If you had asked Adrian Robson to describe himself with three words they would be punctual, conscientious and fair. And that´s also what every police officer in Petropolis would say about their boss. Punctual, conscientious and fair.
Robson wasn´t just a person you liked to have as your boss, he also was a person who was easy to become friends with. It was amazing. He made a stellar career on one hand but was on the other hand able to make just a few enemies. And most of these enemies he made then again to friends.
That was an impressive and unique talent. But even though Robson liked to surround himself with people in the public he was at home more the lone wolf. He liked to read classics. He was especially taken by the Russian literature at the moment. Tolstoi and Nabokov he had already read. Of course not everything, that would be even for a fast reader like him a five year long task, but the most distinguished works he had already read.
Now he was reading 'Crime and punishment' by Dostojewski. And he drank wine while doing that. But in a contrary to the literature classics the wine was more a discount product. Anyway, both activities were no group activities. Nothing you could share with others, except you would be in one of these book clubs he hated.
Just a few pretentious wiseacre that try to interpret the book even if they didn´t even get the sense of it. Well, of course, he also sometimes didn´t get the sense of a book right but he also not pretended to be the wisest of the wise.
Of course he also had a wife and kids, two to be precisely. But he didn´t spend much time with them. He was the lonely wolf, he loved them and when he was in public he also was together with them but when he was at home he locked himself in his room and started reading.
And so he did this evening. With one significant difference, his wife took his kids and went on a weekend trip to his parents-in-law. His wife hadn´t even asked him if he wanted to join them. Because of goodwill, she knew that he hated his parents-in-law and loved the solitude.
Robson turned the page. He was sitting in his little bibliotheca in front of the fireplace. His feet put up on a footrest which was, like his armchair, made from claret velvet. It was the perfect place to read, especially in the winter months. Really cozy, like you were back in the womb… just with something to read. Paradise.
Again Robson turned the page. He was on the last page now. He hated that. The end, that was the worst part about a book for him. And that didn´t depend on how the book ends. He read good, fantastic and really bad endings but the really annoying thing about every ending was the feeling that stayed. The feeling of 'What now?' What should he read next? The decision and the grieve of having to stop to read were the hardest things to cope with.
The last paragraph. The feeling started to stir up in his chest. He didn´t want it to end now, he wanted to read on and on. But there are things that are just unavoidable.
The last sentence. His eyes flew over the letters. He braked his speed to delay it, but then it happened and it was like always the worst thing of the book.
The dot.
A long sigh slithered out of Robson. He laid the book on the brown wooden table beside the armchair and leaned back. "What´s next?" he whispered to himself. Robson stood up and he strolled leisurely to his big bookshelf which was filled with a lot of book he had already read and a few that were still pending.
With his index finger he ran over the back of the books. He stopped after a while of searching at Tolstoi, War and peace. The weighty tome was a pretty big job. 1,440 pages that wanted to be read. Smiling he took the book out of the shelf.
He was about to sit down again but the phone started ringing. Robson began to sprint out of the room down the stairs. That had a certain reason, the phone was on the other end of the house. Of course he could just take the wireless phone with him, but it happened often enough that while one of his intensive reading sessions the batteries get low.
The wisest thing was to run everytime he heard it ringing. Robson took that sportingly, the tall black puma had recently recognized the he gained some weight over Christmas. So thawed a few calories and ran to the phone.
"Hello?" he coughed a bit exhausted into the speaker.
"You were in better shape once." Droned the voice earpiece. "I mean back then, when you´ve been a police officer."
"Who is there?"
"You don´t know me? I recently sent you a little present. I thought we were friends now."
Robson swallowed. "Scratch…"
"Right! Good work." Laughter came from the speaker. "But it wasn´t really hard, was it?"
"Why do you call me? What do you want?" Robson didn´t beat around the bush, he came straight to the point. Also because he usually not used have lively conversations with people that wanted to see him dead, actually he had never talked to someone who wants to see him dead.
"Why I am calling? Can´t you figure it out yourself?"
