We all got our reasons ... good men and bad men. It's all a matter of where you stand. — Joe Abercrombie
Washington, D.C. – 0100 Local – 25 December 2023
"What the fuck do you want, Bianca?" Annabeth muttered into the phone as she rolled over, attempting to direct her voice away from her still sleeping husband and block the phone's glow with her body. She wore just her panties and the phone's glow cast her winter-pale chest in a strange hue.
"Kidnapping, near Q Street. The victim's girlfriend called it in. She said they got back from a Christmas Eve service and a group was waiting on them. Most kept their faces covered but the leader was tall, objectively attractive, and…" Annabeth cut her off.
"Had green eyes."
"And Annabeth," her annoyance at being cut off was clear, but Bianca paused for a second. "The victim is missing an eye." Annabeth killed the call, knowing her night was over.
"Fuck me!" she hissed and began to leave the bed.
"I'll oblige," her husband muttered, but fell back asleep before she could even force the temptation from her mind. Her palms rubbed her eyes until she stood in front of the mirror. Once there she splashed water across her face before finally opening her gray eyes. Her hands found the edge of the counter and with her arms holding her weight, she finally looked at herself.
Her eyes were too bloodshot, between the two bottles of wine the night before and lack of sleep. Eyedrops it is. Hints of crow's feet grew from the corners of her eyes, despite only being thirty-eight. She could do little with those, however, the slight bruising and hicky on her neck from the night's earlier sex would need hidden. Her clothes would hide the bullet scar on her right shoulder and the knife-wound scars on her left breast. Fuck, she thought and reached for the small makeup bag. She examined the rest of herself while she applied its contents. Her husband and anyone she allowed to compliment her, told her she still looked "amazing" but they of course were more generous than she was to herself. Her abs were not as defined as when she played defender for the University of North Carolina and her boobs required more support than they used to need. Her waist was not nearly as firm and her hips wider. She blamed drinking to an extent, which had become bad following her father's death and the shit I see in this job. The lack of collegiate and then National Team soccer and the physical demands of that hurt. Stop complaining, she thought, you're still happy with how you look.
Annabeth pulled on her clothes from the closet and used the bathroom's second door to not disturb her husband. It would not have mattered, because he stood at the counter with her travel mug of coffee ready to go. She smiled at him.
"You didn't have to do this." She pulled close to his nearly nude form and felt his arms wrap around her.
"No, but I love you."
"I love you, too," she mumbled into his broad chest.
Skinkertown, VA – 0445 Local – 25 December 2023
The black bag did nothing to muffle the noise shrieking from the half-dozen speakers in the six-by-six concrete room. The naked man bound to a metal chair did not know how long he had been there, only that his body could not cease shivering. Therefore, he did not know that in fifteen minutes, it would be two hours in the room's forty degrees Fahrenheit. A tank of thirty-five-degree water fed a shower head built into the ceiling. At random intervals, the near-freezing water was turned on and doused Ethan Nakamura. Percy watched from the small window of the door. He checked the ancient G-Shock on his wrist, noting that in fifteen minutes he would go it. He turned on the shower again and watched as Nakamura's body flinched from the water and attempted to curl into itself to maintain what little warmth it retained.
Percy let it run for just thirty seconds, then as his fifteen minutes ran out, turned on the water for the entire final minute of Nakamura's isolation. As drops fell from the showerhead and Nakamura's body shook so badly it rattled the metal chair. His soft soled shoes moved past the man and Percy did not speak until he stood behind the man.
"Why did you kill Rachel Elizabeth Dare?"
"I… I… I…. d...d...don't know w…w…w…what you m…m…mean."
"You brag about the kill after two years, why not just tell me, Cyclops." Despite the shivers, Percy noticed a different reaction to the nickname.
"Well, let's see what a little more time in this box does to your tongue." He began to walk out.
"I don't know a Cyclops! Or a Rachel Elizabeth Dare! P…P…Please, just let me get home to my daughter."
"Same daughter whose mother you killed with a faulty brake line?" Even the shivers stopped as Nakamura physically tensed at the question. Percy leaned down and spoke softly.
