaur children ran and played in the street without fear. How could they be afraid under the watchful eyes of the brave herd protectors.
Two miles from the gate he'd felt their eyes on him. Long bows with arrows tipped with celestial bronze aimed at him from multiple angles. The children had nothing to fear because the centaurs were wary of the world. What happens when one of their herd is lead astray? When the eyes of the protectors can no longer see them what predator lays in wait? That was his job now what, how, and why.
This is his first step. The parents might shed some light on why she left without a protector of the herd. Nero approached the house on his address and wrapped his knuckles on the door. He didn't have to wait long.
The door opened to a centaur in his teens with bored expression on his fate. The stallion looked over Nero's suit then snorted. "You're too young to be a cop."
"Good morning, I've come to investigate your sister's disappearance. Are your parents home?" Nero asked.
"The human detectives couldn't figure out shit what makes you think you'll do any better." The centaur said.
"I've been in your situation." Nero said. The centaur crossed his arms.
"I doubt it. You're just a clear-sighted mortal what can you know." He growled.
"My sister is a demigod. She went missing four years ago and her trail went cold for a long time." He met the centaur's eyes. "I didn't give up after four years. I doubt you've already given up"
"Come in my parents are out but I was the last one to see her." Nero nodded and stepped up behind him. Pictures of a young centaur with flowing blond hair and striking green eyes filled several pictures. In later pictures she's died her hair black and cut short.
"It's a long way from here to the concert. How do you plan to find Jean?" He asked. Nero approached the fridge where a pamphlet with the Aerosmith concert tour was stuck by a magnet. Only he'd looked up the tour schedule after getting the file. These places weren't correct. There was no stop scheduled for Helena Montana.
"Where did she get this?" Nero asked.
"From some loser human. No offense, but they got her into goth culture. She was talking about getting her, never mind." Nero raised an eyebrow.
"Greg, if it can help the case then you need to tell me." Nero said.
"Fine, she was talking about getting her clit pierced for that guy." He said pointing at the lead of Aerosmith. Greg made a gaging noise. Nero hummed his acknowledgement. He wrote on his notepad before turning to the hallway.
"Can you show me her room?" Greg led the way.
Posters covered the walls filling most of the room with gothic rockers and Aerosmith. A large full-length mirror stood on one side of the room. Piles of clothes covered the floor. Large suction cup marks covered the area where a cut out of Steven Tyler was attached to the wall. The mirror showed his smiling visage well. Nero rubbed his face.
"So, she has a thing for Steven Tyler." Nero said.
Greg shook his head and glanced at the box peaking out from under the bed. Nero followed his eyes and pulled the box out.
"I wouldn't if I were you."
Nero opened the box. A massive blunt tipped dildo with a suction cup end hovered over foam balls in all its glory. Yellow stains covered the well-used tool. Nero palmed his face before shutting the box and sliding it back under the bed.
"I hope to the gods this room was soundproof."
"Not as soundproof as it could have been. My room is next door."
Before he could ask to search Greg's room, he spotted something. Nero spied a fallen picture on her nightstand. Jean in all her gothic glory stood with her goth friends. Some boy was in the background of the picture. He barely saw him, but he was there.
"Who's this kid?" Greg looked hard at the picture.
"That's Rodger he's kind of a stalker and always asking her out. She might like the music, but she isn't crazy enough to date a mortal. You clear sighted guys are the limit that mom and dad might allow." He glared down at the picture. "What happened to your sister?"
"I found her turned to stone by Medusa." Nero said and looked the boy in the eyes.
"I'm sorry." Greg said.
"Don't be she's flesh and blood now and at home where she belongs." Nero said.
"That was a dick move." Greg said.
"No matter how dark you think it gets don't quit. I'll find her and bring her back." Nero said.
"I'm guessing the detective already questioned them and it led to nowhere." Nero muttered. He wrote down his latest clues. She was a goth, a fan of Aerosmith's lead, and she went missing going to an Aerosmith concert that doesn't exist. Rodger was her stalker, but her friend is the one who gave her the pamphlet.
"Even if they tried something, she should have been able to handle them with a hand tied behind her back." Greg muttered.
"Does your herd have any enemies?" Nero asked.
"Of course, we're long lived, warmongering, and we live in a gated community. Name a monster that doesn't have something against us, and you can fuck my wife." Nero blinked at the centaur teen. "Sorry, its just an expression. Humans and their sensibilities." Greg muttered.
"It might not lead to anything, but I'll pay Rodger a visit and interview her friends. Thanks for the help." Nero said. "If it makes you feel any better. I don't think she's far from town."
"What makes you say that?"
Greg's face had morphed into a mask of confusions and he stomped a hoof on the concrete floor. Nero took his eyes off the centaur and placed them on the teenager's room. There was a lot he hadn't explored. He wrote Greg's name down for further investigation.
"A gut feeling. Don't worry, I'll find your sister."
He left and followed the yellow pages to Rodger's house. Trisha joined him dressed in a suit from the waist up. She slithered out from the woods just after he left the gate. Nero had wondered when she'd show up. He waited for some biting comment or quip about his investigative skills, but none came.
"I'm not here to give you advice. This is your show." Nero rolled his shoulders and approached the door to Rodger's house.
They were on the poorer side of town. Plenty of trailers filled this side of this neighborhood. Run down cars were stranded on the side of the road forgotten and left to rust for ages. Each was gutted, their parts sold for quick cash. Off to the side he could see a man in a shed making meth. They didn't care that the mist made him them look like a couple of feds, detectives, or what have you. A few men with shotguns rolled up in mustang rigged topless. Their guns were on them.