Robson´s pulse made a jump. From calm to 180. "What?"
"You should have seen your face Robson." Again this disgusting laughter came through the phone.
From where did Scratch know what his face looked like in that moment? The truth almost let him freeze right at his spot. This psychopath was somewhere outside of his house, watching him. Maybe aiming right in this second with a rifle at his head!
Robson had to do something and even if that was just gaining some time to think of an escape plan. Luckily for him, his experience dictated him what to do in this moment. Hectically he closed the curtains and stepped away from the window so that Scratch couldn´t aim at him directly.
"You really think that I´ll just shoot you? No. No! You will bow out with a bang."
"Scratch let´s talk about that." He meant, his body still pressed at the wall beside the window. "I think we can work that out. What do you want?"
"I want the lives of 231 innocent people back." Scratch´s voice suddenly became frosty.
"You know that I can´t do that!" called Robson who moved slowly towards the main door, he had to lock it. That would buy him some time if Scratch wants to try to get in and stab him or something.
"But I could help you with your drug trafficking business here at the west coast. That should bring a pretty penny, what do you think?"
"You try to safe your pathetic life by every mean, right?" he said slowly and Robson knew, even though he didn´t saw it, that Scratch was shaking his head in disbelieve right now. "I want to ask you something. You just read 'Crime and punishment', if my information are correct."
"From where…"
"Oh come on, I bugged your house." Sighed Scratch annoyed. "Go into your library and look into the corner next to your red armchair. And please, smile for the camera then."
"Scratch come on…" tried Robson again with the diplomatic method. But his voice sounded much more nervous now. "I can help you. I know where the other three are! Where they eat, where they work, everything!"
"Tss…" hissed Scratch with more disbelieve in his voice through the line. "I expected much of you, Robson. But not that you´re such a rat. You would really sacrifice your friends just to save yourself?"
"I have to! I mean I am needed! My kids and my wife… You can´t do that!"
"You wouldn´t believe how often I heard that. And you wouldn´t also believe how often I gave a damn."
"But I… I…" Stammered Robson.
"Enough!" Shouted Scratch cutting him short. "Crime and punishment. You committed the crime, now it´s time for the punishment. Have some nice last seconds…"
"No Scratch, please! SCRATCH!" but the only thing he received from his phone was the dialing tone that tooted cruelly.
Robson had to get out of here! No matter how, he had to leave the house. Whatever Scratch had planned he wasn´t save here. Pure panic drove him. And this advisor drove him towards the door, the only way out. A loud creak echoed through the house, but Robson was already too much in his panic to hear that.
"Where are my keys!" he screamed and rummaged through his pockets. He just had them as he locked the door! Where were they gone?
Again the creaking. It sounded like the whole house would moan in pains. This time also Robson heard the sound. Terrified he dropped the keys he just fished out of one of his pocket.
"No!" he whined. He bent down to get the keys but it was too late. The house´s moan turned into a terrible scream of death. It was over for Robson, the book with his story was closed now. He reached the dot of the story of his life.
Giggling took Scratch the phone away from his ear. He didn´t just hung up the phone. He gripped it with both hands and broke it into two pieces. T.U.F.F. should try to locate this phone now or him.
"If they really manage to get me now, without any trackable device and in this disguise, I will surrender." He laughed in his mind.
Slowly he strode to the window and opened it. Scratch couldn´t just threw the cellphone in the trash here in this building, he had to get rid of it in a way that no one who should find it would find it. At least not immediately. The building on the opposite side of the street was lower than the skyscraper he stuck his head out.
It seemed like a good place to hide old hardware. With a move of his hand that looked like he was throwing a Frisbee in the park he disposed of the evidence. "All done" sighed Scratch contented and sat down on the blue plastic chair that stood next to the door that led to the main office.
He was tired of this room, which was designed by an interior decorator that understood blue not as a color but more as the theme for the room. For a while now he had gazed at the blue carpet, the blue walls, the blue ceiling and the blue furniture that easily went missing among all of this blueness. And slowly but steady the whole room melted into a big blue lump.