"If I know that, what else do I know?" Percy left the room and spun the dial on the thermostat. Soon the room would rise to over ninety. That would make the sudden dousing of water even more shocking. He wondered which detective would currently be speaking with Valentina and Elena, he might have to laugh if Detective Chase was on it. She would come for him immediately.
Washington, D.C. – 0515 Local – 25 December 2023
"Hello?" Jason answered the phone call on his Apple Watch without removing himself from the weight bench. He cranked out three reps at two-twenty-five before he heard the voice over the Bluetooth headphones.
"Jason, it's Michael. We got an issue. Man with one eye got kidnapped last night on Q Street."
"Motherfucker."
"It gets worse, description of the man responsible sounds like our boy. Victim is also a Permanent Staffer for Congress."
"Jesus Christ. Did you try and call him?"
"Nothing. Phone's location appears to be the bottom of the Potomac."
"Shit. Yet it's still answering a ping, so…."
"Yeah, he did it on purpose."
Jason looked at the time. "I'll get changed."
"I'll take care of it, boss, for now. Do what you need to do." Michael Kahale ended the call and Jason unceremoniously stood and added another ten-pound weight to each side of the bar. Not like I've got anyone to do anything with.
Washington, D.C. – 0600 Local – 25 December 2023
"The kids are always worst," Annabeth said quietly as she and Bianca looked at the young girl who had cried herself to sleep in front of a Christmas tree. Beside her Bianca nodded but said nothing as she took a drink of coffee from a paper Dunkin' cup. Annabeth could tell something was on Bianca's mind, but she would not say it. "What is it, Bianca?" The other detective still hesitated before answering.
"Do you think it's that one guy? The one whose wife was killed that you have a standing ping on? Regardless, have you pinged his phone."
"I don't know if it was him. What I do know is his phone seems to be at the bottom of the river." Bianca smiled.
"So, you checked?" Annabeth's eyebrows rose.
"Naturally." The girlfriend, Valentina Diaz entered the room again, sketch artist following her. The artist presented her the drawing. "Wait! What? Brown eyes and blond hair with a beard?"
"Yes, you don't forget someone with a gun pointed at you." You'd be surprised, Annabeth and Bianca both thought cynically. They watched though as her appearance suddenly changed. They turned to watch her gaze and found themselves looking at Elena Nakamura holding a stuffed giraffe. "Elena, honey, where'd you get that?"
"The man left it."
"What?" Valentina said sharply, causing tears to spring anew to the girl's eyes. "Sorry, honey, sorry. What man left it?"
"One of the men in masks, said it would keep me safe." Valentina turned her large dark eyes to the detectives. The fear in it was immense.
"Giraffes are her favorite animal. How did they know?" Annabeth knelt, her boots creaking as she dropped, and she knew her knees would as she stood.
"Elena, sweetie, do you think I could take a look your giraffe." The girl hesitated. "What's his name?"
"The man told me Mr. Nobody."
"How original," muttered Bianca.
"Can I take a look at Mr. Nobody?" Annabeth asked again and the girl reluctantly handed him over. Annabeth massaged the stuffed animal and froze when she found a hardened rectangle in the center of Mr. Nobody's torso. Turning so that Elena could not see, Annabeth ripped into the animal and thrust her fingers into it before she removed a small plastic block.
"A recorder and transmitter," Bianca commented unneeded. Annabeth dropped the animal to the table, examining the small electronic. Bianca turned to the corpse, as Elena began to cry at her new toy's destruction. Valentina, fear still masking her beautiful face, went to her. "There's a note," Bianca said and began to read it. "Dear Metro PD, as you have just destroyed that little girl's toy, please retrieve the replacement we have left in the mailbox. This one has no recorder, we pinky promise."
"Motherfuckers," muttered Annabeth. "Odysseus, man who built the Trojan Horse. Mr. Nobody."
Skinkertown, VA – 0745 Local – 25 December 2023
"Well, Ethan. Do you mind if I call you Ethan? Let's get this first one out of the way so you know how this is going to go down." Percy leveled the pistol and fired. The bullet cut a deep trough above Nakamura's cheekbone before ripping away the upper half of his ear. Percy leaned forward and pressed the suppressor into his right knee. "Do we have an understanding?"
