Chapter 40

A man sat at a bar alone and ordered a couple of shots. He wore a hoodie that was dark gray and some jeans. His hair was scruffy, and his beard was growing out patchy. He had green eyes and looked every bit of a man roughly 38 years of age. He knocked back the shots fast and tossed some cash on the table. He glanced at his watch and let out a mutter and then stood up to leave the bar.

"You outta here already kid? The night just started." The bartender called out from across the bar.

"Yeah Frank, got to get to work man. See ya' same time tomorrow alright?"

"You got it."

The man scratched his head and left the bar circling around the corner and down the block. He lit a cigarette and looked at his watch again, "Fuck." He picked up the pace and made it down to these old docks. It was 11:24 pm and no one was in sight. The docks stunk of fish and the cranes, seagulls, and pelicans were the only inhabitants at the pier tonight. The ocean breeze was a little rough…you could definitely tell that a storm was brewing. He sat and smoked for a while before putting out the cigarette and making his way over to a warehouse titled, "Felix's Fish Market." He unlocked the door and inside were 6 men all working about. They saw him and greeted him.

"Marty! What are you doing at this hour man?"

"You didn't hear? We got someone stopping to buy some merch, you got enough ready in the back?"

"Depends, how much we talking about here?"

"100 Kilos."

"What? Ain't no one can move around somethin' that big. Not without some power behind their name?"

"What do you want me to say man? She told me she has the money and she paid half up front."

"She? Oh you got to be fucking kidding me man. What kind of woman has that much money to toss around?"

Marty laughed, "Maybe its her husbands." They all chuckled at the thought. "Anyways, she said she will be here at 11:30. We got all that right?"

"Yeah, yeah man…we got it in the back."

The fish house was perfect for the drug scheme because it masked any smells very easily. No one suspected the large trucks moving in and out as well. Easy money.

Marty's phone rang and he answered, "Hey baby…so are you on the way?"

"I am already here Mr. Solomon."

"Woah, woah you came early."

The woman on the other end sighed, "Do you have it or not? I can always take my business elsewhere and…"

"Slow down sweetheart, I got it. Can you come around back and I will open the door for you. Do you have anyone with you?"

"No."

"You are a brave girl."

Silence. The phone hung up and Marty went to the back to unlock the door. He saw a Jaguar all blacked out and out stepped a woman dressed in a deep maroon dress. The dress had a deep neckline that plunged just between her breasts. She was wearing a thick coat overtop with dark high heels and came out with a briefcase with the remainder of the money. Her hair was a deep auburn brown and fell around her shoulders. Clarice Lecter looked ever the part. The role she was portraying tonight was that of an international drug dealer. She made the necessary phone calls to get in with Elijah's circle. A purchase of this magnitude was the only thing to guarantee the attention she needed from his crew. He only dealt with large fish, never the small ones. Clarice took the story of one of her former victims and changed a few names around. Anyone searching information about her would find everything they should which was just enough to note someone of money, but not enough to raise eyebrows. The only eyebrows she wanted to raise tonight was that of Marty and his group. Hannibal was very against the idea especially when he saw Clarice come out of their bedroom dressed like how she was, but she insisted. And Clarice got just the response she wanted. Marty was practically molesting her with his eyes.

"Holy shit, you are a smoking hot beauty aren'tcha?"

"Is it customary practice to flirt with your clients Mr. Solomon?"

"Please sugar, call me Marty and I can promise you I don't talk to any clients this way. I mean look at you, you are a solid 10 out of 10 baby. Come, let me show you the product."

Clarice followed him and he draped his arm around her shoulders which made her skin crawl, but she smiled none the less. The 6 men all approached and stared hard. Clarice could feel their eyes boring into her. All the attention was on her, which is exactly what she wanted.

"So you brought the rest of my money?"

"Of course." Clarice handed over the briefcase to Marty who opened it and smiled at the contents.

"This is a lot of money for a little lady like you to be carrying around ain't it?"

"No Mr. Solomon. I know precisely what I am carrying."

Marty handed the briefcase over to the 6 men, "Count this boys, while I go make our client more comfortable would you?"

The men grabbed the briefcase and disappeared to the back. Marty took Clarice back into his office and sat down across from her. "Do you want a smoke?" The office was small, bright lights above, and it contained a little metal desk with two chairs. It reminded Clarice of an FBI interrogation room.

"No thank you Mr. Solomon, I am fine."

"Heh, yes, yes you are."

Clarice felt disgusted but kept playing the part.

"Ok, well then I guess I will just help myself." Marty lit the cigarette and began talking. "So how long have you been in the business for?"

"Long enough."

"Oooohh, playing hard to get?"

"You know how it is in our line of work. Keep everything close to pocket and don't get fucked over right?"

"Yeah, but you came all this way, by yourself for 100 kilos. What kind of transportation you got for that?"

"I have someone coming tonight, later to pick it up for me."

"Oh yeah? So you have some free time? Maybe we could…you know talk." He winked at Clarice and sat across from her in the chair.

Clarice sat down as well and crossed her legs, "Well that is precisely what I was hoping for….a conversation."