Why did he have to wait here anyway? This was one the office his company bought to pretend that they are a normal company. This blue lobby, the main office, the chairs the carpet… all this belonged to him. So why did he have to wait?
"Hey Scratch." He heard Parva asking over the transmitter in his ear. "You´re still waiting?"
"Yes…I do" he replied tartly.
"Okay, okay… stay calm! I´m not the one who you should concentrate your anger on."
"I know, but haven´t we discussed that we use the transmitter just for mission relevant purposes?"
"Oh god, okay." She sighed indignantly. "I´ll switch it off!"
"I appreciate that!" Scratch didn´t know if she still received this answer or if she had cut the communication off right away after saying what she said.
Afterwards, he regretted a bit that he reacted so harsh to her attempt to talk to him, especially after she did such a good job describing him everything Robson did so he could scare him with that. He was really bored and could have needed someone to talk to. But after what happened in Paraguay he tried to maintain radio discipline. And asking him if he still had to wait was not part of that discipline.
Scratch stood up and stared at the door to the office. He would have a serious talk with Ronald, that was sure. And with serious Scratch meant screaming him down. And with talk he meant just him screaming. The longer he stood in front of this door the angrier he got.
If Ronald just called him because of some banalities the whole thing wouldn´t end so nice for the guy with the degree in business administration.
"Okay, enough is enough." Thought Scratch after further ten minutes had past. Angrily he opened the door and stormed into the office just to come bewildered to stop after a few steps.
Behind the big oak table, on which usually Ronald or he was sitting, a fat pink rabbit got himself comfortable. It had laid its feet on the desk and puffed relaxed an expensive seeming cigar. Next to him stood two big gorillas in tuxedoes aiming with their machineguns at Scratch.
In the left corner of the room, on a small chair, there was Ronald. The cuckoo with the round glasses avoided any eye contact.
"Guys guys… put the guns down." Laughed the rabbit and put his feet from the table. "Scratch, you finally arrived."
It took Scratch another second to grasp the whole situation. He tried to understand what happened in that moment and the result of his attempt was that he had no clue. So he did the best he could do in such a situation.
Smiling and being the same devil he always was. "Well well. Ronald told me that we have a problem but I never thought it would be so… heavy."
"You never lose your humor, right?" smirked the rabbit and adjusted the tie of the suit that looked as expensive as the cigar.
"Humor is an attitude to life, Richard. You can´t lose that." Retorted Scratch.
"Even if it´s cynicism in your case Scratch"
"Maybe…" admitted the dog grinning. "But you can just become a cynic in a world in that people like you are still alive."
"Of course, you´re right." Said Richard standing up. "I mean, it was me who erased whole villages from the map."
This comment wiped the smirk of his face. "From where do you know that?!"
"Oh, I have my sources. And it´s a good source… I know almost everything now, Scratch. Or do you prefer Dudley Puppy?"
Scratch clenched his hands to fists. With joy he had rammed them into Richard´s face that looked right now like it was just a big grin. But he keep his countenance, he couldn´t venture to make mistakes now.
"I know everything now." Richard walked around the desk. "You were born in Petropolis. Your father´s name was Frank and your mother´s Peg. You also have a brother called Stan…"
"Do you want to tell me every detail of my former life?" interrupted the dog pretending to be bored. "Because I know this story pretty well."
"Wait wait wait. That´s not everything" Laughed the bunny with the anticipation of a kid before Christmas. "After some occasional jobs you somehow made it to become a T.U.F.F. agent. That was pretty impressive and it explained a lot of things for me. But let´s come to the real interesting part. Kitty Katswell."
Richard stopped his narration and examined Scratch´s face. He must have seen some reaction in it after he said the name because the grin of the fat bunny became wider. "This cat, this really pretty cat, was your girlfriend for quite a long time. But then, poof! You left the city, her and your old life. And why? To find the murderer of your mother. Knowing why you left and that you two were a couple gives me a unique opportunity."