The one-eyed man did not respond, and Percy knew he was entering the stage of willing obstinance. Ethan Nakamura had known from the moment he said Rachel's name why he was here, and honestly, Percy would not be surprised if the man assumed it from the moment that he was taken. There are, after all, few enough reasons even as a congressional staffer to find armed men in your home who take you away. The man's one good eye tracked from Percy's hiking boots to his now beardless face. The fake beard, wig, and colored contact lenses were gone, now just a pound of ash poured from a can once full of diesel. Percy also assumed that Ethan more than understood what it meant that Percy's face was bare. Nakamura was not walking out of here.
"Ethan, I am sure you're convinced you know pain. IED in Iraq. Burns over twenty percent of your body. Bet you sold that to every woman that would listen. Used it for some free pussy. War veteran. Combat casualty. Really just a fucking POG in the inopportune place at the inopportune time." Percy had purposely misidentified the location of his injury. However, referring to him as a "Person Other than Grunt," a POG, was accurate. Ethan Nakamura had left the Army as an E-3 with more discipline issues than anyone with an Honorable Discharge should, but he played his injury to the max.
"It was Afghanistan." Ethan scratched out in response.
"Were you a psychopath before or after the Taliban tried to turn you into fucking barbeque?"
"I…" Percy cut him off.
"For me it was before. But that's probably because Hezbollah turned my dad into barbeque in Beirut back in Eighty-two. I was three and after that, well, killing didn't seem too big an issue. Unlike you though, I still had purpose to it. God, family, and the red, white, and blue. You? You just sold your soul to the fucking devil for money. I aim to find out why." Before Nakamura could respond, Percy slammed the butt of his pistol into the back of his prisoner's hand. With the pistol butt above and the metal arm of the chair below, the bones did not survive the impact. Nakamura screamed in pain. "I'm going to step out for a few minutes and let you think on this and how it's going to go for you if you don't answer what I ask."
Ten minutes later, he stood before Nakamura again. There was an unnerving calm to the man now. Despite his blood running toward the drain in the floor and his nudity, he appeared calm now, the fear and panic of before was gone. The one-eyed man spoke slowly and looked up at his dark-haired captor. "What do you want from me?"
"I want to know why you killed Rachel Elizabeth Dare." The terrifying calm remained over his face before an evil smile split the face with only one eye.
"She was my first." Percy knew that was not true, but despite his building rage allowed him to continue. "Not first kill, mind you, but the first one to mean something. Such a fucking rush, to a beautiful girl bleed out beneath you. Such a fucking rush. Every time I fuck, that kill's what I think of, best hard on ever."
Percy could not keep the fury out of his voice. "Is that all?"
"I kill, that's what I do."
"You're a tool, Ethan, a fucking psycho used as a fucking hammer by someone else. I'm looking fucking evil, but an evil that believes himself capable of intimidating me." Percy moved his pistol from his side to his front. His right hand gripped the HK and rested on his left. "You might be the evil one, Ethan, but do not assume you monopolize violence. Unlike you, who only got ass-fucked by Terry Taliban, I learned a few things from them." Percy adjusted the angle of the .45 and sent a round through Nakamura's left ankle. Less than a second later, the right ankle was equally mauled. Percy leaned forward. He placed the end of the suppressor on one of the man's exposed testicles and leaned forward. Nakamura's screams increased in volume with the weight. "Do not presume you know violence."
Washington, D.C. – 1030 Local – 25 December 2023
"Has there been any new moves or anything unexpected in the last couple of weeks around the neighborhood?" Bianca studied Valentina as she thought hard for a moment.
"There was an empty house across the street that was purchased just last week. They were moving in almost immediately. But other than that, this street is pretty quiet."
"What's the address of that house?" Bianca took the address and picked up her phone.