"You ain't welcome here turn right around and leave." The driver said. He had four more teeth in his mouth than the other two. Nero turned his nose up in disgust. Zombies smelled better than them.
Nero calmly took out a picture and approached the vehicle. If they squeezed the trigger, he'd tank the buckshot and flip their car over and crush them with it. It was times like this that he felt like the terminator.
"Stay right where you are and don't take another step." One of them yelled.
"The girl in the picture have any of you seen her?" For a moment, he thought about just killing them but if they could be useful, he'd hold back his murder boner.
"That's the Bailey girl. We thought the investigation was over." The driver said.
"No, it just made its way to my department." Nero muttered.
"You're here to see Rodger. He's innocent, when the Bailey girl went missing, he was working for us."
"He's very low on the suspect list but I need anything he can tell me about her friends. Do you know who this kid is?" Nero pointed to the boy closest to her.
"That's Brad her boyfriend. A real tough guy." One of them chuckled.
"Go on then but don't come back a second time without a warrant." The leader said and hit the gas.
Nero knocked on the door to the trailer and waited a minute. The door opened to an old heavy-set woman with bloodshot eyes. She smiled showing off black teeth.
"What can I do for you officer?" She asked.
"Is Rodger at home?" Nero asked.
"He is but I'll tell you a secret." Nero waited for whatever the woman wanted. "I'll suck your dick for twenty dollars." He blinked twice and screamed on the inside for a second. Trisha laughed from a nearby bush.
"That won't be necessary mem. I'm here to ask your son some questions." Nero said. He was starting to think Aphrodite gave him a blessing and didn't tell him. That would explain the sexual advances recently.
"Rodger there's another detective to see you. He doesn't want me to earn twenty dollars either. Hurry up!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. Nero was sure he'd need therapy from Amelia after this too.
"Fine, I'm pausing my game." The stalker from the photo stepped out of the trailer. His face was sunburnt, and red tufts of a beard grew patchy on his face. There was a look of uncertainty when they met face to face.
"Mom he's twelve how could he's a kid in a suit are you high again." Nero's eyes widened. He pushed the mist onto the boy's mother and watched her expression slacken.
"I'm going to sit down now." The woman said. Rodger was a clear-sighted mortal. It was like finding a phoenix feather in a henhouse. Rodger went from the bottom of the list to the top. Nero took out a stolen gun and pointed it at the boy. Rodger went into fight or flight mode in an instant.
While those old instincts flooded the boy's brain Nero had already moved. He gently smacked the edge of his foot against the boy's left foot throwing the boy off balance. With the force of opening his hand Nero tossed the boy across the room into a reclining chair.
Fear and confusion flashed across the boy's face while Nero stepped through the doorframe. Trisha made to join him, but the palm of his hand stopped her. He gently closed the door behind him and approached Rodger.
"What's going on, who are you? You're not a kid you can't be." Nero holstered his gun and inspected a dinning room chair for cat piss before flipping it around and resting his arms on the back of it. Not that it mattered his suit was covered in dust, venomous lamia tears, and who knew what else.
"Calm down and listen, I need you to answer some questions." Nero ordered. He grumbled to himself as he thought of the best way to begin. A clear-sighted mortal added a new layer of complexity to the situation.
"What's your relationship with Jean Bailey?" Nero asked. Rodger went quiet.
"They said if I told anyone they wouldn't believe me. They said if I told anyone who would believe me, they'd kill me." Rodger let the words flow out. His breaths began to calm, and Nero let the room relax.
"You've already told me a lot by your reaction. I'm guessing you had a relationship with Jean." Nero said.
"I don't care anymore. She's gone and its their fault. I knew what she was since we were in junior high. Her father and brother didn't like the idea of a human dating their daughter. We were going to get away from this town." Nero raised an eyebrow and wrote it down in his notepad.
"Did you tell any of this to the detectives before?" Rodger shook his head.
"They wouldn't have been any help. Greg would have confused them like you did mom."
"What was the plan?"
"Her friend Brad works at a printing shop. She had him make a fake Aerosmith tour pamphlet and she told her folks she was going to the concert. I waited for her in my truck with a horse trailer hitched to it and made a drop for Darren and his boys. I called and her phone was dead. Then I did the only thing I could do; I called the police."
Nero kept his eyes on the older teen watching for any signs of deception. He went up on the suspect list by the simple fact that he could move the body. Potentially, that increased the area of his search.
"I spoke with Greg, he said he wouldn't have a problem with his sister dating a clear-sighted mortal." Nero said.
Rodger stood up. His eyes threatened to bulge from their sockets. "He's lying, that guy would rather kill his own sister than let her date me."
It could be argued that Greg hid his anger well and was already prepared to deal with Nero. Then again Rodger could be a crazy clear-sighted mortal stalker. The love he felt could be one sighted. He could have tricked Jean with the pamphlet predicted her path and lay in wait. Then with his horse trailer, he could transport her to wherever he pleased. Jean could be in this very neighborhood. He'd have to ask Brad next. The why the pamphlet was printed would determine who lied.
Nero let out a sigh and closed the door behind him. There were many questions and few answers. Odds were everyone was lying and he'd have to stick with what could be proven.
Nero lvl25
HP 140.45k
MP 361.84k
ATK 111.96k
DEF 109.79k
SATK 1.65k
SDEF 1.69k
SPD 130.65k
ACC 360.168
Fortune 203.01
Author's Note: Thank you for reading the chapter. Leave a review and tell me what you think.