Richard stepped so close to Scratch that he could smell his breath which was like sniffing at an ashtray. "I asked myself… how much would you pay to save an old flame? First I thought you would be the cold bastard you always were and not even lift a finger to safe her. That you forget what you two had. But as the rumor spread that you were in Petropolis and fought against this weirdo there, I investigated a bit further. You had contact with her, right? She even stood in your way. So the question arose, why is she still alive? I mean it´s usually not the way how you proceed. So I put two and two together and the result was that you still a fond of her." Richard laughed excessively loud and walked back behind the table.
"What do you want from me?" Scratch couldn´t utter more than a whisper, his throat was constricted. He felt like someone was attacking him with a garrote.
"Excellent, straight to the point." sneered Richard joyfully. "I make that short. Right in this moment an old friend of mine, a sniper, is aiming at Ms. Katswell´s head. She´s in her apartment right now and I think she´s watching T.V. Here convince yourself."
Richard turned the monitor on the table around so that Scratch could see the video transmission. Kitty really sat in her living room and watched unsuspectingly T.V.. Of course the whole thing could have been a spoof, just a recording from another day but the camera turned and the head of the sniper became visible. He wore a black ski mask, what made his face unrecognizable, and held the current edition of the Petropolis post in one of his hands. No doubt, that was live.
"So, with this basis for negotiation, here comes my offer. I recall my friend but in return I want everything that you got. Your whole empire."
"WHAT?!" screamed Scratch outraged.
"You heard right!" confirmed Richard. "I even give you something extra. The symbolic sum of 10,000 Dollar. Just to let the contract look like a real one… you know… for the accounts department."
Again tried Scratch to understand what was just happening. Not only that he unmasked him and revealed his true identity, what was unbelievably embarrassing even for an ex-spy, he also extorted everything he had from him by using Kitty.
However he wasn´t just shaking his head in disbelieve, he was just a bit taken by surprise. Scratch actually had to admit that he had always foreseen something like that. And he was already in the middle of the preparations that this wouldn´t happen but it seemed that Richard took his chance in the right moment.
"So what is it Scratch? Old love or new money?"
"And you promise me… not to hurt her?" Scratch received released laughter as an answer. "Unbelievable! I thought that you would never agree! I mean you! You are a murderous soulless monster, I never thought that you would feel enough for her to pay so much! I thought you would just go and let her die."
"I owe her something… ruined her life."
"So?" Richard was still laughing but he also had this expression of amazement in her face. "You killed… I don´t know, thousands of people or something. You haven´t also ruined their lives or the lives of their families?"
"Now listen, you disgusting adipose bunny" Scratch started angrily. "What´s between that cat and me is not remotely your business."
In spite of these insults Richard kept grinning triumphantly, in a contrary to his two bodyguard gorillas behind him who pointed with their guns at Scratch again. "How did you called the boss?" one of them shouted.
"Adipose. That means fat!" growled Scratch. "But how should somebody know that who is as ugly as stupid."
"What did you just say?" asked the gorilla while his coworker giggled mischievously.
"So, not just dumb also deaf, huh?"
"I won't put up with that any longer!" meant the gorilla and took aim at the dogs bald head. "Cat lover!"
"Oh, it´s getting better!" smirked Scratch with all anger that bottled up in his stomach as undertone. "You are not even dumb and deaf, you are also a racist."
"ENOUGH!" ordered Richard and silenced everything around him. "You two, get out!"
"But boss…"
"Get out of the room before I beat you two out of here." Hissed the rabbit. Confused and also a little bit intimidated by their boss´s sudden mood change, the two yield.
"Oh… now I understand. This all is because of her right?" said Scratch who suddenly saw the daylight.
"You took her away from me! And you´ll have to pay for that… And she has to pay, too."
"I haven´t took her away from you… she, more or less, came to me."
"You seduced her!" screamed Rabbit and pointed his index finger the psychopath´s face.
"I wouldn´t say that I seduced her, I just met her in that bar and… she almost threw herself at me."