Langley, VA – 1034 Local – 25 December 2023
Following the disappearance of a Congressional Staffer and the fact that the victim of said disappearance matched the only known physical description of the man to kill a former agency asset's wife, the analyst had been directed to keep track of any police requests in relation to the victim's investigation. The Agency could not afford one of their own running through the streets with a vendetta. Her left monitor, the one that monitored the feeds the Agency was not legally supposed to monitor. Inside the flashing box, the analyst quickly read the words, recognizing that the police were looking into the recent purchase of a townhouse on Q Street. Their former agent was the owner.
The analyst made two calls. The first was to one of the many Assistant Deputy Directors of the Company. The second was to their former agent.
Washington, D.C. – 1400 Local – 25 December 2023
"Annabeth, we don't have a warrant for this place."
"It was just moved into a week before a man goes missing and now, we haven't seen someone there all day. We'll deal with legalities later." The door opened to her hand, unlocked. The two detectives drew their Glock 19s and inched forward. The room was decorated for Christmas and little else other than a corner shrine to the sports teams of New York. They were halfway across the living room when a voice came from the door.
"I suppose you have a warrant for this?" Bianca groaned, even as Annabeth recognized the voice. They turned still holding their pistols. The dark haired and green-eyed man merely smiled mischievously. "No reason for the rough stuff, ladies. Unless that's what you're into." His wink in Annabeth's direction only solidified her opinion that he knew more than she would ever want to know. She could not stop her hand as it slowly rose to the bruising, she had concealed earlier that day.
"Why would you buy a house here?"
"Q Street seemed pretty safe."
"So, nothing to do with a Congressional Staffer named Ethan Nakamura who lives across the street?"
"I always hated politicians, why would I care?"
"The man has one eye and disappeared." Annabeth studied Percy, hoping for some sort of reaction. Instead, he leaned against the bottom of his stairs' banister.
"That's unfortunate for him. I've heard losing part of a pair is almost worse than losing them both."
Washington, D.C. – 1600 Local – 25 December 2023
"Motherfucker," Annabeth said into the rim of her coffee cup. She and Bianca sat in the front seat of their unmarked Ford sedan. "Fuck!" she slammed her hand against the steering wheel.
"I'm assuming that guy is the one whose wife was murdered?"
"Shit, I never showed what he looked like did I?"
"No, but I'd keep guys that look like that away from my partner too." Annabeth spun quickly.
"I swear to God if you…" Bianca smiled.
"Anything to get your mind off things for a bit."
"Thanks," Annabeth said. "Bianca, I know it's Christmas, but I need you to dig into Nakamura. You're you I trust on this. Staffer's don't just vanish."
"You got it."
Arlington, VA – 1745 Local – 25 December 2023
"Good God, girl." Annabeth looked up from the smoldering cigarette in her hand. Honestly, she could not remember the last time she had smoked. But goddamn, she needed it. A third of a bottle of Belvedere vodka sat beside her on a table. Annabeth stood on their balcony above the Potomac, the glass in her hand was empty. Her husband pulled the cigarette from her hand and took a deep drag. He exhaled through his nose and leaned in to kiss her. She returned it passionately. He poured her another vodka. "I've always liked this version of you."
She downed the vodka as his hands played the waistline of her pants. She pressed her body against him as one slide beneath the waistband. "Take me to bed. I've been fucked all day; I might as well enjoy it a little."
Skinkertown, VA – 1950 Local – 25 December 2023
"You're going to kill me anyway." Ethan Nakamura looked across the table at Percy. Percy said nothing in response and continued to study the man he was rapidly convinced to be completely insane. If Percy's planning, years of planning, despite not having a name did not account for one thing, it was the man responsible for his wife's murder to be a completely psychopath. A psychopath that did not seem to care about the pain and discomfort applied to him. The one-eyed man spoke anyway, and Percy began to recognize something. "You're going to kill me anyway, so let's get it. What is you really want to know?"
"Why?" The man is happy he can talk to someone about who he is really is. The killer isn't the mask, the man with a daughter is.
"Wrong question. We killers know better than that, why is never important to us. Who, however, who is quite important."
"We killers?" Nakamura gave him a reptilian smile.
"Come now, they warned me about you before I even got to enjoy killing her."