"Anything for you…so what do you want to talk about?"

"Elijah Kennedy…where is he?"

Marty coughed on his cigarette, "The fuck did you just say?"

"I think you mean 'pardon' Mr. Solomon, but I suppose that will do none the less. I asked about Elijah. This is his warehouse, he is your employer. Where is he?"

Marty laughed, "I thought you had been in this game long enough sweetheart? We don't talk about the big man upstairs. But….if you are willing to….do me some favors, maybe I could get you a phone call." Marty gave a wicked smile.

Clarice returned that smile with an even darker one, "Interesting proposal but how about a counteroffer? You tell me where he is, and I will make sure you die quickly and painlessly…no suffering."

Marty frowned and leaned over onto his desk, "What in the hell did you just say to me?"

"My apologies, did I stutter somewhere or perhaps maybe you just didn't understand?"

Marty stood up and slammed his hands on the metal desk, "You are gonna get it now princess."

He pushed the table into Clarice's chair but Clarice stuck her foot out and stopped it. Marty jumped over the table and lunged toward her. She stood and slid to the side narrowly avoiding his attack. Clarice then kicked the chair at him and he tripped over it. He stood in frustration and stuck out his arm to push her against the wall. Clarice grabbed his arm and turned her body into his and used her hips as a lever point to throw him into the ground. He slammed hard against the concrete floor and she knelt onto his spine while holding his arm in hers twisting it.

"What the hell?"

"Judo throws Mr. Solomon, they come in handy when dealing with someone as aggressive as you."

"Help! Hey! Pete! Kenny! Anyone!"

"No one is coming Mr. Solomon…well none of your men at least."

Clarice twisted his arm more and he cried out. Seconds later, a man knocked and entered the little office space. He was dressed in an all black suit with a deep maroon tie. Marty tried to look up to see but Clarice pushed his head into the ground.

"My love, allow me." Marty felt pressure release, but then felt a firm hand grab him and pull him from behind. The man pushed him into a chair and Marty sat there frozen in fear. The man grabbed the other chair and placed it upright and signaled for Clarice to come have a seat and she did. Clarice sat in the chair with her legs crossed and her hands at her waist, relaxed. The man walked around the back of the chair gently touching her shoulder. Both sets of eyes were on him. The eyes of Clarice and Hannibal Lecter.

"What the fuck…." The man shook in fear. "Where are…where are…"

"The nice group of gentlemen you mean? Oh they are of no concern anymore. I took care of them already." Hannibal smiled.

"What?"

"You know, when my wife came up with this idea, I was completely against it. After all, she is perfection. But! It was because of her perfection that all eyes were looking the other way. No one pays attention to the man behind the curtain when there is a, how did you phrase it? '10 out of 10' walking around."

Clarice smiled, "My name is Clarice, and this is my husband Hannibal Lecter. I need Elijah. As I stated previously to you, give him to me and I can make your death quick and painless. However, if you do not…well this is where my husband's specialty comes into play. He can and will make you suffer. So, you choose. Either way, you are going to die, but one is the much easier option I think."

Marty started to stand and Hannibal pulled out a gun and pointed it in Marty's direction.

"Sit down Mr. Solomon, we aren't through here." Clarice shot him a deadly stare.

"You are going to kill me no matter what so what does it matter? You aren't getting your boy back…not the way he was before."

At that Hannibal snapped. He handed the gun to Clarice and picked up the man slamming him onto the ground. Hannibal then proceeded to pull out his harpy from his sleeve. He took the sharp blade and stuck it into the palm of the man's right hand. Hannibal drug the blade across so the only thing keeping his upper and lower hand attached was his thumb. The man screamed in pain. Hannibal pulled the blade back out and placed it against Marty's throat. "That was the hand you touched my lovely wife with was it not? Mr. Solomon, it is not wise to provoke me. I am in fact a Doctor, and I can keep you alive for hours. There are approximately 206 bones in the adult body…and I will take my time breaking each and every single one. You must know where Elijah is since you know of my son. If you tell me, I will just kill you. An easy death should sound like a God send to you, but if you refuse. I will make this last for as long as possible. You will pray for death, but I will keep you from it."

Hannibal took the harpy and carved out a small portion of Marty's cheek. Marty was thrashing about trying to get up, but Hannibal pinned him down. "The more you move around, the worse my incision will be."

Marty was crying. Clarice stood and walked over to the two men and pointed the gun in between Marty's eyes. "This is your release Mr. Solomon, tell us where our son is. You didn't recognize me when I approached the warehouse outside so I can only take it that Elijah told you about us and about our son, but he left out a lot of information and clearly you were not in the party that abducted our son. Therefore, we are not interested in you Mr. Solomon, and for that, you should be thankful. Speak now. My husband can get quite creative, especially when it comes to our son."

"Alright….alright…I will tell you, but please….please just kill me quickly. I never did anything to the boy. I heard one of the men mentioning something about it. I will tell you please…."

Hannibal stood up grabbed Marty by his hoodie and placed him in the chair, "Good, I am glad we can come to an understanding."

Relentless. They will not be stopped.