Scratch remembered the blue cat he got to know in this bar in Acapulco with the nice name. Nicole. She had something that interested him. That was neither her look, nor her body or her little black dress that accentuate like a second skin her voluptuous curves. It was the way she stared into her Martini, that caught Scratch´s attention.
He could feel deep sorrow coming from her. A pain that he just knew from himself, it was a revelation for him. Somehow these pains made them to some kind of twisted soul mates.
Just a little conversation was needed for them to realize that.
She told him everything and he told her much. Nicole told him that her husband was abusive and that these little trips to Mexico were the only way to get away from him. It was almost something like love what Scratch and her shared.
For three days sweat dropped from the ceiling of the little dirty hotel room somewhere in down town Acapulco. Scratch remembered how their bodies found, sensuously twitching, a common rhythm and how the ecstasy catapulted them into a sweet delirium.
But also this time had to end.
Richard somehow got to know of little their liaison. Maybe he had someone who spied on her, but that doesn´t matter in the end. Scratch luckily managed to get out of there. But Nicole stayed back. The thugs of Richard that Scratch hadn´t killed on his escape got her. He had never heard of her since then.
"If you hadn´t treated her like this… she would have never considered doing something like that." The dog sighed.
"I treated her like queen!" the bunny gnashed his teeth.
"Then tell me which queen gets called by her king a dirty whore? And which queen gets slapped by this king?" Scratch asked those questions in such a provoking way that he feared for a while that Richard will order to shoot Kitty.
But he didn´t do that, he just narrowed his eyes and gave him this hateful glare that turned into an evil smile. "You want to see her?"
"What?"
"After her affair with you I had to be stricter. I have her around me all the time, now. To prevent her from going … astray." Richard paused a bit, it looked like he was swallowing down the anger that arose when he just thought about his wife and Scratch. "Come in, Nicole."
A door, that led to a little storage for classified business files, swung open and a trembling gaunt figure stepped through it. If Richard hadn´t told Scratch that this was Nicole, he had never recognized her. She looked so changed, it was almost surreal. But the worst thing were her eyes. Scratch remembered that she had sad eyes back then, but now there was no kind of emotion apparent in them.
"Seems like you destroyed another life." Chuckled the bunny.
Scratch walked unbelievingly to her and stroked gently over her cheek.
"What have I done to you?" he whispered to her. Nicole didn´t answer. Her eyes didn´t even focused him, it was like she stared past him into the distance.
He was almost about to turn away from her as he realized that her hand had grabbed his wrist. "Don´t go." He whispered back. Her voice sounded tired and like her throat was sore.
"Richard… can I talk to her in private for a minute? I want to talk with her… about the old times. If that´s okay"
"Ha, you know what? I made such a big deal today, I give you two, two minutes. I don´t think that you´re able to fuck her in that time. Even you are not so fast." Laughing the rabbit left the room and closed the door tightly behind him.
"Nicole… I…" Scratch wanted to begin and apologize for everything but Nicole cut him short immediately.
"There is no time for that now. I need your help." She explained with a fast voice and it was like she just awoke out of a coma. Her eyes finally focused him.
"Sure…" he said confused.
"Good, listen now. I want you to bring my son to safety."
"You got a son?!" He asked startled and added the question which was formed by the dark premonition that came to existence in his head "How old is he?"
"Yes, I have a son, and no, he´s not your son." This little remark calmed Scratch down a little "But have you to safe him. Get him out of the country. As far away as possible from Richard. I don´t want him to grow up with his influence around him."
"And how should I do that?"
"You will find a way… raise him or find him a new family. Just get him away from Richard."
"I should raise him?!" Scratch probed startled. "You really consider that? I don´t think that I´d be a good father… or a good influence for the kid."
"Scratch… I love my child and I wouldn´t put him into bad hands. Your means are maybe wrong but you have a right core. And you are better than Richard."
Scratch thought for a second about that. It was crazy enough that Nicole had a child. But he should raise it? He couldn´t do that… not with his lifestyle. But he could at least do her the favor and safe the kid.
"I´ll do it. I´ll safe him and then I come back and safe you…"
"No, that´s impossible." She interjected. "Richard, will search for you everywhere when I am gone."
"And when his kid is gone? Won´t he turn around every stone to find him too?"
"Richard, doesn´t really give a damn about the boy. For him he is just an expensive nuisance. He often told me that he wouldn´t care if he disappears. But if you abduct me… he will hunt you, find you and kill you me and the boy…" In Nicole´s voice was so much fear, not even back then in Acapulco when the thugs of her husband where close to them she was so fearful. "Please… safe him…"
"Where can I find your boy?"
"Three blocks away there is his kindergarten. His name is Gumball... Just say to him that you bring him to mommy. He´ll follow you then. Safe him, please."
"I´ll find and safe him don´t worry." Assured Scratch
"Thank you." Nicole leaned forward and kissed Scratch gently on his lips. As soon as her lips detached from his she whispered. "Now go, don´t waste too much time."
Scratch hurried to the door and called. "Almost there." Before he pushed the handle of the door down he turned around and said. "Goodbye Nicole."
"Farewell Scratch" she replied, then he left the room.
In the lobby there was no trace of Richard, just the two gorillas were there. Both of them looked like that they were up for no good.
Like a wall made of bad cut suits the two came closer. "I think we have to sort something out." Snarled the one who already tangled with Scratch.
"Oh, come on." The dog rolled his eyes. "Do you have any idea how much of guys like you lost their lives fighting against me? Really, I neither have time nor do I like to hurt you. Get out of my way."
"Forget it!" meant the gorilla and laid his heavy hand threatening on Scratch´s shoulder.
"Wrong move…" Scratch grabbed the hand and held it tightly. In the same time pushed with his other hand hard against the elbow of his opponent, so that after snap the lower arm pointed into the wrong direction. But that was still no point to stop for Scratch, even if the first enemy wasn´t able to hurt him for now the second was still there.
And this one was already drawing his gun. Speed was the crucial factor now. Scratch let go the broken arm and jumped above the first gorilla´s body to grab the gun of the second and shove it out of the line of fire. He wasn´t a second too late because loud thunder already rumbled through the room.
Loud whistling drowned every other sound around him, not peculiar if a gun got shoot so close to your ear. Another one would be startled because of that, but Scratch was so experienced in fighting that unnecessary outer expressions couldn´t get him out of his concentration. With his shoulder first he rammed the gorilla aiming the stomach and brought the man coughing down, always with a hand on the gun.
Scratch lay on the ground wrestling with the pile of meat. He already felt the exhaustion taking over his body. It was always the same, the longer the fight was the more likely it was that he would lose it. His lung was the problem. Since his left lung could only be saved because of Fortuna´s goodwill it was hard for him to catch breath when he was physically active. So he tried as fast as possible to end a fight.
Also here he had to hurry. With the hand that didn´t control the gun he drew the knife which he was always carrying around with him. A few fast stabs into the side of his enemy were enough to let the limps of this gorilla sag. Scratch took the gun now, stood up and turned to the first gorilla who was about to get on his feet again.
But the dog prohibited that by adding some lead to his chest.
"It´s not that I haven´t warned you." coughed Scratch watching the gorilla collapse dead to the ground. "But if you don´t want to listen, you have to find out the hard way." While saying that he pulled out a tissue and cleaned his fingerprints from the gun before he threw it on its bleeding owner.
Scratch left the room fast, he knew that he shouldn´t stay too long at a crime scene and besides that it wasn´t so great to spend time in a room with a dying guy and an already dead one. Moreover the adrenalin in his blood prevented him from staying calm. It was not just the fight, also the thing with Nicole that brought the hormone in his bloodstream.
Just when he was in the elevator and leaned against the closed iron doors he was able to catch some air. With deep breaths he inhaled the life spender. It made him feel better, physically, but it didn´t help to ignore the resounding defeat he just suffered.
"Dammit… dammit…" he mumbled to himself. "Dammit DAMMIT!"
"That won´t help Scratch." A voice, outside of the elevator doors, sighed. The doors swung open noiseless and Ronald entered the elevator. "The situation is desperate. The contract valid. The ink dry." Tired he pushed the button for the basement. "I´m sorry."
" 'I´m sorry' doesn´t bring me my money back." Coughed Scratch.
"I know!" moaned the cuckoo. "Why haven´t you just let Richard kill this cat? I mean you killed because of less. I mean the proof for that lies down the floor."
"I killed them because they attacked me it was just…"
"Ah! Don´t come up with that shit." Annoyed took Ronald of his glasses and gesticulate furiously with them. "I heard about Paraguay. I heard what happened to this little town. Rumors spread, Scratch, like the fire napalm bombs spread and…" just a retching sound escaped Ronald´s throat because Scratch´s big paw already clutched it.
"Come on, speak on Ronald." Hissed Scratch threatening.
"Killing me won´t solve your problems." Gagged the accountant.
"I know." Meant the psychopath. "It never does that." He loosened the grab around the bird´s neck and stepped away from him. With a face contorted in pain Ronald pressed his hand on his throat.
"Okay, I understood. Paraguay is taboo topic. Okay okay. But your situation is still the same." He cleared his throat and swallowed a bit. His gullet still felt crushed but it was better than with Scratch´s hand on it. "We… you have no money."
The dog with the square glasses accepted the situation without a verbal comment. He just leaned against the elevator hull and beat the back of his head against the metal.
"Destroying the elevator is also pointless."
"I´m trying to think." Replied Scratch closing his eyes. "Do we have any reserves?"
"Just the 10,000 Dollar you just received."
"Personal assets we could use?"
"Sure, I have a few millions left. But I won´t invest it into your crusade for vengeance."
"That figures." Sniggered Scratch disparagingly.
"What? No attempt to choke the bucks out of me?"
Scratch opened his eyes and stepped away from the wall. "I know you. You would rather die than giving your money away. That was a reason why I hired you back then. Money is your ideal. So you are a convinced idealist. And trying to make them do something against that ideal is almost impossible."
"Okay…" breathed the bird with relief. Scratch couldn´t resist smiling inwardly. Ronald had really believed that he would torture the money out of him. Okay, he thought of that but rejected this thought immediately. He somehow liked this bird and somehow he was also part of this strange family.
The stingy relative that nobody really likes but that you also give a hug to welcome him. And besides that Scratch couldn´t really effort to make more enemies.
"What will you do now?" asked Scratch as the doors of the elevator opened after an extraordinary long elevator ride.
"I´ll retire…" answered Ronald to Scratch surprise, as they walked together towards the exit. "I have a house in Hawaii. I think I´ll enjoy Bahama mamas and coconut bras for the next fifty years… And you?"
Scratch stopped on the marble stairs outside of the building and turned towards Ronald. "I´ll resume my plan. What else? I mean I maybe just have a fraction of the budget but everything is fine besides that."
"I remember that you canceled plans when something like that happened in the past." Said the bird skeptically.
"The last long plan I made ended in a disaster. This time my plan has a lot more room to move. Let´s see how that turns out this time."
"Ha! Seems like an old dog learned a new trick." Smirked Ronald and offered Scratch his hand to shake.
"Right." Chortled Scratch and shook the hand of his former accountant. "Goodbye Ron. Maybe we´ll see again."
"If you don´t choke me, you can come and visit me every time."
"I´ll remember that."
With an indicated wave of his hand the cuckoo took its leave and disappeared in the flow of people that streamed down the sidewalk.
Also Scratch left the place of his Waterloo. Directly to the kindergarten Nicole described. He had an idea where he had to bring the little gumball. Though he had to spend a part of his budget for that. But Nicole was worth it.
-Well, borrowed some characters from another fandom here. Try to guess which one. ;D Anyway another chapter done also a big one. Seems like the whole thing just got harder for poor old Scratch, let´s see how he´ll manage that.-